福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第9章Part12

"I'll wipe my hand across your face if you say such words to me!" cried McGinty hotly.
"You are right, Councillor," said McMurdo meekly. "I should apologize. I spoke without thought. Well, I know that I am safe in your hands. Look at that clipping."
McGinty glanced his eyes over the account of the shooting of one Jonas Pinto, in the Lake Saloon, Market Street, Chicago, in the New Year week of 1874.
"Your work?" he asked, as he handed back the paper.
McMurdo nodded.
"Why did you shoot him?"
"I was helping Uncle Sam to make dollars. Maybe mine were not as good gold as his, but they looked as well and were cheaper to make. This man Pinto helped me to shove the queer--"
"To do what?"
"Well, it means to pass the dollars out into circulation. Then he said he would split. Maybe he did split. I didn't wait to see. I just killed him and lighted out for the coal country."
"Why the coal country?"
"'Cause I'd read in the papers that they weren't too particular in those parts."
McGinty laughed. "You were first a coiner and then a murderer, and you came to these parts because you thought you'd be welcome."
"That's about the size of it," McMurdo answered.
"Well, I guess you'll go far. Say, can you make those dollars yet?"
McMurdo took half a dozen from his pocket. "Those never passed the Philadelphia mint," said he.
"You don't say!" McGinty held them to the light in his enormous hand, which was hairy as a gorilla's. "I can see no difference. Gar! you'll be a mighty useful brother, I'm thinking! We can do with a bad man or two among us, Friend McMurdo: for there are times when we have to take our own part. We'd soon be against the wall if we didn't shove back at those that were pushing us."
"Well, I guess I'll do my share of shoving with the rest of the boys."
"You seem to have a good nerve. You didn't squirm when I shoved this gun at you."
"It was not me that was in danger."
"Who then?"

“你要是再对我说这种话，我就给你几记耳光。"麦金蒂发火地说。
“你是对的，参议员先生，"麦克默多温顺地说着，“我应当向你道歉。我是无意说出来的。好，我知道在你手下很安全。请看这剪报吧。”
麦金蒂粗略地看了一下这份报道：一八七四年一月上旬，在芝加哥市场街雷克酒店，一个叫乔纳斯·平托的被人杀害了。
“是你干的？"麦金蒂把剪报还回去，问道。
麦克默多点点头。
“你为什么杀死他？”
“我帮助山姆大叔私铸金币。也许我的金币成色没有他①的好，可是看起来也不错，而且铸起来便宜。这个叫平托的人帮我推销伪币……”
“做什么？”
“啊，就是说让伪币流通使用。后来他说他要告密。也许他真告过密，我毫不迟疑地杀死了他，就逃到这煤矿区来了。”
“为什么要逃到煤矿区来呢？”
“因为我在报上看到杀人犯在此地是不太引人注目的。”
麦金蒂笑道：“你先是一个铸造伪币犯，后是一个杀人犯，你到这里来，因为你想在这儿会受欢迎吧。”
“大体就是这么回事，"麦克默多答道。
“好，我看你前途无量。喂，你还能铸伪币吗？”
麦克默多从衣袋里掏出六个金币来，说道：“这就不是费城铸币厂制造的。”
“不见得吧！"麦金蒂伸出猩猩爪子一样毛茸茸的大手，把金币举到灯前细看，“我真看不出什么不同来！哎呀，我看你是一个大有作为的弟兄。麦克默多朋友，我们这伙子里没有一两个坏汉子不成，因为我们得保护自己呀。要是我们不把推我们的人猛推回去，那我们可要马上碰壁了。”
“好，我想我要和大家一起尽一份力量。”
“我看你很有胆量。在我把手枪对准你时，你却毫不畏缩。”
“那时危险的并不是我。”
“那么，是谁呢？”