Chapter 49 fourth quarter

Fields put a hand on the doctor's thin shoulder, reassuring him. "My dear Wendell, a little courage is worth a thousand dollars at this moment." In front of them, Lowell stopped and knelt on one knee.He scanned a pond ahead through the binoculars.His lips trembled, he was horrified by what he saw.At first he thought he saw some little boys fishing through the ice.However, he adjusted the binoculars and saw the sallow face of his student Pliny Mead. The water was frozen, but a narrow opening was opened, and Meade's head could be seen emerging from it.The rest of his naked body was submerged in icy water, his feet were bound, his teeth were chattering violently, and his tongue was curled inward.Mead's bare arms were stretched out on the ice, and his wrists were firmly bound with a rope, the other end of which was tied to Dr. Manning's carriage parked nearby.Meade had already fallen into a semi-comatose state. If it hadn't been for this rope, he would have fallen into the hole and drowned.At the back of the carriage, Dan Till was wearing a military uniform and was very conspicuous. He reached under another naked body, picked it up, and walked towards the ice that might break at any time.He was carrying the floppy white body of Augustus Manning, his beard tangled over his bean-sprout-thin chest, his legs bent and bound at his hips, His body trembled uncontrollably as he passed through the slippery ice.

Manning's nose was like a dark red jewel; the blood from the nostrils had clotted under the nostrils in a thick brown clot.Thiel tucked Manning's foot into another hole in the icy lake, only a foot or so from Mead.A jolt of ice water revived Manning; his hands flapped frantically, groping, splashing.Then Till untied the ropes from Meade's arms, and now the only force that might have kept the two naked men from sinking into the hole was a violent struggle.They knew instinctively what to do, and they immediately grabbed each other's outstretched arms. Thiel climbed up the embankment and stood watching them struggle when a shot rang out.The bullet grazed the bark of a tree behind the killer.

Lowell sprang to his feet, gun in hand, and slid frantically across the ice. "Tille!" he snapped.He aimed his gun, ready to shoot.Longfellow, Holmes, and Fields hurried after him. Fields yelled, "Mr. Teal, you can't do this anymore!" Lowell aimed down the barrel, unable to believe what he saw: Teal was still standing there, motionless. "Shoot, Lowell, shoot!" Fields yelled. Lovell always liked to take aim when hunting, but never shot.The sun has risen and shines on the huge crystal lake. The sun shone brightly on the ice, blinding their eyes.After a while, their eyes finally adjusted, but there was no sign of Teal, only the faint sound of his running footsteps echoing in the woods.Lowell fired wildly into the bushes.

Meade shivered involuntarily, his whole body limp, his head resting on the ice, and his body sank slowly into the deadly water.Manning clung desperately to the limp arm, then the wrist, then the fingers, but Meade's weight was too heavy for him to hold on any longer.Mead sank.Dr. Holmes quickly slid across the ice and lunged forward.He stretched out his hands and caught Mead's hair and ears in the ice hole, pulled him up little by little, caught his chest, continued to go up, and dragged him out flat on the ice.Before Manning could sink, Fields and Longfellow grabbed his arms and pulled him out.They untied the ropes from his legs and feet.

Holmes heard the crack of a whip, and looked up to see Lowell sitting on the seat of the abandoned wagon, driving the horse toward the woods.Holmes jumped to his feet and ran over. "Stop, Jamie!" Holmes called. "We've got to get them somewhere warm, or they'll freeze to death!" "Till will run away, Holmes!" Lowell stopped the horse, staring at Manning's poor body.He was lying on the ice and tossing and turning, like a fish pulled ashore, jumping around alive and well, looking very ugly.Manning was dying, and Lowell felt only sympathy at this moment.Members of Dante's Club carried the two victims who were almost killed on the ice. The ice could not bear their weight and was slightly concave. Water gurgled up from the ice they broke through.Longfellow broke through a thin patch of ice and one of his shoes fell off, and Lowell jumped out of the carriage and rushed to catch him in time.

Dr. Holmes took off his gloves and hat, then his overcoat and frock coat, and covered Meade. "Wrap them all you can take off! Cover their faces and necks!" He untied the scarf and put it on the child.Then he kicked off his boots, took off his socks, and put them on Meade's feet.The others watched as Holmes scrambled to help them, and followed suit. Manning tried to speak, but only hummed indistinctly, as if he was humming a song feebly.Lowell put his hat on Manning's head, and he tried to lift his head from the ice, but his mind was in a daze. Dr. Holmes exhorted loudly: "Keep them awake! Once they fall asleep, they will never be saved again!"

With difficulty they lifted the two stiff bodies into the carriage.With only one shirt left on his body, Lowell sat back on the driver's seat.Following Holmes' instructions, Longfellow and Fields rubbed the victim's neck and shoulders, lifting their feet and turning them back and forth. "Come on, Lowell, come on!" Holmes called. "It's already the fastest, Wendell!" As soon as Holmes met Meade, he knew the worst was in store for him.He had received a deep gash on the back of his head, probably by Thiel, and it remained exposed.On the short drive back to town, he shook the child desperately to get his blood flowing.

Mead's body was so cold that it hurt to touch it. "The boy died before we got to Fresh Pond. We did our best. You must believe it, dear Holmes." "Manning owes you a life," Lowell said, "and a hat to me. Seriously, Wendell, if it weren't for you, this man would have returned to dust. Don't you see? We defeated Satan. We Saved a life from between the devil's teeth. We won this time only because of your self-sacrifice, my dear Wendell." Nicholas Ray came and reported that nothing had been found, but by this time the police had assembled several detachments to search for Benjamin Galvin.

"Great! We can also form a small team to search." Lovell said. "Professor, gentlemen," Ray said, sitting down, "you have discovered the identity of the killer. You have saved a life, and perhaps others that we will never know about." "But it's because of us that they're in danger," said Longfellow. "No, Mr. Longfellow. What Benjamin Galvin found in Dante, he will find elsewhere in his life. You are not responsible for these horrors. But what you have achieved in the shadow of these horrors The results are unquestionable. Even so, fortunately, you are safe and sound. For everyone's safety, the rest must be left to the police."

"Officer, we stopped the murder in the end. I don't know how he will react." Fields said, "Will he try to re-impose the punishment for the traitor? What if he comes back to find Manning again?" "We have arranged for the police to secure the homes of all members of the Harvard Board of Trustees and Oversight, including Dr. Manning. We have also sent men to all the hotels to stop Simon Kemp in case Galvin uses him as another objector. Dante's traitor. We have also placed a few people near Galvin's house to keep a close watch on his house." Lowell went to the window, looked out at the sidewalk in front of the Longfellow house, and saw a man in a dark blue coat pass the gate and come back. "You also arranged someone here?" Lowell asked.

Ray nodded, "You all have people in your house. Judging from the victims he chose, Galvin seems to think he is protecting you, so he may ask you what to do after things have taken such a turn for the worse. . If that's the case, we'll get him." Lowell threw the cigar into the fireplace.Suddenly, he resented his connivance. "I don't think it's fair, Officer. We can't sit in this room all day, helpless!" "Professor Lowell, I am not suggesting that you do this." Ray replied, "Go back to your own home and stay with your family. Gentlemen, it is my duty to protect this city, but if you Get involved, and you won't be able to do anything else. Professor, your life has to get back to normal." Lowell looked up at Ray, bewildered. "But……" Longfellow smiled. "The happy life consists not in fighting, my dear Lowell, but in avoiding it. A clever retreat is itself a victory." Ray said, "Let's meet again here tonight. With any luck, I'll give you the good news. Fair enough, isn't it?" The scholars backed down, with expressions of half regret, half delight.