按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
emembered DoctorLanyon's words．‘There is something more，’he said to himself，‘something mysterious， but I have no idea what it is．’
A week later Doctor Lanyon was too ill to leave his bed．Two weeks after that he was dead． After his friend's burial，Mr Utterson went home and into his office．From his lockedcupboard he took out an envelope， which he had received soonafter his friend’ s death．
In Doctor Lanyon's handwriting he read ‘G．J．Utterson．Private．’The lawyer turned the envelope over and over in hishands before he opened it．What terrible news could itcontain？ With trembling hands Mr Utterson opened the envelope． Inside was another envelope， with the words‘Not to beopened until the death or disappearance of Doctor HenryJekyll．’
The lawyer could not believe his eyes．‘Death or disappearance’— the words were the same as in Doctor Jekyll's will．‘Iunderstand why Jekyll wrote those words，’said Mr Uttersonto himself．‘But why did Lanyon write them too？’For a moment he wanted to open the envelope and uncover the mysterythere and then． But Mr Utterson was too honest a man and alawyer to do that． He knew he must obey his friend's andclient's last wish． He locked the envelope away in his cupboard beside Doctor Jekyll's will．
The lawyer was desperately worried about his friend DoctorJekyll． He was afraid for him too． He called at the house butthe doctor always refused to see him．
‘How is he，Poole？’Mr Utterson asked the old servant oneday．
‘Not very well，sir．He spends all his time in the studyabove his laboratory．He sleeps there as well． He seems verysilent and uneasy． Something is worrying him， sir，
but hewon't tell anyone．’
For a long time the lawyer called almost every day． Little bylittle，however， he became tired of his friend's refusal to seehim， and his visits became less frequent．
6 The face at the window
One Sunday soon afterwards Mr Utterson was walkingwith his friend Enfield when they happened to passthrough the narrow side…street again． Enfleld pointed to themysterious door．
‘Well，’he said，‘that story is finished．We shall never seeMr Hyde again．’
‘I hope you're right，’said the lawyer．‘Did I tell you？ Ionce saw Hyde too and had the same strong feelings of dislikefor him as you did．What an evil man！’
‘I agree，’said his friend．‘By the way， why didn't you tellme that our mysterious door led to the laboratory at the back ofDoctor Jekyll's house？I didn't know then，but I know now．’
‘Well，now that you know，let's go into the courtyard andlook up at his window．I must tell you，‘I'm worried aboutpoor Jekyll．Perhaps the sight of a friendly face will do himgood．’
Overhead the evening sky was bright，but the courtyard wascool and dark．At an open window of the study above the laboratory， Doctor Jekyll sat， like a prisoner staring at the worldoutside．
‘I hope you are better，Jekyll，’the lawyer called up to him．
The doctor shook his head sadly．‘I'm not well，Utterson，’he said．‘I shall not be here much longer－thankGod．’
‘You spend too much time indoors！You ought to get outinto the fresh air like Enfield and me… By the way， this ismy cousin， Mr Enfield… COme now…get your hat and join usfor a quick walk．’
‘You 're very kind，’said the doctor．‘But no， it's quiteimpossible． I would like to invite you and Mr Enfield inside，but the place is not very tidy…’
‘Well then，’said the lawyer gently，‘we can talk to youfrom here．’
‘That's an excellent idea…’began the doctor，with asmile．But suddenly the smile left his face and was replaced byan expression of hopelessness， fear and horror． The two menbelow saw it，but only for a second， as the window was shutwith a bang． The two men looked at each other， then turnedand left the courtyard without a word．In silence they crossedthe narrow side…street．They did not speak until they came outinto a busy， noisy street． Then Mr Utterson at last turned andlooked at his companion， whose face was as pale as his own．The expression on Doctor Jekyll's face had upset them bothdeeply．
‘God help him！’whispered Mr Utterson．‘God help thepoor man！’
But Mr Enfield only nodded his head very seriously andwalked on without a word．
7 The last night
It was now March， and Mr Utterson was sitting by thefire after dinner，when he was surprised to receive avisitfrom Doctor Jekyll's servant，Poole．The old man looked paleand frightened．
‘Mr Utterson，he said，‘something is wrong．’
‘Sit down by the fire and tell me all abut it．’
‘The doctor's locked himself up in his study， sir．’
‘That's quite usual， surely，’ said the lawyer． ‘You knowyour master's habits as well as I do．He often shuts himselfaway from the world．’
‘Yes，but this time it's different． It frightens me， sirI've been frightened for more than a week now， and I justcan't go on any longer．
He stopped and stared down at the floor．
‘Try and tell me， Poole，’said Mr Utterson gently． ‘Something terrible is happening to my master．I can't explain． But… please，sir，can you come with me and see foryourself？’
At once Mr Utterson fetched his coat and hat．
‘Thank you， sir，’whispered Poole gratefully．
Together they made their way to Doctor Jekyll's house． Itwas a wild，stormy night．To Mr Utterson the streets seemedstrangely empty and lonely． The square， when they reachedit， was full of wind and flying dust． The thin trees were blowing wildly， and untidy grey clouds were sailing past a pale，sickly moon．
‘Well，sir，’said Poole，‘ here we are， and I hope that nothing is wrong．’He knocked softly at the front door． The doorwas opened just a little and a voice from inside asked，‘Is thatyou，Poole？’
‘Yes…open the door．’
The hall，when they entered，was brightly lit．A good firewas burning．The room was full of people…every servant inthe house was there．They looked like a crowd of frightenedchildren．
‘What's all this？’said the lawyer．‘What are you all doinghere？ Your master would not be pleased．’
‘They're frightened，’said Poole simply．No one elsespoke．A little servant girl began to cry．
‘Quiet！’said Poole sharply，trying to control his own fear．‘Now…fetch me a light and we'll finish this business at once．Mr Utterson， sir， please follow me．’He led the way across theback garden towards the laboratory．
‘Come as quietly as you can， sir．I want you to hear， but Idon't want him to hear you．And sin－if he asks you to go inside…don't go！’
Mr Utterson's heart gave a little jump of fear， but hebravely followed the servant into the laboratory to the bottomof the stairs．
‘Wait here， sir…and listen carefully，whispered Poole． Hehimself，again controlling his fear， climbed the stairs andknocked on the study door．
‘Mr Utterson would like to see you， sir，’he called．
‘Tell him I cannot see anyone，’ said a voice from inside theStudy．
‘Thank you，sir，’said Poole．He led Mr Utterson backacross the garden and into the house． ‘Sir，’he said， ‘was thatmy master's voice？’
The lawyer's face was pale． ‘It has changed，’he said．
‘Changed？ You're right，’said Poole．‘I've worked forDoctof Jekyll for twenty years．That was not my master's voice．Someone has murdered my master． Eight days ago weheard his voice for the last time．“Dear God！”he cried…thenno more．The voice you heard just now was the voice of hismuderer！’
‘This is an extraordinary story， my good man，’said Mr Utterson． He tried hard to appear calm．‘If Dr Jekyll has beenmurdered…why is his murderer still there？ What reason couldhe possibly have for staying？’
‘Perhaps you don't believe me， sir， but I know what Iheard．For a week now the person…or thing…in that studyhas been crying night and day for some special chemical powders．My master was in the habit，when he was particularlybusy with his scientific work，of writing orders on pieces ofpaper and leaving them on the stairs．‘We've had nothing elsethis week， nothing except written orders and a locked door．I've been to every chemist in town in search of these chemicalsof his，but they were never right．They weren't pure enough，he said． I had to take them back to the shop，and try anotherchemist．I don't know what these chemicals are，but the person in that study wants them terribly badly．’
‘Did you keep any of these written orders？’asked Mr Utterson．
Poole reached in his pocket and brought out a note．Thelawyer read it carefully．It said：‘I am returning your chemicals，as they are impure and therefore useless．In the year18…you made up a mixture of chemical powders for DoctorHenry Jekyll． Please search your cupboards for some more ofthe same mixture and send it to Doctor Jekyll AT ONCE．Thisis VERY IMPORTANT．’
‘This is a strange note，’said Mr Utterson．
‘The chemist thought so too，’ sir，’said Poole．‘When I tookhim this note，he cried，“All my chemicals are pure，and youcan tell your master so！”and he threw the note back at me．’
‘Are you sure this is your master's handwriting？’