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第25章 蓝宝石十字架5（第1页）

第25章蓝宝石十字架（5）

"Theparsonatthedoorsaysallserene，'Sorrytofuseyourats，butit'llpayforthewindow。''?'Isays。'TheoneI'mgoingtobreak，'hesays，ablessedpahhisumbrella。"

Allthreeinquirersmadeaioorsaidunderhisbreath，"Areweafteresatics?"Theithsomerelishfortheridiculousstory:

"Iwassoknockedsillyforased，I'tdoanything。ThemaofthepladjoinedhisfriendjustrouhesoquickupBullockStreetthatI'tcatchthem，thoughIranrouodoit。"

"BullockStreet，"saidthedetedshotupthatthhfareasquicklyasthestrangecouplehepursued。

Theirjourookthemthroughbarebrickwaysliketuhfewlightsahfes;streetsthatseemedbuiltoutoftheblankbacksandeverywhere。Duskening，anditwasheLondooguessidiretheyweretreadior，horettythattheywouldeventuallystrikesomepartofHampsteadHeath。Abruptlyonebulginggas-litwihebluetwilightlikeabull's-eyelanteroppedaninstalegarishsweetstuffshop。Afteraninstant'shesitatioioodamidthegaudycoloursoftheerywitheyandboughtthirteenchocolatecigarswithacare。Hearihedidnotneedone。

Anangular，elderlyyoungwomanintheshardedhiselegantappearahamerelyautomatiquiry;butwhehedoorbehindhimblockedwiththeblueuniformoftheior，hereyesseemedto>

"Oh，"shesaid，"ifyou'veeaboutforthatparcel，I'vesentitoffalready。"

"Parcel?"repeatedValentin;anditwashisturntol。

"Imeahe'gehege;

&quoodness'sake，"said'Valentin，leaningforwardwithhisfirstrealofeager;forHeaven'ssaketellusely。"

"Well，"saidthewomafully，"theabouthalfanhoandboughtsomepeppermintsa，aowardstheHeath。Butasedafter，ohemrunsbatotheshopandsays，'HaveIleftaparcel!'Well，Ilookedeverywhereand'tseeone;sohesays，'Nevermind;butifitshouldturittothisaddress，'aheaddressandashillingformytrouble。AhoughIthoughtI'dlookedeverywhere，Ifoundhe'dleftabroarcel，soIpostedittotheplacehesaid。Iembertheaddressnohereier。Butasthethingseemedsoimportant，Ithoughtperhapsthepolieaboutit。"

"Sotheyhave，"saidValentinshortly。"IsHampsteadHeath;

&quhtonforfiftee;saidthewoman，"andyou'llerightouto;

&insprangoutoftheshopaoruherdetectivesfollowedhimatareluttrot。

&heythreadedwassonarrowandshutinbyshadowsthatwhentheycameoutuothevoidonandvastskytheywerestartledtofiillsolightandclear。Aperfeeofpeasankintogoldamidtheblagtreesandthedarkvioletdistaheglowiwasjustdeepenoughtopipointsofeortwostars。AllthatwasleftofthedaylightlayieracrosstheedgeofHampsteadandthatpopularhollowwhichiscalledtheValeofHealth。Theholidaymakerswhorionhadnotwhollydispersed;afewcouplessatshapelesslyonbendhereaantgirlstillshriekediheswings。Thegloryofheavendeepenedanddarkenedaroundthesublimevulgarityofman。

Standingontheslopeandlookingacrossthevalley，Valehingwhichhesought。

Amongthebladbreakinggroupsinthatdistaneespeciallyblackwhiroupoftwofiguresclericallyclad。Thoughtheyseemedassmallasis，Valentiohemwasmuchsmallerthahoughtheotherhadastudent'sstoopandaninanner，hecouldseethatthemanwaswelloversixfeethigh。Heshuthisteethaforward，whirlinghisstickimpatiently。Bythetimehehadsubstantiallydimiandmagwoblackfiguresasinavastmicroscope，hehadperethihingwhichstartledhim，awhichhehadsomehowexpected。Whoeverriest，thereodoubtabouttheidentityoftheshortowashisfriendoftheHarwi，thestumpylittlecureofEssexwhomhehadwarhisbroarcels。

Now，sofarasthiswehingfittedinfinallyandrationallyenough。ValentinhadlearnedbyhisimthataFatherBrownfromEssexwasbringingupasilvercrosshires，arelisiderablevalue，toshowsomehegress。Thisuhe"silverwithbluesto;;andFatherBrowhelittlegreenhorrain。hingwonderfulaboutthefactthatwhatValentinhadfoundoutFlambeauhadalsofoundout;Flambeaufouhing。AlsotherewasnothihefactthatwhenFlambeauheardofasapphirecrossheshouldtrytostealit;thatwastheminallnaturalhistory。AherewasnothingwonderfulaboutthefactthatFlambeaushouldhaveitallhisoithsuchasillysheepasthemanwiththeumbrellaandtheparcels。HewasthesortofmanwhomcouldleadanybodytothewasnthatanactorlikeFlambeau，dressedasa，couldleadhimtoHampsteadHeath。Sofarthecrimeseemedough;aectivepitiedthepriestforhishelplessdespisedFlambeaufordingtosogullibleavictim。Butwhehoughtofallthathadhappeween，ofallthathadledhimtohistriumph，herackedhisbrairhymeorreasoninit。Whathadthestealingofablue-and-silverapriestfromEssextodowithgsoupater?Whathadittodowithutses，orwithpayingforwindowsfirstahemafterwards?Hehadetotheendofhischase;yetsomehowhehadmissedthemiddleofit。Whenhefailed（whichwasseldom），hehadusuallygraspedtheclue，buthelessmissedtheal。Herehehadgraspedtheal，butstillheotgrasptheclue。

&wofiguresthattheyfollolinglikeblackfliesacrossthehugegreentourofahill。Theywereevidentlysunkiion，andperhapsdidheyweregoing;buttheywerelygoingtothewilderaheightsoftheHeath。Astheirpursuersgaihelatterhadtousetheuudesofthedeer-stalker，tocroudclumpsoftreesaocrawlprostrateindeepgrass。Bytheseungaihehuntersevencameoughtothequarrytohearthemurmurofthedis，butnowordcouldbedistiheword"reasfrequentlyinahighandalmostchildishvoiabruptdipoflandaahickets，thedetectivesactuallylostthetwofigurestheywerefollowifirailagainfoes，aledroundthebrowofagreatdomeofhillareofriddesolatesusderatreeinthisaedspotwasanoldramshacklewoodehisseatsatthetwopriestsstillinseriousspeechteoldstillgthorizon;butthedomeabovewasturningslowlyfrompeatopeacock-blue，aarsdetachedthemselvesmoreandmorelikesolidjewels。Mutelymotioningtohisfollowers，Valentiocreepupbehindthebigbrangtree，and，standihlysilehewordsepriestsforthefirsttime。

Afterhehadlistenedforaminuteandahalf，heedbyadevilishdoubt。PerhapshehaddraggedthetwoEnglishpolitothewastesofanoalheathonanerrahanseekingfigsonitsthistles。Forthetwopriestsweretalkilylikepriests，piously，withlearningahemmasoftheology。ThelittleEssexpriestspokethemoresimply，withhisroutheningstars;theothertalkedwithhisheadbowed，asifhewerehytolookatthem。Butlycleriversationcouldhavebeenheardinaaliancloisterorblaishcathedral。

&heheardwasthetailofoherBrown'ssentences，whided:"。。。whattheyreallymeantintheMiddleAgesbytheheavensbeingincorruptible。"

&allerpriestnoddedhisbowedheadandsaid，"Ah，yes，thesemoderninfidelsappealtotheirreason;butwholookatthosemillionsofworldsaheremaywellbewonderfuluniversesaboveuswherereasonisutterlyunreaso;

"No，"saidtheotherpriest;"reasonisalwaysreasohelastlimbo，iborderlandofthings。IknolechargetheChurchwithlreason，butitisjusttheotherway。AloheChurchmakesreasonreallysupreme。AloheChurchaffirmsthatGodhimselfisboundbyreason。"

&herpriestraisedhisausterefacetothespangledskyandsaid，"Yetwhoknowsifinthatinfi;

"Onlyinfinitephysically，"saidthelittlepriest，turningsharplyi;notihesenseofesthelawsoftruth。"

&inbehiearinghisfingernailswithsilentfury。HeseemedalmosttgersoftheEiveswhomhehadbroughtsofaronafantastilytolisteaphysicalgossipoftwomildoldparsons。InhisimpatieheequallyelaborateahetalldwheenedagainitwasagainFatherBroasspeaking:

"Reasonaheremotestandtheloar。Lookatthosestars。Don'ttheylookasiftheyweresinglediamondsandsapphires?Well，youeanymadbyyouplease。Thisofadamantwithleavesofbrilliants。Thinkthemoonisabluemoon，asiinesapphire。Butdon'tfancythatallthatfrantiywouldmakethesmallestdifferehereasonandjustiduplainsofopal，undercliffscutoutofpearl，youwouldstillfindanotice-board，'Thoushaltnotsteal。'"

&inwasjustifridandgattitudeandgawayassoftlyasmightbe，felledbytheofollyofhislife。Butsomethingintheverysileallpriestmadehimstopuerspoke。Whenatlasthedidspeak，hesaidsimply，hisheadbowedandhishandsonhisknees:

"Well，Ithinkthatothersrisehigherthahemysteryofheavenisunfathomable，andIforoneyhead。"

&hbrowyetbentandwithoutgbythefaishadehisattitudeorvoice，headded:

"Justhasapphirecrossofyours，willyou?We'reallalonehere，andIcouldpullyoutopieceslikeastrawdoll。"

&erlyunalteredvoidattitudeaddedastrahatshogeofspeech。Buttheguarderofthereliedtoturhesmallestsepass。Heseemedstilltohaveasomewhatfoolishfaedtothestars。Perhapshehadood。Or，perhaps，hehaduoodandsatrigidwithterror。

"Yes，"saidthetallpriest，inthesamelowvoithesamestillposture，"yes，IamFlambeau。"