福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第9章Part1
McMurdo was a man who made his mark quickly. Wherever he was the folk around soon knew it. Within a week he had become infinitely the most important person at Shafter's. There were ten or a dozen boarders there; but they were honest foremen or commonplace clerks from the stores, of a very different calibre from the young Irishman. Of an evening when they gathered together his joke was always the readiest, his conversation the brightest, and his song the best. He was a born boon companion, with a magnetism which drew good humour from all around him.
And yet he showed again and again, as he had shown in the railway carriage, a capacity for sudden, fierce anger, which compelled the respect and even the fear of those who met him. For the law, too, and all who were connected with it, he exhibited a bitter contempt which delighted some and alarmed others of his fellow boarders.
From the first he made it evident, by his open admiration, that the daughter of the house had won his heart from the instant that he had set eyes upon her beauty and her grace. He was no backward suitor. On the second day he told her that he loved her, and from then onward he repeated the same story with an absolute disregard of what she might say to discourage him.
"Someone else?" he would cry. "Well, the worse luck for someone else! Let him look out for himself! Am I to lose my life's chance and all my heart's desire for someone else? You can keep on saying no, Ettie: the day will come when you will say yes, and I'm young enough to wait."
He was a dangerous suitor, with his glib Irish tongue, and his pretty, coaxing ways. There was about him also that glamour of experience and of mystery which attracts a woman's interest, and finally her love. He could talk of the sweet valleys of County Monaghan from which he came, of the lovely, distant island, the low hills and green meadows of which seemed the more beautiful when imagination viewed them from this place of grime and snow.
Then he was versed in the life of the cities of the North, of Detroit, and the lumber camps of Michigan, and finally of Chicago, where he had worked in a planing mill. And afterwards came the hint of romance, the feeling that strange things had happened to him in that great city, so strange and so intimate that they might not be spoken of. He spoke wistfully of a sudden leaving, a breaking of old ties, a flight into a strange world, ending in this dreary valley, and Ettie listened, her dark eyes gleaming with pity and with sympathy--those two qualities which may turn so rapidly and so naturally to love.
McMurdo had obtained a temporary job as bookkeeper for he was a well-educated man. This kept him out most of the day, and he had not found occasion yet to report himself to the head of the lodge of the Eminent Order of Freemen. He was reminded of his omission, however, by a visit one evening from Mike Scanlan, the fellow member whom he had met in the train. Scanlan, the small, sharp-faced, nervous, black-eyed man, seemed glad to see him once more. After a glass or two of whisky he broached the object of his visit.
"Say, McMurdo," said he, "I remembered your address, so l made bold to call. I'm surprised that you've not reported to the Bodymaster. Why haven't you seen Boss McGinty yet?"
"Well, I had to find a job. I have been busy."
麥克默多很快就使自己出了名。無論他到哪裏，周圍的人立刻就知道了。不到一個星期，麥克默多已經變成謝夫特寓所的一個極爲重要的人物。這裏有十到十二個寄宿者，不過他們是誠實的工頭或者是商店的普通店員，與這個年輕的愛爾蘭人的脾性完全不同。晚上，他們聚在一起，麥克默多總是談笑風生，出語不凡，而他的歌聲則異常出色。他是一個天生的摯友，具有使他周圍的人心情舒暢的魅力。
但是他一次又一次象他在火車上那樣，顯出超人的智力和突如其來的暴怒，使人敬畏。他從來不把法律和一切執法的人放在眼裏，這使他的一些同宿人感到高興，使另一些人驚恐不安。
一開始，他就做得很明顯，公然讚美說，從他看到她的美貌容顏和嫺雅丰姿起，這房主人的女兒就俘獲了他的心。他不是一個畏縮不前的求婚者，第二天他就向姑娘表訴衷情，從此以後，他總是翻來覆去地說愛她，完全不顧她會說些什麼使他灰心喪氣的話。
“還有什麼人呢！"他大聲說道，“好，讓他倒黴吧！讓他小心點吧！我能把我一生的機緣和我全部身心所向往的人讓給別人嗎？你可以堅持說'不'，伊蒂！但總有一天你會說'行'，我還年輕 ，完全可以等待。”
麥克默多是一個危險的求婚者，他有一張愛爾蘭人能說會道的嘴巴和一套隨機應變、連哄帶騙的手段。他還有豐富的經驗和神祕莫測的魅力，頗能博得婦女的歡心，最終得到她的愛情。他談其他出身地莫納根郡那些可愛的山谷，談到引人入勝的遙遠的島嶼、低矮的小山和綠油油的湖邊草地，從這種到處是塵埃和積雪的地方去想象那裏的景色，更彷彿使人覺得它愈發美妙無窮。
他然後把話題轉到北方城市的生活，他熟悉底特律和密執安州一些伐木區新興的市鎮，最後還到過芝加哥，他在那裏一家鋸木廠裏作工。然後就暗示地說到風流韻事，說到在那個大都會遇到的奇事，而那些奇事是那麼離奇，又是那麼隱祕，簡直非言語所能講述。他有時忽然若有所思地遠離話題，有時話題突然中斷，有時飛往一個神奇的世界，有時結局就在這沉悶而荒涼的山谷裏。而伊蒂靜靜地聽他講述，她那一雙烏黑的大眼裏閃現出憐憫和同情的光彩，而這兩種心情一定會那麼急速、那麼自然地轉變成愛情。
因爲麥克默多是一個受過良好教育的人，所以他找到了一個記帳員的臨時工作。這就佔去了他大部分的白晝時間，也就無暇去向自由人分會的頭目報到。一天晚上，他在火車上認識的旅伴邁克·斯坎倫來拜訪他，才提醒了麥克默多。斯坎倫個子矮小 ，面容瘦削，眼睛黑黑的，是一個膽小怕事的人。他很高興又看到了麥克默多。喝了一兩杯威士忌酒以後，斯坎倫說明了來意。
“喂，麥克默多，"斯坎倫說道，“我記得你的地址，所以我冒昧地來找你，我真奇怪，你怎麼沒有去向身主報到，爲什麼還不去拜謁首領麥金蒂呢？”
“啊，我正在找事，太忙了。”
