What was that? In the silence he heard a gentle scratching sound – low, but very distinct in the quiet of the night. It came from the door of the house. Ferrier crept into the hall and listened intently. There was a pause for a few moments, and then the low, insidious sound was repeated. Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of the panels of the door. Was it some midnight assassin who had come to carry out the murderous orders of the secret tribunal? Or was it some agent who was marking up that the last day of grace had arrived? John Ferrier felt that instant death would be better than the suspense which shook his nerves and chilled his heart. Springing forward, he drew the bolt and threw the door open.

あれは何だ？ / 静けさの中で彼は静かな引っかくような音を聞いた / / 小さいが夜の静けさの中でははっきりと聞こえる◆それは家の戸口からやって来た◆フェリアーはホールにそっと言って耳をそばだてた◆しばらく途絶えて / また小さくはばかるような音が繰り返された◆誰かが明らかに非常にそっと叩いている / 扉の一枚の板の上を◆真夜中の暗殺者か / 秘密裁判の抹殺指令を執り行うために来た / それとも使者か / 猶予の最終日が来た事をわざわざ告げに来た / ジョン・フェリアーはその瞬間死んだ方がましだと思った / この不安が彼の神経を揺さぶり心を凍らせるよりも◆前に飛び出して / 彼は閂を引いて扉をぱっとあけた

Outside all was calm and quiet. The night was fine, and the stars were twinkling brightly overhead. The little front garden lay before the farmer’s eyes bounded by the fence and gate, but neither there nor on the road was any human being to be seen. With a sigh of relief, Ferrier looked to right and to left, until, happening to glance straight down at his own feet, he saw to his astonishment a man lying flat upon his face upon the ground, with arms and legs all asprawl.

外はすべて穏やかで静かだった◆その夜は晴れていた / そして星は頭上で明るくきらめいていた◆小さな前庭は / 柵と門に隔てられて農夫の眼前に広がっていた / しかしそこにも道にも誰一人見えなかった◆安堵の溜息をついて / フェリアーは左右を見た / たまたま自分のすぐ足元を見るまで / 驚いた事に一人の男がうつ伏せに地面に寝そべっていた / 手足をみな伸ばして

So unnerved was he at the sight that he leaned up against the wall with his hand to his throat to stifle his inclination to call out. His first thought was that the prostrate figure was that of some wounded or dying man, but as he watched it he saw it writhe along the ground and into the hall with the rapidity and noiselessness of a serpent. Once within the house the man sprang to his feet, closed the door, and revealed to the astonished farmer the fierce face and resolute expression of Jefferson Hope.

これを見て仰天し / 彼は壁にもたれかかり / 大声を出したい衝動を押さえるために手を喉元に当てて◆彼が最初に思ったのは / 倒れているのは、傷ついたか死にかけの人間だということだった / しかし彼がそれを見ていると / それは地面をよじるようにして進み玄関口に入ってきた / 蛇のように素早く音もなく◆いったん家に入ると男はパッと立ち上がり / 扉を閉め / 驚いた農夫の前に姿を現した / 険しい顔をし、決意に満ちた表情のジェファーソン・ホープが

“Good God!” gasped John Ferrier. “How you scared me! Whatever made you come in like that?”

「なんと！」 / ジョン・フェリアーはあえいだ◆「なんと脅かす奴だ！ / なぜこんな風に入ってきた？」

“Give me food,” the other said, hoarsely. “I have had no time for bite or sup for eight-and-forty hours.” He flung himself upon the cold meat and bread which were still lying upon the table from his host’s supper, and devoured it voraciously. “Does Lucy bear up well?” he asked, when he had satisfied his hunger.

「食べ物をくれ」 / ホープは言った / かすれた声で◆「48時間飲まず食わずだ」 / 彼は冷えた肉とパンに飛びついた / 夕食後のテーブルにまだ置かれていた / そして荒々しく貪り食った◆「ルーシーはへこたれずにやってるか？」 / 彼は尋ねた / 彼が空腹を満たした時

“Yes. She does not know the danger,” her father answered.

「ああ◆娘は恐れを知らない」 / 父は答えた

“That is well. The house is watched on every side. That is why I crawled my way up to it. They may be darned sharp, but they’re not quite sharp enough to catch a Washoe hunter.”

「それはよかった◆この家はあらゆる方向から監視されている◆俺が這い上がってきたのもそのためだ◆彼らは抜け目のないやつらだろうが / しかしワショーの狩人を捕まえられるわけがない」

John Ferrier felt a different man now that he realized that he had a devoted ally. He seized the young man’s leathery hand and wrung it cordially. “You’re a man to be proud of,” he said. “There are not many who would come to share our danger and our troubles.”

ジョン・フェリアーは今、生き返った気がした / 彼が献身的な支持者を得たと知って◆彼は青年のがさがさの手を取り、心を込めて強く握った◆「お前は頼もしい男だ」 / 彼は言った◆「私達の危険と困難を分かち合うために来てくれるものはそうそうおらん」

“You’ve hit it there, pard,” the young hunter answered. “I have a respect for you, but if you were alone in this business I’d think twice before I put my head into such a hornet’s nest. It’s Lucy that brings me here, and before harm comes on her I guess there will be one less o’ the Hope family in Utah.”

「うまいこと言うね」 / 若き狩人は答えた◆「俺はあんたのことを尊敬している / しかしもしこの一件に関わっているのがあんた一人なら / 俺はこんな面倒な事態に首を突っ込む前にちょっと考えただろう◆俺をここに連れて来たのはルーシーだ / そして彼女に危険が及ぶ前に / 俺はユタのホープ一家が一人減ると思った」　

“What are we to do?”

「どうしたらいいんだ？」

“To-morrow is your last day, and unless you act to-night you are lost. I have a mule and two horses waiting in the Eagle Ravine. How much money have you?”

「明日が最終日だ / したがって今夜行動しないとおしまいだ◆俺はロバと馬二等をイーグル峡谷に待たせている◆金はどれくらいある？」

“Two thousand dollars in gold, and five in notes.”

「金で二千ドル / 紙幣で五千ドルだ」

“That will do. I have as much more to add to it. We must push for Carson City through the mountains. You had best wake Lucy. It is as well that the servants do not sleep in the house.”

「いいだろう◆それに加えて俺も同じくらいある◆山を越えてカーソン・シティまで行かなければならない◆ルーシーを起こすほうがいい◆使用人が同じ家に寝ていないのはよかった」

While Ferrier was absent, preparing his daughter for the approaching journey, Jefferson Hope packed all the eatables that he could find into a small parcel, and filled a stoneware jar with water, for he knew by experience that the mountain wells were few and far between. He had hardly completed his arrangements before the farmer returned with his daughter all dressed and ready for a start. The greeting between the lovers was warm, but brief, for minutes were precious, and there was much to be done.

フェリアーがすぐに旅に出るために娘を起こしにいったとき / ジェファーソン・ホープは食べられるものは何でも手当たり次第小さな包みに詰め込んだ / そして陶器のカメに水を張った / 経験で山の水場は少なく非常にまばらだと知っていたので◆彼が準備を整えるやいなや / 農夫は娘を連れ、きちんと服を着て出発の準備を整えて戻ってきた◆恋人同士の挨拶は暖かいが、短かった / 一分が貴重だったからだ / そしてしなければならないことが沢山あった

“We must make our start at once,” said Jefferson Hope, speaking in a low but resolute voice, like one who realizes the greatness of the peril, but has steeled his heart to meet it. “The front and back entrances are watched, but with caution we may get away through the side window and across the fields. Once on the road we are only two miles from the Ravine where the horses are waiting. By daybreak we should be halfway through the mountains.”

「すぐに出発しなければならない」 / ジェファーソン・ホープは言った / 小さいが断固とした調子で / 危険の大きさを知っているが / それと対決するように強く決意した人間のように◆「前後の入り口は見張られている / しかし注意すれば / 我々は横の窓から出て野原を横切っていけるかもしれない◆道に出たら / 馬が待っている渓谷までたった二マイルだ◆夜明けまでに山岳地帯を半分抜けているはずだ」

“What if we are stopped?” asked Ferrier.

「もし止められたら？」 / フェリアーは尋ねた

Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from the front of his tunic. “If they are too many for us, we shall take two or three of them with us,” he said with a sinister smile.

ホープは上着の前から突き出ていた拳銃の台尻をぴしゃりと叩いた◆「もし手に負えないくらい多ければ / 二、三人は運命をともにさせてやる」 / 彼は不気味に笑って言った