第25章蓝宝石十字架（5）
"Theparsonatthedoorsaysallserene，'Sorrytofuseyourats，butit'llpayforthewindow。''?'Isays。'TheoneI'mgoingtobreak，'hesays，ablessedpahhisumbrella。"
Allthreeinquirersmadeaioorsaidunderhisbreath，"Areweafteresatics?"Theithsomerelishfortheridiculousstory:
"Iwassoknockedsillyforased，I'tdoanything。ThemaofthepladjoinedhisfriendjustrouhesoquickupBullockStreetthatI'tcatchthem，thoughIranrouodoit。"
"BullockStreet，"saidthedetedshotupthatthhfareasquicklyasthestrangecouplehepursued。
Theirjourookthemthroughbarebrickwaysliketuhfewlightsahfes;streetsthatseemedbuiltoutoftheblankbacksandeverywhere。Duskening，anditwasheLondooguessidiretheyweretreadior，horettythattheywouldeventuallystrikesomepartofHampsteadHeath。Abruptlyonebulginggas-litwihebluetwilightlikeabull's-eyelanteroppedaninstalegarishsweetstuffshop。Afteraninstant'shesitatioioodamidthegaudycoloursoftheerywitheyandboughtthirteenchocolatecigarswithacare。Hearihedidnotneedone。
Anangular，elderlyyoungwomanintheshardedhiselegantappearahamerelyautomatiquiry;butwhehedoorbehindhimblockedwiththeblueuniformoftheior，hereyesseemedto>
"Oh，"shesaid，"ifyou'veeaboutforthatparcel，I'vesentitoffalready。"
"Parcel?"repeatedValentin;anditwashisturntol。
"Imeahe'gehege;
&quoodness'sake，"said'Valentin，leaningforwardwithhisfirstrealofeager;forHeaven'ssaketellusely。"
"Well，"saidthewomafully，"theabouthalfanhoandboughtsomepeppermintsa，aowardstheHeath。Butasedafter，ohemrunsbatotheshopandsays，'HaveIleftaparcel!'Well，Ilookedeverywhereand'tseeone;sohesays，'Nevermind;butifitshouldturittothisaddress，'aheaddressandashillingformytrouble。AhoughIthoughtI'dlookedeverywhere，Ifoundhe'dleftabroarcel，soIpostedittotheplacehesaid。Iembertheaddressnohereier。Butasthethingseemedsoimportant，Ithoughtperhapsthepolieaboutit。"
"Sotheyhave，"saidValentinshortly。"IsHampsteadHeath;
&quhtonforfiftee;saidthewoman，"andyou'llerightouto;
&insprangoutoftheshopaoruherdetectivesfollowedhimatareluttrot。
&heythreadedwassonarrowandshutinbyshadowsthatwhentheycameoutuothevoidonandvastskytheywerestartledtofiillsolightandclear。Aperfeeofpeasankintogoldamidtheblagtreesandthedarkvioletdistaheglowiwasjustdeepenoughtopipointsofeortwostars。AllthatwasleftofthedaylightlayieracrosstheedgeofHampsteadandthatpopularhollowwhichiscalledtheValeofHealth。Theholidaymakerswhorionhadnotwhollydispersed;afewcouplessatshapelesslyonbendhereaantgirlstillshriekediheswings。Thegloryofheavendeepenedanddarkenedaroundthesublimevulgarityofman。
Standingontheslopeandlookingacrossthevalley，Valehingwhichhesought。
Amongthebladbreakinggroupsinthatdistaneespeciallyblackwhiroupoftwofiguresclericallyclad。Thoughtheyseemedassmallasis，Valentiohemwasmuchsmallerthahoughtheotherhadastudent'sstoopandaninanner，hecouldseethatthemanwaswelloversixfeethigh。Heshuthisteethaforward，whirlinghisstickimpatiently。Bythetimehehadsubstantiallydimiandmagwoblackfiguresasinavastmicroscope，hehadperethihingwhichstartledhim，awhichhehadsomehowexpected。Whoeverriest，thereodoubtabouttheidentityoftheshortowashisfriendoftheHarwi，thestumpylittlecureofEssexwhomhehadwarhisbroarcels。
Now，sofarasthiswehingfittedinfinallyandrationallyenough。ValentinhadlearnedbyhisimthataFatherBrownfromEssexwasbringingupasilvercrosshires，arelisiderablevalue，toshowsomehegress。Thisuhe"silverwithbluesto;;andFatherBrowhelittlegreenhorrain。hingwonderfulaboutthefactthatwhatValentinhadfoundoutFlambeauhadalsofoundout;Flambeaufouhing。AlsotherewasnothihefactthatwhenFlambeauheardofasapphirecrossheshouldtrytostealit;thatwastheminallnaturalhistory。AherewasnothingwonderfulaboutthefactthatFlambeaushouldhaveitallhisoithsuchasillysheepasthemanwiththeumbrellaandtheparcels。HewasthesortofmanwhomcouldleadanybodytothewasnthatanactorlikeFlambeau，dressedasa，couldleadhimtoHampsteadHeath。Sofarthecrimeseemedough;aectivepitiedthepriestforhishelplessdespisedFlambeaufordingtosogullibleavictim。Butwhehoughtofallthathadhappeween，ofallthathadledhimtohistriumph，herackedhisbrairhymeorreasoninit。Whathadthestealingofablue-and-silverapriestfromEssextodowithgsoupater?Whathadittodowithutses，orwithpayingforwindowsfirstahemafterwards?Hehadetotheendofhischase;yetsomehowhehadmissedthemiddleofit。Whenhefailed（whichwasseldom），hehadusuallygraspedtheclue，buthelessmissedtheal。Herehehadgraspedtheal，butstillheotgrasptheclue。
&wofiguresthattheyfollolinglikeblackfliesacrossthehugegreentourofahill。Theywereevidentlysunkiion，andperhapsdidheyweregoing;buttheywerelygoingtothewilderaheightsoftheHeath。Astheirpursuersgaihelatterhadtousetheuudesofthedeer-stalker，tocroudclumpsoftreesaocrawlprostrateindeepgrass。Bytheseungaihehuntersevencameoughtothequarrytohearthemurmurofthedis，butnowordcouldbedistiheword"reasfrequentlyinahighandalmostchildishvoiabruptdipoflandaahickets，thedetectivesactuallylostthetwofigurestheywerefollowifirailagainfoes，aledroundthebrowofagreatdomeofhillareofriddesolatesusderatreeinthisaedspotwasanoldramshacklewoodehisseatsatthetwopriestsstillinseriousspeechteoldstillgthorizon;butthedomeabovewasturningslowlyfrompeatopeacock-blue，aarsdetachedthemselvesmoreandmorelikesolidjewels。Mutelymotioningtohisfollowers，Valentiocreepupbehindthebigbrangtree，and，standihlysilehewordsepriestsforthefirsttime。
Afterhehadlistenedforaminuteandahalf，heedbyadevilishdoubt。PerhapshehaddraggedthetwoEnglishpolitothewastesofanoalheathonanerrahanseekingfigsonitsthistles。Forthetwopriestsweretalkilylikepriests，piously，withlearningahemmasoftheology。ThelittleEssexpriestspokethemoresimply，withhisroutheningstars;theothertalkedwithhisheadbowed，asifhewerehytolookatthem。Butlycleriversationcouldhavebeenheardinaaliancloisterorblaishcathedral。
&heheardwasthetailofoherBrown'ssentences，whided:"。。。whattheyreallymeantintheMiddleAgesbytheheavensbeingincorruptible。"
&allerpriestnoddedhisbowedheadandsaid，"Ah，yes，thesemoderninfidelsappealtotheirreason;butwholookatthosemillionsofworldsaheremaywellbewonderfuluniversesaboveuswherereasonisutterlyunreaso;
"No，"saidtheotherpriest;"reasonisalwaysreasohelastlimbo，iborderlandofthings。IknolechargetheChurchwithlreason，butitisjusttheotherway。AloheChurchmakesreasonreallysupreme。AloheChurchaffirmsthatGodhimselfisboundbyreason。"
&herpriestraisedhisausterefacetothespangledskyandsaid，"Yetwhoknowsifinthatinfi;
"Onlyinfinitephysically，"saidthelittlepriest，turningsharplyi;notihesenseofesthelawsoftruth。"
&inbehiearinghisfingernailswithsilentfury。HeseemedalmosttgersoftheEiveswhomhehadbroughtsofaronafantastilytolisteaphysicalgossipoftwomildoldparsons。InhisimpatieheequallyelaborateahetalldwheenedagainitwasagainFatherBroasspeaking:
"Reasonaheremotestandtheloar。Lookatthosestars。Don'ttheylookasiftheyweresinglediamondsandsapphires?Well，youeanymadbyyouplease。Thisofadamantwithleavesofbrilliants。Thinkthemoonisabluemoon，asiinesapphire。Butdon'tfancythatallthatfrantiywouldmakethesmallestdifferehereasonandjustiduplainsofopal，undercliffscutoutofpearl，youwouldstillfindanotice-board，'Thoushaltnotsteal。'"
&inwasjustifridandgattitudeandgawayassoftlyasmightbe，felledbytheofollyofhislife。Butsomethingintheverysileallpriestmadehimstopuerspoke。Whenatlasthedidspeak，hesaidsimply，hisheadbowedandhishandsonhisknees:
"Well，Ithinkthatothersrisehigherthahemysteryofheavenisunfathomable，andIforoneyhead。"
&hbrowyetbentandwithoutgbythefaishadehisattitudeorvoice，headded:
"Justhasapphirecrossofyours，willyou?We'reallalonehere，andIcouldpullyoutopieceslikeastrawdoll。"
&erlyunalteredvoidattitudeaddedastrahatshogeofspeech。Buttheguarderofthereliedtoturhesmallestsepass。Heseemedstilltohaveasomewhatfoolishfaedtothestars。Perhapshehadood。Or，perhaps，hehaduoodandsatrigidwithterror。
"Yes，"saidthetallpriest，inthesamelowvoithesamestillposture，"yes，IamFlambeau。"