双语·面纱 第六十二章
But she was awakened by a loud knocking. At first, since it was interwoven with the dream from which she was aroused, she could not attach the sound to reality. The knocking went on and she was conscious that it must be at the gateway of the compound. It was quite dark. She had a watch with phosphorised hands and saw that it was half past two. It must be Walter coming back--how late he was--and he could not awake the boy. The knocking went on, louder and louder, and in the silence of the night it was really not a little alarming. The knocking stopped and she heard the withdrawing of the heavy bolt. Walter had never come back so late. Poor thing, he must be tired out! She hoped he would have the sense to go straight to bed instead of working as usual in that laboratory of his.
There was a sound of voices, and people came into the compound. That was strange, for Walter coming home late, in order not to disturb her, took pains to be quiet. Two or three persons ran swiftly up the wooden steps and came into the room next door. Kitty was a little frightened. At the back of her mind was always the fear of an anti-foreign riot. Had something happened? Her heart began to beat quickly. But before she had time to put her vague apprehension into shape someone walked across the room and knocked at her door.
“Mrs. Fane.”
She recognised Waddington's voice.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Will you get up at once. I have something to say to you.”
She rose and put on a dressing-gown. She unlocked the door and opened it. Her glance took in Waddington in a pair of Chinese trousers and a pongee coat, the house-boy holding a hurricane lamp, and a little farther back three Chinese soldiers in khaki. She started as she saw the consternation on Waddington's face; his head was tousled as though he had just jumped out of bed.
“What is the matter?” she gasped.
“You must keep calm. There's not a moment to lose. Put on your clothes at once and come with me.”
“But what is it? Has something happened in the city?”
The sight of the soldiers suggested to her at once that there had been an outbreak and they were come to protect her.
“Your husband's been taken ill. We want you to come at once.”
“Walter?” she cried.
“You mustn't be upset. I don't exactly know what's the matter. Colonel Yü sent this officer to me and asked me to bring you to the Yamen at once.”
Kitty stared at him for a moment, she felt a sudden cold in her heart, and then she turned.
“I shall be ready in two minutes.”
“I came just as I was,” he answered. “I was asleep, I just put on a coat and some shoes.”
She did not hear what he said. She dressed by the light of the stars, taking the first things that came to hand; her fingers on a sudden were so clumsy that it seemed to take her an age to find the little clasps that closed her dress. She put round her shoulders the Cantonese shawl she had worn in the evening.
“I haven't put a hat on. There's no need, is there?”
“No.”
The boy held the lantern in front of them and they hurried down the steps and out of the compound gate.
“Take care you don't fall,” said Waddington. “You'd better hang on to my arm.”
The soldiers followed immediately behind them.
“Colonel Yü has sent chairs. They're waiting on the other side of the river.”
They walked quickly down the hill. Kitty could not bring herself to utter the question that trembled so horribly on her lips. She was mortally afraid of the answer. They came to the bank and there, with a thread of light at the bow, a sampan was waiting for them.
“Is it cholera?” she said then.
“I'm afraid so.”
She gave a little cry and stopped short.
“I think you ought to come as quickly as you can.” He gave her his hand to help her into the boat. The passage was short and the river almost stagnant; they stood in a bunch at the bow, while a woman with a child tied on her hip with one oar impelled the sampan across.
“He was taken ill this afternoon, the afternoon of yesterday that is,” said Waddington.
“Why wasn't I sent for at once?”
Although there was no reason for it they spoke in whispers. In the darkness Kitty could only feel how intense was her companion's anxiety.
“Colonel Yü wanted to, but he wouldn't let him. Colonel Yü has been with him all the time.”
“He ought to have sent for me all the same. It's heartless.”
“Your husband knew that you had never seen any one with cholera. It's a terrible and revolting sight. He didn't want you to see it.”
“After all he is my husband,” she said in a choking voice.
Waddington made no reply.
“Why am I allowed to come now?”
Waddington put his hand on her arm.
“My dear, you must be very brave. You must be prepared for the worst.”
She gave a wail of anguish and turned away a little, for she saw that the three Chinese soldiers were looking at her. She had a sudden strange glimpse of the whites of their eyes.
“Is he dying?”
“I only know the message Colonel Yü gave to this officer who came and fetched me. As far as I can judge collapse has set in.”
“Is there no hope at all?”
“I'm dreadfully sorry, I'm afraid that if we don't get there quickly we shan't find him alive.”
She shuddered. The tears began to stream down her cheeks.
“You see, he's been overworking, he has no powers of resistance.”
She withdrew from the pressure of his arm with a gesture of irritation. It exasperated her that he should talk in that low, anguished voice.
They reached the side and two men, Chinese coolies, standing on the bank helped her to step on shore. The chairs were waiting. As she got into hers Waddington said to her:
“Try and keep a tight hold on your nerves. You'll want all your self-control.”
“Tell the bearers to make haste.”
“They have orders to go as fast as they can.”
The officer, already in his chair, passed by and as he passed called out to Kitty's bearers. They raised the chair smartly, arranged the poles on their shoulders, and at a swift pace set off. Waddington followed close behind. They took the hill at a run, a man with a lantern going before each chair, and at the water-gate the gate-keeper was standing with a torch. The officer shouted to him as they approached and he flung open one side of the gate to let them through. He uttered some sort of interjection as they passed and the bearers called back. In the dead of the night those guttural sounds in a strange language were mysterious and alarming. They slithered up the wet and slippery cobbles of the alley and one of the officer's bearers stumbled. Kitty heard the officer's voice raised in anger, the shrill retort of the bearer, and then the chair in front hurried on again. The streets were narrow and tortuous. Here in the city was deep night. It was a city of the dead. They hastened along a narrow lane, turned a corner, and then at a run took a flight of steps; the bearers were beginning to blow hard; they walked with long, rapid strides, in silence; one took out a ragged handkerchief and as he walked wiped from his forehead the sweat that ran down into his eyes; they wound this way and that so that it might have been a maze through which they sped; in the shadow of the shuttered shops sometimes a form seemed to be lying, but you did not know whether it was a man who slept to awake at dawn or a man who slept to awake never; the narrow streets were ghostly in their silent emptiness and when on a sudden a dog barked loudly it sent a shock of terror through Kitty's tortured nerves. She did not know where they went. The way seemed endless. Could they not go faster? Faster. Faster. The time was going and any moment it might be too late.
但是她被一阵大声的敲门声惊醒了。起初，敲门声交织着她正在做的梦，她还分不清是梦境还是现实。有人一直在敲着门，她意识到声音是从院门那儿传来的。外面一片漆黑，她有一块手表，指针是磷光的，能够看出是深夜两点半。一定是沃尔特回来了——今天回来得太晚了——他无法叫醒男仆。敲门声还在继续，而且声音越来越大，在夜晚的寂静中显得格外刺耳。敲门声停了，她听见沉重的门闩被拉开的声音。沃尔特从来没有这么晚回来过，可怜的人，他一定是累坏了！她希望他能直接上床睡觉，而不要像往常那样去他的实验室里工作。
一阵嘈杂的声音传来，有人进了院子。很蹊跷，每次沃尔特回家晚了，为了不打扰她，都会轻手轻脚地进来。两三个人快速跑上木制的台阶，进了隔壁的房间。凯蒂有点儿害怕了，在她意识深处，总是害怕有反抗外国人的暴乱。到底发生了什么事？她的心开始怦怦跳了，但是在她把朦胧的恐惧搞清楚之前，有人已经穿过了客厅，开始敲她卧室的门了。
“费恩太太。”
她听出了是威廷顿的声音。
“嗯，怎么了？”
“你能马上起床吗？我有事跟你说。”
她起床了，披上了睡袍，把门闩拉开，打开了房门。她看到威廷顿穿着一条中国人的裤子和茧绸的外套，家里的男仆手里拿着一盏马灯，他们的身后是三名穿着卡其布军服的士兵。当她看到威廷顿脸上惊慌的神色大吃了一惊，他头发乱糟糟的，好像刚从床上跳起来一样。
“发生什么事了？”她紧张地问道。
“你必须保持冷静，我们一分钟也不能耽搁了，你立刻穿上外衣，跟我走。”
“怎么了？城里发生什么事了吗？”
看到士兵她马上想到是不是发生了什么暴乱，他们被派过来保护她。
“你丈夫病倒了，我们想让你即刻过去。”
“沃尔特吗？”她喊道。
“你先别慌，我还不知道确切的情况，余上校派这个军官来找我，让我马上把你带到衙门去。”
凯蒂惊恐地看了他一会儿，突然觉得心底一凉。随后，她转过身去。
“我两分钟后就会准备妥当。”
“我就这样来了。”威廷顿回答说，“我正在睡觉，我只穿上了一件外套和鞋子。”
她没听见他在说什么，随便拿了一件手边的衣服，借着星光开始穿衣，她的手指变得很笨，费了好长时间才找到扣子把衣服扣好。她把一件在晚上穿的广州人常穿的披肩披在了肩上。
“我还没戴上帽子，但也没必要了，对吧？”
“是的。”
家里的男仆举着灯笼走在他们前面，他们匆忙地走下台阶，出了院门。
“小心别滑倒了。”威廷顿说道，“你最好挽着我的胳膊。”
士兵们快速地跟在了他们的后面。
“余上校已经派人找来了轿椅，他们正在河的对岸等着呢。”
他们迅速地下了山，凯蒂的嘴唇可怕地颤抖着，嘴边的问题不敢问出口，因为她对可能的答案心里怕得要死。他们来到岸边，在船头一丝光线的照射下，一艘小舢板正在等着他们。
“是霍乱吗？”她终于忍不住问道。
“恐怕是的。”
她惊叫了一声又马上住嘴了。
“我认为你应该尽快地赶过去。”他把手递给她，想在她上船时扶她一把。上船的木板很短，河水也几乎不动。他们一群人站在船头，撑船的是个女人，她把一个孩子绑在腰部，用一支船桨把小船摇到了对岸。
“他是今天下午病倒的，昨天下午染上的病。”威廷顿说道。
“那为什么不马上派人跟我说？”
虽然没有必要，但他们说话都尽量压低了声音。在黑暗当中，凯蒂能够感觉到她同伴的焦虑。
“余上校想这样做，但是沃尔特不让。余上校一直在陪着他。”
“他还是应该早点儿告诉我，真是没心没肺。”
“你丈夫知道你从来没见过得霍乱的病人，那景象很可怕的，令人作呕，他不想让你看到。”
“可他毕竟是我的丈夫。”她用哽咽的声音说道。
威廷顿没吭声。
“为什么我现在可以来看他了？”
威廷顿把手放在了她的肩上。
“我亲爱的，你一定要勇敢，你必须有最坏的心理准备。”
她发出了痛苦的哀号，把脸扭到了一边，因为她看到那三个中国士兵正在看着她，她突然很奇怪地看到了他们的眼白。
“他快死了吗？”
“我只知道余上校给我的口信，他派这位军官过来接上了我。据我判断，情况比较危急。”
“一点儿希望都没有了吗？”
“我真的非常抱歉，但恐怕不赶紧到那儿，我们就见不上他最后一面了。”
她浑身颤抖，泪水开始在脸颊上流淌。
“你知道，他总是加班加点地工作，都没有抵抗力了。”
她生气地把手从他胳膊底下抽了出来，他用那种低沉而令人痛苦的声音说话激怒了她。
他们到达了河对岸，两个轿夫正等在岸边，他们帮她上了岸，轿椅已经备好，当她坐上了轿椅，威廷顿对她说道：
“保持镇定，你一定要控制好自己的情绪。”
“告诉轿夫们抓紧时间。”
“他们已经得到要尽可能快的命令了。”
已经坐在轿椅上的那位军官，路过凯蒂的轿椅时，大声呵斥着轿夫快点儿出发。他们很麻利地抬起轿椅，把轿杠放到自己的肩上，迈着快速的步伐出发了，威廷顿的轿椅紧随其后。他们沿着山脚一路小跑，每个轿椅的旁边都有一个人举着灯笼走在前面。在水闸处，守水闸的人正拿着一个火把站在那儿。当他们走近的时候，军官向他喊叫着，他推开了门的一边，让他们鱼贯而过。当他们经过的时候，他发出种种感叹，而轿夫们也回应了他。在死一样沉寂的夜里，用奇怪的语言发出的那些刺耳的声音神秘而吓人。他们在用鹅卵石铺成的又湿又滑的小巷中跌跌撞撞地行进，抬着军官的一位轿夫脚底一滑，差点儿跌倒。凯蒂听到军官生气地骂着，而轿夫们尖声地回嘴，然后前面的轿椅又继续前进了。街道狭窄而又弯弯曲曲，这座城镇正处在深夜当中，它是一座死亡之城。他们沿着一条狭窄的小巷匆匆赶路，拐了一个弯，然后小跑着上了好几级的台阶，轿夫们开始气喘吁吁了，他们在沉默中大步快速走着，一个轿夫拿出了一块破烂的手巾，一边走着，一边擦着额头的汗水，防止流入眼睛。他们加速走在弯弯曲曲的、如同迷宫般的街道上，在窗户紧闭的店铺的阴影中，有时会看到似乎躺着的人形，但你不知道这个睡觉的人是会在黎明时醒来，还是永远地长眠不醒了。狭窄的街道在空寂中如同鬼魅一般，突然有一只狗大声叫了起来，让恐惧弥漫在凯蒂饱受折磨的神经中好一阵子。她不知道他们要去哪儿，路似乎没有尽头。他们难道不能再快一点儿吗？再快点儿，更快点儿。时间在流逝，可每一刻都显得如此漫长。
