薄荷閱讀福爾摩斯探案 chapter16
時光回溯，壹名叫Lucy的女孩認識了Jefferson Hope，兩人之間產生了愛的火花。但現實的殘酷卻讓Lucy壹定要嫁給摩門教徒。於是Lucy壹家決定離開猶他州。
今日翻譯：
Young had told Ferrier that his daughter must marry either Mr. Drebber or Mr. Stangerson.
Drebber and Stangerson called on Ferrier, who told them that his daughter would never marry either of them.
The next day, he found painted on a door on his farm the number ‘28’—the number of days that he had left to decide whom his daughter should marry.
Each night a new and smaller number was painted somewhere on his farm.
Ferrier was powerless, and could see no way of avoiding the blow that was coming to himself and his daughter.
領頭人曾告訴過Ferrier，他的女兒必須嫁給Drebber或者Stangerson中的壹個。
Drebber和Stangerson跟Ferrier聯系，結果Ferrier說無論如何女兒都不會嫁給他們其中任何壹只。
然後，第二天，他就在他的農場大門上發現了壹個數字“28”——他還有28天來決定女兒到底嫁給誰。
每天晚上都會有壹個新的數字出現在他的農場的某壹處。
Ferrier感到非常的無能為力，找不到任何辦法來解決這壹困局。
One night after the number ‘2’ had been painted on his house, Ferrier heard someone tapping very gently upon the door.
Was it some midnight killer? John Ferrier felt that instant death would be better than the doubt.
Springing forward, he threw the door open.
It was Jefferson Hope.
當到了“2”這個晚上的時候，Ferrier聽到了有人徐徐的敲著門。
會不會是半夜殺手？John Ferrier覺得，與其這麽想來想去，還是直接死的痛快。
隨後向前走了幾步，開了門。
門外的是 Jefferson Hope。
“Good God!” cried John Ferrier. “How you scared(嚇到) me!”
“Give me food,” Jefferson said. “I have had no time for food for forty-eight hours.”
He threw himself upon the cold meat and bread which were still lying upon the table from his host’s supper, and ate it quickly.
“Is Lucy well?” he asked, when he had satisfied his hunger.
“Yes. She does not know the danger,” her father answered.
“That is well. The house is watched on every side.
They may be sharp(機警的), but they’re not quite sharp(機警的) enough to catch a hunter such as I.”
“娘咧！”John Ferrier低喊了壹聲，“妳嚇死我了！”
“給我點吃的，我已經48個小時沒吃過壹粒米了。” Jefferson 說著，就撲向了桌上還剩著的冰冷的肉和面包，開始狼吞虎咽。
“Lucy還好吧？”吃完，就關心起了愛人。
“恩，她還不知道危險。”她父親說。
“那就好，這房子壹直有人監視，他們好像還挺機警的，不過再機警也會拿我這樣的獵人沒轍。”
John Ferrier felt a different man now that he realized that he had help.
He grabbed(抓住) the young man’s hand and shook it warmly.
“You’re a man to be proud of,” he said. “What are we to do?”
“Tomorrow is your last day, and unless you act tonight you are lost.
I have three horses waiting in the Eagle Ravine.
We must head for Carson City through the mountains.
You had better wake Lucy. It is just as well that the servants do not sleep in the house.”
John Ferrier感覺自己幫助的這個男人真是與眾不同的有膽識。
“妳很令人驕傲。那我們接下來怎麽做？”
“明天就是最後壹天了，今晚上要是不行動那就沒機會了。我在 Eagle Ravine（鷹谷）有三匹馬。我們得連夜穿山越嶺，往Carson 城走。妳現在把Lucy叫起來把，仆人沒在屋子裏睡倒是方便了不少。”
The welcoming between the lovers was warm, but brief, for minutes were precious(寶貴的), and there was much to be done.
Opening the window very slowly and carefully, they waited until a dark cloud had somewhat obscured(模糊) the night, and then one by one passed through into the little garden.
Once on the high road they made rapid progress.
About the middle of the second day of their flight their food began to run out.
久別相見的情人間氣氛熱烈濃郁，但是很短暫，因為他們現在有很多事情要做，每壹分鐘都很寶貴。
小心翼翼的打開窗戶，他們壹直等到天上被壹片陰雲覆蓋，夜色朦朧之際，才壹個個的爬出窗戶到花園裏。
壹直走上了大路，他們更快的提速狂奔。
大概到了第二天中午，他們沒啥吃的了。
This gave Jefferson a little uneasiness(擔憂).
Choosing a sheltered(可藏身的) corner, he stacked(堆) together a few dried branches and made a fire, at which his companions might warm themselves.
And he set out in search of food.
He walked for a couple of miles without any luck.
At last, after two or three hours of searching, he managed to find and shoot a big-horn(角) antelope(羚羊).
The creature was too large to lift, so Jefferson cut away one thigh(大腿) and part of the side.
這讓Jefferson有點擔憂。找了壹個可以藏身的角落，尋了壹些幹樹枝，燃起了火堆，讓父女能暖和些。
然後他就去找些食物。
不幸的是，走了好幾英裏都沒見壹個能吃的。
最後，經過兩三個小時的搜尋，終於打到壹只羚羊。不過太大了，沒辦法全拖回去，所以只能砍下壹條大腿和部分肉。
With this food over his shoulder, he hurried to return to the others, for it was already getting dark.
When he turned the corner, he saw the spot where the fire had been.
There was still a glowing(發光) pile of wood ashes there, but it had evidently not been touched since his departure(離開).
There was no living creature near the fire: animals, man, girl, all were gone.
It was only too clear that some sudden and terrible disaster had occurred during his absence.
把這些食物扛上肩，他就往藏身處回走，畢竟天都已經黑了。
當他回到那個角落的時候，他看到火堆的灰燼，還有點余下的火星再閃，但是很顯然，從他走後這個火堆就沒有被打理過。
而且，除了火堆，周邊再沒有其他的生物了：馬，男人，女孩兒。都不在。
很顯然，他走了以後，這裏發生了壹場悲劇。
Then his eye fell upon an object which made his blood run cold.
It was a newly-dug grave(墳墓) with a cross over it. The writing on the cross was brief, but to the point:
JOHN FERRIER,
FORMERLY OF SALT LAKE CITY,
Died August 4th, 1860.
然後他看到旁邊的壹個東西，讓他渾身血液都凍僵了。
那是壹個新挖掘的墳墓。上面立著壹個十字架，上頭寫著：
JOHN FERRIER,
曾居住於鹽湖城（Utah猶他州的壹個地方），
死於1860年8月4日。
Jefferson Hope looked wildly round to see if there was a second grave(墳墓), but there was no sign of one.
Lucy had been carried back by the Mormons to accomplish(履行) her original destiny(命運) as a wife of a member of the Church.
As the young fellow realized the certainty of her fate(命運), and his own inability to prevent it, he wished that he, too, was lying with the old farmer.
However, his active spirit shook off the lethargy(倦怠) which sprang from despair(絕望).
If there was nothing else left to him, he could at least devote his life to revenge(復仇).
Jefferson Hope又環繞了壹周，看看還有沒有第二個墳墓，不過沒有了。看來Lucy是被抓回去履行她的命運嫁給壹位摩門教徒了。
當這位年輕人意識到他對這樣的情況如此的無能為力的時候，真想跟這位老父親躺在壹起。
不過，很快，他絕望的情緒就被震退了：如果這個世上沒有什麽可以留戀的，那就將余生都用來復仇。
He heard from a Mormon acquaintance(熟人) that Lucy was now married to Drebber, but that she was so sick that no one expected her to survive.
She died within a month.
Jefferson was just in time to attend(參加) the funeral preparations, and to take the wedding(結婚) ring so that she would not be buried with it.
他從壹位熟識的摩門教徒那裏得知，Lucy嫁給了Drebber，不過已經身染重病，而且也沒人願意給她救治。
不過壹個月，她就去世了。
Jefferson去參加了她的葬禮，並且將婚介拿了下來。他知道，她不想帶著婚介安葬。
Drebber and Stangerson had left Utah, and no one knew where they had gone.
With the small amount of money he had, plus whatever he could earn along the way, Jefferson Hope travelled from town to town in search of his enemies.
Year passed into year, his black hair turned grey and his health failed, but still he searched on, a human bloodhound(獵犬), with his mind wholly set upon the one object of revenge(復仇) to which he had devoted his life.
He almost caught up with Drebber in Cleveland, Ohio, but Drebber and Stangerson (who had become Drebber’s private secretary) had him arrested(逮捕).
後來，Drebber 和 Stangerson 離開了Utah（猶他州），沒人知道他們去了哪裏。
Jefferson帶著他僅有的錢，並且沿途盡可能的賺得壹些資金，開始了找尋仇人的旅程。
壹年又壹年，他的黑發染了灰，身體也大不如前，但是，仍然作為壹只人類獵犬，懷著滿腔的畢生復仇之情，找尋著他的仇人。
在Ohio（俄亥俄州）的Cleveland（克利夫蘭），他差點就抓到了Drebber。但是，他因為 Drebber 和 Stangerson （現在已經是Drebber的秘書）被抓了。
By the time Jefferson Hope was free, his enemies had left for Europe.
Jefferson followed them there, and tracked his enemies from city to city.
When he reached St. Petersburg, they had left for Paris; and when he followed them there, he learned that they had just set off for Copenhagen(哥本哈根).
At the Danish(丹麥的) capital he was again a few days late, for they had left for London, where he found them at last.
當他重獲自由的時候，他的仇人已經離開了歐洲。
Jefferson追蹤著他的仇人，走過壹個又壹個城市。
當他到達 Petersburg街的時候，他們已經離開去了巴黎；當他跟著到了巴黎，他們又已經去了哥本哈根。
就是在丹麥，他也晚了他們幾天。
直到在倫敦，他追上了他們。
over。