Тридцать девять ступеней

Chapter 3

           

           “Ay,butI’mastrongteetotaller,”hesaidpugnaciously.“ItookthepledgelastMartinmas,andIhavenatouchedadropo’whiskysinsyne.NotevenatHogmanay,thoughIwassairtemptit.”

           Heswunghisheelsupontheseat,andburrowedafrowsyheadintothecushions.

           “Andthat’sa’Iget,”hemoaned.“Aheidbetterthanhellfire,andtwaeeenlookin’differentwaysfortheSabbath.”

           “Whatdidit?”Iasked.

           “Adrinktheyca’brandy.Bein’ateetotallerIkeepitoffthewhisky,butIwasnip-nippin’a’dayatthisbrandy,andIdoubtI’llnobeweelforafortnicht.”Hisvoicediedawayintoasplutter,andsleeponcemorelaiditsheavyhandonhim.

           Myplanhadbeentogetoutatsomestationdowntheline,butthetrainsuddenlygavemeabetterchance,foritcametoastandstillattheendofaculvertwhichspannedabrawlingporter-colouredriver.Ilookedoutandsawthateverycarriagewindowwasclosedandnohumanfigureappearedinthelandscape.SoIopenedthedoor,anddroppedquicklyintothetangleofhazelswhichedgedtheline.

           Itwouldhavebeenallrightbutforthatinfernaldog.UndertheimpressionthatIwasdecampingwithitsmaster’sbelongings,itstartedtobark,andallbutgotmebythetrousers.Thiswokeuptheherd,whostoodbawlingatthecarriagedoorinthebeliefthatIhadcommittedsuicide.Icrawledthroughthethicket,reachedtheedgeofthestream,andincoverofthebushesputahundredyardsorsobehindme.

Настройки
Фон страницы
Размер шрифта
Межстрочный интервал
Фразовые глаголы
Показать / Скрыть меню
Шрифт
Roboto Lora
Уведомления
Страница 32 из 145