Chapter 48 third quarter

At the Longfellows' house, Fields stared at the rug for twenty minutes before speaking.After leaving the Galvins they found Nicholas Ray, who had obtained a police carriage and a fine horse, and in this he drove them to Craigie's. "Dr. Manning. He's been our worst enemy from the beginning. Why did Teal wait until now to get at him?" Holmes stood leaning against Longfellow's desk. "Because he's the worst, dear Fields. Hell gets narrower the lower you go, and sinners get worse and worse. There's no end until Satan, the father of all evil. Healy , as the first to be punished, may not have recognized the significance of his retreat at all - such was the nature of his 'crime', and the basis of his conviction was his lukewarm conduct."

Police Officer Lei stood in the middle of the study, looking extremely tall and straight. "Gentlemen, you must go back and reflect on the sermon Mr. Green gave last week, so that we can get an idea of ​​where Thiel is going to take Manning." "Green's series of sermons begins with the Hypocrites," Lowell explained, "and then comes the Falsifiers, which include counterfeiters. And finally, the one that Fields and I heard The first sermon he spoke of was a traitor." Holmes said: "Manning is not a hypocrite — he is hell-bent on hunting down Dante, and he did. He's no match for a traitor who betrays his family."

"Then we only have to consider pretenders and traitors to the country," Longfellow said. "Manning didn't have any real machinations," Lowell said. "He hid his actions from us, that's true, but that wasn't the main way he attacked us. Dante's There are many ghosts in hell who have committed many crimes, but it is this crime that determines the nature of their actions that determines their fate in hell." "The traitor who betrays the country mars the virtue of a people," said Longfellow, "and is condemned to the ninth circle of hell—the lowest circle."

"For us, it represented an attempt to stop our Dante research project," Fields said. Holmes was lost in thought. "That's it, isn't it? We've already learned that Thiel wears a uniform when he's engaged in Dante-related activities, whether it's studying Dante or planning a murder. From this we can understand his thinking. He believes that defending the Dante was defending the republic." Longfellow said: "Till was a doorman in a university lecture hall, so he must have known about Manning's plot. In Thiel's view, Manning was one of the worst betrayers in the cause he defended." For that purpose, Thiel killed Manning."

Nicholas Ray said: "Can any estimate be made of his punishment?" They waited with bated breath for Longfellow's answer. "The traitor was submerged in a lake with only his head exposed, 'looking like glass rather than water because of the freezing'." Holmes sighed, "For two weeks all the puddles in New England have been frozen over. Where's Manning to be found? And we've only got one weary horse!" Ray shook his head. "Gentlemen, you stay in Cambridge to search for Till and Manning. I'll rush back to Boston to get help." "What do we do if we find Till?" Holmes asked.

"Use this." Ray handed them an alarm. Four scholars embark on a grand search.They searched the Charles River, Beaver Bay, Fresh Pond, and several disused embankments near Elwood.They carried a few gas lamps and searched vigilantly by the faint light. A night passed without knowing it, but they didn't even find any clues.They were wrapped in overcoats, and the frost on their beards was unnoticed (and Dr. Holmes had frost on his bushy eyebrows and temples).Silence, strange silence, not even a hoofbeat.The silence seemed to hang over the north, broken only by the shrill whistle of distant steam trains carrying goods.

Fortunately it was a clear night.The stars are scattered in the sky, in perfect order.There was the sound of a horse's hooves, and Nicholas Ray, who was sitting on the horse's back, was vaguely seen in the hot breath of the horse.Lei was getting closer and closer, and everyone was silent, one by one, looking for signs of success on the young man's sharp face, even if it was only a little bit.But his face was like a piece of iron, and there was no trace of joy in it.He reported that there was no Teal, no Augustus Manning; he had sent six police officers to search the Charles River, but there were only four horses exempted from quarantine except his own. available.Ray warned the fireside poets to be careful, promised he would search until morning, and rode away.

At 3:30 in the morning, someone among them suggested that why not go to Lowell's house and take a nap?When they arrived they lay down to rest.In Sleepland, the warm air fell directly on Holmes' face.There was nothing in his body that was not exhausted, and he walked softly along a narrow fence outside, and he was not aware of it.As the temperature rose sharply, the ice on the ground melted rapidly, turning into a muddy mass.There was a steep slope under his feet, and he walked forward bending over, as if walking uphill.Looking out from Cambridge Common, he could make out billows of smoke from the cannons used in the Revolutionary War, and the tall Washington elm, with its many branches stretching out in all directions.Looking back, Holmes saw Longfellow walking slowly toward him.Holmes urged him to hurry, he did not want to leave Longfellow alone for too long.Just then, a rumbling sound caught the doctor's attention.

Two horses with strawberry spots and white hooves, each pulling a rickety cart, charged at him.Holmes fell to his knees, trembling; clutching his ankles, he looked up just in time to see Fanny Longfellow--the flaming flowers falling from her loose hair, from her full bosom-- — reining in one horse, while Holmes Jr. steered the other with confidence, as if he had been born to ride.Two horses passed by either side of the little doctor, who seemed unable to keep his balance and fell into the darkness. Holmes rose straight from the armchair, his knees within inches of the fireplace, where the logs were crackling. "What time is it?" he asked, realizing he was dreaming.Lowell's clock read: five forty-five.Lowell rolled over in the easy chair and struggled to open his eyes like a sleep-deprived child.He asked if something was wrong.The bitter taste in his mouth kept him from asking further.

"Lowell, Lowell," cried Holmes, drawing back the curtains, "two horses." "what?" "I think I heard two horses outside. No, I'm pretty sure. Just a few seconds ago, they galloped past the window and kept going. Must be two horses. Officer Ray only has one horse at the moment Longfellow says Till stole two horses from the Mannings." "We're all asleep." Lowell replied with a panicked expression. He blinked his eyes and regained consciousness, and saw through the window that the sky was getting whiter. Lowell roused Longfellow and Fields, and then he picked up a small telescope and slung his rifle over his shoulder.

Coming from the warm indoors to the bitterly cold outdoors, Holmes suffered from asthma again and coughed violently.Lowell ran ahead, following the new horseshoe prints, while the other three scholars entered the elm forest cautiously.The leaves of the elm tree have long since fallen, and the bare branches point high to the sky. "Longfellow, dear Longfellow..." said Holmes. "Holmes?" replied the poet mildly. Scenes from the dream flashed vividly before Holmes' eyes, and he looked tremblingly at his friend.He was afraid to blurt out: I saw Fanny coming towards us just now, indeed! "We forgot the alarm at your house, didn't we?"