4 The Escape

Chapter 4 The Escape I obeyed Sherlock Holmes's instructions to the letter. The following morning, I took the third hansom to arrive and went to Lowther Arcade. Then I ran as fast as I could to the far end where, as Holmes had promised, a carriage was waiting for me. I climbed in and the driver, a big fellow in a dark, red-collared cloak, immediately took off for Victoria Station. As soon as I alighted, he urged on his horse and dashed away again without even a glance in my direction. My bags were waiting for me at the station, and I had no difficulty finding the compartment on the train that Holmes had booked. So far, all had gone smoothly, but now I started to worry, for there was no sign of Holmes himself.

第四章越狱我不折不扣地听从了歇洛克·福尔摩斯的指示。 第二天早上，我乘第三辆马车到洛瑟拱廊去了。 然后我以最快的速度跑到尽头，正如福尔摩斯所承诺的那样，那里有一辆马车在等着我。 我爬上车，司机，一个穿着深色红领斗篷的大个子，立刻向维多利亚车站出发了。 我一下车，他就急匆匆地骑上马，又飞奔而去，连看都不看我一眼。 我的行李在车站等着我，我毫不费力地找到了福尔摩斯所预订的火车车厢。 到目前为止，一切都很顺利，但现在我开始担心了，因为没有福尔摩斯本人的迹象。

According to the station clock, there were just seven minutes to go before the train was due to depart. I searched the hallway and other compartments of the carriage. There were tourists and businesspeople, and even an elderly Italian priest, but there was no sign of Sherlock Holmes. Fear gripped me. Had Moriarty's agents got to him somehow during the night?

根据车站的时钟，离火车出发只有7分钟了。 我搜遍了走廊和车厢的其他隔间。 那里有游客和商人，甚至还有一位上了年纪的意大利牧师，但没有夏洛克·福尔摩斯的踪影。 恐惧攫住了我。莫里亚蒂的特工在夜里找到他了吗？

The Italian priest was trying to explain to the porter, in his broken English, that he was going to Paris and his bags must go there, too. The porter failed to understand, so I helped interpret, all the while conscious that time was ticking away. I did another tour of the carriage, looking in vain for Holmes, then returned to my compartment. I found the old Italian priest sitting there. The porter had mistakenly sent him to our compartment. I tried without success to make the priest understand that he was in the wrong place,

意大利牧师正试图用蹩脚的英语向看门人解释，他要去巴黎，他的行李也必须去那里。 看门人听不懂，所以我帮忙翻译，同时也意识到时间在滴滴答答地流逝。 我又在车厢里转了一圈，找不到福尔摩斯，便回到我的车厢里去了。 我发现那个意大利老牧师坐在那儿。 看门人把他误送到了我们的车厢里。 我试图让牧师明白他来错地方了，但没有成功，

for my Italian was even worse than his English. In the end, I shrugged my shoulders in defeat and continued to look around anxiously for my friend. I gazed out of the window, hoping against hope to see his tall, lean figure racing along the platform toward me—but the platform was empty. The time for departure had arrived. The doors were slammed shut and the guard blew his whistle. The train began to hiss and chug slowly along the track. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, wondering what on earth to do. This could only

因为我的意大利语比他的英语还差。 最后，我失败地耸耸肩，继续焦急地四处寻找我的朋友。 我凝视着窗外，抱着一线希望，希望能看到他又高又瘦的身影沿着站台向我奔来——可是站台上空无一人。 出发的时间到了。 门砰地关上了，警卫吹起了哨子。 火车开始在轨道上发出嘶嘶声和嘎吱声。 我向后靠在座位上，闭上眼睛，不知道到底该怎么办。 这只能

mean the worst had happened: Moriarty had struck! Then a nearby voice spoke: "My dear Watson, you haven't even wished me a good morning." My eyes snapped open in shock. The aged priest suddenly seemed to lose his wrinkles. In their place were the lean features of Sherlock Holmes. "Good heavens!" I cried. "It's you!" I flushed with a sudden anger when he smiled. "Holmes, you rascal, this is no joke! I thought you'd suffered some catastrophe!"

我的意思是最坏的事情发生了：莫里亚蒂袭击了！这时，旁边一个声音说道：“我亲爱的华生，你甚至还没有向我道个早安呢。” 我震惊得睁大了眼睛。 老牧师的皱纹似乎突然消失了。 取而代之的是歇洛克·福尔摩斯瘦削的面容。 “天啊!”我哭了。“是你!”当他微笑时，我突然气得满脸通红。 “福尔摩斯，你这个无赖，这不是开玩笑！我还以为你遭遇了什么灾难呢！”

"I'm sorry, Watson. I couldn't risk appearing as myself. My enemies are still hot upon my trail." He peered out of the window. "Look, there's Moriarty himself." Glancing back, I saw a tall man striding quickly along the platform, waving his hand as if demanding to have the train stopped. He was too late, however, for we were rapidly gathering speed and an instant later we had shot clear of the station. "As you can see, we have escaped with just moments to spare," said Holmes, as he threw off his false moustache and priest's hat and packed them away.

“对不起，华生。我不能冒险做回我自己。 我的敌人还在紧追不舍。” 他向窗外张望。 “瞧，那就是莫里亚蒂本人。” 我回头看了一眼，看见一个高个子男人在站台上大步走着，挥舞着他的手，好像要让火车停下来。 然而，他来得太晚了，因为我们的速度正在迅速加快，不一会儿，我们就冲出了车站。 福尔摩斯一边说，一边把他的假胡子和牧师的帽子摘了下来，把它们收了起来。