If you attempt any 19)treachery or fail to comply with our demand as stated, you will never see your boy again.
TWO DESPERATE MEN.
艾本尼泽•多赛特先生：
我们把你的儿子藏到了离顶峰镇很远的地方。如果你想要他回去，就得完全同意以下条件：我们要你用1500美元换他回去，在今晚午夜时分，钱必须随同回信放置在同一地方的同一盒子里。做法如下：今晚8点半单独派一名送信人送来你的书面答复。在去白杨凹的路上，经过猫头鹰小溪后，右手边靠近麦田篱笆的附近，有三棵间隔大约100码的大树。在正对着第三棵树的篱笆柱下，你将看到一个小纸板盒。
如果你试图搞阴谋诡计或不接受我们上述的条件，你将再也见不到你的儿子。
两个亡命之徒
As I was about to start, Bill says, “Sam, I wish we hadn’t made the ransom more than a thousand. ”
I walked over to Poplar Cove, then posted my letter 20)surreptitiously and came away.
When I got back to the cave Bill and the boy were not to be found.
In about half an hour Bill 21)wabbled out into the little 22)glade in front of the cave. Behind him was the kid, stepping softly like a scout, with a broad grin on his face.
“What’s the trouble, Bill?” I asks him.
“For an hour I had to try to explain to him why there was nothin’ in holes, how a road can run both ways and what makes the grass green. I tell you, Sam, a human can only stand so much.”
“I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick,” continues Bill. “I’m sorry we’ll lose the ransom, but it was either that or Bill Driscoll to the madhouse.”
Bill is puffing and blowing, but there is a look of 23)ineffable peace and growing content on his rose pink features.
“Bill,” says I, “there isn’t any heart disease in your family, is there?”
“No, Why?” says Bill.
“Then you might turn around,” says I, “and have a look behind you.”
Bill turns and sees the boy, and loses his complexion and sits down plump on the ground.
At half past eight that night, I was up in that tree, waiting for the messenger to arrive.
Exactly on time, a boy rides up the road on a bicycle, locates the pasteboard box at the foot of the fencepost, slips a folded piece of paper into it and 24)pedals away again back toward Summit.
I waited an hour and then concluded the thing was square. I slid down the tree, got the note, slipped along the fence till I was back at the cave. I opened the note, got near the lantern and read it to Bill.
当我准备出发时，比尔说道：“山姆，我真希望我们的赎金没超过1000美元啊！”
我到了白杨凹，偷偷把信投递了出去，然后离开。
我回到山洞时，比尔和小家伙都不见了。
大约半个小时后，比尔摇晃地走到山洞前的一小块空地上。小家伙像侦察兵一样悄悄地跟在后面，咧着嘴大笑。
“怎么了，比尔？”我问他。
“我花了一个小时给他讲解为什么洞是空的，为什么路可以有两个方向，为什么草是绿的。山姆，这够让人受的了。”
“我告诉他回顶峰镇的路，一脚把他踢了8英尺远。”比尔接着说，“很遗憾我们没有了赎金，但是如果不这样，我比尔•德利斯科尔会被送进疯人院的。”
比尔气喘吁吁，但他涨红的脸上露出一种说不出的平静和越来越满足的神情。
“比尔，”我说，“你们家族没有心脏病史吧？”
“没有啊，怎么了？”比尔答道。
“那么你可以转身了，”我说，“看看你身后吧。”
比尔转身看到了小家伙，大惊失色，一屁股坐到了地上。
那天晚上8点半，我爬上了树，等待送信人的到来。
就在约定的那个时间，一个小伙子骑着自行车从路那边过来了。他在篱笆柱下找到了那个纸板盒子，将一张叠好的纸条塞了进去，然后骑着自行车回顶峰镇去了。
我等了一个小时，确定没有危险后，才滑下树，拿了纸条，沿着篱笆一直溜回山洞。我打开纸条，拿到灯下念给比尔听。
Two Desperate Men,
I received your letter today by post, in regard to the ransom you ask for the return of my son. I hereby make you a counter 25)proposition, which I am 26)inclined to believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands.
EBENEZER DORSET.
“Great pirates!” says I, “of all the 27)impudent-”
But I glanced at Bill, and hesitated.
“Sam,” says he, “what’s two hundred and fifty dollars, after all? One more night of this kid will send me to a bed in 28)bedlam. You ain’t going to let the chance go, are you?”
It was just twelve o’clock when we knocked at Ebenezer’s front door. When the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl and fastened himself as tight as a 29)leech to Bill’s leg. His father peeled him away gradually, like a 30)porous 31)plaster.
“How long can you hold him?” asks Bill.
“I’m not as strong as I used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can promise you ten minutes.”
“Enough,” says Bill. “In ten minutes I shall cross the Central, Southern and Mid-Western States.”
And, as dark as it was, and as fat as Bill was, and as good a runner as I am, he was a good mile and a half out of Summit before I could catch up with him.
两位亡命之徒：
今天我收到了你们关于索要我儿子赎金的信。我特此提出一个相反的建议，我想你们肯定会接受的。你们把约翰尼送回家，并付给我250美元现金，我才同意从你们手上接过他。
艾本尼泽•多赛特
“简直是大海盗！”我说，“真是厚颜无耻——”
但我瞥了比尔一眼，没再说下去。
“山姆，”他说，“250美元究竟算得了什么呢？这小子再多待一个晚上，我就会被送到疯人院的床上去了。你不会放弃这个机会的，是吗？”
我们敲开艾本尼泽家前门时，正好是午夜12点。当小家伙发现我们准备把他留在家里时，开始嗥叫起来，并像水蛭一样紧紧抓住比尔的腿不放。他父亲像揭膏药一样将他一点点地拉了过去。
“你能拉住他多长时间？”比尔问。
“我已不如以往那么壮实了，”老多赛特说，“但我想应该能保证10分钟吧。”
“足够了，”比尔说，“在10分钟内，我能够穿越中部、南部和中西部各州。”
尽管天很黑，比尔很胖，而我又跑得很快，但当我追上比尔时，他早已跑出顶峰镇足足一英里半了。
