福爾摩斯探案經典:《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?"
“你要是再對我說這種話，我就給你幾記耳光。"麥金蒂發火地說。
“你是對的，參議員先生，"麥克默多溫順地說着，“我應當向你道歉。我是無意說出來的。好，我知道在你手下很安全。請看這剪報吧。”
麥金蒂粗略地看了一下這份報道：一八七四年一月上旬，在芝加哥市場街雷克酒店，一個叫喬納斯·平託的被人殺害了。
“是你乾的？"麥金蒂把剪報還回去，問道。
麥克默多點點頭。
“你爲什麼殺死他？”
“我幫助山姆大叔私鑄金幣。也許我的金幣成色沒有他①的好，可是看起來也不錯，而且鑄起來便宜。這個叫平託的人幫我推銷僞幣……”
“做什麼？”
“啊，就是說讓僞幣流通使用。後來他說他要告密。也許他真告過密，我毫不遲疑地殺死了他，就逃到這煤礦區來了。”
“爲什麼要逃到煤礦區來呢？”
“因爲我在報上看到殺人犯在此地是不太引人注目的。”
麥金蒂笑道：“你先是一個鑄造僞幣犯，後是一個殺人犯，你到這裏來，因爲你想在這兒會受歡迎吧。”
“大體就是這麼回事，"麥克默多答道。
“好，我看你前途無量。喂，你還能鑄僞幣嗎？”
麥克默多從衣袋裏掏出六個金幣來，說道：“這就不是費城鑄幣廠製造的。”
“不見得吧！"麥金蒂伸出猩猩爪子一樣毛茸茸的大手，把金幣舉到燈前細看，“我真看不出什麼不同來！哎呀，我看你是一個大有作爲的弟兄。麥克默多朋友，我們這夥子裏沒有一兩個壞漢子不成，因爲我們得保護自己呀。要是我們不把推我們的人猛推回去，那我們可要馬上碰壁了。”
“好，我想我要和大家一起盡一份力量。”
“我看你很有膽量。在我把手槍對準你時，你卻毫不畏縮。”
“那時危險的並不是我。”
“那麼，是誰呢？”
