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1、三十九级台阶1 The man who died I returned to my flat at about three oclock on that May afternoon very unhappy with life. I has been back in Britain for three months and I was already bored. The weather was bad，the people were dull，and the amusements of London seemed as exciting as a glass of cold water.Ri
2、chard Hannay，I told myself，you have made a mistake，and you had better do something about it. It made me angry when I thought of the years I had spent in Africa. I had spent those years working very hard and making money. Not a lot of money，but enough for me. I had left Scotland when I was six years
3、old，and I had never been home since. For years I had dreamt of coming home to Britain and spending the rest of my life there，but I was disappointed with the place after the first week. And so here I was，thirty-seven years old，healthy，with enough money to have a good time，and bored to death. That eve
4、ning I went out to dinner and sat reading the newspapers afterwards. They were full of the troubles in south-east Europe，and there was a long report about Karolides，the Greek Prime Minister. He seemed to be an honest man，but some people in Europe hated him. However，many people in Britain liked him，a
5、nd one newspaper said that he was the only man who could prevent a war starting. I remember wondering if I could get a job in south-east Europe；it might be a lot less boring than life in London. As I walked home that night，I decided to give Britain one more day. If nothing interesting happened，I wou
6、ld take the next boat back to Africa. My flat was in a big new building in Langham Place. There was a doorman at the entrance to the building，but each flat was separate，with its own front door. I was just putting the key into my door when a man appeared next to me. He was thin，with a short brown bea
7、rd and small，very bright eyes. I recognized him as the man who lived in a flat on the top floor of the building. We had spoken once or twice on the stairs. Can I speak to you？he asked. May I come in for a minute？His voice was shaking a little. I opened the door and we went in. Is the door locked？he
8、asked，and quickly locked it himself. Im very sorry，he said to me. Its very rude of me. But Im in a dangerous corner and you looked like the kind of man who would understand. If I explain，will you help me？ Ill listen to you，I said. Thats all I promise. I was getting worried by this strange mans behav
9、iour. There was a table with drinks on it next to him，and he took a large whisky for himself. He drank it quickly，and then put the glass down so violently that it broke. Im sorry，he said. Im a little nervous tonight. You see，at this moment Im dead. I sat down in an armchair and lit my pipe. How does
10、 it feel？I asked. I was now almost sure that the man was mad. He smiled. Im not mad-yet. Listen，Ive been watching you，and I guess that youre not easily frightened. Im going to tell you my story. I need help very badly，and I want to know if youre the right man to ask. Tell me your story，I said，and Il
11、l tell you if I can help you. It was an extraordinary story. I didnt understand all of it，and I had to ask a lot of questions，but here it is： 1 His name was Franklin P. Scudder and he was an American，but he had been in south-east Europe for several years. By accident，he had discovered a group of peo
12、ple who were working secretly to push Europe towards a war. These people were clever，and dangerous. Some of them wanted to change the world through war；others simply wanted to make a lot of money，and there is always money to be made from a war. Their plan was to get Russia and Germany at war with ea
13、ch other. I want to stop them，Scudder told me，and if I can stay alive for another month，I think I can. I thought you were already dead，I said. Ill tell you about that in a minute，he answered. But first，do you know who Constantine Karolides is？ The Greek Prime Minister. Ive just been reading about hi
14、m in todays newspapers. Right. Hes the only man who can stop the war. Hes intelligent，hes honest，and he knows whats going on-and so his enemies plan to kill him. I have discovered how. That was very dangerous for me，so I had to disappear. They cant kill Karolides in Greece because he has too many gu
15、ards. But on the 15th of June hes coming to London for a big meeting，and his enemies plan to kill him here. You can warn him，I said. Hell stay at home. Thats what his enemies want. If he doesnt come，theyll win，because hes the only man who understands the whole problem and who can stop the war happen
16、ing. Why dont you go to the British police？I said. No good. They could bring in five hundred policemen，but they wouldnt stop the murder. The murderer will be caught，and hell talk and put the blame on the governments in Vienna and Berlin. It will all be lies，of course，but everybody will be ready to b
17、elieve it. But none of this will happen if Franklin P. Scudder is here in London on the 15th of June. I was beginning to like this strange little man. I gave him another whisky and asked him why he thought that he was now in danger himself. He took a large mouthful of whisky. I came to London by a s
18、trange route-through Paris，Hamburg，Norway，and Scotland. I changed my name in every country，and when I got to London，I thought I was safe. But yesterday I realized that theyre still following me. Theres a man watching this building and last night somebody put a card under my door. On it was the name
19、of the man I fear most in the world. So I decided I had to die. Then they would stop looking for me. I got a dead body-its easy to get one in London，if you know how-and I had the body brought to my flat in a large suitcase. The body was the right age，but the face was different from mine. I dressed i
20、t in my clothes and shot it in the face with my own gun. My servant will find me when he arrives in the morning and hell call the police. Ive left a lot of empty whisky bottles in my room. The police will think I drank too much and then killed myself. He paused. I watched from the window until I saw
21、 you come home，and then came down the stairs to meet you. It was the strangest of stories. However，in my experience，the most extraordinary stories are often the true ones. And if the man just wanted to get into my flat and murder me，why didnt he tell a simpler story？ Right，I said. Ill trust you for
22、tonight. Ill lock you in this room and keep the key. Just one word，Mr Scudder. I believe youre honest，but if youre not，I should warn you that I know how 2 to use a gun. Certainly，he answered，jumping up. Im afraid I dont know your name，sir，but I would like to thank you. And could I use your bathroom？
23、 When I next saw him，half an hour later，I didnt recognize him at first. Only the bright eyes were the same. His beard was gone，and his hair was completely different. He walked like a soldier，and he was wearing glasses. And he no longer spoke like an American. Mr ScudderI cried. Not Mr Scudder，he ans
24、wered. Captain Theophilus Digby of the British Army. Please remember that. I made him a bed in my study，and then went to bed myself，happier than I had been for the past month. Interesting things did happen sometimes，even in London. * * * The next morning when my servant Paddock arrived，I introduced
25、him to Captain Digby. I explained that the Captain was an important man in the army，but he had been working too hard and needed rest and quiet. Then I went out，leaving them both in the flat. When I returned at about lunchtime，the doorman told me that the gentleman in flat 15 had killed himself. I we
26、nt up to the top floor，had a few words with the police，and was able to report to Scudder that his plan had been successful. The police believed that the dead man was Scudder，and that he had killed himself. Scudder was very pleased. For the first two days in my flat，he was very calm，and spent all his
27、 time reading and smoking，and writing in a little black notebook. But after that he became more restless and nervous. It was not his own danger that he worried about，but the success of his plan to prevent the murder of Karolides. One night he was very serious. Listen，Hannay，he said. I think I must t
28、ell you some more about this business. I would hate to get killed without leaving someone else to carry on with my plan. I didnt listen very carefully. I was interested in Scudders adventures，but I wasnt very interested in politics. I remember that he said Karolides was only in danger in London. He
29、also mentioned a woman called Julia Czechenyi. He talked about a Black Stone and a man who lisped when he spoke. And he described another man，perhaps the most dangerous of them all-an old man with a young voice who could hood his eyes like a hawk. The next evening I had to go out. I was meeting a ma
30、n I had known in Africa for dinner. When I returned to the flat，I was surprised to see that the light in the study was out. I wondered if Scudder had gone to bed early. I turned on the light，but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold. Scudder was lyin
31、g on his back. There was a long knife through his heart，pinning him to the floor. 2 The milkman starts his travels I sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. After about five minutes I started shaking. The poor white face with its staring eyes was too much for me，so I got a tablecloth and covered
32、 it. Then I took the whisky bottle and drank several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before. I had killed a few myself in the Matabele war；but this was different. After a few more minutes I managed to calm myself down a little. I looked at my watch and saw that it was halfpast ten. I searche
33、d the flat carefully，but there was nobody there. Then I locked the doors and windows. 3 By this time I was beginning to think more clearly. It looked bad for me-that was clear. It was now certain that Scudders story was true-the proof was lying under the tablecloth. His enemies had found him and mad
34、e sure of his silence. But he had been in my flat for four days，and they must think he had told his story to me. So I would be the next to die. It might be that night，or the next day，or the day after，but it was sure to happen. Then I thought of another problem. I could call the police now，or go to b
35、ed and wait for Paddock to discover the body and call them in the morning. But what would the police think？What story would I tell them about Scudder？I had lied to Paddock about him，and my story would be hard to believe. They would arrest me for murder，and I had no real friends in England to help me
36、. Perhaps that was part of the plan. An English prison would be a safe place for me until the 15th of June. Even if the police did believe my story，I would still be helping Scudders enemies. Karolides would stay at home，which was what they wanted. Scudders death had made me certain that his story wa
37、s true；now I felt responsible for continuing his work. I hate to see a good man beaten，and if I carried on in Scudders place，the murderers might not win. I decided I must disappear，and remain hidden until just before the 15th of June. Then I must contact some government people and tell them Scudders
38、 story. I wished he had told me more，and that I had listened more carefully to what he had told me. There was a risk that the government would not believe me，but it was my best chance. Perhaps more evidence would appear which would help me to make my story believable. It was now the 24th of May，so I
39、 had twenty days of hiding. Two groups of people would be looking for meScudders enemies，who would want to kill me，and the police，who would want me for Scudders murder. There was going to be a chase，and，surprisingly，I was almost happy about this. I did not want to sit in one place and wait. If I cou
40、ld move，the situation did not seem so bad. I wondered if Scudder had any papers which would give me more information about his business. I lifted off the table-cloth and searched him. There were only a few coins in his trouser pockets. There was no sign of the little black notebook. I supposed his m
41、urderer had taken that. When I turned from the body，I noticed that all the cupboards were open. Scudder had been a very careful man，and always kept the place tidy. Someone had been searching for something，and perhaps for the notebook. I went round the flat and found that everything had been searched
42、-the insides of books，cupboards，boxes，even the pockets of my clothes. There was no sign of the notebook，so Scudders enemies had probably found it in the end. Then I got out a map of Britain. My plan was to find some wild country. I was used to Africa，and I would feel trapped in the city. I thought S
43、cotland would probably be best，because my family came from Scotland and I could pretend to be a Scotsman easily. The other possibility was to be a German tourist；my father had worked with Germans and I had spoken German often as a boy. But it would probably be better to be a Scotsman in Scotland. I
44、decided to go to Galloway，which，from the map，seemed to be the nearest wild part of Scotland. In the railway timetable I found a train from London at seven-ten in the morning，which would get me to Galloway in the late afternoon. The problem was getting to the station，as I was certain that Scudders en
45、emies were watching the building. I thought about this problem，had a good idea，went to bed，and slept for two hours. I got up at four oclock. The first light of a summer morning was in the sky and the birds were starting to sing. I put on some old clothes which I used for country walking and some str
46、ong 4 walking boots. I pushed another shirt and a toothbrush into my pockets. I had taken a lot of money out of the bank in case Scudder needed it，so I took that as well. Then I cut my long moustache as short as possible. Paddock arrived every morning at seven-thirty. But at about twenty to seven I
47、knew the milkman would come；the noise of the milk bottles usually woke me up. He was a young man with a very short moustache，and he wore a white coat. He was my only chance. I had a breakfast of biscuits and whisky and by the time I had finished it was about six oclock. I got my pipe and started to
48、fill it from my tobacco jar. As I put my fingers into the tobacco，I touched something hard，and pulled out Scudders little black book. This seemed a good sign. I lifted the cloth and looked at Scudders peaceful face. Goodbye，my friend，I said；Im going to do my best for you. Wish me good luck. Six-thirty passed，then six-forty，but still the milkman did not come. Why，oh why，was this the morning he had to be late？ At fourteen minutes to seven I heard him. I opened the door quickly，and he jumped a bit when he
