Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-eight

(The evening meeting between Mr. and Mrs. Bumble and Mr. Monks.) It was a summer night with heavy clouds and a dreary air.The clouds that had been gloomy for a whole day spread out and turned into thick and sluggish water vapor. Large drops of rain had already gathered, which seemed to indicate that a storm was coming.At this moment the Bumbles, rounding the main street of the town, set out towards a small settlement about a mile and a half outside the town, where a few poor houses stood on a low, foul moor. , next to the river. The two of them were wrapped in shabby coats, which might serve two purposes: protection from the rain and concealment.The husband carried an unlit hand lamp, and walked in front with difficulty. The road was full of mud and water—as if he wanted to let the wife who was a few steps behind step on his deep footprints to move forward.They walked in silence, and Mr. Bumble slowed down now and then, looking back, as if to see if his virtuous wife was following, and seeing that she had not lost a step, he adjusted his pace to a rather For a respectable speed, walk towards the destination.

Far from being a place of dubious repute, the place had long been known, and was inhabited by the worst gangsters who, under various guises of self-employment, lived chiefly by stealing and committing crimes.It's a whole hodgepodge of sheds and huts—some hastily built out of jagged masonry, others held together from old, decayed ship planks—not tidied up at all. , most within a few feet of the river bank.A few dilapidated wooden boats dragged up the river bank were tied to the low wall on the bank, and a paddle or a coil of rope was scattered here and there. At first glance, it seemed to imply that the residents of these simple huts were engaged in some kind of water occupation.However, as soon as they saw these things scattered there, no one was using them, passers-by could guess without any difficulty that these things were put there not so much for practical purposes, but as a pretense. .

In the center of this group of huts, close to the river, stood a large house with several floors hanging over the water.This house used to be some kind of factory, which may have provided employment opportunities for nearby residents, but it has long been in ruins.Rats, moths, and the erosion of damp, the wooden piles of the house have rotted, a large part of the building has sunk into the water, and the rest of the building is crumbling, lying on the dark water, as if waiting for a suitable opportunity, Follow the companions of old and accept the same fate. It was in front of this ruined building that the venerable pair stopped, when the first thunderclaps in the distance exploded in the air, and the rain poured down.

"It must be somewhere around here." Bumble said, checking the slip of paper in his hand. "Hello!" A voice came from above. Following the cry, Mr. Bumble looked up, and saw a man leaning out of a door on the second floor, looking around. "Wait a moment," the voice called loudly, "I'll come to pick you up." While speaking, the head disappeared and the door closed. "Is that the man?" asked Mr. Bumble's virtuous wife. Mr. Bumble nodded affirmatively. "When the time comes, remember what I told you," said the matron, "try to speak as little as possible, or you'll blow us out in the blink of an eye."

Mr. Bumble, looking dejectedly at the building, was evidently about to ask some question as to whether it was worthwhile to go on with the matter, but he had no opportunity to speak.Monks appeared, opened a small door just beside them, and beckoned them to go inside. "Come in!" he cried impatiently, stamping the ground with his foot. "I don't have time to stay here all the time." Mrs. Bumble hesitated for a moment, then ventured in without waiting for a further invitation.Mr. Bumble, ashamed, or rather afraid, of being left behind, followed in with a terrified look, and it was hard to find any trace of that conspicuous grandeur which was his chief characteristic.

"Damn it, why are you hanging out there in the rain?" Monks said, turning to Bumble after he had bolted the door behind them. "We--we're just cooling off," stammered Bumble, looking around apprehensively. "Cooling up?" Meng Kesi replied his words. "I've never heard of when the rain will fall, or the rain that will fall in the future, can quench the fire of desire in people's hearts, just like the fire of hell can't be quenched. It's cool and not so comfortable, don't even think about it." After saying these wise words, Meng Kesi suddenly turned to the matron, staring at her intently, and even she, who never gave in easily, had to retract her gaze and turn to the ground.

"That's the lady, isn't it?" Monks asked. "Hmm. It's the lady." Bumble replied, bearing in mind his wife's warning. "I guess, you think women are absolutely unable to keep secrets, don't you?" the matron cut in, and while speaking, she returned a sharp look to Meng Kesi. "I know there's only one thing they can keep a secret until someone finds out," Monks said. "And what's the secret?" asked the matron. "The secret is that they lose their good name," replied Moncus, "so, by the same law, I need not worry if a woman gets involved with a secret that will get her hanged or exiled." She'll tell anyone I'm not afraid. Do you understand, ma'am?"

"I don't understand." The matron blushed a little when she spoke. "Of course you don't understand." Monks said, "How do you understand?" The man gave his two companions a half smile, half frown, beckoned them once more to follow, and hurried through the rather spacious but low-ceilinged room.He was about to climb up the straight stairs or ladders to the storeroom on the upper floor, when a flash of bright lightning came in through the upper hole, followed by a rumbling thunder, the whole building that was already rickety shook stand up. "Listen!" he cried, stepping back. "Listen! It came down with a bang, as if it came down in unison in the countless caves where the big and small devils hid. I hate this sound.

He was silent for a while, and then suddenly took his hands away from his face. Mr. Bumble saw that his face changed greatly, and his complexion changed, and he was really unspeakably disturbed. "I get cramps like this twice a day," said Moncus, noticing Mr. Bumble's fright. "Sometimes thunder can also cause it. Don't worry about me now, this time is over." Saying so, he led the way up the ladder to a room.He frantically closed the shutters of the room, and pulled down the pulley lamp hanging from a beam under the ceiling. The dim light fell on an old table and three chairs lying below.

"Right now," Monks said when all three sat down, "let's talk about business, which is in everyone's interest. Does this lady know what to talk about?" The question was directed at Bumble, but his wife answered first, saying she knew exactly what it was about. "But he said, you were with her the night that ugly monster died, and she told you something—" "It concerns the mother of the child you speak of," replied the matron, interrupting him, "that is the case." "The first question is, what is the nature of what she is talking about?" said Moncus.

"That's the second question," said the lady seriously. "The first question is, how much is this information worth?" "I don't know what kind of news it is, who the hell can tell?" Meng Kesi asked. "I'm sure no one knows better than you." Mrs. Bumble was not lacking in boldness, as her husband could attest. "Hmph." Meng Kesi said meaningfully with a look of eagerness to ask, "Isn't it very valuable, huh?" "Maybe." The answer was very calm. "There was something taken from her," said Moncus, "that she had on and then—" "You'd better make an offer," said Mrs. Bumble, stopping him. "I've heard enough, and I believe you're just the one who wants to know." Mr. Bumble, who had not hitherto been granted the title of his family, and who knew more of the secret than he had at first, listened to this conversation with craning neck and wide-eyed eyes, and with an expression of unconcealed amazement, looked now and then at the Look at his wife, and sometimes look at Monks.When Monks asked sharply how much he had come up with for this unrevealed secret, his astonishment only increased, if it had not yet reached its climax. "How much do you think it's worth?" the lady asked calmly as before. "Perhaps it's not worth a dime, perhaps it's worth twenty pounds," replied Monks, "tell me, and let me know." "Just add five pounds to the amount you said, and give me twenty-five guineas," said the woman, "and I'll tell you all I know. There's no point in telling it first." "Twenty-five pounds!" cried Monks, leaning back in his chair. "I can't put it more plainly," replied Mrs. Bumble, "that it's not a huge sum." "An insignificant secret that may not be considered a big deal if it is revealed?" Meng Kesihou yelled anxiously, "In addition, there are more that have been buried in the ground for twelve years." "This kind of thing is well preserved. Like fine wine, it becomes more and more valuable as it ages." The matron replied, still maintaining her nonchalant expression. "Speaking of being buried in the ground, isn't there some that have been buried in the ground for 12,000 years, or 12 million years? You and I both know that, after all, we still have to tell some weird things." "What if I paid the money but got nothing?" Meng Kesi hesitated and asked. "You can easily take it back," replied the Matron, "I'm just a woman, here alone, with no protection." "Not alone, my dear, and not unprotected," pleaded Mr. Bumble, in a trembling voice. "I'm here, my dear. Besides," said Mr. Bumble, his teeth were chattering. , "Mr. Monks is really a gentleman, and he will not use force against parishioners. Mr. Monks knows that I am not a young man anymore, and it can be said that I am already a little old and useless. But he also I've heard--I mean, I don't have the slightest doubt that Mr. Monks has, my dear--and I'm a decisive man with extraordinary strength when it comes to getting angry. Just mess with me That's enough, that's all." As he spoke, Mr. Bumble put on a frighteningly decisive, but pitiful look, and tightly held the lantern he had brought, but the frightened expression on the brow and mouth clearly showed that he It is true that you need to be provoked for a while, and it is not enough to be provoked for a while, so that you can show a brave posture.Of course, dealing with poor people or other people designed to intimidate is another matter. "You fool," replied Mrs. Bumble, "you better keep your mouth shut." "If he can't speak in a quieter voice, he'd better cut his tongue out before he comes," said Monks viciously. "Don't worry. He's your husband, eh?" "He, my husband!" The matron giggled and avoided answering. "That's what I thought when you came in," said Monks.He had noticed, she gave her husband a furious glare as she spoke. "That's even better. I'd be much easier if I found out I was dealing with the same two people. I'm not joking. See." Putting a hand in his side pocket, he drew out a canvas bag, counted twenty-five quids on the table, and pushed them over to the lady. "Here," he said, "put the stuff away. That damned thunder, I think it's gonna knock the roof down, and when it's over, we'll hear your story." The thunder seemed to be much closer, vibrating and exploding almost directly above their heads, and then gradually faded away.Monks lifted his face from the table and bent forward, intent on hearing what the woman had to say.The two men, eager to hear what happened, bent down together towards the small table, and the woman stretched her head so that her whispering voice could be heard, and the three faces almost touched.The faint light of the chandelier fell directly on their faces, making the three faces pale and anxious, and looked like three ghosts in the hazy darkness. "When that woman, we call her old Sally, died," began the Matron, "it was just me and her." "Is there no one else around?" Meng Kesi also asked quietly, "Is there no sick guy in the other bed, or an idiot? No one can hear it, and no one will listen to it?" "No one," the woman replied, "just the two of us. When I died, I was the only one standing beside the corpse." "Okay," Meng Kesi looked at her intently, and said, "Go on." "She speaks of a young man," went on the matron, "who gave birth to a boy some years ago, not only in the same room, but in the same bed she lay in when she died." "Ah?" Meng Kesi's lips trembled. He looked back and said, "It's scary. What happened?" "That kid is the one you mentioned last night to him by name," the Matron nodded casually at her husband. "The nurse stole from his mother." "Before he was alive?" Meng Kesi asked. "At the time of death," answered the woman, as if with a shudder, "the child's mother was dying, and begged her to preserve it for the orphan, but as soon as the mother died, she took the child from the dead body." Stole something." "She sold it?" Meng Kesi yelled impatiently, "Did she sell it? Where did she sell it? When? Who did she sell it to? How long ago?" "At the time, she took great pains to tell me that she had done it," said the matron, "and would have fallen dead." "No more words?" Meng Kesi yelled, trying to lower his voice, but it only made his voice more irritable. "Lie. I won't fall for it. She has something to say. If you don't make it clear, I'll kill you both." "She didn't say a word else," said the woman (Mr. Bumble was a far cry from Mr. Bumble) with the fury of the eccentric man's behavior, which was evidently unimpressed. "However, she grabbed my blouse with one hand, and her hands were not completely clenched together. I saw that she was dead, so I broke that hand away and found that she was holding a piece of torn paper in her hand. .” "There's—" Meng Kesi stretched his neck and interjected. "Nothing," the woman replied, "it's a pawn ticket." "What are you doing?" Meng Kesi asked. "I'll tell you when the time comes," said the woman, "I wondered how she'd put that little thing away for a while, thinking she'd get a lot of money, and then put it in the pawn shop, where she'd saved it, or Saved some money and paid interest to the pawn shop year after year so that it would not be overdue. There was really something that was useful and could be redeemed. In the end there was nothing, and, let me tell you, she held the pawn in her hand The rotten piece of paper died. It was two days before the expiration date, and I thought I might need it someday, so I bought it back." "Where are the things now?" Meng Kesi asked eagerly. "Here." The woman replied.In a panic, she threw a lambskin bag just big enough to hold a French watch on the table, as if she wanted to get rid of it.Meng Kesi pounced on it, tearing open the bag with trembling hands.In the bag was a locket containing two locks of hair, and a wedding ring of solid gold. "The word 'Agnes' is engraved on the back of the ring," said the woman, "and the space is for the last name, followed by the date. It was a year before the baby was born. I figured it out later. .” "That's all?" said Monks, examining the contents of the little bag carefully and eagerly. "That's all." The woman replied. Mr. Bumble drew a long breath, as if he was relieved that the story was over, and the other party did not repeat the question of taking back the twenty-five gold bills. The unstoppable sweat dripping from his nose wiped away. "I don't know anything about it except what I can guess," said Mrs. Bumble to Monks after a moment's silence. You two questions, right?" "You can ask," Mengkes said with some surprise, "but whether I answer is another question." "--that makes three," said Mr. Bumble, determined to show his hand in the joke. "Is this what you intend to get from me?" asked the matron. "Yes," Monks replied, "Is there one more question?" "What are you going to use it for? Will you use it to make things difficult for me?" "Absolutely not," replied Moncus, "nor will I be against myself. Look here. You don't move a step forward, or your life won't be worth a sedge." With these words he flung the table aside, seized an iron ring on the floor, drew back a large trap, and flung open a secret door from just at Mr. Bumble's feet, The gentleman backed away again and again in fright. "Look down there," said Moncus, putting the chandelier into the hole, "you don't have to be afraid of me. While you're sitting up there, I could send you down without a word, if I wanted to. " With this encouragement, the matron approached the mouth of the pit.Mr. Lian Bumble also ventured forward, driven by curiosity.After the heavy rain, the river, which had swelled after the heavy rain, rushed through the bottom, the water was rushing, and the turbid waves were rolling, beating the sticky green wooden stakes, and all the sounds were lost in the noise.There used to be a water mill below, and the water was foaming, hitting a few rotten wooden piles and remaining machine parts, and then throwing off these obstacles that tried to stop it from running for thousands of miles, it seemed to have a new momentum to run forward go. "If you throw a dead body down, where will you be tomorrow morning?" Monks said, swinging the chandelier back and forth in the black hole. "Twelve miles down, plus a few big pieces," thought Bumble, and drew back hastily. Meng Kesi took out the small bag that he had stuffed in his arms in a hurry, picked up a lead pendant on the floor and tied it to it. This lead pendant was originally a part of the pulley, and after being tied up, he threw it into the rapids.The lead pendant fell straight down, cut the water surface with a splash, the sound was almost inaudible, and disappeared. The three looked at each other, seeming to breathe a sigh of relief. "Hey," Monks closed the secret door, and the trap fell heavily back to its original position. "If the sea brings the dead ashore, that's what the books say, it will leave gold and silver and treasure, including that useless thing. We have nothing more to say, let's end this pleasant party .” "Of course," Mr. Bumble agreed readily. "You still have a well-behaved tongue in your head, okay?" Meng Kesi said with a sinking face. "I'm not worried about your wife." "You may trust me, young man," replied Mr. Bumble, nodding and bowing, and retreating slowly towards the ladder, with evident civility. "For the good of all, young man, and for my own sake, you know, Mr. Moncus." "For your sake, I'm glad to hear that," said Moncus. "Keep the lights on. Get out of here as soon as possible." It was fortunate that the conversation was brought to an end at this juncture, or Mr. Bumble, who had retreated not more than six inches from the ladder and was still bowing, would have fallen headlong into a downstairs room.He borrowed a fire from the chandelier that Monks untied and carried in his hand, and lit his own lantern.Without further words, he went down the ladder silently, followed by his wife.Monks paused on the ladder until he was sure that there were no other sounds except the beating of raindrops outside the house and the rushing of the river, and he was the last one to go down the ladder. They moved slowly and cautiously through the downstairs rooms, for every shadow frightened Monks.Mr. Bumble, carrying the lamp a foot above the ground, walked not only with the utmost deliberation, but with unbelievable lightness for a gentleman of his stature, and looked suspiciously here and there to see if Hidden trapdoor.Monks unbolted the door and gently opened the door they had come in.The couple and their mysterious new acquaintance nodded at each other, and walked outside the door into the dark rainy night. As soon as they had disappeared, Meng Kesi seemed to have an irresistible distaste for being left alone, and immediately called out a child who was hiding somewhere downstairs, and told him to go ahead, carrying a lamp, and went back to the village. He went to the room he had just left.