牛津书虫4级 4The ThirtyNine StepsWord文档下载推荐.docx

1、As I walked home that night，I decided to give Britain one more day. If nothing interesting happened，I would take the next boat back to Africa.My flat was in a big new building in Langham Place. There was a doorman at the entrance to the building，but each flat was separate，with its own front door. I

2、was just putting the key into my door when a man appeared next to me. He was thin，with a short brown beard and small，very bright eyes. I recognized him as the man who lived in a flat on the top floor of the building. We had spoken once or twice on the stairs.Can I speak to you？he asked. May I come i

3、n for a minute？His voice was shaking a little.I opened the door and we went in.Is the door locked？he asked，and quickly locked it himself.Im very sorry，he said to me. Its very rude of me. But Im in a dangerous corner and you looked like the kind of man who would understand. If I explain，will you help

4、 me？ll listen to you，I said. Thats all I promise. I was getting worried by this strange mans behaviour.There was a table with drinks on it next to him，and he took a large whisky for himself. He drank it quickly，and then put the glass down so violently that it broke.m sorry，he said. m a little nervou

5、s tonight. You see，at this moment Im dead. I sat down in an armchair and lit my pipe.How does it feel？I asked. I was now almost sure that the man was mad.He smiled. m not mad-yet. Listen，Ive been watching you，and I guess that youre not easily frightened. Im going to tell you my story. I need help ve

6、ry badly，and I want to know if youre the right man to ask. Tell me your story，I said，and Ill tell you if I can help you. It was an extraordinary story. I didnt understand all of it，and I had to ask a lot of questions，but here it is：His name was Franklin P. Scudder and he was an American，but he had b

7、een in south-east Europe for several years. By accident，he had discovered a group of people who were working secretly to push Europe towards a war. These people were clever，and dangerous. Some of them wanted to change the world through war；others simply wanted to make a lot of money，and there is alw

8、ays money to be made from a war. Their plan was to get Russia and Germany at war with each other.I want to stop them，Scudder told me，and if I can stay alive for another month，I think I can. I thought you were already dead，I said.ll tell you about that in a minute，he answered. But first，do you know w

9、ho Constantine Karolides is？The Greek Prime Minister. Ive just been reading about him in todays newspapers. Right. Hes the only man who can stop the war. Hes intelligent，hes honest，and he knows whats going on-and so his enemies plan to kill him. I have discovered how. That was very dangerous for me，

10、so I had to disappear. They cant kill Karolides in Greece because he has too many guards. But on the 15th of June hes coming to London for a big meeting，and his enemies plan to kill him here. You can warn him，Hell stay at home. s what his enemies want. If he doesnt come，theyll win，because hes the on

11、ly man who understands the whole problem and who can stop the war happening. Why dont you go to the British police？No good. They could bring in five hundred policemen，but they wouldnt stop the murder. The murderer will be caught，and hell talk and put the blame on the governments in Vienna and Berlin

12、. It will all be lies，of course，but everybody will be ready to believe it. But none of this will happen if Franklin P. Scudder is here in London on the 15th of June. I was beginning to like this strange little man. I gave him another whisky and asked him why he thought that he was now in danger hims

13、elf.He took a large mouthful of whisky. I came to London by a strange route-through Paris，Hamburg，Norway，and Scotland. I changed my name in every country，and when I got to London，I thought I was safe. But yesterday I realized that theyre still following me. Theres a man watching this building and la

14、st night somebody put a card under my door. On it was the name of the man I fear most in the world.So I decided I had to die. Then they would stop looking for me. I got a dead body-its easy to get one in London，if you know how-and I had the body brought to my flat in a large suitcase. The body was t

15、he right age，but the face was different from mine. I dressed it in my clothes and shot it in the face with my own gun. My servant will find me when he arrives in the morning and hell call the police. Ive left a lot of empty whisky bottles in my room. The police will think I drank too much and then k

16、illed myself. He paused. I watched from the window until I saw you come home，and then came down the stairs to meet you. It was the strangest of stories. However，in my experience，the most extraordinary stories are often the true ones. And if the man just wanted to get into my flat and murder me，why d

17、idnt he tell a simpler story？Right，ll trust you for tonight. Ill lock you in this room and keep the key. Just one word，Mr Scudder. I believe youre honest，but if youre not，I should warn you that I know how to use a gun. Certainly，he answered，jumping up. m afraid I dont know your name，sir，but I would

18、like to thank you. And could I use your bathroom？When I next saw him，half an hour later，I didnt recognize him at first. Only the bright eyes were the same. His beard was gone，and his hair was completely different. He walked like a soldier，and he was wearing glasses. And he no longer spoke like an Am

19、erican.Mr ScudderI cried.Not Mr Scudder，Captain Theophilus Digby of the British Army. Please remember that. I made him a bed in my study，and then went to bed myself，happier than I had been for the past month. Interesting things did happen sometimes，even in London.The next morning when my servant Pad

20、dock arrived，I introduced him to Captain Digby. I explained that the Captain was an important man in the army，but he had been working too hard and needed rest and quiet. Then I went out，leaving them both in the flat. When I returned at about lunchtime，the doorman told me that the gentleman in flat 1

21、5 had killed himself. I went up to the top floor，had a few words with the police，and was able to report to Scudder that his plan had been successful. The police believed that the dead man was Scudder，and that he had killed himself. Scudder was very pleased.For the first two days in my flat，he was ve

22、ry calm，and spent all his time reading and smoking，and writing in a little black notebook. But after that he became more restless and nervous. It was not his own danger that he worried about，but the success of his plan to prevent the murder of Karolides. One night he was very serious.Listen，Hannay，I

23、 think I must tell you some more about this business. I would hate to get killed without leaving someone else to carry on with my plan. I didnt listen very carefully. I was interested in Scudders adventures，but I wasnt very interested in politics. I remember that he said Karolides was only in danger

24、 in London. He also mentioned a woman called Julia Czechenyi. He talked about a Black Stone and a man who lisped when he spoke. And he described another man，perhaps the most dangerous of them all-an old man with a young voice who could hood his eyes like a hawk.The next evening I had to go out. I wa

25、s meeting a man I had known in Africa for dinner. When I returned to the flat，I was surprised to see that the light in the study was out. I wondered if Scudder had gone to bed early. I turned on the light，but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold.Scu

26、dder was lying on his back. There was a long knife through his heart，pinning him to the floor.2 The milkman starts his travelsI sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. After about five minutes I started shaking. The poor white face with its staring eyes was too much for me，so I got a tablecloth and covered it. Then I took the whisky bottle and drank several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before. I had killed a few myself in the Matabele war；but this was different. After a few more minutes I managed to calm myself down a little. I looked at my watch a