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It was a miserable day for Mr Dunning．He did not want to go to the British Museum in case he met Karswell，and he did not feel comfortable in the empty house．He spent half an hour at the hospital where he found that the two women were feeling much better．Then he decided to go to the Club for lunch． There，he was very glad to find his friend the Secretary and they had lunch together．He told Gayton that his servants were in hospital，but he was unwilling to speak of his other problems．

'You poor man，'said the Secretary．'We can't leave you alone with no one to cook your meals．You must come and stay with us．My wife and I will be delighted to have you．Go home after lunch and bring your things to my house this after- noon．No，I won't let you refuse．'

In fact，Mr Dunning was very happy to accept his friend's invitation．The idea of spending another night alone in his house was alarming him more and more．

At dinner that evening Mr Dunning looked so unwell that the Gaytons felt sorry for him and tried to make him forget his troubles．But later，when the two men were alone，Dunning became very quiet again．Suddenly he said：

'Gayton，I think that man Karswell knows that I was the person who advised you to refuse his paper．'

Gayton looked surprised．'What makes you think that？'he asked．

So Dunning explained．'I don't really mind，'he continued， 'but I believe that he's not a very nice person and it could be difficult if we met．'

After this Dunning sat in silence，looking more and more miserable．At last Gayton asked him if some serious trouble was worrying him．

'Oh！I'm so glad you asked，'said Dunning．'I feel I really must talk to someone about it．Do you know anything about a man named John Harrington？'

Very surprised，Gayton could only ask why he wanted to know．Then Dunning told him the whole story of the notice in the bus，the man with the leaflets，and what had happened in his own house．He ended by asking again if Gayton knew any- thing about John Harrington．

Now it was the Secretary who was worried and did not quite know how to answer．His friend was clearly in a very nervous condition，and the story of Harrington's death was alarming for anyone to hear．Was it possible that Karswell was involved with both men？In the end Gayton said only that he had known Harrington at Cambridge and believed that he had died suddenly in 1889．He added a few details about the man and his books．

Later，when they were alone，the Secretary discussed the matter with his wife．Mrs Gayton said immediately that Karswell must be the link between the two men，and she won- dered if Harrington's brother，Henry，could perhaps help Mr Dunning．She would ask the Bennetts where Henry Harrington lived，and then bring the two men together．

When they met，the first thing Dunning told Henry Harrington was of the strange ways in which he had learnt his brother's name．He described his other recent experiences and asked Harrington what he remembered about his brother be- fore he died．

John was in a very strange condition for some time before his death，it's true，replied Henry Harrington．Among other things，he felt that someone was following him all the time． I'm sure that someone was trying to harm him，and your story reminds me very much of the things he experienced．Could there be any link between you and my brother，do you think？'

'Well，'replied Dunning，there is just one thing．I'm told that your brother wrote some very hard things about a book not long before he died and，as it happens，I too have done something to annoy the man who wrote that book．'

'Don't tell me his name is Karswell，'said Harrington．

'Why yes，it is，'replied Dunning．

Henry Harrington looked very serious．

'Well，that is the final proof I needed，'he said．'Let me explain．I believe that my brother John was sure that this man Karswell was trying to harm him．Now，John was very fond of music．He often went to concerts in London，and always kept the concert programmes afterwards．About three months before he died，he came back from a concert and showed me the programme．

'“I nearly missed this one，”he said．“I couldn't find mine at the end of the concert and was looking everywhere for it. Then my neighbour offered me his，saying that he didn't need it any more．I don't know who he was—he was a very large man．”

'Soon after this my brother told me that he felt very uncomfortable at night．Then，one evening，he was looking through all his concert programmes when he found something strange in the programme that his large neighbour had given him．It was a thin piece of paper with some writing on it—not normal writing．It looked to me more like Runic letters in red and black．Well，we were looking at this and wondering how to give it back to its owner when the door opened and the wind blew the paper into the fire．It was burnt in a moment．'

Mr Dunning sat silent as Harrington paused．

'Now，'he continued，'I don't know if you ever read that book of Karswell's，The History of Witchcraft，which my brother said was so badly written．'

Dunning shook his head．

'Well，'Harrington went on，'after my brother died I read some of it．The book was indeed badly written and a lot of it was rubbish，but one bit caught my eye．It was about “Casting the Runes”on people in order to harm them，and I'm sure that Karswell was writing from personal experience．I won't tell you all the details，but I'm certain that the large man at the concert was Karswell，and that the paper he gave my brother caused his death．Now，I must ask you if anything similar has happened to you．'

Dunning told him what had happened in the British Museum．

'So Karswell did actually pass you some papers？'said Harrington．'Have you checked them？ No？Well，I think we should do so at once，if you agree．'

They went round to Dunning's empty house where his papers were lying on the table．As he picked them up，a thin piece of paper fell to the ground．A sudden wind blew it to- wards the open window，but Harrington closed the window just in time to stop the paper escaping．He caught the paper in his hand．

'I thought so，'he said．'It looks just like the one my brother was given．I think you're in great danger，Dunning．'

The two men discussed the problem for a long time．The paper was covered in Runic letters which they could not under- stand，but both men felt certain that the message，whatever it was，could bring unknown horrors to its owner．They agreed that the paper must be returned to Karswell，and that the only safe and sure way was to give it to him in person and see that he accepted it．This would be difficult since Karswell knew what Dunning looked like．

'I can grow a beard，'said Dunning，'so that he won't recognize me．But who knows when the end will come？'

'I think I know，'said Harrington．'The concert where my brother was given the paper was on June 18th，and he died on September 18th，three months later．'

'Perhaps it will be the same for me，'Dunning said miserably．He looked in his diary．'Yes，April 23rd was the day in the Museum—that brings me to July 23rd．Now，Harrington， I would very much like to know anything you can tell me about your brother's trouble．'

'The thing that worried him most，'said Harrington，'was the feeling that whenever he was alone，someone was watching him．After a time I began to sleep in his room，and he felt better because of that． But he talked a lot in his sleep．'

'What about？'asked Dunning．

'I think it would be better not to go into details about that，'replied Harrington But I remember that he received a packet by post，which contained a little diary．My brother didn't look at it，but after his death I did，and found that all the pages after September 18th had been cut out．Perhaps you wonder why he went out alone on the evening he died？The strange thing is that during the last week of his life all his worries seemed to disappear，and he no longer felt that someone was watching or following him．'

Finally，the two men made a plan．Harrington had a friend who lived near Lufford Abbey；he would stay with him and watch Karswell．If he thought they had a chance to arrange an accidental meeting，he would send a telegram to Dunning． Meanwhile，Dunning had to be ready to move at any moment and had to keep the paper safe．

Harrington went off to his friend in Warwickshire and Dunning was left alone．He found waiting very hard，and was unable to work or to take any interest in anything．He felt that he was living in a black cloud that cut him off from the world． He became more and more worried as May，June，and the first half of July passed with no word from Harrington．But all this time Karswell remained at Lufford Abbey．

At last，less than a week before July 23rd，Dunning received a telegram from his friend：

Karswell is leaving London for France on the boat train on Thursday night．Be ready．I will come to you tonight．Harrington．

When he arrived，the two men made their final plan．The boat train from London stopped only once before Dover，at Croydon West．Harrington would get on the train in London and find where Karswell was sitting．Dunning would wait for the train at Croydon West where Harrington would look out for him．Dunning would make sure that his name was not on his luggage and，most importantly，must have the paper with him．

On Thursday night Dunning waited impatiently for the train at Croydon West．He now had a thick beard and was wearing glasses，and felt sure that Karswell would not recognize him． He noticed that he no longer felt himself to be in danger，but this only made him worry more，because he remembered what Harrington had said about his brother's last week．

At last the boat train arrived and he saw his friend at one of the windows．It was important not to show that they knew each other，so Dunning got on further down the train and slowly made his way to the right compartment．

Harrington and Karswell were alone in the compartment， and Dunning entered and sat in the corner furthest from Karswell．Karswell's heavy travelling coat and bag were on the seat opposite him，and next to where Dunning was now sitting．Dunning thought of hiding the paper in the coat but realized that this would not do；he would have to give it to Karswell and see that Karswell accepted it．Could he hide Karswell's bag in some way，put the paper in it，and then give the bag to him as he got off the train？This was the only plan he could think of．He wished desperately that he could ask Harrington's advice．

Karswell himself seemed very restless．Twice he stood up to look out of the window．Dunning was just going to try to make his bag fall off the seat when he saw a warning expression in Harrington's eye—Karswell was watching them in the window．

Then Karswell stood up a third time，opened the window and put his head outside．As he stood up，something fell silently to the floor and Dunning saw that it was a thin wallet containing Karswell's tickets．In a moment Dunning had pushed the paper into the pocket at the back of the wallet．Just then the train began to lose speed as it came into Dover station，and Karswell closed the window and turned round．

'May I give you this，sir？I think it must be yours，'said Dunning，holding out the wallet．

'Oh，thank you，sir，'replied Karswell，checking that they were his tickets．Then he put the wallet into his pocket．

Suddenly the compartment seemed to grow dark and very hot，but already Harrington and Dunning were opening the door and getting off the train．

Dunning，unable to stand up，sat on a seat on the platform breathing deeply，while Harrington followed Karswell the little way to the boat．He saw Karswell show his ticket to the ticket collector and pass on to the boat．As he did so，the official called after him：

'Excuse me，sir．Has your friend got a ticket？'

'What d'you mean，my friend？'shouted Karswell angrily．

'Sorry，sir，I thought there was someone with you，'apolo gized the ticket collector．He turned to another official beside him，'Did he have a dog with him or something？I was sure there were two of them．'

Five minutes later there was nothing except the disappearing lights of the boat，the night wind，and the moon．

That night the two friends sat up late in their room in the hotel．Although the danger was past，a worry remained．

'Harrington，'Dunning said，'I'm afraid we have sent a man to his death．'

'He murdered my brother，'replied Harrington，'and he tried to murder you．It is right that he should die．'

'Don't you think we should warn him？'asked Dunning．

'How can we？'replied his friend．'We don't know where he's going．'

'He's going to Abbeville，'said Dunning．'I saw it on his ticket．Today is the 21st．We could send a telegram in the morning to all the main hotels in Abbeville saying：Check your ticket wallet．Dunning．Then he would have a whole day．'

After a pause Harrington agreed．'I see it would make you feel happier，'he said，'so we'll warn him．'

The telegrams were sent first thing in the morning but no one knows if Karswell received any of them．All that is known is that on July 23rd a man was looking at the front of a church in Abbeville when a large piece of stone fell from the roof and hit him on the head，killing him immediately．The police re- ported that nobody was on the roof at the time．From papers found on the body they discovered that the dead man was an Englishman，named Karswell．

Some months later Dunning reminded Harrington that he had never told him what his brother had talked about in his sleep．But Harrington had only said a few words when Dun- ning begged him to stop．

运用如尼魔文

1902年4月15日

亲爱的卡斯韦尔先生：

这里将您有关“炼金术的真实性”的文章退还给您，您提议在我们俱乐部下次开会时宣读该文，很对不起，我们不能接受。

秘书 W．盖伊顿

1902年4月18日

亲爱的卡斯韦尔先生：

我恐怕不能安排时间与您商谈您要宣读炼金术方面文章的提议。不过，我们俱乐部是进行了十分认真的考虑，并且是在征询了这方面专家的意见后，才对您的提议予以拒绝的。

秘书 W．盖伊顿

1902年4月20日

秘书现写信通知卡斯韦尔先生不可能告诉他有关他那篇炼金术方面的文章他们征询了哪个或哪些人的意见。而且秘书还想说他不会再为此事回信了。

“卡斯韦尔先生是谁呀？”秘书夫人问遭。她来到丈夫的办公室里，拿起刚才那几封信看了最后一封。

“噢，亲爱的，”她丈夫回答，”现在卡斯韦尔先生很恼火。我只知道他很富有，住在沃里克郡的勒夫德大教堂，他认为自己是个炼金术士，最近一两周我不想见他。好了，咱们走吧。”

“你做了什么使他恼火的事儿了？”秘书夫人问道。

“亲爱的，只是件很平常的事情。他给我们寄来了一篇文章，想要我们下次开会时宣读。我们把文章给爱德华·邓宁看了——他可差不多是英国这方面唯一的专家了——他说这篇文章没什么价值，于是我们便拒绝了他的提议。现在卡斯韦尔想见我，并想知道我们到底征询了谁的意见。这不，你也看见我的答复了。当然你可千万别把这事儿告诉任何人。”

“你很清楚我决不会这么做。我真希望他不会知道你们找的是可怜的邓宁先生。”

“你为什么说'可怜的'邓宁先生呢？”秘书说，“我觉得他生活得既幸福又富有。他有个很舒适的家而且有足够的时间花在自己的爱好上。”

“我只是说，如果卡斯韦尔先生知道他的名字后找他的麻烦，我会很同情他的。”

“是呀！那他可真要成了可怜的邓宁先生了。”她丈夫也同意她的说法。

那天秘书和夫人与他们的朋友，沃里克郡的贝内特夫妇，共进午餐。盖伊顿夫人决定问问他们是否认识卡斯韦尔先生。可还没等她开口，就听贝内特夫人对丈夫说：