Chapter 31 Blow the whistle and I'll come to you
"Since the semester is over, I guess you'll be leaving soon, Professor," someone who is not in the story said to the professor in the story after they sat down next to each other.They were at a banquet in the reception hall of St James's College.
The professor is young, elegant, and well-spoken.
"Yes," he said, "my friends have given me golf this term, and I'm going to go to the East Coast - Burns Stow (I think you know it) for a week or ten days , to improve my game. I hope to start tomorrow."
"Oh, Perkins," said his neighbor on the other side, "if you go to Burnstown, I want you to look at the ruins of the Knights Templar chapter and tell me what you think is there this summer. Is there any benefit in digging?"
As you might guess, this is said by a man of antiquity, but since he only appears in the prologue of this story, there is no need to name him.
"Of course," said Perkins, who was the professor, "if you will describe to me the location of the ruins, I will do my best to tell you about the ruins when I get back; Or write to tell you about it, if you can tell me where you might have been at that time."
"Don't worry about it, thank you. I just thought about taking my family in that direction for a vacation, and then I suddenly remembered that only a very small number of British Templars' branches have done proper research and planning. I might have the opportunity to go on vacation. time to do something useful.”
The professor scoffed at calling it a useful thing to do research planning on the territory of the Knights Templar branch.His neighbor continued:
"The ruins - I doubt if there's anything else on the ground to show, must be very close to the bottom of the beach now. You know, the sea has eroded quite a bit along that beach. From the map, I think it should be at the Inn from the Earth About three-quarters of a mile, at the north end of town. Where are you going to live?"
"Oh, actually, right at the Earth Inn," said Perkins, "and I've booked a room there. There's no other place to stay, and it seems most of the rental houses are closed for the winter. They tell me, The only kind of room I could get actually had two beds and there wasn't a nook in it for another bed and whatnot. I'd have to have a pretty big room though because I'd be bringing some Books, and plan to do a little work. While I don't want to have a spare bed in what I can call a study at the moment - let alone two, I figure I can get by during my brief stay. live."
"There's another bed in your room, Perkins, do you call that a makeshift?" said a blunt man sitting across from him. "Well, I say, I'll use that bed." ; to be your companion."
The professor shivered, but smiled as politely as he could.
"Welcome, Rogers; nothing would please me more than that. But I'm afraid you'll find it rather dull; you don't play golf, do you?"
"No, thank God," said the rude Rogers.
"Then, you see, when I'm not writing I'm probably out on the golf course, which, as I said, is rather dull for you, I'm afraid."
"Oh, I don't know! There must be someone I know in that place; but, of course, if you don't want me to live with you, just say so, Perkins. I won't be offended. The fact— Like you always tell us, it's never annoying."
Perkins was indeed careful to maintain politeness and stick to the facts.It's scary that Mister Rogers sometimes exploits these traits that he knows.There was now a violent conflict in Perkins' chest, which kept him from answering for a moment.At the end of the silence he said:
"Well then, if you want to know the exact facts, Rogers, I tell you, I'm considering whether the room I'm talking about is actually big enough to accommodate the two of us comfortably; It's not that you're pushing me, I won't say) to continue doing something that's getting in the way of my work."
Rogers laughed out loud.
"Well said, Perkins!" said he. "That's right. I promise I won't interfere with your work; don't trouble yourself about it. No, I won't go if you don't want me to live with you." ; but I think I should kindly go with you and drive the ghost away." At this moment, he could be seen winking and nudging his neighbor with his elbow.One could also see Perkins blushing. "I beg your pardon, Perkins," continued Rogers, "but I shouldn't have said that. I forgot that you don't like to talk about these things."
"Well," said Perkins, "since you mentioned it, I confess frankly that I really don't like talking casually about what you call ghosts. A man in my position, I find," he said. continued, raising his voice a little, "You can never be too careful in endorsing the prevailing opinion on these matters. As you know, Rogers, or as you should know, because I don't think I've ever Hide your opinion—”
"No, of course you're not hiding your point of view, old man," Rogers interjected in a low voice.
"—I maintain that any attempt to concede to the idea that such things may exist is to renounce and deny all beliefs I hold most sacred. But I fear I have not won your attention."
"With undivided attention, that's actually what Dr. Blimber said." Rogers interrupted him, very anxious to appear accurate, "but I beg your pardon, Perkins; I interrupted you. "
"No, it doesn't matter," said Perkins. "I don't remember Blimber; perhaps I was not born when he was. But I don't need to go on. I'm sure you know what I mean."
"Yes, yes," said Rogers hastily, "that's it. We'll explore it fully at Burnstower or somewhere else."
I am retelling the above conversation in an attempt to convey the impression it made on me.It was that Perkins was a bit of a mother-in-law—perhaps rather garrulous, petty and, alas, completely devoid of humor.But, at the same time, fearless and loyal to what he was sure of, he was a man to be admired.Whether or not readers have inferred so much, this is indeed a trait of Perkins' character.
The next day Perkins set off from his college, as he had hoped, and arrived at Burnstown.He was received at the Earth Inn, and indeed installed in the twin-bed room we had heard of, and had his papers neatly arranged on a wide table before going to bed, The table occupied the outer end of the room and surrounded on three sides the windows facing the sea.That is to say, the central window faces the sea, and the left and right windows face the waterfront to the north and south respectively.Burnstower village can be seen to the south.There were no houses to be seen to the north, only the beach and the low cliff behind it.Immediately in front of it there was a rough patch of grass--not very big, dotted with old anchors and windlasses and whatnot; and beyond that was a wide road, and beyond that the beach.Whatever the original distance between the Earth Inn and the sea, they are now no more than sixty yards apart.
The rest of the inn was there to play golf, of course, but that included the very few who needed some special introductions.Perhaps the most striking figure was the secretary of a London club, with an impossibly loud voice and a strong Protestant outlook.This was easy to spot after he had attended a religious service by the vicar of the parish.The vicar was a respectable man, fond of a peculiar religious ceremony, which he did his best to preserve in spite of the East Anglian traditions.
One of the main characteristics of Professor Perkins is courage. On the second day after he arrived in Burnstower, he spent most of the day in what he called the sport of improving his skills. He and Colonel Wilson Together.In the afternoon—whether this process of improvement was to blame, I am not sure—the Colonel looked so red that even Perkins hesitated at the idea of leaving the field with him and going back.He stole a quick glance at the upturned mustache and blood-red face, and then he decided that it would be wiser to let the influence of tea and tobacco work on the Colonel, and they must meet before supper too.
"I might go back down the beach tonight," he said after a moment's reflection, "and yes, take a look—there will be enough light to see—the ruins that Disney talked about. By the way, I Don't know exactly where the ruins are, but I can't help but hope that I'll stumble upon it."
I can say that he did it, not exaggerating at all.For as he walked cautiously from the field to the pebbled beach, one of his feet caught a gorse root and a sizable rock, and he fell.He stood up and looked around when he found himself standing on a bit of cracked ground with small depressions and mounds.When he went to examine the latter more closely, it turned out to be only flint set in the plaster, rising with the turf.He had rightly concluded that he must be standing on the site of the Knights Templar chapter, which he had promised to come and see.It seems unlikely that the explorer's shovel will not be rewarded, as enough foundations may be left not deep below to give much thought to the overall plan.He vaguely recalled that the Templars were in the habit of building circular churches, and that the site had once belonged to them, and he remembered that a peculiar series of mounds and mounds near him did indeed appear to be arranged in some sort of circular shape.
Few people can resist the temptation to try a little amateur research in a field quite remote from their own specialization.Just to satisfy that mentality, that's to show how successful they can be if they just start working hard.However, our professor, even if he has a little of this general desire, he is really eager to help Mr. Disney.So he paced carefully around the circular area he had noticed, writing down its approximate size in a notebook.He then proceeded to examine an oval protrusion east of the center of the circle, which seemed to him to be possibly a platform or the base of an altar.At one end of it, the north end, there's a piece of sod gone--some boy or something.Perhaps the soil should be probed for evidence of masonry, he thought.
So he took out his pocket knife and started scraping the dirt aside.Now another little discovery: as he scraped, part of the soil fell in, exposing a small hole.He lit matches one by one, trying to help himself see what kind of cave it was, but the wind was so strong that the matches were blown out.But by tapping and scraping its edge lightly with his knife, he could tell that it must be an artificial cavity in the masonry.
It is rectangular, and its edges, top and bottom, even though it is not actually plastered, are smooth and regular.Of course, it's empty.No!He heard a metallic clang as he drew the knife, and thrusting his hand in, encountered a cylindrical object lying at the bottom of the hole.He picked it up quite naturally, and when he brought it into the light—which was fading fast, he could see that it, too, was man-made—a metal tube about four inches long, and obviously very old. .
By the time Perkins realized that there was nothing else in the curious object, it was too late and too dark for him to make any further inquiries.The work he was already doing was so unexpectedly interesting that he decided to sacrifice a little more of his daytime to do archeology the next day.The object was now securely in his pocket, and it must have some value, he was sure of that.
He took one last look around before turning back. The scenery was bleak and majestic.There is a faint yellow light in the west, illuminating the court, and you can see several figures on the court walking towards the clubhouse, as well as the round stone castle squatting on the coast, and the lights of Ardesi Village, at a certain distance The white sand is cut off horizontally by the breakwater, the trees on the dike are densely packed, and the sea murmurs softly and vaguely.The wind from the north was bitter, but it was on his back as he walked toward the Earth Inn.He walked quickly across the pebble beach, clicking and stumbling.
He made it out onto the sand, which was smooth and quiet, save for the breakwater he had to cross every few yards.He took one last look behind him, gauging how far he had traveled since leaving the ruins of the Templar Church.At this time, he saw a figure walking on the road he was walking, he could be a companion, this person's shape was extremely vague, it seemed that he was trying extremely hard to catch up with him, but he barely moved forward.I mean the man's movement looks like he's running, but the distance between him and Perkins doesn't actually close.So Perkins thought he must not know the man, and it would be absurd to wait for him to catch up.He began to think that, on that deserted beach, company was welcome, so long as you could choose your own.
In his ignorance, he had read stories of encounters in such places, which even now he could hardly even imagine.He went on thinking about them, however, till he got to the inn, and he thought of one story in particular, which had excited the imagination of most men in their childhood. "Now in my dream I see Christian go away, a little way, when suddenly he sees a demon coming across the field to meet him." "What shall I do now?" thought he, "if I go to Looking back, saw a black figure clearly against the yellow sky, and saw that it had horns and wings, what to do? I didn't know if I should stop or run away. Luckily, the gentleman in the back was not that kind of thing, He seems as far away now as he was when I first saw him. Well, at this rate, he won't get to supper as quickly as I do; and, my God! It's not even a quarter of an hour. I Must run!"
In fact, Perkins has very little time to change clothes.He saw the colonel at dinner, and peace—or something of the sort that the gentleman could control—had once again taken possession of the soldier's chest, and that peace would not come to him at bridge after dinner. Overtaken by war, because Perkins is a very refined player.So, just before twelve o'clock, he left the bridge table, feeling that he had spent the evening with great satisfaction.And, even for two or three weeks long in the Earth Inn, life could endure under similar conditions. "Especially," he thought, "if I can keep improving my game."
As he walked along the passage, he met the boot-shiner at the Earth Inn, who stopped and said:
"Excuse me, sir, something fell out of the pocket when I was brushing your coat just now. I put it in your cupboard drawer, sir, in your room, sir—a Pipe or something of that sort, sir. Thank you, sir. You'll find it in your cupboard drawer, sir—yes, sir. Good night, sir."
The passage reminded Perkins of what he had discovered that afternoon.With considerable curiosity, he turned it over and over by the light of the candle.It was bronze, and shaped much like a modern dog whistle; in fact, it was a dog whistle—yes, it definitely was a dog whistle—it was a dog whistle, and nothing else.He put it to his lips, but it was so full of fine, caked-on sand or earth that it was useless to knock on it, and had to use a knife to loosen it.Perkins has always had a neat habit, and this time was no exception. He cleared the soil on a piece of paper, took the paper to the window, and poured the soil out.As he opened the casement he saw that the night was clear, and he paused for a moment to look out to sea, noticing a stranded rambler standing on the beach in front of the inn.Then, closing the window, he was a little surprised that Burnstowe's people were staying out so late.
He held the whistle to the candlelight again.Oh, it does have some notches on it, and not just some notches, but letters!With a little rubbing it was possible to see the inscription engraved fairly clearly, but, after a little thought, the professor had to admit that its meaning was as difficult to him as the writing on Belshazzar's wall. Understand.There is text on the front and back of the whistle.One side looks like this:
The other side looks like this:
"I should be able to recognize it," he thought, "but I think my Latin is a little rusty. When I start to think about its meaning, I don't believe I even know the word for whistle. The long sentence sees Come is really simple. It should mean: 'Who is this, who's coming?' Well, obviously the best way to find out the truth is to blow the whistle for him."
He tried it for a while, then stopped suddenly, startled, but satisfied with the tone he produced.It had an infinitely distant quality, and, though soft, somehow he felt sure it could be heard for miles around.It also seems to be a sound that has the power (as many scents have) to form a picture in the head.For a moment he had a clear vision of a vast, dark expanse of night, blown by a fresh wind, with a solitary figure in the midst of it—how it came to be, he could not say.He might have seen more if the picture had not been shattered by a sudden gust of wind against the casement, so sudden that he could not help looking up, and saw a sea-bird somewhere just beyond the dark pane. His wings flashed white.
The sound of the whistle fascinated him so much that he couldn't resist trying again, this time a little more daringly.The sound was a little louder than before, maybe not too loud, and the repeated blowing of the whistle shattered the illusion—no picture appeared with the sound, and he half hoped that the picture would appear. "But what is this? My God! What can set the wind up in a few minutes! What a wind! There! I know that window hook is useless! Ah! I think that's it--both candles are out ...the wind was strong enough to tear the house to shreds."
The first thing is to close the windows.You can picture twenty Perkins wrestling with that tiny casement, or imagine him being pushed back as if by a strong burglar, with that much wind pressure.It blew open all the windows at once, and the windows slammed and closed themselves again.Now to relight the candles and see what the wind has done - if anything.No, nothing seemed wrong, not even the casement glass was broken.But the noise had evidently disturbed at least one member of the inn: the colonel's stocking feet could be heard thumping on the floor upstairs, and he was whining.
Although the wind picked up quickly, it didn't die down quickly.It continued whistling through the inn, and now and again the wind rose to a mournful howl, which, as Perkins objectively remarked, might make some fanciers uncomfortable; and a quarter of an hour later he thought again The Tao, even the unimaginative, would be happier without such rumors.
Whether it was the wind, the excitement of golf, or the investigation of the ruins of the Knights Templar chapter that kept Perkins awake, he couldn't be sure.At any rate, he remained awake long enough to fantasize (as I am afraid, as I often do myself in such circumstances) that he himself is the victim of all fatal bodily dysfunction; The beating of the heart, the certainty that it would stop working at any moment, and the serious doubts about his lungs, brain, kidneys, etc.—doubts he was sure would dissipate as the day came on, but the thoughts could not be put aside until then.But he found some solace in the thought of someone else in his situation.A person in the very close neighbor room (it is not easy to tell his direction in the dark) is also tossing and turning on the bed.
In the next phase, Perkins closed his eyes, deciding to take every opportunity to sleep.At this point, overexcitement justifies itself in another form—that is, by producing images that do appear before the closed eyes of a person trying to sleep, often so out of taste that he must open them. Eyes drive the picture away.
Perkins' experience in this matter was very frustrating.He found that the pictures presented in front of his eyes were continuous.When he opened his eyes, the picture naturally disappeared; but when he closed his eyes again, the picture re-formed and moved again, neither faster nor slower than before.What he saw was this:
A long stretch of beach--pebbles in the middle, sand on the sides, interrupted at short intervals by breakwaters which descended to the water's edge and black with trees on them--in fact, The view was very much like that of the road he had walked in the afternoon, without any landmarks from which it could not be distinguished.The light was dim, and it felt like a storm was coming. It was a night in the middle of winter, with a little cold rain falling.
On this bleak stage, the actors are initially invisible.Then, in the distance, a living black object appeared; a moment later, it could be seen that it was a man, running, jumping, climbing up the jetty on all fours, eagerly facing backwards every few seconds. take a look.The closer he ran, the more evident it was that he was not only eager, but even terrified, though his face was indistinguishable.Plus, he's almost exhausted.He kept running, and each new obstacle seemed more difficult for him than the old one before him.
"Will he pass the next one?" Perkins thought. "It looks taller than the others." The other side (the side closer to the bystanders).There, it seemed, that he could not really stand up, he huddled motionless under the jetty, looking up with a sort of pained eagerness.
Hitherto the cause of the runner's fear, whatever it may have been, had not been shown; but, now, it was beginning to be seen, and far away, on the beach, something of a pale color flickered, Irregular back and forth motions at great speed.It also quickly grew in size. It turned out that it was a shape wrapped in a pale fabric, and the fabric was blown by the wind. Its shape was not very clear.There was something in its motion that Perkins was reluctant to see with his eyes closed.It would stop, raise its arms, bend its body toward the sand, then bend across the beach, run to the water's edge, and run back.Then, straightening up, he went on again with jaw-dropping and terrifying speed.At last the pursuer swooped from left to right, only a few yards from the huddled concealment of the runner on the jetty.After flopping here and there two or three times, it stopped, straightened up, arms raised, and sprinted toward the jetty.
Perkins always has no determination to keep his eyes closed at this time.Although he had many worries about the onset of visual impairment, overworking the brain, smoking too much, and the like, he finally decided it was better to light a candle, pull out a book, and spend the night awake than to suffer from this non-stop Hallucination torture is better.He could see clearly that this could only be a morbid reaction to his walking and thinking that day.
The scraping of the match on the matchbox and the light of the match must have started some nocturnal animal--a mouse or something--and he heard it scurrying across the floor beside his bed.God, God!The match went out!How stupid!But the second burned better, so the candle was lit, and the book was brought out.Perkins absorbed himself in his book until a wholesome sleep came over him, and he fell fast asleep.For, about the first time in his regular and prudent life, he forgot to blow out the candle, and when he was awakened at eight o'clock the next morning there was still a little light flickering on the candlestick, and the small table Sadly stained with a pile of candle grease.
He was in his room after breakfast, putting the finishing touches on his golf outfit—again luck had assigned the colonel as his partner—when a maid entered.
"Oh, if you would," she said, "would you like another woolen blanket on your bed, sir?"
"Ah! Thank you," said Perkins. "Yes, I think I'd like one. It looks like it might be getting very cold."
"Which bed should I put it in, sir?" she asked.
"What? Oh, the one—the one I slept in last night," he said, pointing.
"Oh, yes! I beg your pardon, sir, but you seem to have tried both beds, and at any rate we have to make both beds this morning."
"Really? What absurdity!" said Perkins. "I'm sure I never touched the other one, except to put something on it. Does it really look like someone slept on it?"
"Oh, yes, sir!" said the maid, "well, everything is crumpled up and thrown about, if you'll forgive me, sir - I must say, it's like someone had a bad day one night, sir."
"My God," said Perkins, "oh, I probably messed up the bed more than I could have imagined when I unpacked it. I'm sorry I must have caused you extra trouble. By the way , I'm expecting a friend--a gentleman from Cambridge--who'll be here soon, and will occupy it for a night or two. That's all right, I think, is it?"
"Oh, yes, it's certainly all right, sir. Thank you, sir. I'm sure it's no trouble at all, sir," said the maid, and left, giggling and talking to her colleague.
Perkins set off, determined to improve his game.
I am pleased to report that he has progressed so rapidly on this matter that the Colonel, who had been rather grouchy about the next day's sporting prospects with this partner, became quite gracious and chatty as the morning wore on; The sound rumbles on the flat ground, as some of our own little poets say: like some bass bell roars in the towers of a cathedral.
"The wind last night, it was so special," he said. "In my hometown, we would say that someone blew a whistle to attract it."
"You'd say that, really!" said Perkins. "Is there such a superstition in your old country?"
"I don't know about superstitions," said the Colonel, "the Yorkshire coast, and Denmark and Norway, they all believe it; my experience is, I tell you, what these country people believe, generations have believed Stuff, generally with a little ground. Still, it's your turn to hit the ball." (Or whatever it might be: the golfing reader has to be able to imagine the right digression at the right interval.) When the conversation resumed, Par Kings said with a little hesitation:
"Regarding what you just said, Colonel, I think I should tell you that my own views on these matters are firm. I am, in fact, a firm disbelief in so-called 'supernatural beings.'"
"What!" said the colonel, "you want to tell me you don't believe in precognition, or ghosts, or anything of that sort?"
"Don't believe in any of that," Perkins replied firmly.
"Well," said the Colonel, "but then you must seem to me more than a Sadducee (a Sadducee was a member of a sect of ancient Judaism that denied the resurrection of the dead, the existence of the soul, the afterlife and angels etc.) Not much better."
Perkins was on the verge of replying that, in his opinion, the Sadducees were the wisest men he had read in the Old Testament; but he had some doubts whether they were mentioned in that work, So he preferred to laugh off the accusation.
"Perhaps so," he said, "but—here, give me my cue, lad!—excuse me, please wait, Colonel." A short pause, "well, about blowing the whistle Question, let me tell you what I think about it. In fact, man has not fully understood the natural laws governing the wind--as for fishermen or anything like that, naturally, not at all. People see a man with a quirk or a woman, or perhaps a stranger, at one particular moment, always stands on the beach, and is heard blowing his or her whistle. Before long, a strong wind blows; a celestial watcher or A man with a barometer can predict such a situation. The simple fishermen in the fishing village have no barometers, but only know a few simple rules for predicting the weather. Therefore, it is believed that the strange person I have just assumed has attracted the wind, and What could be more natural than that eccentric, too, would be eager to seize the wind's fame? Now, take last night's wind: by chance, I myself was blowing a whistle at the time. I blew a Whistle, blow twice, and the wind visibly picked up as if answering my call. If anyone ever saw me—"
The obedient man is a little impatient with such tirades, and Perkins, I am afraid, has adopted a somewhat eloquent tone; but the Colonel paused at his last words.
"Whistle, you?" he said. "What kind of whistle did you use? Hit the ball first." There was a pause in their conversation.
"As for the whistle you asked, Colonel, it was a rather strange whistle. I kept it in my--oh no; I remembered, I left it in my room. In fact, I Found it yesterday."
Then Perkins told how he had discovered the whistle, to which the Colonel grumbled his disapproval, and commented that, in his place, he would be wary of using an object that belonged to a gang of Roman Catholics , generally speaking, you can be sure that you never know what those people may do.He diverted from this subject to the crimes of the vicar, who had given notice the previous Sunday that Friday was St. Thomas's day, and that there would be a church service at eleven o'clock.This incident, and other similar actions, formed in the Colonel's mind a firm assumption that the vicar, if not a Jesuit, was a hidden Roman Catholic; and Perkins, though in this respect Not so happy to agree with the Colonel, but not to argue with him either.In fact, they got along so well together in the morning that neither of them mentioned a separation after lunch.
In the afternoon, the two of them continued to play golf well, or at least well enough to make them forget about everything else before dusk fell.It wasn't until dark that Perkins remembered that he planned to do some more research at the ruins; but that was of little importance, he thought.The investigation was the same any day; he'd better go back with the Colonel.
As they rounded the corner, a boy charged at the colonel at top speed, and the colonel was nearly knocked down by him, and then, instead of running away, the boy clung to the colonel, panting.The colonel, of course, spoke first of all to reprimand, but he soon realized that the boy was almost speechless from fear.Asking is useless at first.When the boy recovered his breath, he began to howl, still clasping the Colonel's leg.He was finally pulled away, but continued to cry.
"What the hell happened to you? What did you do? What did you see?" the two men asked him.
"Oh, I saw it waving at me from the window," cried the boy, "I don't like it."
"What window?" said the colonel angrily. "Come on, cheer up, lad."
“就是旅馆前面的窗户，”男孩说。
帕金斯这时想送男孩回家，但是上校拒绝了。他说，他想把事情弄清楚。像这个人那样，让一个男孩如此受惊吓几乎是危险的。如果真的是有人跟这个男孩开玩笑，那么这人应该为此吃点什么苦头。通过一系列提问，他弄清了事情的经过：这个男孩和其他一些男孩在地球客栈前面的草地上四处玩耍；然后，他们回家喝茶，男孩正要走，这时，他偶然抬头看了看窗户，就看见它在朝他招手。它似乎是一个人影，就他所知，穿着白衣——看不见它的脸；但是它朝他招手，它不是个好东西——不是说它不是个好人。房间里有灯吗？没有，他想那儿看上去好像没有灯。是哪个窗户？是最顶上的那个，还是二层的那个？是二层的那个——是那个两边有两个小窗户的大窗户。
“很好，小伙子，”又问了几个问题以后，上校说，“现在你跑回家去。我想那是什么人想吓你一下。下一次，要像一个勇敢的英国小伙子，你就扔一块石头——噢，不，不要那样做，而是，你去和侍者说，或者去和店主辛普逊先生说，而且——是的——说我建议你那么做。”
男孩的脸上现出某种怀疑的神色，对于辛普逊先生会不会愿意听他的抱怨感到怀疑，但是上校显然没有注意到这一点，继续说：
“这是六便士——不，我看见这是一先令——你离开这里回家，不要再想它了。”
男孩怀着激动的感谢心情匆匆走了，上校和帕金斯转到地球客栈的前面，去侦察情况。只有一扇窗户对于他们所听到的描述给出了答案。
“噢，真奇怪，”帕金斯说，“那个小伙子说到的显然是我的窗户。你能上去一会儿吗，威尔逊上校？如果有任何人擅自进入我的房间，我们应当能看见。”
他们很快走到了通道里，帕金斯做出要开门的动作，但是接着他停住了，在口袋里摸着。
“这比我想的更严重，”他说，“我现在记起来今天早晨出发的时候，我锁了门。门现在锁着，而且，钥匙在这儿。”他把钥匙举了起来。“现在，”他继续说道，“如果仆人们习惯在白天人不在的时候进屋去，我只能说那——噢，我一点儿也不赞成。”他意识到自己有点儿激动，忙着开门（门确实锁着），点蜡烛。“没有，”他说，“看起来没有什么不正常。”
“除了你的床。”上校插话说。
“对不起，那不是我的床，”帕金斯说，“我不用那张床。但是看上去的确像有什么人在和它开玩笑。”
的确如此：衣服被捆扎了起来，而且扭在一起，乱成一团糟。帕金斯沉思着。
“事情肯定是这样的，”他最后说，“我昨晚打开行李的时候把衣服弄乱了，他们那以后没整理。或许他们进来整理，那个男孩从窗户里看见他们；接着，有人把他们叫走，他们就把门锁上了。是的，我想事情肯定是这样的。”
“那么，按铃问一问，”上校说，帕金斯认为这个办法可行。
女仆来了，长话短说，她发誓说早晨这位先生还在房间里的时候，她已经整理过床了，那以后再也没来过。没有，她没有另一把钥匙。辛普逊先生，他保管着钥匙；如果有任何人上来过，他会告诉这位先生的。
这真是个谜。调查显示没有任何贵重的东西被拿走，帕金斯记得桌子上小物件的摆放安排，都整齐如初，这足以使他相当肯定没有人拿这些东西恶作剧。此外，辛普逊夫妇证实白天他们两个没有谁把房间的另一把钥匙交给任何人。帕金斯这个公平的人也没有在店主、店主妻子或者女仆的态度中发现任何内疚的痕迹。他更倾向于认为那个男孩欺骗了上校。
上校在晚餐的时候乃至整个晚上，都异乎寻常地沉默着，若有所思，当他向帕金斯道晚安的时候，粗哑地低声说道：
“晚上如果你需要我的时候，你知道我在哪儿吧？”
“什么？是的，谢谢你，威尔逊上校，我想我知道；但是我不太可能会打扰你，我希望。顺便说一下，”他加了一句，“我给你看我说到的那个古老的哨子了吗？我想还没有。喏，它在这儿。”
上校小心翼翼地在烛光中翻来覆去地看着。
“你认得出这些铭文吗？”帕金斯把哨子放回去的时候，问道。
“认不出，在这个光线下面认不出。你打算把它怎么办？”
“噢，我回剑桥的时候，会把它交给那儿的某个考古学家，看看他们对它有什么看法；很有可能，如果他们认为它值得保留，我可能把它送给某个博物馆。”
“呣！”上校说，“你可能是对的。我所知道的是，如果它是我的，我会直接把它扔到海里去。说是没有任何用处的，我知道得很清楚，但是我希望它会让你知道学无止境。我希望这样，我肯定它会这样。祝你晚安。”
他转身走了，留下正打算说话的帕金斯一个人在楼梯底下，不久，两个人就在各自的卧室里了。
由于某些不幸的意外，教授房间的窗子上既没有遮帘也没有幕帘。前一天晚上他几乎没想到这点，但是今晚一轮上升的明月看来完全可能会直射着他的床，而且可能后来会把他弄醒。他注意到这一点的时候，很是气恼。但是，他以一种我只能嫉妒的灵活性成功地搭起了一幅临时窗帘，用的是一块火车上用的毯子，几个安全别针，一根手杖和一把雨伞，这些只要搭在一起，就能完全把他床上的月光挡住。然后，他很快舒舒服服地躺到了那张床上。他读了一本有点儿严肃的书，书长得足以产生明显的睡眠的愿望，他昏昏欲睡地环视了一下房间，吹熄了蜡烛，躺到了枕头上。
他必定熟睡了一个小时或者更长时间，这时突然哗啦一声响，极讨厌地把他震醒了。他立即意识到发生了什么事：他精心搭建的窗帘倒了，非常明亮的、如霜的月光直射到他脸上。这太恼人了。他有可能起床再把窗帘搭起来吗？或者，如果他不起来重搭，就那么凑合着睡？
有几分钟他躺着，考虑着这两种可能性；然后，他急速地翻身，睁大眼睛，屏住呼吸躺在床上听着。他肯定，就在屋子对面的那张空床上，有一声响动。明天，他要让人把它移走，因为必定有老鼠或是什么东西在上面戏耍。现在安静了。No!骚动又开始了。有种沙沙声和摇动声：这肯定是任何老鼠都弄不出来的。
我自己能想象出一点儿教授的迷惑和恐惧，因为我三十年前曾在一个梦里看见过同样的事情发生；但是读者或许很难想象，看见一个人影突然在他明知是一张空的床上坐起来，那对他是多么可怕。他一跃而起，下了自己的床，一个箭步冲向窗户，那儿放着他唯一的武器，用来搭窗帘的手杖。结果表明，这是他做得最糟糕的一件事，因为空床上的那个人，以一种突然而平滑的动作，从床上溜下来，双臂张开，站在了两张床之间，挡在了门前。帕金斯看着它，恐惧而困惑。不知怎么的，冲过它身边，从门中逃出去的念头让他无法忍受。他不能忍受——他不知道为什么——碰到它；至于它碰到他，他宁愿跳窗户，也不愿这样的事情发生。它这时站在暗影里，他看不见它的脸是什么样子。现在它动了，俯身向前，他突然意识到，既有些恐惧又有些轻松地意识到，它必定是瞎的，因为它似乎是用裹住的双臂在四处胡乱摸索着。它半转过身子，突然察觉到了他刚刚离开的那张床，于是朝床飞扑过去，俯下身，在枕头上摸索着，它摸索的样子让帕金斯不寒而栗，因为他生平从未想到过那竟然是可能的。很短的几秒钟以后，它似乎知道这张床是空的，然后，它向前移动到有光的地方，面对着窗户，它第一次显示出了自己到底是个什么东西。
帕金斯非常讨厌别人问到这个，不过有一次他的确描述过它的几分模样，我正好听见了。我推断他记得的主要是它的那张恐怖的、极其恐怖的、弄皱了的亚麻布的脸。他在那张脸上看到的表情，他不能或者不愿说，但是它的恐怖几乎让他发疯，这一点却是肯定的。
不过，他没有时间把它看得更久一点。它以一种骇人的速度移到了屋子中间，它摸索着、摇摆着的时候，它身上织物的一角拂过了帕金斯的脸。他没能，虽然他知道发出一个声音是多么危险——没能控制住，发出了一声厌恶的叫喊，这立即给了那个搜寻者一个线索。它应声朝他飞扑过来，他半个身子从身后的窗户仰出去，声嘶力竭的一声接一声地叫喊起来。那张亚麻布的脸朝着他自己的脸紧紧地猛扑过来。就在这时，几乎就在最后一瞬，救星来了，你可能已经猜出来了：上校破门而入，正好及时看见了窗户边那可怕的一幕。他跑近前的时候，两个人影只剩下了一个。帕金斯昏迷着向前倒在屋子里，他面前的地板上是一堆乱糟糟的床单。
威尔逊上校什么也没问，只是忙着把所有别的人都挡在屋子外面，把帕金斯弄回床上；他自己，裹了一床毯子，这晚剩下的时间就睡在了另一张床上。第二天一早，罗杰斯到了，若是他在一天以前到，就不会这么受欢迎了。三个人在教授的房间里举行了长时间的磋商。磋商结束时，上校食指和拇指间夹着一个小物件离开了旅馆大门，他把那物件掷进了大海，他那强壮的胳膊能把它掷多远就掷了有多远。此后，一股燃烧东西的烟雾从地球客栈后面的房子里飘了起来。
我必须承认，他们到底为旅馆的员工和房客拼凑了什么样的解释，我并不记得。对于教授精神错乱的怀疑不知怎么的被消除了，旅馆也并没有落下一个鬼宅的名声。
如果上校没有来干预此事，帕金斯会出什么事？对于这个问题没有太多疑问。他要么可能会从窗户上掉下去，要么会丧失理智。但是，那个来回应哨声的怪物除了恐吓还会做出什么，并没有很明显的迹象。除了那些它用来把自己包裹成一个身体的床单，它似乎没有任何实体的东西。上校记得在印度出过一桩类似的事，他认为如果帕金斯靠近它，它真的也做不出什么，它唯一的威力就是恐吓。整个事件，他认为，可以用来证实他对于罗马教堂的观点。
真的没有什么更多的要说了，但是，正如你能想象得到的，教授在某些问题上的观点不像过去那么斩钉截铁了。他的神经也受到了折磨：他甚至到现在都看不得一件白色长袍一动不动地挂在门上，冬日的黄昏，看见一个稻草人竖在田地里，也会让他不止一夜难以成眠。