Chapter 17

---

Browner’s Statement V: 
The Cab & New Brighton

---

II. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box

---

“It was
in this way.

We had gone
on the _May Day_
for a round voyage
of seven days,
but a hogshead ( 大木桶)
got loose
and started
one of our plates ( 船體鋼板),
so that we had
to put back
into port ( 返航入港)
for twelve hours.”

---

“I left the ship
and came home,
thinking
what a surprise ( 驚喜)
it would be
for my wife,
and hoping
that maybe
she would be glad
to see me
so soon.”

---

“The thought
was in my head
as I turned
into my own street,
and at that moment
a cab ( 計程馬車)
passed me,
and there she was,
sitting by the side
of Fairbairn,
the two
chatting and laughing ( 有說有笑),
with never a thought
for me
as I stood
watching them
from the footpath ( 人行道).”

---

“I tell you,
and I give you my word ( 我向你保證)
for it,
that from that moment
I was not
my own master ( 不能控制自己),
and it is all
like a dim dream ( 朦朧的夢)
when I look back
on it.”

---

“I had been
drinking hard ( 酗酒)
of late,
and the two things
together
fairly turned my brain ( 幾乎讓我發狂).

There’s something
throbbing
in my head now,
like a docker’s hammer ( 碼頭工人的重錘),
but that morning
I seemed to have
all Niagara ( 尼加拉瀑布)
whizzing ( 颼颼作響)
and buzzing ( 嗡嗡作響)
in my ears.”

---

“Well,
I took to my heels ( 拔腿就跑),
and I ran
after the cab.”

---

“I had
a heavy oak stick ( 橡木棍)
in my hand,
and I tell you
I saw red ( 怒火中燒)
from the first;
but as I ran
I got cunning ( 變得狡猾),
too,
and hung back
a little
to see them
without being seen.”

---

“They pulled up
soon
at the railway station ( 火車站).

There was
a good crowd
round the booking-office ( 售票處),
so I got quite close
to them
without being seen.”

---

“They took tickets
for New Brighton ( 紐布萊頓).

So did I,
but I got in
three carriages ( 車廂)
behind them.”

---

“When we reached it
they walked
along the Parade ( 濱海大道),
and I was never
more than
a hundred yards
from them.”

---

“At last
I saw them
hire a boat
and start
for a row ( 划船),
for it was
a very hot day,
and they thought,
no doubt,
that it would be cooler
on the water.”

---

The  End