“ ‘And now I come to the most surprising part of my story, my dear son. The seamen had hauled the fore-yard aback during the rising, but now as we left them they brought it square again, and as there was a light wind from the north and east the bark began to draw slowly away from us. Our boat lay, rising and falling, upon the long, smooth rollers, and Evans and I, who were the most educated of the party, were sitting in the sheets working out our position and planning what coast we should make for. It was a nice question, for the Cape Verdes were about five hundred miles to the north of us, and the African coast about seven hundred to the east. On the whole, as the wind was coming round to the north, we thought that Sierra Leone might be best and turned our head in that direction, the bark being at that time nearly hull down on our starboard quarter. Suddenly as we looked at her we saw a dense black cloud of smoke shoot up from her, which hung like a monstrous tree upon the sky-line. A few seconds later a roar like thunder burst upon our ears, and as the smoke thinned away there was no sign left of the Gloria Scott. In an instant we swept the boat’s head round again and pulled with all our strength for the place where the haze still trailing over the water marked the scene of this catastrophe.

「『これから私の話の一番驚くべき部分に差し掛かる / 息子よ◆決起の間、船員は前檣の帆桁を引き揚げていた / しかし我々が船を離れた時、彼らはもう一度帆を四角に張り / 北東から微風があったので / 船は我々から次第に遠ざかって行った◆我々のボートは残された / 上がったり下がったりしながら / 長く滑らかにうねった波の上に / エバンスと私は / 一行の中で最も教育を受けた人間は / 船首の中に座って / 現在地を計算し / どの沿岸に向かうべきかを計画していた◆難しい問題だった / 500マイル北方にあるカーボベルデ / 700マイル東のアフリカ沿岸か◆総合的に判断して / 風が北方向に吹いていたので / 我々は考えた / シェラレオネに向かうのが一番だと / その時点で親船は / 我々の右舷後方にほとんど船体が消えかけていた◆私達が船を見ていると突然 / 真っ黒い煙が吹き上がるのが見えた / それは非常に巨大で水平線に怪物のような木が生えたようだった◆何秒か後、雷のとどろきのような音が我々の耳を襲った / そして、煙が薄くなった時 / グロリア・スコット号の痕跡は影も形もなかった◆次の瞬間 / 我々はボートの舳先をもう一度返して / 全力で櫂をこいだ / まだ、もやが海面にたなびいている場所へ / 惨事の現場を指し示している』」

“ ‘It was a long hour before we reached it, and at first we feared that we had come too late to save anyone. A splintered boat and a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on the waves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there was no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair, when we heard a cry for help and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage with a man lying stretched across it. When we pulled him aboard the boat he proved to be a young seaman of the name of Hudson, who was so burned and exhausted that he could give us no account of what had happened until the following morning.

「『我々がそこに達するまでにはかなり時間がかかった / そして最初 / 我々は誰かを救助するには遅すぎたと思った◆バラバラになったボートと / 無数の木箱と / マストの破片が / 波間に揺られていた / 我々に船が沈没した場所を示していた / しかし生存者の痕跡はなかった / そして我々は望みを失って引き返した / その時助けを呼ぶ声が聞こえた / そして少し離れたところに難破船の破片が見えた / それに男が横たわっていた◆我々が彼をボートに引き揚げた時 / ハドソンという名の若い船員だとわかった / 彼は非常にやけどをおい、疲労困憊していたので / 彼は次の朝まで何が起きたかという説明をすることができなかった』」

“ ‘It seemed that after we had left, Prendergast and his gang had proceeded to put to death the five remaining prisoners. The two warders had been shot and thrown overboard, and so also had the third mate. Prendergast then descended into the ’tween-decks and with his own hands cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon. There only remained the first mate, who was a bold and active man. When he saw the convict approaching him with the bloody knife in his hand he kicked off his bonds, which he had somehow contrived to loosen, and rushing down the deck he plunged into the after-hold. A dozen convicts, who descended with their pistols in search of him, found him with a match-box in his hand seated beside an open powder-barrel, which was one of the hundred carried on board, and swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way molested. An instant later the explosion occurred, though Hudson thought it was caused by the misdirected bullet of one of the convicts rather than the mate’s match. Be the cause what it may, it was the end of the Gloria Scott and of the rabble who held command of her.

「『どうやらこういうことのようだった / 我々が去った後 / プレンダガストと彼の一味は / 五人の捕虜を次々に殺害し始めた◆監視人の二人が撃たれ船縁から投げ捨てられた / 三人目も同じようにした◆プレンダガストはその後中甲板に降りて行き / 医者の喉を自らの手で切り裂いた◆残るは一等航海士のみ / 彼は大胆で行動力のある男だった◆彼は囚人が近づいてくるのを見た時 / 血まみれのナイフを手に / 彼は拘束を解いて飛び出した / 縄は何らかの方法で緩められていた / そしてデッキに駆け下りると後部船倉に飛び込んだ◆12人の囚人は / 拳銃を手に彼を探して降りてきた / 彼を見つけた / マッチ箱を手にし / 蓋を開けた火薬樽の隣に座っているのを / それは積み込まれた百樽の一つだった / そして全てをぶっとばしてやると罵っていた / もしちょっとでも危害を加えるような事があると◆その直後 / 爆発が起こった / しかし、ハドソンの考えでは / それは一人の囚人が撃った弾が誤って当たったために起きた / 航海士のマッチではなく◆原因がなんであろうと / それがグロリア・スコット号と指揮権を奪った暴徒の最後だった』」

“ ‘Such, in a few words, my dear boy, is the history of this terrible business in which I was involved. Next day we were picked up by the brig Hotspur, bound for Australia, whose captain found no difficulty in believing that we were the survivors of a passenger ship which had foundered. The transport ship Gloria Scott was set down by the Admiralty as being lost at sea, and no word has ever leaked out as to her true fate. After an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney, where Evans and I changed our names and made our way to the diggings, where, among the crowds who were gathered from all nations, we had no difficulty in losing our former identities. The rest I need not relate. We prospered, we travelled, we came back as rich colonials to England, and we bought country estates. For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives, and we hoped that our past was forever buried. Imagine, then, my feelings when in the seaman who came to us I recognized instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck. He had tracked us down somehow and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will understand now how it was that I strove to keep the peace with him, and you will in some measure sympathize with me in the fears which fill me, now that he has gone from me to his other victim with threats upon his tongue.’

「『これが / 手短に書いたが / 息子よ / 私が関係した恐ろしい事件の一部始終だ◆次の日我々はホットスパー号というブリッグ船に拾い上げられた / オーストラリア行きの / 船長は簡単に信用した / 我々は沈没した旅客船の生存者だと◆囚人護送船グロリア･スコット号は / 海事裁判所で行方不明として記録され / その船の本当の運命に関しては一言も漏れてこなかった◆素晴らしい航海のあとホットスパー号は我々をシドニーに上陸させ / ここでエバンスと私は名前を変え採掘に道を見出した / そこでは / 色々な国からやってきた人間にまぎれて / 我々は簡単に元の素性を捨てる事が出来た◆それ以降は話す必要はないだろう◆我々は大儲けをし / 旅をし / 裕福な植民地の住人としてイギリスに戻ってきた / そして我々は田舎に土地を買った◆20年以上の間我々は平和に有意義な人生を過ごした / そして我々の過去は永遠に封じ込めたものと思っていた◆想像してくれ / その時の / 私の気持ちを / あの船員が我々のところにやって来た時の / 私はすぐにあの男が、我々が難破船から拾い上げた男だと気付いた◆彼は我々を何らかの方法で追ってきて / 我々をおどして生活し始めた◆もう分かってくれるだろう / 私がどれくらい彼と上手くやっていこうと必死だったか / そしていくらか私の心中を察してもらえるだろう / 私の心からあふれそうになっていた恐れを / 今彼は私の元を去った / 彼が暴露すると脅す別の犠牲者の元へ』」

“Underneath is written in a hand so shaky as to be hardly legible, ‘Beddoes writes in cipher to say H. has told all. Sweet Lord, have mercy on our souls!’

「その下に非常に震えてほとんど読めない字があった / 『ベドーズが暗号で私に告げた H. が全てを話したと◆神よ、我らが魂に慈悲を垂れたまえ』」

“That was the narrative which I read that night to young Trevor, and I think, Watson, that under the circumstances it was a dramatic one. The good fellow was heart-broken at it, and went out to the Terai tea planting, where I hear that he is doing well. As to the sailor and Beddoes, neither of them was ever heard of again after that day on which the letter of warning was written. They both disappeared utterly and completely. No complaint had been lodged with the police, so that Beddoes had mistaken a threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen lurking about, and it was believed by the police that he had done away with Beddoes and had fled. For myself I believe that the truth was exactly the opposite. I think that it is most probable that Beddoes, pushed to desperation and believing himself to have been already betrayed, had revenged himself upon Hudson, and had fled from the country with as much money as he could lay his hands on. Those are the facts of the case, Doctor, and if they are of any use to your collection, I am sure that they are very heartily at your service.”

「これが僕があの夜トレバーに読み上げたものだ / そして僕は思う / ワトソン / この状況下ではこれは劇的なものだ◆彼はこの件で悲嘆にくれ / タライの茶農園に行き / 彼は上手くやっていると聞いている◆船員とベドーズに関しては / 二人の消息はそれ以来聞かれなくなった / 警告の手紙が書かれた日以来◆彼らは二人とも完全に失踪した◆警察に申し立てがなかった / したがってベドーズは間違って脅迫が実行されたと考えた◆ハドソンはこのあたりに潜んでいるのを目撃されている / そして警察はこう判断している / 彼がベドーズを殺害して逃走したと◆僕自身は真実は完全に逆だと考えている◆最もありえるのは / ベドーズは自暴自棄になるまで追い詰められ / すでに事が表沙汰になったと考えて / ハドソンに復讐をした / そしてこの国から脱出した / 持てるだけの金を携えて◆これがこの事件の真相だ / ワトソン / もしこれが君の事件簿に役立つなら / 自由に使ってもらって構わない」