登陆注册
15423300000014

第14章

He came, an inch at a time, growling viciously, and holding Hollis's half-sovereign tight between his teeth. We tried sweet reasonableness at first. We offered him a sixpence in exchange; he looked insulted, and evidently considered the proposal as tantamount to our calling him a fool. We made it a shilling, then half-a-crown--he seemed only bored by our persistence.

"I don't think you'll ever see this half-sovereign again, Hollis,"said Gadbut, laughing. We all, with the exception of young Hollis, thought the affair a very good joke. He, on the contrary, seemed annoyed, and, taking the dog from Gadbut, made an attempt to pull the coin out of its mouth.

Tiny, true to his life-long principle of never parting if he could possibly help it, held on like grim death, until, feeling that his little earnings were slowly but surely going from him, he made one final desperate snatch, and swallowed the money. It stuck in his throat, and he began to choke.

Then we became seriously alarmed for the dog. He was an amusing chap, and we did not want any accident to happen to him. Hollis rushed into his room and procured a long pair of pincers, and the rest of us held the little miser while Hollis tried to relieve him of the cause of his suffering.

But poor Tiny did not understand our intentions. He still thought we were seeking to rob him of his night's takings, and resisted vehemently. His struggles fixed the coin firmer, and, in spite of our efforts, he died--one more victim, among many, to the fierce fever for gold.

I dreamt a very curious dream about riches once, that made a great impression upon me. I thought that I and a friend--a very dear friend--were living together in a strange old house. I don't think anybody else dwelt in the house but just we two. One day, wandering about this strange old rambling place, I discovered the hidden door of a secret room, and in this room were many iron-bound chests, and when I raised the heavy lids I saw that each chest was full of gold.

And, when I saw this, I stole out softly and closed the hidden door, and drew the worn tapestries in front of it again, and crept back along the dim corridor, looking behind me, fearfully.

And the friend that I had loved came towards me, and we walked together with our hands clasped. But I hated him.

And all day long I kept beside him, or followed him unseen, lest by chance he should learn the secret of that hidden door; and at night I lay awake watching him.

But one night I sleep, and, when I open my eyes, he is no longer near me. I run swiftly up the narrow stairs and along the silent corridor. The tapestry is drawn aside, and the hidden door stands open, and in the room beyond the friend that I loved is kneeling before an open chest, and the glint of the gold is in my eyes.

His back is towards me, and I crawl forward inch by inch. I have a knife in my hand, with a strong, curved blade; and when I am near enough I kill him as he kneels there.

His body falls against the door, and it shuts to with a clang, and Itry to open it, and cannot. I beat my hands against its iron nails, and scream, and the dead man grins at me. The light streams in through the chink beneath the massive door, and fades, and comes again, and fades again, and I gnaw at the oaken lids of the iron-bound chests, for the madness of hunger is climbing into my brain.

Then I awake, and find that I really am hungry, and remember that in consequence of a headache I did not eat any dinner. So I slip on a few clothes, and go down to the kitchen on a foraging expedition.

It is said that dreams are momentary conglomerations of thought, centring round the incident that awakens us, and, as with most scientific facts, this is occasionally true. There is one dream that, with slight variations, is continually recurring to me. Over and over again I dream that I am suddenly called upon to act an important part in some piece at the Lyceum. That poor Mr. Irving should invariably be the victim seems unfair, but really it is entirely his own fault. It is he who persuades and urges me. Imyself would much prefer to remain quietly in bed, and I tell him so. But he insists on my getting up at once and coming down to the theatre. I explain to him that I can't act a bit. He seems to consider this unimportant, and says, "Oh, that will be all right."We argue for a while, but he makes the matter quite a personal one, and to oblige him and get him out of the bedroom I consent, though much against my own judgment. I generally dress the character in my nightshirt, though on one occasion, for Banquo, I wore pyjamas, and I never remember a single word of what I ought to say. How I get through I do not know. Irving comes up afterwards and congratulates me, but whether upon the brilliancy of my performance, or upon my luck in getting off the stage before a brickbat is thrown at me, Icannot say.

Whenever I dream this incident I invariably wake up to find that the bedclothes are on the floor, and that I am shivering with cold; and it is this shivering, I suppose, that causes me to dream I am wandering about the Lyceum stage in nothing but my nightshirt. But still I do not understand why it should always be the Lyceum.

Another dream which I fancy I have dreamt more than once--or, if not, I have dreamt that I dreamt it before, a thing one sometimes does--is one in which I am walking down a very wide and very long road in the East End of London. It is a curious road to find there.

Omnibuses and trams pass up and down, and it is crowded with stalls and barrows, beside which men in greasy caps stand shouting; yet on each side it is bordered by a strip of tropical forest. The road, in fact, combines the advantages of Kew and Whitechapel.

Some one is with me, but I cannot see him, and we walk through the forest, pushing our way among the tangled vines that cling about our feet, and every now and then, between the giant tree-trunks, we catch glimpses of the noisy street.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 耀日主宰

    耀日主宰

    几亿年前,一场卷入整个仙界的大战爆发,九大主宰,各方道祖纷纷出手·····时光飞逝,在遥远的人界,一个平凡的少年带着一面金色的镜子踏上征途······
  • 不知道的前方

    不知道的前方

    过年回乡,父亲母亲的故事萦绕在脑海中,他们的生活争吵、暴躁,但也平凡温和。一江说:去旅行吧,你会忘掉这些。孙延说:就像做菜,每一个细节都得认真,才能活得好。
  • 绝对王宠:渣女复仇之路

    绝对王宠:渣女复仇之路

    她本是大齐的天之骄女,却遇渣男表错情,被人利用殊不知。从众星捧月的侯门嫡女,成为人人诛之奸臣之女,她死于非命,被仇人弃尸荒野。幸得贵人相助,借尸还魂,魂归邻国,成了国公府受尽欺辱的四小姐。这一世,她决定自己做自己的靠山!报仇雪恨,庇护至亲,遇神挡神,遇佛斗佛,一路‘渣’到底。路遇渣男,可她不知他守了她两世,若已相思,岂能假手,若有来世,定然执手,不负相思意。(本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。)
  • 龙珠之贝吉特

    龙珠之贝吉特

    打败魔人布欧后世界仍未获得真正的和平,恐怖的力量再一次伸出了魔爪。地球以及宇宙的未来由我来守护,我既不是孙悟空也不是贝吉塔,我是要打倒你的人
  • 我的1894之甲午风云

    我的1894之甲午风云

    一个在读大学生,意外穿越到了清末年间,该怎样去面对历史,中日甲午战争以及北洋舰队的命运会怎样?《马关条约》还会不会签订?割地赔款是否还在继续?主角怎样凭着一腔热血和一份上苍的眷顾,去洗雪百年屈辱。甲午之耻,永不能忘!纪念中日甲午战争120周年!
  • 十殿阎罗生死簿

    十殿阎罗生死簿

    阎王让人三更死,绝不留人到五更!一本生死簿展开的智力对决!
  • 狂龙战尊

    狂龙战尊

    “哥是顶包的王子。”“那个倒霉催的家伙遇刺死掉了。”“唔,好多人要杀哥,好多美女缠着哥,哥该怎么办啊?”“唔……哥好烦躁啊!”
  • 向阳光奔流的水

    向阳光奔流的水

    青春活泼的高铁乘务员,在列车上见惯了形形色色的人,无意中还是发现了一位带着婴儿坐车出差的单身爸爸,偶然的几次遇见,开启了一段艰难的爱情故事……
  • 相思谋:妃常难娶

    相思谋:妃常难娶

    某日某王府张灯结彩,婚礼进行时,突然不知从哪冒出来一个小孩,对着新郎道:“爹爹,今天您的大婚之喜,娘亲让我来还一样东西。”说完提着手中的玉佩在新郎面前晃悠。此话一出,一府宾客哗然,然当大家看清这小孩与新郎如一个模子刻出来的面容时,顿时石化。此时某屋顶,一个绝色女子不耐烦的声音响起:“儿子,事情办完了我们走,别在那磨矶,耽误时间。”新郎一看屋顶上的女子,当下怒火攻心,扔下新娘就往女子所在的方向扑去,吼道:“女人,你给本王站住。”一场爱与被爱的追逐正式开始、、、、、、、
  • 成实论

    成实论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。