奇书网

第40章 掘墓盗尸人8（第1页）

第40章掘墓盗尸人（8）

Therewasaninstant'shesitation，a。Maeotsuppressawitfinitesimalmarkofanimmenserelief，ashefeltthekeybetweenhisfihecupbhtoutpenandinkahatstoodimeedfromthefundsinadrawerasumsuitabletotheo。

"Now，lookhere，"hesaid，"thereisthepaymeprooodfaith:firststeptoyoursecurity。Youhavenowtochitbyaseterthepaymentinyourbook，andthenyouforyourpartmaydefythedevil。"

&fewsedswereforFettesanagonyofthought;butinbalanghisterrorsitwasthemostimmediatethattriumphed。AnyfuturedifficultyseemedalmostweleifhecouldavoidapresehMae。Hesetdownthedlewhichhehadbeengallthistime，andwithasteadyhae，theheamouion。

"Andnow，"saidMae，"it'sonlyfairthatyoushouldpocketthelucre。I'vehadmysharealready。Bythebye，whenamanoftheworldfallsintoabitofluck，hasafewshillirainhispoashamedtospeakofit，butthere'saruleofthe，nopurchaseofexpensiveclass-books，nofolddebts;borrow，don'tlend。"

"Mae，"begaillsomewhathoarsely，"Ihaveputmyneahaltertoobligeyou。"

"Toobligeme?"criedWolfe。"Oh，e!Youdid，asnearasIseethematter，whatyhthadtodoinself-defence。SupposeIgotintotrouble，wherewouldyoube?ThissedlittlematterflowsclearlyfrrayistheuationofMissGalbraith。You'tbegiop。Ifyoubegin，youmustkeepohat'sthetruth。hewicked。"

Ahorriblesenseofbladthetreacheryoffateseizedholduponthesouloftheunhappystudent。

"MyGod!"hecried，"butwhathaveIdone?andwheobemadeaclassassistant—inthenameofreasoheharminthat?Servitedthepositihthavegotit。WouldhehavebeenwhereIamnow?"

"Mydearfellow，"saidMae，"whataboyyouare!WhatharmHASetoyou?Whatharmetoyouifyouhue?Why，man，doyouknowwhatthislifeis?Therearetwosquadsofus—thelionsandthelambs。Ifyou'realamb，you'lletolieupoableslikeGrayalbraith;ifyou'realion，you'llliveanddriveahorselikeme，likeK，likealltheite。Yeredatthefirst。ButlookatK!Mydearfellow，you'reclever;youhavepluck。Ilikeyou，andKlikesyou。Youwereborhehunt;andItellyou，onmyhonourandmyexperienceoflife，threedaysfromnowyou'lllaughatallthesescarecrowslikeaHighSchoolboyatafarce。"

AndwiththatMaetookhisdepartureahewyndinhisgigtogetundercht。Fetteswasthusleftalohhisregrets。Hesawthemiserableperilioodihinexpressibledismay，thattherewasnolimittohisweakhat，fromto，hehadfalleerofMae'sdestinytohispaidandhelplessaplice。Hewouldhavegiveohavebeenalittlebraveratthetime，butitdidnotothathemightstillbebrave。ThesecretofJahandthetryintheday-bookouth。

Hourspassed;theclassbegantoarrive;themembersoftheunhappyGrayweredealtouttoooanother，aremark。Riadehappywiththehead;ahehouroffreedFettestrembledwithexultationtoperceivehowfartheyhadalreadygoo>

Fortwodaysheuedtowatch，withingjoy，thedreadfulprocessofdisguise。

OhirddayMaemadehisappearance。Hehadbeehemadeupforlosttimebytheehwhichhedirectedthestudents。ToRiinparticularheextevaluableassistandadvidthatstudent，ehepraiseofthedemonstrathwithambitioushopes，andsawthemedalalreadyinhisgrasp。

&heweekwasoutMae'sprophecyhadbeeeshadoutlivedhisterrorsandhadfottenhisbaseoplumehimselfuponhisce，andhadsedthestoryinhismindthathecouldlookbatheseeventswithahypride。Ofhisaplicehesawbutlittle。Theymet，ofthebusiheclass;theyreceivedtheiretherfromMr。K。Attimestheyhadawordortwoinprivate，andMaewasfromfirsttolastparticularlykindandjovial。Butitlainthatheavoidedaheiro;andeveeswhisperedtohimthathehadhislotwiththelionsandforswornthelambs，heoohimsmilinglytoholdhispeace。