Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. TITELBLATT

2. IMPRESSUM

3. THE BLUE CROSS

4. THE BLUE CROSS (ENGLISCH)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The Blue Cross / Das blaue Kreuz
Zweisprachige Ausgabe
Übersetzt von Hedwig Maria von Lama

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BETWEEN the silver ribbon of morning and the green glittering ribbon of sea,

Zwischen dem Silberbande des Morgens und dem grünen, glitzernden Bande der See

the boat touched Harwich and let loose a swarm of folk like flies,

legte das Dampfboot in Harwich an und ließ einen Schwarm Volkes entweichen,

among whom the man we must follow was by no means conspicuous — nor wished to be.

aus dem der Mann, dem wir folgen müssen, keineswegs hervorstach – noch es zu tun wünschte.

There was nothing notable about him, except a slight contrast between the holiday gaiety of his clothes and the official gravity of his face.

Außer einem leichten Gegensatze zwischen der feiertäglichen Lebhaftigkeit seiner Kleidung und dem offiziellen Ernste seines Gesichtes war nichts Bemerkenswertes an ihm.

His clothes included a slight, pale grey jacket, a white waistcoat, and a silver straw hat with a grey-blue ribbon.

Zu seiner Kleidung gehörte eine leichte, hellgraue Jacke, eine weiße Weste und ein Silberstrohhut mit blaugrauem Bande.

His lean face was dark by contrast, and ended in a curt black beard

Sein mageres Gesicht, das der Gegensatz dunkel erscheinen ließ, endete in einen kurzen, schwarzen Spitzbart,

that looked Spanish and suggested an Elizabethan ruff.

der spanisch aussah und eine Halskrause, wie man sie unter Elisabeth trug, zu verlangen schien.

He was smoking a cigarette with the seriousness of an idler.

Mit dem Ernste eines Müßiggängers rauchte er eine Zigarette.

There was nothing about him to indicate the fact that the grey jacket covered a loaded revolver,

Nichts an ihm deutete an, daß die graue Jacke einen geladenen Revolver,

that the white waistcoat covered a police card, or that the straw hat covered one of the most powerful intellects in Europe.

die weiße Weste einen Polizeipaß oder der Strohhut einen der scharfsinnigsten Köpfe Europas bedeckte.

For this was Valentin himself, the head of the Paris police and the most famous investigator of the world;

Denn es war Valentin selbst, das Haupt der Pariser Polizei und die berühmteste Spürnase der Welt,

and he was coming from Brussels to London to make the greatest arrest of the century.

und er befand sich auf dem Wege von Brüssel nach London, um die bedeutendste Verhaftung des Jahrhunderts vorzunehmen.

Flambeau was in England. The police of three countries had tracked the great criminal at last from Ghent to Brussels, from Brussels to the Hook of Holland;

Flambeau war in England. Die Polizei dreier Länder hatte endlich die Spuren des großen Verbrechers von Gent nach Brüssel und von Brüssel nach dem Hoek van Holland verfolgt;

and it was conjectured that he would take some advantage of the unfamiliarity and confusion of the Eucharistic Congress, then taking place in London.

man mutmaßte, er würde die günstige Gelegenheit des Durcheinanders und des Fremdenandranges beim Eucharistischen Kongresse, der damals in London tagte, ausnützen.

Probably he would travel as some minor clerk or secretary connected with it;

Wahrscheinlich würde er als irgendwelcher niedere Geistliche oder als eine Art von Kongreßsekretär reisen,

but, of course, Valentin could not be certain; nobody could be certain about Flambeau.

aber gewiß konnte das natürlich Valentin nicht wissen; bei Flambeau war niemand sicher.

It is many years now since this colossus of crime suddenly ceased keeping the world in a turmoil;

Es sind jetzt viele Jahre her, seit dieses Ungetüm eines Verbrechers, das die Welt in Angst hielt, plötzlich verschwand,

and when he ceased, as they said after the death of Roland, there was a great quiet upon the earth.

und als es verschwand, war, wie man dies nach dem Tode Rolands sagte, eine große Ruhe auf Erden entstanden.

But in his best days (I mean, of course, his worst) Flambeau was a figure as statuesque and international as the Kaiser.

Doch in seinen besten Tagen (ich meine natürlich seine schlimmsten) war Flambeau eine ebenso überragende und internationale Gestalt wie der Kaiser.

Almost every morning the daily paper announced that he had escaped the consequences of one extraordinary crime by committing another.

Nahezu jeden Morgen berichteten die Blätter, daß er sich den Folgen eines außergewöhnlichen Verbrechens dadurch entzogen habe, daß er ein neues beging.

He was a Gascon of gigantic stature and bodily daring; and the wildest tales were told of his outbursts of athletic humour;

Flambeau war ein Gaskogne von riesigem Wuchse und wahrer Tollkühnheit, und die wildesten Dinge erzählte man sich von den Ausbrüchen seines athletischen Temperamentes,

how he turned the juge d’instruction upside down and stood him on his head, “to clear his mind”;

z. B. wie er den Untersuchungsrichter auf den Kopf stellte, um ihm den Verstand zu klären,

how he ran down the Rue de Rivoli with a policeman under each arm.

oder wie er mit je einem Polizisten unterm Arme die Rue de Rivoli hinabrannte.

It is due to him to say that his fantastic physical strength

Um aufrichtig gegen ihn zu sein, muß jedoch gesagt werden, daß er seine ungewöhnliche Körperkraft

was generally employed in such bloodless though undignified scenes;

im allgemeinen selten in solch unblutigen, wenn auch seiner Würde wenig förderlichen Auftritten zur Anwendung brachte;

his real crimes were chiefly those of ingenious and wholesale robbery.

seine eigentlichen Verbrechen bestanden hauptsächlich in geistvollen, erfindungsreichen Räubereien im großen Stile.

But each of his thefts was almost a new sin, and would make a story by itself.

Doch jeder seiner Diebstähle bildete nahezu eine neue Art von Vergehen und würde für sich schon eine besondere Geschichte ausmachen.

It was he who ran the great Tyrolean Dairy Company in London,

Er war es, der die große Tiroler Molkerei-Gesellschaft in London ins Leben rief,

with no dairies, no cows, no carts, no milk, but with some thousand subscribers.

ohne Molkerei, ohne Kühe, ohne Karren, ohne Milch, jedoch mit einigen tausend Abnehmern.

These he served by the simple operation of moving the little milk cans outside people’s doors to the doors of his own customers.

Diese bediente er einfach dadurch, daß er die kleinen Milchkannen vor anderer Leute Türen vor die seiner eigenen Kunden schob.

It was he who had kept up an unaccountable and close correspondence with a young lady whose whole letter-bag was intercepted,

Er war es gewesen, der einen unerklärlichen und geheimen Briefwechsel mit einer jungen Dame unterhielt, der aufgefangen wurde,

by the extraordinary trick of photographing his messages infinitesimally small upon the slides of a microscope.

und wobei er sich des außerordentlichen Tricks bedient hatte, seine Mitteilungen in unendlicher Verkleinerung auf Mikroskops zu photographieren.

A sweeping simplicity, however, marked many of his experiments.

Eine große Einfachheit kennzeichnete jedoch viele seiner Versuche.

It is said that he once repainted all the numbers in a street in the dead of night merely to divert one traveller into a trap.

Einmal soll er in der Totenstille der Nacht alle Hausnummern einer Straße übermalt haben, nur um einen Reisenden in eine Falle zu locken.

It is quite certain that he invented a portable pillar-box,

Es ist vollkommen richtig, daß er einen tragbaren Briefkasten erfunden hatte,

which he put up at corners in quiet suburbs on the chance of strangers dropping postal orders into it.

den er in ruhigen Vorstädten an den Ecken anbrachte, um etwaige Postanweisungen abzufangen.

Lastly, he was known to be a startling acrobat;

Kürzlich noch lernte man ihn auch als geschickten Akrobaten kennen;

despite his huge figure, he could leap like a grasshopper and melt into the tree-tops like a monkey.

trotz seiner mächtigen Gestalt wußte er wie eine Heuschrecke zu springen und wie ein Affe in den Baumkronen zu verschwinden.

Hence the great Valentin, when he set out to find Flambeau, was perfectly aware

Daher war sich der große Valentin, als er Flambeau zu finden sich anschickte, vollkommen bewußt,

that his adventures would not end when he had found him.

daß, wenn er ihn auch gefunden haben würde, damit seine Abenteuer nicht beendet wären.

But how was he to find him?

Doch wie sollte er ihn finden?

On this the great Valentin’s ideas were still in process of settlement.

Darüber waren Valentins Gedanken noch zu keinem Schlusse gekommen.

There was one thing which Flambeau, with all his dexterity of disguise, could not cover, and that was his singular height.

Ein Ding gab es, das Flambeau bei all seiner Geschicklichkeit im Verkleiden nicht verbergen konnte, und das war seine ausnehmende Größe.

If Valentin’s quick eye had caught a tall apple-woman, a tall grenadier,

Wenn Valentins flinkes Auge ein hochgewachsenes Apfelweib, einen großen Grenadier

or even a tolerably tall duchess, he might have arrested them on the spot.

oder selbst eine erträglich große Herzogin entdeckt hätte, er würde sie auf der Stelle verhaftet haben.

But all along his train there was nobody that could be a disguised Flambeau, any more than a cat could be a disguised giraffe.

Doch während der ganzen Fahrt war ihm niemand untergekommen, der ein verkappter Flambeau hätte sein können.

About the people on the boat he had already satisfied himself;

Bezüglich der Leute auf dem Dampfboote hatte er sich bereits vergewissert,

and the people picked up at Harwich or on the journey limited themselves with certainty to six.

und diejenigen, welche in Harwich vom Zuge aufgelesen worden waren, beschränkten sich mit Sicherheit nur auf sechs.

There was a short railway official travelling up to the terminus,

Da war ein kurzer Eisenbahnbeamter, der bis London mitfuhr,

three fairly short market gardeners picked up two stations afterwards,

dann drei ziemlich kurze Grünzeughändler, welche zwei Stationen später hinzugekommen waren,

one very short widow lady going up from a small Essex town,

eine sehr kurze Witwe aus gutem Hause aus einer kleinen Stadt in Essex

and a very short Roman Catholic priest going up from a small Essex village.

und ein sehr kurzer römisch-katholischer Priester, der von einem kleinen Dorfe in Essex hereinkam.

When it came to the last case, Valentin gave it up and almost laughed.

Beim letzten Falle angelangt, gab es Valentin auf; er mußte beinahe lachen.

The little priest was so much the essence of those Eastern flats; he had a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling;

Der kleine Priester war so sehr das Muster eines Simpels aus dem Osten, er hatte ein Gesicht so rund und nichtssagend wie ein Norfolkpudding,

he had eyes as empty as the North Sea; he had several brown paper parcels, which he was quite incapable of collecting.

er hatte Augen so leer wie die Nordsee, und er trug einige braune Papierpakete, die beisammenzuhalten er ganz außerstande war.

The Eucharistic Congress had doubtless sucked out of their local stagnation many such creatures, blind and helpless, like moles disinterred.

Der Eucharistische Kongreß hatte anscheinend viele derartige Geschöpfe, blind und hilflos wie ausgehobene Maulwürfe, aus ihrer örtlichen Trägheit aufgescheucht.

Valentin was a sceptic in the severe style of France, and could have no love for priests.

Valentin war ein Skeptiker vom strengen französischen Stile und kannte daher keine Vorliebe für Priester.

But he could have pity for them, and this one might have provoked pity in anybody.

Aber Mitleid konnte er für sie aufbringen, und dieser eine würde bei jedermann solches erweckt haben.

He had a large, shabby umbrella, which constantly fell on the floor.

Er trug einen großen, schäbigen Regenschirm, der ihm fortwährend zu Boden fiel.

He did not seem to know which was the right end of his return ticket.

Er schien nicht zu wissen, welches das richtige Ende seiner Rückfahrtkarte war.

He explained with a moon-calf simplicity to everybody in the carriage that he had to be careful,

Er erklärte mit der Einfalt eines Mondkalbes jedermann im Wagen, er müsse vorsichtig sein,

because he had something made of real silver “with blue stones” in one of his brown-paper parcels.

denn er trage in einem seiner braunen Papierpakete etwas aus wirklichem Silber Verfertigtes »mit blauen Steinen«.

His quaint blending of Essex flatness with saintly simplicity continuously amused the Frenchman

Seine wunderliche Mischung von Essex-Plattheit und frommer Einfachheit belustigte andauernd den Franzosen,

till the priest arrived (somehow) at Tottenham with all his parcels, and came back for his umbrella.

bis der Priester mit all seinen Paketen in Tottenham anlangte und um seinen Regenschirm zurückkehrte.

When he did the last, Valentin even had the good nature to warn him not to take care of the silver by telling everybody about it.

Als er letzteres tat, besaß Valentin sogar die Zuvorkommenheit, ihn zu warnen, nicht das Silber dadurch zu behüten, daß er jedermann davon erzähle.

But to whomever he talked, Valentin kept his eye open for someone else;

Doch mit wem immer auch Valentin sprach, stets hielt er sein Auge offen nach jemand anderm.

he looked out steadily for anyone, rich or poor, male or female,

Beständig blickte er nach jemanden aus, reich oder arm, männlich oder weiblich,

who was well up to six feet; for Flambeau was four inches above it.

der gut an sechs Fuß hoch wäre, denn Flambeau war noch um vier Zoll größer.

He alighted at Liverpool Street, however, quite conscientiously secure that he had not missed the criminal so far.

In Liverpool Street stieg er jedoch ab, sich mit vollkommener Sicherheit bewußt, daß er den Verbrecher bislang nicht übersehen habe.

He then went to Scotland Yard to regularise his position and arrange for help in case of need;

Dann begab er sich nach Scotland Yard, seine Papiere in Ordnung zu bringen und für den Bedarfsfall Hilfe zu vereinbaren.

he then lit another cigarette and went for a long stroll in the streets of London.

Schließlich zündete er sich eine neue Zigarette an und machte sich zu einem langen Bummel in den Straßen Londons auf.

As he was walking in the streets and squares beyond Victoria, he paused suddenly and stood.

Als er in dem Viertel jenseits Victoria umherwanderte, hielt er plötzlich an und blieb stehen.

It was a quaint, quiet square, very typical of London, full of an accidental stillness.

Der Platz war altmodisch und ruhig, sehr typisch für London, voll von zufälliger Stille.

The tall, flat houses round looked at once prosperous and uninhabited; the square of shrubbery in the centre looked as deserted as a green Pacific islet.

Die großen flachen Häuser sahen auf einmal wohlhabend und unbewohnt und das Sträucherviereck in der Mitte so einsam wie ein grünes Inselchen im Stillen Ozean aus.

One of the four sides was much higher than the rest, like a dais; and the line of this side was broken

Eine der vier Seiten ragte wie eine Estrade über die anderen empor und die Linie dieser Seite war unterbrochen

by one of London’s admirable accidents — a restaurant that looked as if it had strayed from Soho.

von einer von Londons wunderbaren Zufälligkeiten – einem Restaurant, das aussah, wie wenn es sich vom Soho hierher verlaufen hätte.

It was an unreasonably attractive object, with dwarf plants in pots and long, striped blinds of lemon yellow and white.

Es war ein unvernünftig anziehendes Ding mit Zwergpflanzen in Töpfen und mit langen, gestreiften Stabjalousien in Zitronengelb und Weiß,

It stood specially high above the street, and in the usual patchwork way of London,

lag eigentümlich hoch über der Straße, und in der in London üblichen Flickwerkart

a flight of steps from the street ran up to meet the front door almost as a fire-escape might run up to a first-floor window.

lief eine Flucht von Stufen von der Straße aus zum Eingange hinauf, fast wie etwa eine Rettungsleiter zu einem Ersten-Stock-Fenster.

Valentin stood and smoked in front of the yellow-white blinds and considered them long.

Valentin stand rauchend gegenüber den gelb-weißen Jalousien und betrachtete sie lange.

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.

Das unglaublichste Ding bei den Wundern ist, daß sie geschehen.

A few clouds in heaven do come together into the staring shape of one human eye.

Ein paar Wolken am Himmel ballen sich zusammen zu der auffallenden Form eines menschlichen Auges.

A tree does stand up in the landscape of a doubtful journey in the exact and elaborate shape of a note of interrogation.

Auf ungewissem Wege ragt mitten in einer Landschaft ein Baum auf in der genauen und vollendeten Form eines Fragezeichens.

I have seen both these things myself within the last few days.

Ich habe selbst diese beiden Dinge in den letzten paar Tagen gesehen.

Nelson does die in the instant of victory; and a man named Williams does quite accidentally murder a man named Williamson; it sounds like a sort of infanticide.

Nelson stirbt im Augenblicke des Sieges, und ein Mann namens Williams ermordet zufällig einen Mann namens Williamson; es klingt wie eine Art Kindsmord.

In short, there is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss.

Kurz, es ist im Leben ein Element geisterhaften Zusammentreffens, welches Leuten, die nur mit dem Prosaischen rechnen, ewig entgehen wird.

As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reckon on the unforeseen.

Weisheit sollte, wie es in Poes Paradoxen so gut heißt, sich auf das Unvorhergesehene verlassen.

Aristide Valentin was unfathomably French; and the French intelligence is intelligence specially and solely.

Aristide Valentin war Franzose von reinstem Wasser und die französische Intelligenz ist eine Intelligenz ganz besonderer und einziger Art.

He was not “a thinking machine”; for that is a brainless phrase of modern fatalism and materialism.

Er war nicht eine »denkende Maschine«, denn dies ist eine sinnlose Redensart des modernen Fatalismus und Materialismus.

A machine only is a machine because it cannot think. But he was a thinking man, and a plain man at the same time.

Eine Maschine ist nur deshalb eine Maschine, weil sie eben nicht denkt. Er aber war ein denkender Mensch und gleichzeitig ein schlichter Mensch.

All his wonderful successes, that looked like conjuring, had been gained by plodding logic, by clear and commonplace French thought.

All seine wunderbaren Erfolge, die wie Zauberei aussahen, hatte er errungen durch angestrengte Logik, durch klares und hausbacken französisches Denken.

The French electrify the world not by starting any paradox, they electrify it by carrying out a truism.

Die Franzosen elektrisieren die Welt nicht durch Aufstellung von Widersinnigkeiten, sie elektrisieren sie durch Ausführung von Gemeinplätzen.

They carry a truism so far — as in the French Revolution.

Und das treiben sie sogar bis – zur französischen Revolution.

But exactly because Valentin understood reason, he understood the limits of reason.

Aber eben weil Valentin die Vernunft kannte, kannte er auch die Grenzen der Vernunft.

Only a man who knows nothing of motors talks of motoring without petrol;

Nur ein Mensch, der nichts von Motoren versteht, spricht von Motorfahren ohne Benzin;

only a man who knows nothing of reason talks of reasoning without strong, undisputed first principles. Here he had no strong first principles.

nur ein Mensch, der nichts von Vernunft versteht, spricht von Vernünftigsein ohne starke unbestreitbare Urgrundsätze. Hier hatte er keine starken Urgrundsätze.

Flambeau had been missed at Harwich; and if he was in London at all,

Flambeau war zu Harwich entwischt, und wenn er überhaupt in London war,

he might be anything from a tall tramp on Wimbledon Common to a tall toast-master at the Hotel Metropole.

dann konnte er irgend etwas sein, angefangen von einem übergroßen Vagabunden in Wimbledon Common bis zu einem übergroßen Toastmeister im Hotel Metropole.

In such a naked state of nescience, Valentin had a view and a method of his own.

In solch nacktem Zustande des Nichtwissens besaß Valentin seine eigene Ansicht und seine eigene Methode.

In such cases he reckoned on the unforeseen.

In derlei Fällen rechnete er auf das Unvorhergesehene.

In such cases, when he could not follow the train of the reasonable, he coldly and carefully followed the train of the unreasonable.

In Fällen, da er nicht den Weg des Vernünftigen verfolgen konnte, verfolgte er kalt und sorgfältig den Weg des Unvernünftigen.

Instead of going to the right places — banks, police stations, rendezvous

Anstatt die richtigen Orte aufzusuchen – Banken, Polizeiwachen, Sammelpunkte –,

— he systematically went to the wrong places; knocked at every empty house, turned down every cul de sac,

suchte er systematisch die unrichtigen Plätze auf, klopfte an jedes leere Haus, lief jede Sackgasse entlang,

went up every lane blocked with rubbish, went round every crescent that led him uselessly out of the way.

rannte jede mit Schutt versperrte Gasse hinab, bog er in jede Kurve ein, die ihn unnütz vom Wege abbrachte.

He defended this crazy course quite logically.

Er verteidigte dieses verrückte Verfahren ganz logisch.

He said that if one had a clue this was the worst way;

Er behauptete, wenn jemand sich nach einem bestimmten Schlüssel richte, sei dies der schlimmste Weg,

but if one had no clue at all it was the best, because there was just the chance

wenn man jedoch jeden Schlüssel beiseite ließ, sei dies das allerbeste, denn dabei habe man eben den Vorteil,

that any oddity that caught the eye of the pursuer might be the same that had caught the eye of the pursued.

daß irgend etwas Auffälliges, das das Auge des Verfolgers auf sich lenkt, dasselbe sein kann, was das Auge des Verfolgten auf sich gelenkt haben mag.

Somewhere a man must begin, and it had better be just where another man might stop.

Irgendwo mußte der Mensch anfangen, und es sei besser, es dort zu tun, wo ein anderer aufhören würde.

Something about that flight of steps up to the shop, something about the quietude and quaintness of the restaurant,

Etwas an dieser Treppenflucht hinan zum Eingange, etwas an der Einsamkeit und Seltsamkeit des Restaurants

roused all the detective’s rare romantic fancy and made him resolve to strike at random.

weckte des Geheimpolizisten ganze ihm eigentümliche Vorliebe für das Romantische und ließ ihn den Entschluß fassen, aufs Geratewohl loszugehen.

He went up the steps, and sitting down at a table by the window, asked for a cup of black coffee.

So stieg er die Treppe empor, ließ sich an einem Tische neben dem Fenster nieder und verlangte eine Tasse schwarzen Kaffees.

It was half-way through the morning, and he had not breakfasted;

Der halbe Morgen lag schon hinter ihm und er hatte noch nicht gefrühstückt.

the slight litter of other breakfasts stood about on the table to remind him of his hunger;

Der Tisch wies die unauffälligen Spuren anderer Frühstücke auf und gemahnte ihn an seinen Hunger,

and adding a poached egg to his order, he proceeded musingly

und indem er seiner Bestellung noch ein Spiegelei hinzufügte, machte er sich nachdenklich daran,

to shake some white sugar into his coffee, thinking all the time about Flambeau.

etwas weißen Zucker in seinen Kaffee zu schütten, wobei all seine Gedanken sich mit Flambeau beschäftigten.

He remembered how Flambeau had escaped, once by a pair of nail scissors,

Er hatte nicht vergessen, wie dieser einmal mit Hilfe einer Nagelschere entkommen war

and once by a house on fire; once by having to pay for an unstamped letter,

und ein anderes Mal mit Hilfe eines brennenden Hauses, einmal, weil er für einen unfrankierten Brief Strafporto zu bezahlen hatte

and once by getting people to look through a telescope at a comet that might destroy the world.

und ein anderes Mal, indem er die Leute durch ein Teleskop nach einem Kometen blicken ließ, der die Welt zerstören konnte.

He thought his detective brain as good as the criminal’s, which was true. But he fully realised the disadvantage.

Valentin hielt sein Detektivgehirn für ebensogut wie das des Verbrechers, und er hatte recht, doch war er sich seines Nachteiles vollkommen bewußt.

“The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic,” he said with a sour smile,

»Der schaffende Künstler ist der Verbrecher, der Detektiv ist nur der Kritiker,« sagte er zu sich mit saurem Lächeln,

and lifted his coffee cup to his lips slowly, and put it down very quickly. He had put salt in it.

wobei er langsam seine Kaffeetasse zum Munde führte – und sie sehr schnell wieder niederstellte. Er hatte Salz hineingetan.

He looked at the vessel from which the silvery powder had come; it was certainly a sugar-basin;

Er blickte auf das Gefäß, woraus er das silberige Pulver genommen hatte, es war zweifellos eine Zuckerdose,

as unmistakably meant for sugar as a champagne-bottle for champagne.

so unverkennbar für Zucker bestimmt, wie eine Champagnerflasche für Champagner.

He wondered why they should keep salt in it.

Er fragte sich, weshalb man Salz darin hielt.

He looked to see if there were any more orthodox vessels. Yes; there were two salt-cellars quite full.

Dann blickte er um sich, ob es noch weitere rechtgläubige Gefäße gäbe. Ja, es gab zwei vollgefüllte Salzgefäße.

Perhaps there was some speciality in the condiment in the salt-cellars. He tasted it; it was sugar.

Vielleicht war irgend etwas Besonderes an dem Inhalt der Salzgefäße. Er kostete, es war Zucker.

Then he looked round at the restaurant with a refreshed air of interest, to see

Dann blickte er mit einem erfrischten Anschein von Interesse im Restaurant umher, um zu sehen,

if there were any other traces of that singular artistic taste which puts the sugar in the salt-cellars and the salt in the sugar-basin.

ob noch irgendwelche andere Spuren dieses sonderbaren künstlerischen Geschmackes zu finden seien, der Zucker in Salzgefäßen und Salz in Zuckerdosen verwahrte.

Except for an odd splash of some dark fluid on one of the white-papered walls,

Außer einem eigentümlichen Flecken an einer der weißtapezierten Wände, der von irgendeiner dunklen Flüssigkeit herrührte,

the whole place appeared neat, cheerful and ordinary. He rang the bell for the waiter.

schien der ganze Raum reinlich, freundlich und gewöhnlich. Er klingelte nach dem Kellner.

When that official hurried up, fuzzy-haired and somewhat blear-eyed at that early hour,

Als der Kellner, notdürftig gekämmt und etwas triefäugig zu so früher Stunde, herbeigeeilt kam,

the detective (who was not without an appreciation of the simpler forms of humour) asked him

ersuchte ihn der Detektiv, dem der Sinn für die einfacheren Formen des Humors nicht abging,

to taste the sugar and see if it was up to the high reputation of the hotel.

er möge den Zucker kosten und sehen, ob derselbe dem hohen Rufe seines Hotels entspreche.

The result was that the waiter yawned suddenly and woke up.

Das Ergebnis war, daß der Kellner plötzlich gähnte und erwachte.

“Do you play this delicate joke on your customers every morning?” inquired Valentin.

»Erlauben Sie sich jeden Morgen diesen feinen Scherz mit Ihren Gästen?« fragte Valentin.

“Does changing the salt and sugar never pall on you as a jest?”

»Und bekommen Sie den Spaß nie satt, Salz und Zucker gegeneinander zu vertauschen?«

The waiter, when this irony grew clearer, stammeringly assured him that the establishment had certainly no such intention; it must be a most curious mistake.

Als dem Kellner diese Ironie einzuleuchten begann, versicherte er stammelnd, daß sein Etablissement gewiß keine derartigen Absichten habe; es müsse ein sehr eigentümlicher Irrtum vorliegen.

He picked up the sugar-basin and looked at it; he picked up the salt-cellar and looked at that, his face growing more and more bewildered.

Er hob die Zuckerdose empor und blickte sie an, und er hob das Salzfaß empor und blickte es an, wobei sein Gesicht immer verwirrter wurde.

At last he abruptly excused himself, and hurrying away, returned in a few seconds with the proprietor.

Schließlich entschuldigte er sich in abgerissenen Worten und davonstürzend kehrte er nach ein paar Sekunden mit dem Besitzer wieder.

The proprietor also examined the sugar-basin and then the salt-cellar; the proprietor also looked bewildered.

Der Besitzer untersuchte ebenfalls die Zuckerdose und dann das Salzfaß und auch der Besitzer blickte verwirrt.

Suddenly the waiter seemed to grow inarticulate with a rush of words.

Plötzlich schien dem Kellner die Sprache verloren zu gehen, so sehr überstürzten sich seine Worte.

“I zink,” he stuttered eagerly, “I zink it is those two clergy-men.”

»Ich meine,« stotterte er emsig, »ich meine, es waren die zwei Geistlichen.«

“What two clergymen?”

»Was für zwei Geistliche?«

“The two clergymen,” said the waiter, “that threw soup at the wall.”

»Die zwei Geistlichen,« erklärte der Kellner, »die, wo die Suppe an die Wand schmissen.«

“Threw soup at the wall?” repeated Valentin, feeling sure this must be some singular Italian metaphor.

»Suppe an die Wand schmissen?« wiederholte Valentin, der das sichere Gefühl hatte, es müsse sich wohl um irgendein italienisches Sprachbild handeln.

“Yes, yes,” said the attendant excitedly, and pointed at the dark splash on the white paper; “threw it over there on the wall.”

»Ja, ja,« versicherte der Aufwärter erregt und deutete auf den dunklen Flecken auf der weißen Tapete, »– dort hinüber an die Wand.«

Valentin looked his query at the proprietor, who came to his rescue with fuller reports.

Valentin blickte wie ein Fragezeichen den Besitzer an, der ihm nun mit einem ausführlichen Berichte zu Hilfe kam.

“Yes, sir,” he said, “it’s quite true, though I don’t suppose it has anything to do with the sugar and salt.

»Ja, Sir.« sagte er. »es ist ganz richtig, wenn ich auch nicht glaube, daß es etwas mit dem Zucker und Salz zu tun hat.

Two clergymen came in and drank soup here very early, as soon as the shutters were taken down.

Zwei Geistliche kamen herein und aßen sehr früh einen Teller Suppe, kaum daß wir die Läden aufgemacht hatten.

They were both very quiet, respectable people; one of them paid the bill and went out;

Sie waren beide sehr ruhige, anständige Leute; der eine von ihnen zahlte die Rechnung und ging hinaus,

the other, who seemed a slower coach altogether, was some minutes longer getting his things together.

der andere, der überhaupt eine langsamere Kutsche zu fahren schien, brauchte einige Minuten länger, seine Sachen zusammenzuklauben.

But he went at last. Only, the instant before he stepped into the street he deliberately picked up his cup,

Aber schließlich ging er. Nur im Augenblick, ehe er auf die Straße hinaustrat, ergriff er bedächtig seine Tasse,

which he had only half emptied, and threw the soup slap on the wall.

die nur halb geleert war, und schwaps warf er die Suppe an die Wand.

I was in the back room myself, and so was the waiter;

Ich selbst war im Hinterzimmer und auch der Kellner,

so I could only rush out in time to find the wall splashed and the shop empty.

und so konnte ich nur noch hinausspringen, um den Flecken an der Wand und das Zimmer leer zu finden.

It don’t do any particular damage, but it was confounded cheek; and I tried to catch the men in the street.

Es ist kein arger Schaden, aber es war niederträchtig, dreist von ihm, und ich suchte den Mann auf der Straße einzuholen.

They were too far off though; I only noticed they went round the next corner into Carstairs Street.”

Aber sie waren schon zu weit weg; ich bemerkte nur, daß sie um die nächste Ecke und in Carstairs Street einbogen.«

The detective was on his feet, hat settled and stick in hand.

Der Geheimpolizist war auf den Füßen den Hut auf dem Kopf und den Stock in der Hand.

He had already decided that in the universal darkness of his mind

Er hatte bereits entschieden, daß er in dem allgemeinen Dunkel seines Überlegens

he could only follow the first odd finger that pointed; and this finger was odd enough.

nur dem ersten merkwürdigen Fingerzeig, der irgendwohin wies, folgen konnte; und dieser Fingerzeig war merkwürdig genug.

Paying his bill and clashing the glass doors behind him, he was soon swinging round into the other street.

Seine Rechnung bezahlend und die Glastüren hinter sich zuwerfend bog er schon um die Ecke nach der anderen Straße zu.

It was fortunate that even in such fevered moments his eye was cool and quick.

Es war ein Glück, daß selbst in so fieberhaften Augenblicken sein Auge kühl und flink blieb.

Something in a shop-front went by him like a mere flash; yet he went back to look at it.

Etwas in einem gegenüberliegenden Laden zog an ihm vorüber wie ein Blitz; dennoch ging er zurück, um darnach zu sehen.

The shop was a popular greengrocer and fruiterer’s,

Der Laden war der eines gewöhnlichen Gemüse- und Obsthändlers,

an array of goods set out in the open air and plainly ticketed with their names and prices.

und eine Reihe von Waren mit deutlichen Schildern dabei mit Namen und Preisen waren im Freien aufgestellt.

In the two most prominent compartments were two heaps, of oranges and of nuts respectively.

In den beiden am meisten in die Augen fallenden Abteilungen befanden sich zwei Haufen, einer von Orangen und der andere von Nüssen.

On the heap of nuts lay a scrap of cardboard, on which was written in bold, blue chalk, “Best tangerine oranges, two a penny.”

Auf dem Haufen Nüsse lag ein Stück Pappe, worauf mit grellem Blaustifte geschrieben stand: »Beste Tanger Orangen, zwei 1 Penny.«

On the oranges was the equally clear and exact description, “Finest Brazil nuts, 4d. a lb.”

Auf den Orangen war die ebenso klare und genaue Beschreibung: »Feinste Brasil-Nüsse, 4 Pence das Pfund.«

M. Valentin looked at these two placards and fancied he had met this highly subtle form of humour before, and that somewhat recently.

Monsieur Valentin blickte auf diese beiden Plakate; es dünkte ihm, diese äußerst feinsinnige Art von Witz müsse er schon irgendwo angetroffen haben, und zwar erst vor kurzem.

He drew the attention of the red-faced fruiterer,

Er lenkte die Aufmerksamkeit des krebsroten Obsthändlers,

who was looking rather sullenly up and down the street, to this inaccuracy in his advertisements.

der ziemlich verdrießlich die Straße auf und nieder blickte, auf die Ungenauigkeit in seinen Ankündigungen.

The fruiterer said nothing, but sharply put each card into its proper place.

Der Obsthändler sagte nichts, sondern brachte nur unwirsch jede Tafel an den richtigen Platz.

The detective, leaning elegantly on his walking-cane, continued to scrutinise the shop. At last he said,

Elegant auf seinen Spazierstock gestützt fuhr Valentin fort, den Laden zu prüfen. Schließlich sagte er:

“Pray excuse my apparent irrelevance, my good sir, but I should like to ask you a question in experimental psychology and the association of ideas.”

»Entschuldigen Sie, bitte, mein guter Mann, wenn ich mich anscheinend in fremde Dinge mische, aber ich möchte gerne eine Frage in experimenteller Psychologie und Ideenassoziation an Sie stellen.«

The red-faced shopman regarded him with an eye of menace; but he continued gaily, swinging his cane,

Der krebsrote Händler betrachtete ihn drohenden Blickes, doch fuhr jener seinen Stock schwingend munter fort:

“Why,” he pursued, “why are two tickets wrongly placed in a greengrocer’s shop like a shovel hat that has come to London for a holiday?

»Weshalb,« fragte er. »sind in einem Gemüseladen zwei Tafeln unrichtig aufgestellt wie ein Schaufelhut, der auf einen Feiertag nach London hereingekommen ist?

Or, in case I do not make myself clear, what is the mystical association

Oder, falls ich mich nicht klar ausdrücken sollte, welches ist die geheimnisvolle Assoziation,

which connects the idea of nuts marked as oranges with the idea of two clergymen, one tall and the other short?”

welche den Gedanken an als Orangen bezeichnete Nüsse mit dem Gedanken an zwei Geistliche einen langen und einen kurzen, in Verbindung bringt?«

The eyes of the tradesman stood out of his head like a snail’s;

Die Augen des Händlers traten aus seinem Kopfe hervor wie bei einer Schnecke

he really seemed for an instant likely to fling himself upon the stranger.

und es sah wirklich einen Augenblick aus, als wolle er sich auf den Fremden stürzen.

At last he stammered angrily:

Endlich stieß er zornig hervor:

“I don’t know what you ’ave to do with it, but if you’re one of their friends,

»Ich weiß nicht, was Sie das angeht, aber wenn Sie einer von ihren Freunden sind,

you can tell ’em from me that I’ll knock their silly ’eads off, parsons or no parsons, if they upset my apples again.”

können Sie ihnen in meinem Namen sagen, daß ich ihnen, ob Pfarrer oder nicht Pfarrer, ihre armseligen Schädel einschlagen werde, wenn sie nochmals Äpfel über den Haufen werfen.«

“Indeed?” asked the detective, with great sympathy. “Did they upset your apples?”

»Wirklich?« fragte der Geheimpolizist mit großer Anteilnahme, »haben sie Ihnen die Äpfel über den Haufen geworfen?«

“One of ’em did,” said the heated shopman; “rolled ’em all over the street.

»Ja, einer von ihnen,« erwiderte der erhitzte Krämer. »hat sie über die ganze Straße verstreut.

I’d ’ave caught the fool but for havin’ to pick ’em up.”

Ich hätte den Hanswursten erwischt, wenn ich nicht die Äpfel aufzulesen gehabt hätte.«

“Which way did these parsons go?” asked Valentin.

»Welchen Weg haben die Pfarrer eingeschlagen?« fragte Valentin.

“Up that second road on the left-hand side, and then across the square,” said the other promptly.

»Die zweite Straße dort links und dann über den Platz,« erwiderte der andere prompt.

“Thanks,” replied Valentin, and vanished like a fairy.

»Danke,« empfahl sich Valentin und verschwand wie verzaubert.

On the other side of the second square he found a policeman, and said:

Auf der anderen Seite des zweiten Häuservierecks fand er einen Polizisten und sprach ihn an.

“This is urgent, constable; have you seen two clergymen in shovel hats?”

»Hier, dringend, Schutzmann. Haben Sie zwei Geistliche in Schaufelhüten gesehen?«

The policeman began to chuckle heavily.

Der Polizist begann heftig zu kichern.

“I ’ave, sir; and if you arst me, one of ’em was drunk. He stood in the middle of the road that bewildered that —”

»Habe ich, Sir, und wenn Sie es wissen wollen, einer von ihnen war betrunken. Er stand mitten auf der Straße –«

“Which way did they go?” snapped Valentin.

»Welchen Weg hat er eingeschlagen?« schnauzte ihn Valentin an.

“They took one of them yellow buses over there,” answered the man; “them that go to Hampstead.”

»Sie nahmen einen von jenen gelben Omnibussen dort drüben,« antwortete der Mann, »die nach Hampstead gehen.«

Valentin produced his official card and said very rapidly:

Valentin wies seine Erkennungskarte vor und sagte hastig:

“Call up two of your men to come with me in pursuit,” and crossed the road with such contagious energy

»Rufen Sie zwei von Ihren Leuten, sie sollen mit mir kommen, eine Verfolgung aufnehmen,« und er querte die Straße mit solch ansteckender Energie,

that the ponderous policeman was moved to almost agile obedience.

daß der schwerfällige Polizist zu beinahe behendem Gehorchen sich bewogen sah.

In a minute and a half the French detective was joined on the opposite pavement by an inspector and a man in plain clothes.

In anderthalb Minuten war der französische Detektiv auf dem gegenüberliegenden Gangsteig von einem Inspektor und einem Wachmann in Zivil eingeholt.

“Well, sir,” began the former, with smiling importance, “and what may —?”

»Well, Sir,« begann ersterer mit lächelnder Wichtigtuerei, »und womit kann ich –«

Valentin pointed suddenly with his cane.

Valentin deutete plötzlich mit dem Knopfe seines Stockes.

“I’ll tell you on the top of that omnibus,” he said, and was darting and dodging across the tangle of the traffic.

»Ich werde es Ihnen auf dem Dache jenes Omnibus sagen,« bemerkte er und sprang und wand sich durch das Gewirr des Straßenverkehrs.

When all three sank panting on the top seats of the yellow vehicle, the inspector said:

Als alle drei keuchend auf die Dachsitze des gelben Fahrzeuges niedersanken, meinte der Inspektor:

“We could go four times as quick in a taxi.”

»Mit einem Taxi kämen wir viermal so rasch voran.«

“Quite true,” replied their leader placidly, “if we only had an idea of where we were going.”

»Ganz richtig,« antwortete der Anführer ruhig, »wenn wir nur eine Ahnung hätten, wohin wir gehen.«

“Well, where are you going?” asked the other, staring.

»Well, aber wohin wollen Sie denn?« fragte jener ihn anstarrend.

Valentin smoked frowningly for a few seconds; then, removing his cigarette, he said:

Valentin, die Stirne runzelnd, rauchte schweigend einige Sekunden, dann nahm er seine Zigarette in die Hand und sagte:

“If you know what a man’s doing, get in front of him; but if you want to guess what he’s doing, keep behind him.

»Wenn Sie wissen, was ein Mensch tut, laufen Sie vor ihm her; wenn Sie aber herausbringen wollen, was er tut, halten Sie sich hinter ihm.

Stray when he strays; stop when he stops; travel as slowly as he.

Schlendern Sie, wenn er schlendert, bleiben Sie stehen, wenn er stehenbleibt, schreiten Sie voran so langsam, wie er es tut,

Then you may see what he saw and may act as he acted.

dann können Sie sehen, was er sah, und können handeln, wie er gehandelt hat.

All we can do is to keep our eyes skinned for a queer thing.”

Alles, was wir tun können, ist, unsere Augen offen zu halten nach einem verdächtigen Dinge.«

“What sort of queer thing do you mean?” asked the inspector.

»Welche Sorte verdächtigen Dinges meinen Sie?« fragte der Inspektor.

“Any sort of queer thing,” answered Valentin, and relapsed into obstinate silence.

»Jede Sorte verdächtigen Dinges,« antwortete Valentin und verfiel in hartnäckiges Schweigen.

The yellow omnibus crawled up the northern roads for what seemed like hours on end;

Der gelbe Omnibus kroch die nach Norden hinaus führenden Straßen entlang, hin durch etwas, was endlose Stunden schien;

the great detective would not explain further, and perhaps his assistants felt a silent and growing doubt of his errand.

der große Detektiv wollte sich nicht weiter erklären und seine Gehilfen empfanden möglicherweise einen stillen und wachsenden Zweifel hinsichtlich seines Unternehmens.

Perhaps, also, they felt a silent and growing desire for lunch, for the hours crept long past the normal luncheon hour,

Vielleicht auch fühlten sie ein stilles und wachsendes Verlangen nach ihrem Lunch, denn die Stunden vergingen und lange schon war die normale Mittagsmahlstunde verstrichen,

and the long roads of the North London suburbs seemed to shoot out into length after length like an infernal telescope.

doch die langen Straßen der Nord-Londoner Vorstädte schienen sich aus einer Länge in die andere zu schieben wie ein höllisches Teleskop.

It was one of those journeys on which a man perpetually feels

Es war eine jener Fahrten, bei denen der Mensch unaufhörlich fühlt,

that now at last he must have come to the end of the universe, and then finds he has only come to the beginning of Tufnell Park.

daß er jetzt endlich am Ende des Universums angekommen sein müsse, um dann zu finden, daß er erst am Anfang von Tufnell Park sei.

London died away in draggled taverns and dreary scrubs, and then was unaccountably born again in blazing high streets and blatant hotels.

London verlor sich in schmutzigen Schenken und ödem Gestrüpp und war dann wieder unerklärlich zu glänzenden Hauptstraßen und geräuschvollen Hotels geboren.

It was like passing through thirteen separate vulgar cities all just touching each other.

Es war, wie wenn man durch dreizehn einzelne gewöhnliche Städte fuhr, von denen eine an die andere stieß.

But though the winter twilight was already threatening the road ahead of them,

Doch obwohl die Winterdämmerung bereits über die vor ihnen liegende Straße sich senkte,

the Parisian detective still sat silent and watchful, eyeing the frontage of the streets that slid by on either side.

saß der Pariser Detektiv immer noch schweigsam und wachsam und musterte die Stirnseiten der Straßen, die zu beiden Seiten vorüberglitten.

By the time they had left Camden Town behind, the policemen were nearly asleep; at least, they gave something like a jump

Um die Zeit, da sie Camden Town hinter sich gelassen hatten, waren die Polizisten nahezu eingeschlafen, wenigstens machten sie so etwas wie einen Satz,

as Valentin leapt erect, struck a hand on each man’s shoulder, and shouted to the driver to stop.

als Valentin sich aufrichtete, jedem auf die Schulter klopfte und dem Kutscher zurief, anzuhalten.

They tumbled down the steps into the road without realising why they had been dislodged;

Sie taumelten die Treppe hinab auf die Straße, ohne zu wissen, weshalb sie ausquartiert wurden;

when they looked round for enlightenment they found Valentin triumphantly pointing his finger towards a window on the left side of the road.

als sie sich um Erleuchtung umblickten, sahen sie Valentin triumphierend mit dem Finger auf ein Fenster auf der linken Seite der Straße weisen.

It was a large window, forming part of the long facade of a gilt and palatial public-house;

Es war ein großes Fenster und bildete einen Teil der langen Fassade eines glänzenden und palastartigen Gasthauses,

it was the part reserved for respectable dining, and labelled “Restaurant.”

eines jener für das bessere Publikum vorgesehenen, über dem das Wort »Restaurant« stand.

This window, like all the rest along the frontage of the hotel, was of frosted and figured glass;

Dieses Fenster war, wie alle übrigen längs der Stirnseite des Hotels, aus mit Mustern versehenem Frostglase;

but in the middle of it was a big, black smash, like a star in the ice.

in seiner Mitte jedoch befand sich ein großer schwarzer Sprung wie ein Stern im Eise.

“Our cue at last,” cried Valentin, waving his stick; “the place with the broken window.”

»Endlich unsere Spur,« schrie Valentin, seinen Stock schwingend, »der Ort mit dem zerbrochenen Fenster.«

“What window? What cue?” asked his principal assistant. “Why, what proof is there that this has anything to do with them?”

»Welches Fenster? Welche Spur?« fragte der Hauptgehilfe, »Wieso? Wo ist der Beweis, daß dies irgend etwas mit ihnen zu tun hat?«

Valentin almost broke his bamboo stick with rage.

Valentin zerbrach beinahe seinen Bambusstock vor Zorn.

“Proof!” he cried. “Good God! the man is looking for proof! Why, of course, the chances are twenty to one that it has nothing to do with them.

»Beweis!« schrie er. »Guter Gott, der Mann sucht nach einem Beweise! Je nun, natürlich, die Chancen sind zwanzig gegen eins, daß es nichts mit ihnen zu tun hat.

But what else can we do? Don’t you see we must either follow one wild possibility or else go home to bed?” He banged his way into the restaurant,

Aber was können wir sonst tun? Sehen Sie nicht, wir müssen entweder einer Möglichkeit folgen oder nach Hause gehen und uns zu Bett legen?«

followed by his companions, and they were soon seated at a late luncheon at a little table,

Gefolgt von seinen beiden Gefährten bahnte er sich einen Weg in das Restaurant und bald saßen sie zu einem verspäteten Lunch an einem kleinen Tische beisammen

and looked at the star of smashed glass from the inside. Not that it was very informative to them even then.

und besahen sich den Stern im zertrümmerten Glase von innen. Nicht etwa, daß er von hier aus besonders belehrend gewesen wäre!

“Got your window broken, I see,” said Valentin to the waiter as he paid the bill.

»Haben Ihr Fenster zerbrochen, wie ich sehe,« begann Valentin zum Kellner, als er seine Rechnung bezahlte.

“Yes, sir,” answered the attendant, bending busily over the change,

»Ja, Sir,« antwortete der Aufwärter, indem er sich geschäftig über das Wechselgeld beugte,

to which Valentin silently added an enormous tip. The waiter straightened himself with mild but unmistakable animation.

welchem Valentin schweigend ein erkleckliches Trinkgeld hinzugefügt hatte. Der Kellner richtete sich mit leichter, aber unverkennbarer Lebhaftigkeit auf.

“Ah, yes, sir,” he said. “Very odd thing, that, sir.”

»Ah, ja, Sir,« sagte er. »Sehr spaßiges Ding das, Sir.«

“Indeed?” Tell us about it,” said the detective with careless curiosity.

»Wirklich? Erzählen Sie uns,« ersuchte der Detektiv mit sorgloser Neugierde.

“Well, two gents in black came in,” said the waiter; “two of those foreign parsons that are running about.

»Well, zwei Gäste in Schwarz kamen herein,« begann der Kellner, »zwei von jenen fremden Pfarrern, wie sie jetzt herumlaufen.

They had a cheap and quiet little lunch, and one of them paid for it and went out.

Sie haben in aller Ruhe eine billige Mahlzeit genommen und einer von ihnen bezahlte dafür und ging hinaus.

The other was just going out to join him when I looked at my change again and found he’d paid me more than three times too much.

Der andere war gerade dabei, sich anzuschließen, als ich nochmals auf mein Wechselgeld schaute und sah, daß er mir mehr als zweimal zu viel bezahlt hatte.

‘Here,’ I says to the chap who was nearly out of the door, ‘you’ve paid too much.’

›Hier,‹ sage ich zu dem Burschen, der schon beinahe draußen war, ›Sie haben zuviel bezahlt.‹

‘Oh,’ he says, very cool, ‘have we?’ ‘Yes,’ I says, and picks up the bill to show him. Well, that was a knock-out.”

›O,‹ sagt er sehr kühl, ›haben wir?‹ Ja, sage ich und greife nach der Rechnung, um sie ihm zu zeigen. Well, ich war entwaffnet:«

“What do you mean?” asked his interlocutor.

»Wie meinen Sie das?« fragte der andere.

“Well, I’d have sworn on seven Bibles that I’d put 4s. on that bill.

»Well, ich hätte einen Eid auf sieben Bibeln geschworen, daß ich vier Schillinge auf die Rechnung gesetzt hatte.

But now I saw I’d put 14s., as plain as paint.”

Aber jetzt sah ich, ich hatte vierzehn Schillinge geschrieben, so deutlich wie gemalt.«

“Well?” cried Valentin, moving slowly, but with burning eyes, “and then?”

»Nun?« schrie Valentin, sich langsam, aber mit brennenden Augen entfernend. »Und dann?«

“The parson at the door he says all serene, ‘Sorry to confuse your accounts, but it’ll pay for the window.’

»Der Pfarrer an der Türe, der sagte ganz heiter: ›Bedauere, wenn ich Ihre Rechnung etwas durcheinanderbringe, aber ich will für das Fenster bezahlen.‹

‘What window?’ I says. ‘The one I’m going to break,’ he says, and smashed that blessed pane with his umbrella.”

›Welches Fenster?‹ fragte ich. ›Das, welches ich einhauen werde,‹ sagte er und zerschlug die Scheibe dort mit seinem Regenschirm.«

All three inquirers made an exclamation; and the inspector said under his breath,

Alle drei Frager stießen einen Ausruf hervor und der Inspektor meinte mit stockendem Atem:

“Are we after escaped lunatics?”

»Sind wir hinter ausgebrochenen Irrsinnigen her?«

The waiter went on with some relish for the ridiculous story:

Der Kellner fuhr mit einem gewissen Wohlgefallen an der lächerlichen Geschichte fort:

“I was so knocked silly for a second, I couldn’t do anything.

»Ich war für einen Augenblick so verdutzt, daß ich zu nichts fähig war.

The man marched out of the place and joined his friend just round the corner.

Der Mann ging zur Türe hinaus und erreichte seinen Freund gerade an der Ecke.

Then they went so quick up Bullock Street that I couldn’t catch them, though I ran round the bars to do it.”

Dann gingen sie so rasch Bullock Street hinauf, daß ich sie nicht einholen konnte, obwohl ich durch die Schenke lief.«

“Bullock Street,” said the detective, and shot up that thoroughfare as quickly as the strange couple he pursued.

»Bullock Street,« sagte der Detektiv und schoß diese Straße hinab, so schnell wie das sonderbare Paar, das er verfolgte.

Their journey now took them through bare brick ways like tunnels; streets with few lights and even with few windows;

Ihre Fahrt führte sie jetzt zwischen kahlen Mauern hin wie durch Tunnels, Straßen mit wenigen Lichtern und selbst mit wenigen Fenstern.

streets that seemed built out of the blank backs of everything and everywhere.

Straßen, die überall aus den kahlen Rückwänden gebildet zu sein schienen.

Dusk was deepening, and it was not easy even for the London policemen to guess in what exact direction they were treading.

Die Dämmerung nahm zu und es war für die Londoner Polizisten nicht leicht, festzuhalten, nach welcher genauen Richtung sie schritten.

The inspector, however, was pretty certain that they would eventually strike some part of Hampstead Heath.

Der Inspektor jedoch war so viel wie sicher, daß sie möglicherweise auf irgendeinen Teil der Hampstead-Heide stoßen würden.

Abruptly one bulging gas-lit window broke the blue twilight like a bull’s-eye lantern;

Unerwartet unterbrach ein hervortretendes, gasbeleuchtetes Fenster wie eine Blendlaterne das blaue Zwielicht

and Valentin stopped an instant before a little garish sweetstuff shop.

und Valentin blieb einen Augenblick vor einem kleinen zierlichen Zuckerbäckerladen stehen.

After an instant’s hesitation he went in; he stood amid the gaudy colours of the confectionery with entire gravity and bought thirteen chocolate cigars with a certain care.

Nach einer Sekunde Zögerns trat er ein. Inmitten der bunten Farben der Konditorei seinen vollen Ernst bewahrend kaufte er mit einer gewissen Sorgfalt dreizehn Schokoladezigarren.

He was clearly preparing an opening; but he did not need one.

Offensichtlich bereitete er eine Anrede vor, doch bedurfte es derselben nicht.

An angular, elderly young woman in the shop had regarded his elegant appearance with a merely automatic inquiry;

Eine steife ältliche Jungfer im Laden hatte rein automatisch prüfend seine elegante Erscheinung betrachtet;

but when she saw the door behind him blocked with the blue uniform of the inspector, her eyes seemed to wake up.

als sie jedoch die Türe hinter ihm von der blauen Uniform des Inspektors verstellt sah, schienen ihre Augen aufzuwachen:

“Oh,” she said, “if you’ve come about that parcel, I’ve sent it off already.”

»O,« sagte sie, »wenn Sie wegen des Paketes gekommen sind, das habe ich schon weggeschickt.«

“Parcel?” repeated Valentin; and it was his turn to look inquiring.

»Paket!« wiederholte Valentin, und nun war es an ihm, fragend zu blicken.

“I mean the parcel the gentleman left — the clergyman gentleman.”

»Ich meine das Paket, das der Herr hier gelassen hat – der Geistliche.«

“For goodness’ sake,” said Valentin, leaning forward with his first real confession of eagerness,

»Ums Himmels willen!« rief Valentin und beugte sich vorwärts, zum ersten Male wirkliche Begierde auf dem Gesichte.

“for Heaven’s sake tell us what happened exactly.”

»Ums Himmels willen, sagen Sie uns genau, was vorgefallen ist!«

“Well,” said the woman a little doubtfully,

»Nun,« erzählte die Frau etwas unsicher,

“the clergymen came in about half an hour ago and bought some peppermints and talked a bit, and then went off towards the Heath.

»die Geistlichen kamen vor einer halben Stunde herein und kauften etwas Pfefferminz und plauderten ein wenig, und dann gingen sie weg, der Heide zu.

But a second after, one of them runs back into the shop and says, ‘Have I left a parcel!’

Aber eine Sekunde darauf kommt der eine von ihnen in den Laden zurück und sagt: ›Habe ich ein Paket liegen gelassen?‹

Well, I looked everywhere and couldn’t see one;

Well, ich sah überall nach und konnte keines finden;

so he says, ‘Never mind; but if it should turn up, please post it to this address,’

somit sagt er: ›Es tut nichts, aber wenn es zum Vorschein kommt, schicken Sie es, bitte, an diese Adresse‹

and he left me the address and a shilling for my trouble.

und hinterließ mir die Adresse und einen Schilling für meine Mühe.

And sure enough, though I thought I’d looked everywhere,

Und wirklich, obwohl ich geglaubt hatte, ich hätte überall nachgesehen,

I found he’d left a brown paper parcel, so I posted it to the place he said.

fand ich, daß er ein Paket aus braunem Papier liegen gelassen hatte, und so schickte ich es dorthin, wo er gesagt hatte.

I can’t remember the address now; it was somewhere in Westminster.

Ich erinnere mich nicht mehr der Adresse, es war irgendwo in Westminster.

But as the thing seemed so important, I thought perhaps the police had come about it.”

Aber nachdem das Ding so wichtig schien, dachte ich, vielleicht sei die Polizei darum gekommen.«

“So they have,” said Valentin shortly. “Is Hampstead Heath near here?”

»Ist sie auch,« sagte Valentin kurz. »Ist die Hampstead-Heide weit von hier?«

“Straight on for fifteen minutes,” said the woman, “and you’ll come right out on the open.”

»Geradeaus fünfzehn Minuten.« erwiderte die Frau. »und Sie kommen direkt hinaus ins Freie.«

Valentin sprang out of the shop and began to run. The other detectives followed him at a reluctant trot.

Valentin sprang zum Laden hinaus und begann zu laufen und die anderen Polizisten folgten ihm in widerwilligem Trapp.

The street they threaded was so narrow and shut in by shadows

Die Straße, durch welche sie kamen, war so enge und in Schatten gehüllt,

that when they came out unexpectedly into the void common and vast sky they were startled to find the evening still so light and clear.

daß, als sie unerwartet unter den weiten Himmel hinaus ins Freie kamen, es sie überraschte, den Abend noch so hell und klar zu finden.

A perfect dome of peacock-green sank into gold amid the blackening trees and the dark violet distances.

Eine vollendete Kuppel von Pfauengrün senkte sich in Gold zwischen den schwärzlichen Bäumen und den dunkelvioletten Farnen hernieder.

The glowing green tint was just deep enough to pick out in points of crystal one or two stars.

Die glühendgrüne Färbung war gerade tief genug, wie Kristallpunkte einen oder zwei Sterne hervorzuheben.

All that was left of the daylight lay in a golden glitter across the edge of Hampstead and that popular hollow which is called the Vale of Health.

Alles, was von Tageslicht übriggeblieben war, lag in einem goldenen Schimmer über dem Rande von Hampstead und jener volkstümlichen Mulde, die den Namen Heidetal trägt.

The holiday makers who roam this region had not wholly dispersed;

Die Sonntagsausflügler, welche in dieser Gegend umherschweifen, hatten sich noch nicht ganz verlaufen;

a few couples sat shapelessly on benches; and here and there a distant girl still shrieked in one of the swings.

unförmlich saßen einige Paare auf Bänken und hier und da kreischte noch in der Ferne in einer der Schaukeln ein Mädchen.

The glory of heaven deepened and darkened around the sublime vulgarity of man; and standing on the slope and looking across the valley, Valentin beheld the thing which he sought.

Rings um die erhabene Niedrigkeit des Menschen vertiefte und erhöhte sich die Pracht des Himmels und auf dem Abhang stehend und über das Tal hinwegblickend erspähte Valentin, was er suchte.

Among the black and breaking groups in that distance was one especially black

Unter den dunklen und sich verlierenden Gruppen dieser Ferne war eine besonders schwarz,

which did not break — a group of two figures clerically clad.

die sich nicht verlor – eine Gruppe von zwei Gestalten in geistlicher Kleidung.

Though they seemed as small as insects, Valentin could see that one of them was much smaller than the other.

Obwohl sie so klein schienen wie Insekten, konnte Valentin doch sehen, daß die eine viel kleiner als die andere war.

Though the other had a student’s stoop and an inconspicuous manner, he could see that the man was well over six feet high.

Obwohl die andere die Haltung eines Studierenden und ein unauffallendes Benehmen zeigte, konnte er sehen, daß der Mann gut sechs Fuß hoch war.

He shut his teeth and went forward, whirling his stick impatiently.

Er preßte die Zähne aufeinander und rannte, ungeduldig seinen Stock schwingend, weiter,

By the time he had substantially diminished the distance and magnified the two black figures as in a vast microscope, he had perceived something else;

während sich so die Entfernung erheblich verringert hatte und die beiden schwarzen Gestalten wie in einem umfangreichen Mikroskop an Größe zunahmen, hatte er etwas entdeckt,

something which startled him, and yet which he had somehow expected.

was ihn überraschte und was er dennoch irgendwie erwartet hatte.

Whoever was the tall priest, there could be no doubt about the identity of the short one.

Wer immer der lange Priester sein mochte, bezüglich der Identität des kürzeren konnte kein Zweifel bestehen.

It was his friend of the Harwich train, the stumpy little cure of Essex whom he had warned about his brown paper parcels.

Es war sein Freund aus dem Harwichzuge, der untersetzte kleine Curé von Essex, den er wegen seines braunen Papierpaketes gewarnt hatte.

Now, so far as this went, everything fitted in finally and rationally enough.

Soweit also fügte sich schließlich alles ganz vernünftig ineinander.

Valentin had learned by his inquiries that morning that a Father Brown from Essex was bringing up a silver cross with sapphires,

Valentin hatte durch seine Erkundigungen am Morgen erfahren, daß ein Father Brown von Essex ein silbernes Kreuz mit Saphiren,

a relic of considerable value, to show some of the foreign priests at the congress.

eine Reliquie von hohem Werte, mit sich gebracht hatte, um es einigen der fremden Geistlichen auf dem Kongresse zu zeigen.

This undoubtedly was the “silver with blue stones”; and Father Brown undoubtedly was the little greenhorn in the train.

Dies war unzweifelhaft das »Silber mit blauen Steinen«; und Father Brown war zweifellos der kleine Grünschnabel vom Zuge.

Now there was nothing wonderful about the fact that what Valentin had found out Flambeau had also found out; Flambeau found out everything.

Nun lag nichts Wunderbares in der Tatsache, daß, was Valentin herausgefunden, hatte, auch Flambeau herausfinden konnte.

Also there was nothing wonderful in the fact that when Flambeau heard of a sapphire cross he should try to steal it;

Es lag auch nichts Wunderbares in der Tatsache, daß, wenn Flambeau von einem Saphirkreuze hörte, er es zu stehlen versuchen würde;

that was the most natural thing in all natural history.

das war vielmehr das natürlichste von allen natürlichen Dingen.

And most certainly there was nothing wonderful about the fact

Und ebensowenig lag etwas Wunderbares in der Tatsache,

that Flambeau should have it all his own way with such a silly sheep as the man with the umbrella and the parcels.

daß Flambeau mit so einem einfältigen Schafe, wie es der Mann mit seinem Regenschirm und den Paketen war, seine eigenen Wege ging.

He was the sort of man whom anybody could lead on a string to the North Pole;

Gehörte dieser doch zu jener Sorte, daß ihn der Nächstbeste an einem Bindfaden bis zum Nordpol geschleppt hätte;

it was not surprising that an actor like Flambeau, dressed as another priest, could lead him to Hampstead Heath.

es lag also nichts Überraschendes darin, daß ein Schauspieler wie Flambeau in der Verkleidung eines Priesters ihn nach der Hampstead-Heide schleppen konnte.

So far the crime seemed clear enough; and while the detective pitied the priest for his helplessness,

Soweit schien das Verbrechen klar genug, und während der Detektiv den Priester ob seiner Hilflosigkeit bemitleidete,

he almost despised Flambeau for condescending to so gullible a victim.

empfand er etwas wie Verachtung für Flambeau, daß dieser sich dazu hergab, sich ein so leicht zu täuschendes Opfer auszusuchen.

But when Valentin thought of all that had happened in between,

Doch als Valentin alles überdachte, was sich inzwischen ereignet hatte,

of all that had led him to his triumph, he racked his brains for the smallest rhyme or reason in it.

all das, was ihn zu seinem Triumph geführt hatte, spannte er sein Gehirn aufs äußerste an, um wenigstens ein ganz klein wenig Sinn oder Verstand herauszufinden.

What had the stealing of a blue-and-silver cross from a priest from Essex to do with chucking soup at wall paper?

Was hatte es, wenn jemand einem Priester aus Essex ein Silberkreuz stahl, damit zu tun, daß man die Suppe auf die Papiertapete an der Wand schüttete?

What had it to do with calling nuts oranges, or with paying for windows first and breaking them afterwards?

Oder damit, daß man Nüsse Orangen nannte, oder Fenster zuerst bezahlte und sie dann einwarf?

He had come to the end of his chase; yet somehow he had missed the middle of it.

Gewiß, er war am Ende seiner Jagd angekommen, aber das Mittelstück hatte er verfehlt.

When he failed (which was seldom), he had usually grasped the clue, but nevertheless missed the criminal.

Wenn er sich einmal täuschte (was selten vorkam), hatte er gewöhnlich den Faden erhascht, aber nichtsdestoweniger den Verbrecher verfehlt.

Here he had grasped the criminal, but still he could not grasp the clue.

Hier hatte er den Verbrecher erhascht, noch aber konnte er des Fadens nicht habhaft werden.

The two figures that they followed were crawling like black flies across the huge green contour of a hill.

Die beiden Gestalten, denen sie folgten, krochen wie schwarze Fliegen über den mächtigen, grünen Umriß des Hügels.

They were evidently sunk in conversation, and perhaps did not notice where they were going;

Sie waren sichtlich in ein Gespräch vertieft und möglicherweise achteten sie gar nicht darauf, wohin sie gingen;

but they were certainly going to the wilder and more silent heights of the Heath.

sicherlich aber schritten sie den verwilderteren und stilleren Höhen der Heide zu.

As their pursuers gained on them, the latter had to use the undignified attitudes of the deer-stalker,

Als die Verfolger näherkamen, mußte Valentin sich zusammenkauern wie ein Indianer,

to crouch behind clumps of trees and even to crawl prostrate in deep grass.

sich hinter Baumgruppen decken und selbst lang ausgestreckt im tiefen Grase kriechen.

By these ungainly ingenuities the hunters even came close enough to the quarry to hear the murmur of the discussion,

Mittels dieser ungewöhnlichen Finten kamen die Jäger ihrem Wilde nahe genug, um das Gemurmel der Unterhaltung zu vernehmen,

but no word could be distinguished except the word “reason” recurring frequently in a high and almost childish voice.

doch ließ sich nichts unterscheiden als das Wort »Vernunft«, das oft in einer hohen und beinahe kindlichen Stimme wiederkehrte.

Once over an abrupt dip of land and a dense tangle of thickets, the detectives actually lost the two figures they were following.

Einmal hinter einem steilen Abhange verloren die Verfolger wirklich die beiden Gestalten, denen sie folgten.

They did not find the trail again for an agonising ten minutes,

Zehn angstvolle Minuten hindurch fanden sie die Spur nicht wieder

and then it led round the brow of a great dome of hill overlooking an amphitheatre of rich and desolate sunset scenery.

und dann führte sie um einen Vorsprung eines großen, kuppelartigen Hügels, von dem man ein Amphitheater reicher und einsamer Sonnenuntergang-Szenerie überblickte.

Under a tree in this commanding yet neglected spot was an old ramshackle wooden seat.

Unter einem Baume auf diesem beherrschenden, jedoch vernachlässigten Platze stand eine alte, baufällige Bank

On this seat sat the two priests still in serious speech together.

und auf dieser Bank saßen die zwei Priester immer noch in ernstem Gespräch.

The gorgeous green and gold still clung to the darkening horizon;

Das prächtige Grün und Gold hing noch am dunklen Horizonte,

but the dome above was turning slowly from peacock-green to peacock-blue, and the stars detached themselves more and more like solid jewels.

aber die Kuppel darüber ging langsam aus Pfauengrün in Pfauenblau über und die Sterne traten mehr und mehr als wirkliche Diamanten hervor.

Mutely motioning to his followers, Valentin contrived to creep up behind the big branching tree,

Stumm sich gegen seine Begleiter wendend gelang es Valentin, sich hinter dem großen ästereichen Baume hinaufzuschleichen,

and, standing there in deathly silence, heard the words of the strange priests for the first time.

und in tödlichem Schweigen dort stehend vernahm er zum ersten Male die Worte der sonderbaren Priester.

After he had listened for a minute and a half, he was gripped by a devilish doubt.

Ein teuflischer Zweifel erfaßte ihn, nachdem er anderthalb Minuten gelauscht hatte.

Perhaps he had dragged the two English policemen to the wastes of a nocturnal heath on an errand no saner than seeking figs on its thistles.

Vielleicht hatte er doch die zwei englischen Polizisten in die Einöde einer nächtlichen Heide zu einem Gange mitgeschleppt, der nicht vernünftiger war, als wollte man Feigen auf den Disteln suchen.

For the two priests were talking exactly like priests, piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial enigmas of theology.

Denn die zwei Priester sprachen genau wie zwei Priester, fromm, gelehrt und gelassen über die luftigsten Rätsel der Theologie.

The little Essex priest spoke the more simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars;

Der kleine Priester aus Essex, mit seinem runden Gesichte zu den erstarkenden Sternen gewendet, sprach einfacher;

the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even worthy to look at them.

der andere hingegen sprach mit gebeugtem Kopfe, als wäre er nicht einmal wert, zu ihnen aufzublicken.

But no more innocently clerical conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister or black Spanish cathedral.

Aber man hätte sich keine unschuldigere geistliche Unterhaltung denken können, weder in einem weißen italienischen Kloster noch in einer schwarzen spanischen Kathedrale.

The first he heard was the tail of one of Father Brown’s sentences, which ended: “… what they really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being incorruptible.”

Das erste, was er auffing, war der Schluß eines von Father Browns Sätzen »… was man im Mittelalter wirklich unter den ›unbestechbaren Himmeln‹ verstand«.

The taller priest nodded his bowed head and said:

Der größere Priester nickte mit dem gebeugten Klopfe und sagte:

“Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason; but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel

»Ah, ja, diese modernen Ungläubigen appellieren an ihre Vernunft, aber wer kann all diese Millionen von Welten anblicken, ohne das Gefühl zu haben,

that there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is utterly unreasonable?”

daß es ganz gut noch Wunderbarere Welten über uns gebe, wo die Vernunft etwas überaus Unvernünftiges ist?«

“No,” said the other priest; “reason is always reasonable, even in the last limbo, in the lost borderland of things.

»Nein,« entgegnete der andere Priester, »Vernunft ist immer vernünftig, selbst in der letzten Vorhölle, im verlassenen Randgebiete der Dinge.

I know that people charge the Church with lowering reason, but it is just the other way.

Ich weiß, man wirft der Kirche vor, sie erniedrige die Vernunft, aber genau das Gegenteil trifft zu.

Alone on earth, the Church makes reason really supreme.

Die Kirche allein auf Erden erhebt die Vernunft wirklich auf ihren Gipfel.

Alone on earth, the Church affirms that God himself is bound by reason.”

Die Kirche allein auf Erden hält daran fest, daß Gott selbst an die Vernunft gebunden ist.«

The other priest raised his austere face to the spangled sky and said:

Der andere Priester erhob sein strenges Gesicht zum flimmernden Himmel und meinte:

“Yet who knows if in that infinite universe —?”

»Und dennoch, wer weiß, ob nicht in jenem unendlichen Universum –?«

“Only infinite physically,” said the little priest, turning sharply in his seat,

»Nur physisch unendlich,« erwiderte der kleine Priester, rasch sich zur Seite wendend,

“not infinite in the sense of escaping from the laws of truth.”

»nicht unendlich in dem Sinne, daß es sich den Gesetzen der Wahrheit entzöge.«

Valentin behind his tree was tearing his fingernails with silent fury.

Valentin hinter seinem Baume zerrte in stummer Wut an seinen Fingernägeln.

He seemed almost to hear the sniggers of the English detectives

In seinen Ohren klang schon das Gekicher der englischen Geheimpolizisten,

whom he had brought so far on a fantastic guess only to listen to the metaphysical gossip of two mild old parsons.

die er auf eine phantastische Vermutung hin soweit mitgejagt hatte, nur um dem metaphysischen Geplauder zweier sanfter, alter Geistlichen zu lauschen.

In his impatience he lost the equally elaborate answer of the tall cleric,

In seiner Ungeduld entging ihm die ebenso überlegte Antwort des großen Priesters,

and when he listened again it was again Father Brown who was speaking:

und als er wieder hinhörte, war es nochmals Father Brown, der sprach.

“Reason and justice grip the remotest and the loneliest star. Look at those stars.

»Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit umfassen die fernsten und einsamsten Steine. Blicken Sie auf diese Steine.

Don’t they look as if they were single diamonds and sapphires? Well, you can imagine any mad botany or geology you please.

Sehen sie nicht aus, als wären sie ein jeder ein Diamant oder Saphir? Gut, Sie können sich jede tolle Botanik oder Geologie, die Sie wollen, vorstellen.

Think of forests of adamant with leaves of brilliants. Think the moon is a blue moon, a single elephantine sapphire.

Denken Sie an Wälder von Diamant und mit Blättern von Brillanten. Denken Sie, der Mond sei ein blauer Mond, ein einziger, riesiger Saphir.

But don’t fancy that all that frantic astronomy would make the smallest difference to the reason and justice of conduct.

Aber bilden Sie sich nicht ein, daß all diese wahnsinnige Astronomie auch nur den kleinsten Unterschied für die Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit unseres Tuns ausmachen würde.

On plains of opal, under cliffs cut out of pearl, you would still find a notice-board, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’”

Auf Ebenen von Opal und unter aus Perlen geschnittenen Klippen würden sie immer noch eine Warnungstafel finden: Du sollst nicht stehlen.«

Valentin was just in the act of rising from his rigid and crouching attitude and creeping away as softly as might be,

Valentin war eben im Begriffe, sich aus seiner steifen und kauernden Lage zu erheben und so leise wie möglich wegzukriechen,

felled by the one great folly of his life.

ergrimmt über diese eine große Torheit seines Lebens.

But something in the very silence of the tall priest made him stop until the latter spoke.

Aber etwas in dem Schweigen des großen Priesters selbst ließ ihn noch warten, bis dieser sprach.

When at last he did speak, he said simply, his head bowed and his hands on his knees:

Und als er endlich sprach, sagte er einfach, den Kopf gebeugt und die Hände auf den Knien:

“Well, I think that other worlds may perhaps rise higher than our reason.

»Well, ich glaube nach wie vor, daß andere Welten vielleicht noch über unsere Vernunft hinausragen.

The mystery of heaven is unfathomable, and I for one can only bow my head.”

Das Geheimnis des Himmels ist unergründlich und ich für mich kann nur mein Haupt beugen.«

Then, with brow yet bent and without changing by the faintest shade his attitude or voice, he added:

Dann, immer noch mit gesenkter Stirne und ohne im mindesten Haltung oder Stimme zu verändern, fügte er hinzu:

“Just hand over that sapphire cross of yours, will you? We’re all alone here, and I could pull you to pieces like a straw doll.”

»Geben Sie mir nur Ihr Saphirkreuz herüber, ja? wir sind hier ganz allein und ich könnte Sie niederschlagen wie eine Strohpuppe.«

The utterly unaltered voice and attitude added a strange violence to that shocking change of speech.

Die völlig unveränderte Stimme und Haltung verliehen der unerwarteten Wendung des Gespräches etwas eigenartig Gewalttätiges.

But the guarder of the relic only seemed to turn his head by the smallest section of the compass.

Aber der Hüter der Reliquie wandte nur den Kopf um ein winziges.

He seemed still to have a somewhat foolish face turned to the stars. Perhaps he had not understood.

Er schien noch immer ein etwas albernes Gesicht den Sternen zuzuwenden. Vielleicht hatte er nicht begriffen.

Or, perhaps, he had understood and sat rigid with terror.

Oder vielleicht auch hatte er begriffen und saß nun starr vor Schrecken.

“Yes,” said the tall priest, in the same low voice and in the same still posture, “yes, I am Flambeau.”

»Ja,« sagte der große Priester mit derselben leisen Stimme und immer noch derselben Haltung, »ja, ich bin Flambeau.«

Then, after a pause, he said:

Dann nach einer Pause fügte er hinzu:

“Come, will you give me that cross?”

»Nun also, wollen Sie mir das Kreuz herübergeben?«

“No,” said the other, and the monosyllable had an odd sound.

»Nein,« erwiderte der andere und das Wort hatte einen eigenartigen Klang.

Flambeau suddenly flung off all his pontifical pretensions. The great robber leaned back in his seat and laughed low but long.

Flambeau ließ plötzlich seine ganze priesterliche Maske fallen. Der große Räuber lehnte sich auf seinem Sitze zurück und lachte leise, aber lange.

“No,” he cried, “you won’t give it me, you proud prelate. You won’t give it me, you little celibate simpleton.

»Nein,« rief er, »Sie wollen es mir nicht geben, Sie kleiner zölibatärer Einfaltspinsel?

Shall I tell you why you won’t give it me? Because I’ve got it already in my own breast-pocket.”

Soll ich Ihnen sagen, weshalb Sie es mir nicht geben werden? Weil ich es schon in meiner Brusttasche habe.«

The small man from Essex turned what seemed to be a dazed face in the dusk, and said, with the timid eagerness of “The Private Secretary”:

Der kleine Mann aus Essex wandte im Dämmerlichte sein wie es schien verdutztes Gesicht und meinte mit furchtsamer Neugierde:

“Are — are you sure?”

»Sind – sind Sie sicher?«

Flambeau yelled with delight.

Flambeau krähte vor Vergnügen.

“Really, you’re as good as a three-act farce,” he cried. “Yes, you turnip, I am quite sure.

»Wirklich, Sie sind so gut wie eine Dreiakter-Komödie,« rief er aus. »Ja, du Kohlkopf, ich bin ganz sicher.

I had the sense to make a duplicate of the right parcel, and now, my friend, you’ve got the duplicate and I’ve got the jewels.

Ich hatte die Idee, von dem richtigen Paket ein Duplikat zu machen, und jetzt, mein Freund, haben Sie das Duplikat und ich die Juwelen.

An old dodge, Father Brown — a very old dodge.”

Ein alter Kniff, Father Brown, ein sehr alter Kniff.«

“Yes,” said Father Brown, and passed his hand through his hair with the same strange vagueness of manner.

»Ja,« sagte Father Brown und fuhr immer noch mit derselben eigentümlichen, unbestimmten Weise sich mit der Hand durchs Haar.

“Yes, I’ve heard of it before.”

»Ja, ich habe davon gehört.«

The colossus of crime leaned over to the little rustic priest with a sort of sudden interest.

Der Verbrecher beugte sich mit einer Art plötzlich erwachten Interesses nach dem kleinen Landgeistlichen hinüber.

“You have heard of it?” he asked. “Where have you heard of it?”

»Sie haben davon gehört?« fragte er. »wo haben Sie davon gehört?«

“Well, I mustn’t tell you his name, of course,” said the little man simply. “He was a penitent, you know.

»Well, ich darf Ihnen natürlich seinen Namen nicht nennen,« sagte der kleine Mann einfach. »Er war ein Beichtkind, Sie verstehen.

He had lived prosperously for about twenty years entirely on duplicate brown paper parcels.

Er hatte mit Erfolg an die zwanzig Jahre allein von Duplikaten brauner Papierpakete gelebt.

And so, you see, when I began to suspect you, I thought of this poor chap’s way of doing it at once.”

Und als ich anfing, Verdacht zu schöpfen, dachte ich daran, wie es der arme Bursche gemacht hatte, und machte es gleich nach.«

“Began to suspect me?” repeated the outlaw with increased intensity.

»– begannen Verdacht zu schöpfen?« wiederholte der Geächtete mit vermehrter Spannung.

“Did you really have the gumption to suspect me just because I brought you up to this bare part of the heath?”

»Hatten Sie wirklich die Grütze, Verdacht zu schöpfen, nur weil ich Sie nach diesem verlassenen Teile der Heide gebracht habe?«

“No, no,” said Brown with an air of apology. “You see, I suspected you when we first met.

»Nein, nein,« sagte Brown in entschuldigendem Tone. »Sie kamen mir verdächtig vor, schon als ich Sie zum ersten Male sah.

It’s that little bulge up the sleeve where you people have the spiked bracelet.”

Es ist jene kleine Anschwellung oben am Ärmel, wo ihr das Stachelarmband tragt.«

“How in Tartarus,” cried Flambeau, “did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?”

»Wie, beim Tartarus,« schrie Flambeau, »haben denn Sie vom Stachelarmband gehört?«

“Oh, one’s little flock, you know!” said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly.

»O, unsere Pfarrkinder, Sie verstehen,« sagte Father Brown, seine Augenbrauen hochziehend.

“When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets.

»Als ich Kurat in Hartlepool war, hatte ich drei von ihnen mit Stachelarmbändern.

So, as I suspected you from the first, don’t you see, I made sure that the cross should go safe, anyhow.

Und da ich Sie somit von Anfang an in Verdacht hatte, sehen Sie, da sorgte ich dafür, daß das Kreuz auf alle Fälle in Sicherheit käme.

I’m afraid I watched you, you know. So at last I saw you change the parcels.

Unglücklicherweise habe ich Sie beobachtet, ja. Und so sah ich Sie schließlich die Pakete vertauschen.

Then, don’t you see, I changed them back again. And then I left the right one behind.”

Dann, Sie verstehen, habe ich sie wieder zurückgetauscht. Und dann ließ ich das richtige zurück.«

“Left it behind?” repeated Flambeau, and for the first time there was another note in his voice beside his triumph.

»– ließen Sie das richtige zurück?« wiederholte Flambeau, und zum ersten Male war ein anderer Ton in seiner Stimme außer dem des Triumphes.

“Well, it was like this,” said the little priest, speaking in the same unaffected way.

»Well, ich habe das so gemacht,« sagte der kleine Priester in derselben ungekünstelten Weise.

“I went back to that sweet-shop and asked if I’d left a parcel, and gave them a particular address if it turned up.

»Ich ging zu jenem Zuckerbäckerladen zurück und fragte, ob ich nicht ein Paket liegen gelassen hätte, und gab eine genaue Adresse an für den Fall, daß es gefunden würde.

Well, I knew I hadn’t; but when I went away again I did.

Well, ich wußte, ich hatte keines liegen gelassen, aber ich tat es, als ich wegging.

So, instead of running after me with that valuable parcel, they have sent it flying to a friend of mine in Westminster.”

Und anstatt mit jenem wertvollen Pakete hinter mir herzulaufen, haben sie es direkt an einen meiner Freunde in Westminster geschickt.«

Then he added rather sadly: “I learnt that, too, from a poor fellow in Hartlepool.

Dann fügte er etwas traurig hinzu: »Ich habe das auch von einem armen Burschen in Hartlepool gelernt.

He used to do it with handbags he stole at railway stations, but he’s in a monastery now.

Er pflegte das mit Handtaschen zu tun, die er auf den Bahnhöfen stahl, aber er ist jetzt in einem Kloster.

Oh, one gets to know, you know,” he added, rubbing his head again with the same sort of desperate apology.

O, man erfährt das eben so,« fügte er hinzu, indem er sich mit derselben Art verzweifelten Sichentschuldigens den Kopf rieb.

“We can’t help being priests. People come and tell us these things.”

»Wir können nichts dafür, wir sind nun einmal Priester. Die Leute kommen und sagen uns diese Dinge.«

Flambeau tore a brown-paper parcel out of his inner pocket and rent it in pieces.

Flambeau zog ein Paket von braunem Papier aus seiner inneren Tasche und riß es auf.

There was nothing but paper and sticks of lead inside it. He sprang to his feet with a gigantic gesture, and cried:

Es war nichts als Papier und Bleistücke darin. Mit einer riesenhaften Bewegung sprang er auf die Füße und schrie:

“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe a bumpkin like you could manage all that.

»Ich glaube Ihnen nicht. Ich glaube nicht, daß ein Bauerntölpel wie Sie all das zustande bringt.

I believe you’ve still got the stuff on you, and if you don’t give it up — why, we’re all alone, and I’ll take it by force!”

Ich glaube, Sie tragen das Zeug noch bei sich – und wenn Sie es nicht herausgeben – nun, wir sind ganz allein und ich werde es mir mit Gewalt nehmen!«

“No,” said Father Brown simply, and stood up also, “you won’t take it by force.

»Nein,« sagte Father Brown einfach und stand ebenfalls auf. »Sie werden es nicht mit Gewalt nehmen.

First, because I really haven’t still got it. And, second, because we are not alone.”

Erstens weil ich es wirklich nicht mehr habe, und zweitens, weil wir nicht allein sind.«

Flambeau stopped in his stride forward.

Flambeau stockte in seiner Vorwärtsbewegung.

“Behind that tree,” said Father Brown, pointing, “are two strong policemen and the greatest detective alive.

»Hinter jenem Baume,« sagte Father Brown darauf deutend, »sind zwei starke Polizisten und der bedeutendste lebende Geheimpolizist.

How did they come here, do you ask? Why, I brought them, of course! How did I do it? Why, I’ll tell you if you like!

Wie die hierherkommen, fragen Sie? Nun, ich brachte sie her, natürlich! Wie ich das gemacht habe? Gut, ich will es Ihnen sagen, wenn Sie es wissen wollen!

Lord bless you, we have to know twenty such things when we work among the criminal classes!

Mein Gott, wir müssen tausenderlei solcher Dinge wissen, wenn wir unter der Verbrecherklasse arbeiten!

Well, I wasn’t sure you were a thief, and it would never do to make a scandal against one of our own clergy.

Also, ich war nicht sicher, ob Sie ein Dieb seien, und es ginge niemals an, Skandal gegen jemanden aus unserem eigenen Klerus zu machen.

So I just tested you to see if anything would make you show yourself.

Deshalb habe ich Sie geprüft, um zu sehen, ob irgend etwas Sie verraten würde.

A man generally makes a small scene if he finds salt in his coffee; if he doesn’t, he has some reason for keeping quiet.

Gewöhnlich macht ein Mensch eine kleine Szene, wenn er Salz in seinem Kaffee findet; wenn er es nicht tut, hat er einen Grund, sich ruhig zu verhalten.

I changed the salt and sugar, and you kept quiet. A man generally objects if his bill is three times too big.

Ich tauschte das Salz und den Zucker aus und Sie blieben stille. Gewöhnlich erhebt ein Mensch Einwendungen, wenn seine Rechnung dreimal zu hoch ist.

If he pays it, he has some motive for passing unnoticed. I altered your bill, and you paid it.”

Wenn er sie bezahlt, hat er einen Grund, unbeachtet bleiben zu wollen. Ich änderte die Rechnung und Sie bezahlten sie.«

The world seemed waiting for Flambeau to leap like a tiger. But he was held back as by a spell; he was stunned with the utmost curiosity.

Die Welt schien darauf zu warten, daß Flambeau wie ein Tiger losstürze, aber er wurde wie durch einen Zauber zurückgehalten; die ungeheure Neugierde betäubte ihn.

“Well,” went on Father Brown, with lumbering lucidity,

»Well,« fuhr Father Brown mit schwerfälliger Deutlichkeit fort,

“as you wouldn’t leave any tracks for the police, of course somebody had to.

»da Sie selbst keine Spur für die Polizei hinterlassen wollten, mußte das natürlich jemand anderer besorgen.

At every place we went to, I took care to do something that would get us talked about for the rest of the day.

An jedem Orte, wo wir hinkamen, sorgte ich dafür, etwas zu tun, das mindestens für den Rest des Tages von uns reden machen würde.

I didn’t do much harm — a splashed wall, spilt apples, a broken window;

Ich habe nicht viel Schaden angestellt, einen Flecken an der Wand, verschüttete Äpfel, ein zerbrochenes Fenster,

but I saved the cross, as the cross will always be saved.

aber ich brachte das Kreuz in Sicherheit, wie denn das Kreuz immer in Sicherheit sein wird.

It is at Westminster by now. I rather wonder you didn’t stop it with the Donkey’s Whistle.”

Es ist jetzt in Westminster. Ich wundere mich einigermaßen, daß Sie es nicht mit der ›Eselspfeife‹ aufhielten.«

“With the what?” asked Flambeau.

»Womit?« fragte Flambeau.

“I’m glad you’ve never heard of it,” said the priest, making a face.

»Es freut mich, daß Sie nie davon gehört haben.« sagte der Priester.

“It’s a foul thing. I’m sure you’re too good a man for a Whistler.

»Es ist eine faule Sache. Ich bin sicher, Sie sind dafür ein viel zu guter Mensch.

I couldn’t have countered it even with the Spots myself; I’m not strong enough in the legs.”

Ich hätte es nicht einmal mit den ›Spots‹ mehr aufhalten können; ich bin nicht stark genug auf den Beinen.«

“What on earth are you talking about?” asked the other.

»Wovon in aller Welt sprechen Sie?« fragte der andere.

“Well, I did think you’d know the Spots,” said Father Brown, agreeably surprised. “Oh, you can’t have gone so very wrong yet!”

»Nun, ich glaube nicht, daß Sie wissen, was man unter den Spots versteht,« sagte Father Brown angenehm überrascht. »O, Sie können nicht so tief gesunken sein.«

“How in blazes do you know all these horrors?” cried Flambeau.

»Aber wie um’s Himmels willen wissen denn Sie von all diesen Schrecknissen?« schrie Flambeau.

The shadow of a smile crossed the round, simple face of his clerical opponent.

Der Schatten eines Lächelns huschte über das runde, einfache Gesicht seines geistlichen Gegenübers.

“Oh, by being a celibate simpleton, I suppose,” he said. “Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing

»O, wenn man ein zölibatärer Einfaltspinsel ist, vermute ich,« erwiderte er. »Ist es Ihnen niemals aufgefallen, daß ein Mensch, der so gut wie nichts tut

but hear men’s real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?

als anderer Leute wirkliche Sünden anzuhören, wahrscheinlich in menschlicher Schlechtigkeit nicht ganz unerfahren ist?

But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren’t a priest.”

Übrigens, um die Wahrheit zu gestehen, eine andere Seite meines Berufes gab mir die Sicherheit, daß Sie kein Priester seien.«

“What?” asked the thief, almost gaping.

»Was?« fragte der Dieb, beinahe starr vor Staunen.

“You attacked reason,” said Father Brown. “It’s bad theology.”

»Sie griffen die Vernunft an.« sagte Father Brown. »Das tut kein Theologe.«

And even as he turned away to collect his property, the three policemen came out from under the twilight trees.

Und eben als er sich zur Seite wandte, sein Eigentum zusammenzuraffen, kamen die drei Polizisten unter den dunklen Bäumen hervor.

Flambeau was an artist and a sportsman. He stepped back and swept Valentin a great bow.

Flambeau war Künstler und Sportsmann. Er trat zurück und machte vor Valentin eine große Verbeugung.

“Do not bow to me, mon ami,” said Valentin with silver clearness. “Let us both bow to our master.”

»Nicht mir, mon ami,« wehrte Valentin mit silberner Klarheit ab, »beugen wir uns beide vor unserem Meister.«

And they both stood an instant uncovered while the little Essex priest blinked about for his umbrella.

Und sie standen einen Augenblick unbedeckten Hauptes, während der kleine Priester aus Essex nach seinem Regenschirme suchte.

BETWEEN the silver ribbon of morning and the green glittering ribbon of sea, the boat touched Harwich and let loose a swarm of folk like flies, among whom the man we must follow was by no means conspicuous — nor wished to be. There was nothing notable about him, except a slight contrast between the holiday gaiety of his clothes and the official gravity of his face. His clothes included a slight, pale grey jacket, a white waistcoat, and a silver straw hat with a grey-blue ribbon. His lean face was dark by contrast, and ended in a curt black beard that looked Spanish and suggested an Elizabethan ruff. He was smoking a cigarette with the seriousness of an idler. There was nothing about him to indicate the fact that the grey jacket covered a loaded revolver, that the white waistcoat covered a police card, or that the straw hat covered one of the most powerful intellects in Europe. For this was Valentin himself, the head of the Paris police and the most famous investigator of the world; and he was coming from Brussels to London to make the greatest arrest of the century.

Flambeau was in England. The police of three countries had tracked the great criminal at last from Ghent to Brussels, from Brussels to the Hook of Holland; and it was conjectured that he would take some advantage of the unfamiliarity and confusion of the Eucharistic Congress, then taking place in London. Probably he would travel as some minor clerk or secretary connected with it; but, of course, Valentin could not be certain; nobody could be certain about Flambeau.

It is many years now since this colossus of crime suddenly ceased keeping the world in a turmoil; and when he ceased, as they said after the death of Roland, there was a great quiet upon the earth. But in his best days (I mean, of course, his worst) Flambeau was a figure as statuesque and international as the Kaiser. Almost every morning the daily paper announced that he had escaped the consequences of one extraordinary crime by committing another. He was a Gascon of gigantic stature and bodily daring; and the wildest tales were told of his outbursts of athletic humour; how he turned the juge d’instruction upside down and stood him on his head, “to clear his mind”; how he ran down the Rue de Rivoli with a policeman under each arm. It is due to him to say that his fantastic physical strength was generally employed in such bloodless though undignified scenes; his real crimes were chiefly those of ingenious and wholesale robbery. But each of his thefts was almost a new sin, and would make a story by itself. It was he who ran the great Tyrolean Dairy Company in London, with no dairies, no cows, no carts, no milk, but with some thousand subscribers. These he served by the simple operation of moving the little milk cans outside people’s doors to the doors of his own customers. It was he who had kept up an unaccountable and close correspondence with a young lady whose whole letter-bag was intercepted, by the extraordinary trick of photographing his messages infinitesimally small upon the slides of a microscope. A sweeping simplicity, however, marked many of his experiments. It is said that he once repainted all the numbers in a street in the dead of night merely to divert one traveller into a trap. It is quite certain that he invented a portable pillar-box, which he put up at corners in quiet suburbs on the chance of strangers dropping postal orders into it. Lastly, he was known to be a startling acrobat; despite his huge figure, he could leap like a grasshopper and melt into the tree-tops like a monkey. Hence the great Valentin, when he set out to find Flambeau, was perfectly aware that his adventures would not end when he had found him.

But how was he to find him? On this the great Valentin’s ideas were still in process of settlement.

There was one thing which Flambeau, with all his dexterity of disguise, could not cover, and that was his singular height. If Valentin’s quick eye had caught a tall apple-woman, a tall grenadier, or even a tolerably tall duchess, he might have arrested them on the spot. But all along his train there was nobody that could be a disguised Flambeau, any more than a cat could be a disguised giraffe. About the people on the boat he had already satisfied himself; and the people picked up at Harwich or on the journey limited themselves with certainty to six. There was a short railway official travelling up to the terminus, three fairly short market gardeners picked up two stations afterwards, one very short widow lady going up from a small Essex town, and a very short Roman Catholic priest going up from a small Essex village. When it came to the last case, Valentin gave it up and almost laughed. The little priest was so much the essence of those Eastern flats; he had a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling; he had eyes as empty as the North Sea; he had several brown paper parcels, which he was quite incapable of collecting. The Eucharistic Congress had doubtless sucked out of their local stagnation many such creatures, blind and helpless, like moles disinterred. Valentin was a sceptic in the severe style of France, and could have no love for priests. But he could have pity for them, and this one might have provoked pity in anybody. He had a large, shabby umbrella, which constantly fell on the floor. He did not seem to know which was the right end of his return ticket. He explained with a moon-calf simplicity to everybody in the carriage that he had to be careful, because he had something made of real silver “with blue stones” in one of his brown-paper parcels. His quaint blending of Essex flatness with saintly simplicity continuously amused the Frenchman till the priest arrived (somehow) at Tottenham with all his parcels, and came back for his umbrella. When he did the last, Valentin even had the good nature to warn him not to take care of the silver by telling everybody about it. But to whomever he talked, Valentin kept his eye open for someone else; he looked out steadily for anyone, rich or poor, male or female, who was well up to six feet; for Flambeau was four inches above it.

He alighted at Liverpool Street, however, quite conscientiously secure that he had not missed the criminal so far. He then went to Scotland Yard to regularise his position and arrange for help in case of need; he then lit another cigarette and went for a long stroll in the streets of London. As he was walking in the streets and squares beyond Victoria, he paused suddenly and stood. It was a quaint, quiet square, very typical of London, full of an accidental stillness. The tall, flat houses round looked at once prosperous and uninhabited; the square of shrubbery in the centre looked as deserted as a green Pacific islet. One of the four sides was much higher than the rest, like a dais; and the line of this side was broken by one of London’s admirable accidents — a restaurant that looked as if it had strayed from Soho. It was an unreasonably attractive object, with dwarf plants in pots and long, striped blinds of lemon yellow and white. It stood specially high above the street, and in the usual patchwork way of London, a flight of steps from the street ran up to meet the front door almost as a fire-escape might run up to a first-floor window. Valentin stood and smoked in front of the yellow-white blinds and considered them long.

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen. A few clouds in heaven do come together into the staring shape of one human eye. A tree does stand up in the landscape of a doubtful journey in the exact and elaborate shape of a note of interrogation. I have seen both these things myself within the last few days. Nelson does die in the instant of victory; and a man named Williams does quite accidentally murder a man named Williamson; it sounds like a sort of infanticide. In short, there is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss. As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reckon on the unforeseen.

Aristide Valentin was unfathomably French; and the French intelligence is intelligence specially and solely. He was not “a thinking machine”; for that is a brainless phrase of modern fatalism and materialism. A machine only is a machine because it cannot think. But he was a thinking man, and a plain man at the same time. All his wonderful successes, that looked like conjuring, had been gained by plodding logic, by clear and commonplace French thought. The French electrify the world not by starting any paradox, they electrify it by carrying out a truism. They carry a truism so far — as in the French Revolution. But exactly because Valentin understood reason, he understood the limits of reason. Only a man who knows nothing of motors talks of motoring without petrol; only a man who knows nothing of reason talks of reasoning without strong, undisputed first principles. Here he had no strong first principles. Flambeau had been missed at Harwich; and if he was in London at all, he might be anything from a tall tramp on Wimbledon Common to a tall toast-master at the Hotel Metropole. In such a naked state of nescience, Valentin had a view and a method of his own.

In such cases he reckoned on the unforeseen. In such cases, when he could not follow the train of the reasonable, he coldly and carefully followed the train of the unreasonable. Instead of going to the right places — banks, police stations, rendezvous — he systematically went to the wrong places; knocked at every empty house, turned down every cul de sac, went up every lane blocked with rubbish, went round every crescent that led him uselessly out of the way. He defended this crazy course quite logically. He said that if one had a clue this was the worst way; but if one had no clue at all it was the best, because there was just the chance that any oddity that caught the eye of the pursuer might be the same that had caught the eye of the pursued. Somewhere a man must begin, and it had better be just where another man might stop. Something about that flight of steps up to the shop, something about the quietude and quaintness of the restaurant, roused all the detective’s rare romantic fancy and made him resolve to strike at random. He went up the steps, and sitting down at a table by the window, asked for a cup of black coffee.

It was half-way through the morning, and he had not breakfasted; the slight litter of other breakfasts stood about on the table to remind him of his hunger; and adding a poached egg to his order, he proceeded musingly to shake some white sugar into his coffee, thinking all the time about Flambeau. He remembered how Flambeau had escaped, once by a pair of nail scissors, and once by a house on fire; once by having to pay for an unstamped letter, and once by getting people to look through a telescope at a comet that might destroy the world. He thought his detective brain as good as the criminal’s, which was true. But he fully realised the disadvantage. “The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic,” he said with a sour smile, and lifted his coffee cup to his lips slowly, and put it down very quickly. He had put salt in it.

He looked at the vessel from which the silvery powder had come; it was certainly a sugar-basin; as unmistakably meant for sugar as a champagne-bottle for champagne. He wondered why they should keep salt in it. He looked to see if there were any more orthodox vessels. Yes; there were two salt-cellars quite full. Perhaps there was some speciality in the condiment in the salt-cellars. He tasted it; it was sugar. Then he looked round at the restaurant with a refreshed air of interest, to see if there were any other traces of that singular artistic taste which puts the sugar in the salt-cellars and the salt in the sugar-basin. Except for an odd splash of some dark fluid on one of the white-papered walls, the whole place appeared neat, cheerful and ordinary. He rang the bell for the waiter.

When that official hurried up, fuzzy-haired and somewhat blear-eyed at that early hour, the detective (who was not without an appreciation of the simpler forms of humour) asked him to taste the sugar and see if it was up to the high reputation of the hotel. The result was that the waiter yawned suddenly and woke up.

“Do you play this delicate joke on your customers every morning?” inquired Valentin. “Does changing the salt and sugar never pall on you as a jest?”

The waiter, when this irony grew clearer, stammeringly assured him that the establishment had certainly no such intention; it must be a most curious mistake. He picked up the sugar-basin and looked at it; he picked up the salt-cellar and looked at that, his face growing more and more bewildered. At last he abruptly excused himself, and hurrying away, returned in a few seconds with the proprietor. The proprietor also examined the sugar-basin and then the salt-cellar; the proprietor also looked bewildered.

Suddenly the waiter seemed to grow inarticulate with a rush of words.

“I zink,” he stuttered eagerly, “I zink it is those two clergy-men.”

“What two clergymen?”

“The two clergymen,” said the waiter, “that threw soup at the wall.”

“Threw soup at the wall?” repeated Valentin, feeling sure this must be some singular Italian metaphor.

“Yes, yes,” said the attendant excitedly, and pointed at the dark splash on the white paper; “threw it over there on the wall.”

Valentin looked his query at the proprietor, who came to his rescue with fuller reports.

“Yes, sir,” he said, “it’s quite true, though I don’t suppose it has anything to do with the sugar and salt. Two clergymen came in and drank soup here very early, as soon as the shutters were taken down. They were both very quiet, respectable people; one of them paid the bill and went out; the other, who seemed a slower coach altogether, was some minutes longer getting his things together. But he went at last. Only, the instant before he stepped into the street he deliberately picked up his cup, which he had only half emptied, and threw the soup slap on the wall. I was in the back room myself, and so was the waiter; so I could only rush out in time to find the wall splashed and the shop empty. It don’t do any particular damage, but it was confounded cheek; and I tried to catch the men in the street. They were too far off though; I only noticed they went round the next corner into Carstairs Street.”

The detective was on his feet, hat settled and stick in hand. He had already decided that in the universal darkness of his mind he could only follow the first odd finger that pointed; and this finger was odd enough. Paying his bill and clashing the glass doors behind him, he was soon swinging round into the other street.

It was fortunate that even in such fevered moments his eye was cool and quick. Something in a shop-front went by him like a mere flash; yet he went back to look at it. The shop was a popular greengrocer and fruiterer’s, an array of goods set out in the open air and plainly ticketed with their names and prices. In the two most prominent compartments were two heaps, of oranges and of nuts respectively. On the heap of nuts lay a scrap of cardboard, on which was written in bold, blue chalk, “Best tangerine oranges, two a penny.” On the oranges was the equally clear and exact description, “Finest Brazil nuts, 4d. a lb.” M. Valentin looked at these two placards and fancied he had met this highly subtle form of humour before, and that somewhat recently. He drew the attention of the red-faced fruiterer, who was looking rather sullenly up and down the street, to this inaccuracy in his advertisements. The fruiterer said nothing, but sharply put each card into its proper place. The detective, leaning elegantly on his walking-cane, continued to scrutinise the shop. At last he said, “Pray excuse my apparent irrelevance, my good sir, but I should like to ask you a question in experimental psychology and the association of ideas.”

The red-faced shopman regarded him with an eye of menace; but he continued gaily, swinging his cane, “Why,” he pursued, “why are two tickets wrongly placed in a greengrocer’s shop like a shovel hat that has come to London for a holiday? Or, in case I do not make myself clear, what is the mystical association which connects the idea of nuts marked as oranges with the idea of two clergymen, one tall and the other short?”

The eyes of the tradesman stood out of his head like a snail’s; he really seemed for an instant likely to fling himself upon the stranger. At last he stammered angrily: “I don’t know what you ’ave to do with it, but if you’re one of their friends, you can tell ’em from me that I’ll knock their silly ’eads off, parsons or no parsons, if they upset my apples again.”

“Indeed?” asked the detective, with great sympathy. “Did they upset your apples?”

“One of ’em did,” said the heated shopman; “rolled ’em all over the street. I’d ’ave caught the fool but for havin’ to pick ’em up.”

“Which way did these parsons go?” asked Valentin.

“Up that second road on the left-hand side, and then across the square,” said the other promptly.

“Thanks,” replied Valentin, and vanished like a fairy. On the other side of the second square he found a policeman, and said: “This is urgent, constable; have you seen two clergymen in shovel hats?”

The policeman began to chuckle heavily. “I ’ave, sir; and if you arst me, one of ’em was drunk. He stood in the middle of the road that bewildered that —”

“Which way did they go?” snapped Valentin.

“They took one of them yellow buses over there,” answered the man; “them that go to Hampstead.”

Valentin produced his official card and said very rapidly: “Call up two of your men to come with me in pursuit,” and crossed the road with such contagious energy that the ponderous policeman was moved to almost agile obedience. In a minute and a half the French detective was joined on the opposite pavement by an inspector and a man in plain clothes.

“Well, sir,” began the former, with smiling importance, “and what may —?”

Valentin pointed suddenly with his cane. “I’ll tell you on the top of that omnibus,” he said, and was darting and dodging across the tangle of the traffic. When all three sank panting on the top seats of the yellow vehicle, the inspector said: “We could go four times as quick in a taxi.”

“Quite true,” replied their leader placidly, “if we only had an idea of where we were going.”

“Well, where are you going?” asked the other, staring.

Valentin smoked frowningly for a few seconds; then, removing his cigarette, he said: “If you know what a man’s doing, get in front of him; but if you want to guess what he’s doing, keep behind him. Stray when he strays; stop when he stops; travel as slowly as he. Then you may see what he saw and may act as he acted. All we can do is to keep our eyes skinned for a queer thing.”

“What sort of queer thing do you mean?” asked the inspector.

“Any sort of queer thing,” answered Valentin, and relapsed into obstinate silence.

The yellow omnibus crawled up the northern roads for what seemed like hours on end; the great detective would not explain further, and perhaps his assistants felt a silent and growing doubt of his errand. Perhaps, also, they felt a silent and growing desire for lunch, for the hours crept long past the normal luncheon hour, and the long roads of the North London suburbs seemed to shoot out into length after length like an infernal telescope. It was one of those journeys on which a man perpetually feels that now at last he must have come to the end of the universe, and then finds he has only come to the beginning of Tufnell Park. London died away in draggled taverns and dreary scrubs, and then was unaccountably born again in blazing high streets and blatant hotels. It was like passing through thirteen separate vulgar cities all just touching each other. But though the winter twilight was already threatening the road ahead of them, the Parisian detective still sat silent and watchful, eyeing the frontage of the streets that slid by on either side. By the time they had left Camden Town behind, the policemen were nearly asleep; at least, they gave something like a jump as Valentin leapt erect, struck a hand on each man’s shoulder, and shouted to the driver to stop.

They tumbled down the steps into the road without realising why they had been dislodged; when they looked round for enlightenment they found Valentin triumphantly pointing his finger towards a window on the left side of the road. It was a large window, forming part of the long facade of a gilt and palatial public-house; it was the part reserved for respectable dining, and labelled “Restaurant.” This window, like all the rest along the frontage of the hotel, was of frosted and figured glass; but in the middle of it was a big, black smash, like a star in the ice.

“Our cue at last,” cried Valentin, waving his stick; “the place with the broken window.”

“What window? What cue?” asked his principal assistant. “Why, what proof is there that this has anything to do with them?”

Valentin almost broke his bamboo stick with rage.

“Proof!” he cried. “Good God! the man is looking for proof! Why, of course, the chances are twenty to one that it has nothing to do with them. But what else can we do? Don’t you see we must either follow one wild possibility or else go home to bed?” He banged his way into the restaurant, followed by his companions, and they were soon seated at a late luncheon at a little table, and looked at the star of smashed glass from the inside. Not that it was very informative to them even then.

“Got your window broken, I see,” said Valentin to the waiter as he paid the bill.

“Yes, sir,” answered the attendant, bending busily over the change, to which Valentin silently added an enormous tip. The waiter straightened himself with mild but unmistakable animation.

“Ah, yes, sir,” he said. “Very odd thing, that, sir.”

“Indeed?” Tell us about it,” said the detective with careless curiosity.

“Well, two gents in black came in,” said the waiter; “two of those foreign parsons that are running about. They had a cheap and quiet little lunch, and one of them paid for it and went out. The other was just going out to join him when I looked at my change again and found he’d paid me more than three times too much. ‘Here,’ I says to the chap who was nearly out of the door, ‘you’ve paid too much.’ ‘Oh,’ he says, very cool, ‘have we?’ ‘Yes,’ I says, and picks up the bill to show him. Well, that was a knock-out.”

“What do you mean?” asked his interlocutor.

“Well, I’d have sworn on seven Bibles that I’d put 4s. on that bill. But now I saw I’d put 14s., as plain as paint.”

“Well?” cried Valentin, moving slowly, but with burning eyes, “and then?”

“The parson at the door he says all serene, ‘Sorry to confuse your accounts, but it’ll pay for the window.’ ‘What window?’ I says. ‘The one I’m going to break,’ he says, and smashed that blessed pane with his umbrella.”

All three inquirers made an exclamation; and the inspector said under his breath, “Are we after escaped lunatics?” The waiter went on with some relish for the ridiculous story:

“I was so knocked silly for a second, I couldn’t do anything. The man marched out of the place and joined his friend just round the corner. Then they went so quick up Bullock Street that I couldn’t catch them, though I ran round the bars to do it.”

“Bullock Street,” said the detective, and shot up that thoroughfare as quickly as the strange couple he pursued.

Their journey now took them through bare brick ways like tunnels; streets with few lights and even with few windows; streets that seemed built out of the blank backs of everything and everywhere. Dusk was deepening, and it was not easy even for the London policemen to guess in what exact direction they were treading. The inspector, however, was pretty certain that they would eventually strike some part of Hampstead Heath. Abruptly one bulging gas-lit window broke the blue twilight like a bull’s-eye lantern; and Valentin stopped an instant before a little garish sweetstuff shop. After an instant’s hesitation he went in; he stood amid the gaudy colours of the confectionery with entire gravity and bought thirteen chocolate cigars with a certain care. He was clearly preparing an opening; but he did not need one.

An angular, elderly young woman in the shop had regarded his elegant appearance with a merely automatic inquiry; but when she saw the door behind him blocked with the blue uniform of the inspector, her eyes seemed to wake up.

“Oh,” she said, “if you’ve come about that parcel, I’ve sent it off already.”

“Parcel?” repeated Valentin; and it was his turn to look inquiring.

“I mean the parcel the gentleman left — the clergyman gentleman.”

“For goodness’ sake,” said Valentin, leaning forward with his first real confession of eagerness, “for Heaven’s sake tell us what happened exactly.”

“Well,” said the woman a little doubtfully, “the clergymen came in about half an hour ago and bought some peppermints and talked a bit, and then went off towards the Heath. But a second after, one of them runs back into the shop and says, ‘Have I left a parcel!’ Well, I looked everywhere and couldn’t see one; so he says, ‘Never mind; but if it should turn up, please post it to this address,’ and he left me the address and a shilling for my trouble. And sure enough, though I thought I’d looked everywhere, I found he’d left a brown paper parcel, so I posted it to the place he said. I can’t remember the address now; it was somewhere in Westminster. But as the thing seemed so important, I thought perhaps the police had come about it.”

“So they have,” said Valentin shortly. “Is Hampstead Heath near here?”

“Straight on for fifteen minutes,” said the woman, “and you’ll come right out on the open.” Valentin sprang out of the shop and began to run. The other detectives followed him at a reluctant trot.

The street they threaded was so narrow and shut in by shadows that when they came out unexpectedly into the void common and vast sky they were startled to find the evening still so light and clear. A perfect dome of peacock-green sank into gold amid the blackening trees and the dark violet distances. The glowing green tint was just deep enough to pick out in points of crystal one or two stars. All that was left of the daylight lay in a golden glitter across the edge of Hampstead and that popular hollow which is called the Vale of Health. The holiday makers who roam this region had not wholly dispersed; a few couples sat shapelessly on benches; and here and there a distant girl still shrieked in one of the swings. The glory of heaven deepened and darkened around the sublime vulgarity of man; and standing on the slope and looking across the valley, Valentin beheld the thing which he sought.

Among the black and breaking groups in that distance was one especially black which did not break — a group of two figures clerically clad. Though they seemed as small as insects, Valentin could see that one of them was much smaller than the other. Though the other had a student’s stoop and an inconspicuous manner, he could see that the man was well over six feet high. He shut his teeth and went forward, whirling his stick impatiently. By the time he had substantially diminished the distance and magnified the two black figures as in a vast microscope, he had perceived something else; something which startled him, and yet which he had somehow expected. Whoever was the tall priest, there could be no doubt about the identity of the short one. It was his friend of the Harwich train, the stumpy little cure of Essex whom he had warned about his brown paper parcels.

Now, so far as this went, everything fitted in finally and rationally enough. Valentin had learned by his inquiries that morning that a Father Brown from Essex was bringing up a silver cross with sapphires, a relic of considerable value, to show some of the foreign priests at the congress. This undoubtedly was the “silver with blue stones”; and Father Brown undoubtedly was the little greenhorn in the train. Now there was nothing wonderful about the fact that what Valentin had found out Flambeau had also found out; Flambeau found out everything. Also there was nothing wonderful in the fact that when Flambeau heard of a sapphire cross he should try to steal it; that was the most natural thing in all natural history. And most certainly there was nothing wonderful about the fact that Flambeau should have it all his own way with such a silly sheep as the man with the umbrella and the parcels. He was the sort of man whom anybody could lead on a string to the North Pole; it was not surprising that an actor like Flambeau, dressed as another priest, could lead him to Hampstead Heath. So far the crime seemed clear enough; and while the detective pitied the priest for his helplessness, he almost despised Flambeau for condescending to so gullible a victim. But when Valentin thought of all that had happened in between, of all that had led him to his triumph, he racked his brains for the smallest rhyme or reason in it. What had the stealing of a blue-and-silver cross from a priest from Essex to do with chucking soup at wall paper? What had it to do with calling nuts oranges, or with paying for windows first and breaking them afterwards? He had come to the end of his chase; yet somehow he had missed the middle of it. When he failed (which was seldom), he had usually grasped the clue, but nevertheless missed the criminal. Here he had grasped the criminal, but still he could not grasp the clue.

The two figures that they followed were crawling like black flies across the huge green contour of a hill. They were evidently sunk in conversation, and perhaps did not notice where they were going; but they were certainly going to the wilder and more silent heights of the Heath. As their pursuers gained on them, the latter had to use the undignified attitudes of the deer-stalker, to crouch behind clumps of trees and even to crawl prostrate in deep grass. By these ungainly ingenuities the hunters even came close enough to the quarry to hear the murmur of the discussion, but no word could be distinguished except the word “reason” recurring frequently in a high and almost childish voice. Once over an abrupt dip of land and a dense tangle of thickets, the detectives actually lost the two figures they were following. They did not find the trail again for an agonising ten minutes, and then it led round the brow of a great dome of hill overlooking an amphitheatre of rich and desolate sunset scenery. Under a tree in this commanding yet neglected spot was an old ramshackle wooden seat. On this seat sat the two priests still in serious speech together. The gorgeous green and gold still clung to the darkening horizon; but the dome above was turning slowly from peacock-green to peacock-blue, and the stars detached themselves more and more like solid jewels. Mutely motioning to his followers, Valentin contrived to creep up behind the big branching tree, and, standing there in deathly silence, heard the words of the strange priests for the first time.

After he had listened for a minute and a half, he was gripped by a devilish doubt. Perhaps he had dragged the two English policemen to the wastes of a nocturnal heath on an errand no saner than seeking figs on its thistles. For the two priests were talking exactly like priests, piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial enigmas of theology. The little Essex priest spoke the more simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars; the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even worthy to look at them. But no more innocently clerical conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister or black Spanish cathedral.

The first he heard was the tail of one of Father Brown’s sentences, which ended: “… what they really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being incorruptible.”

The taller priest nodded his bowed head and said:

“Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason; but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is utterly unreasonable?”

“No,” said the other priest; “reason is always reasonable, even in the last limbo, in the lost borderland of things. I know that people charge the Church with lowering reason, but it is just the other way. Alone on earth, the Church makes reason really supreme. Alone on earth, the Church affirms that God himself is bound by reason.”

The other priest raised his austere face to the spangled sky and said:

“Yet who knows if in that infinite universe —?”

“Only infinite physically,” said the little priest, turning sharply in his seat, “not infinite in the sense of escaping from the laws of truth.”

Valentin behind his tree was tearing his fingernails with silent fury. He seemed almost to hear the sniggers of the English detectives whom he had brought so far on a fantastic guess only to listen to the metaphysical gossip of two mild old parsons. In his impatience he lost the equally elaborate answer of the tall cleric, and when he listened again it was again Father Brown who was speaking:

“Reason and justice grip the remotest and the loneliest star. Look at those stars. Don’t they look as if they were single diamonds and sapphires? Well, you can imagine any mad botany or geology you please. Think of forests of adamant with leaves of brilliants. Think the moon is a blue moon, a single elephantine sapphire. But don’t fancy that all that frantic astronomy would make the smallest difference to the reason and justice of conduct. On plains of opal, under cliffs cut out of pearl, you would still find a notice-board, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’”

Valentin was just in the act of rising from his rigid and crouching attitude and creeping away as softly as might be, felled by the one great folly of his life. But something in the very silence of the tall priest made him stop until the latter spoke. When at last he did speak, he said simply, his head bowed and his hands on his knees:

“Well, I think that other worlds may perhaps rise higher than our reason. The mystery of heaven is unfathomable, and I for one can only bow my head.”

Then, with brow yet bent and without changing by the faintest shade his attitude or voice, he added:

“Just hand over that sapphire cross of yours, will you? We’re all alone here, and I could pull you to pieces like a straw doll.”

The utterly unaltered voice and attitude added a strange violence to that shocking change of speech. But the guarder of the relic only seemed to turn his head by the smallest section of the compass. He seemed still to have a somewhat foolish face turned to the stars. Perhaps he had not understood. Or, perhaps, he had understood and sat rigid with terror.

“Yes,” said the tall priest, in the same low voice and in the same still posture, “yes, I am Flambeau.”

Then, after a pause, he said:

“Come, will you give me that cross?”

“No,” said the other, and the monosyllable had an odd sound.

Flambeau suddenly flung off all his pontifical pretensions. The great robber leaned back in his seat and laughed low but long.

“No,” he cried, “you won’t give it me, you proud prelate. You won’t give it me, you little celibate simpleton. Shall I tell you why you won’t give it me? Because I’ve got it already in my own breast-pocket.”

The small man from Essex turned what seemed to be a dazed face in the dusk, and said, with the timid eagerness of “The Private Secretary”:

“Are — are you sure?”

Flambeau yelled with delight.

“Really, you’re as good as a three-act farce,” he cried. “Yes, you turnip, I am quite sure. I had the sense to make a duplicate of the right parcel, and now, my friend, you’ve got the duplicate and I’ve got the jewels. An old dodge, Father Brown — a very old dodge.”

“Yes,” said Father Brown, and passed his hand through his hair with the same strange vagueness of manner. “Yes, I’ve heard of it before.”

The colossus of crime leaned over to the little rustic priest with a sort of sudden interest.

“You have heard of it?” he asked. “Where have you heard of it?”

“Well, I mustn’t tell you his name, of course,” said the little man simply. “He was a penitent, you know. He had lived prosperously for about twenty years entirely on duplicate brown paper parcels. And so, you see, when I began to suspect you, I thought of this poor chap’s way of doing it at once.”

“Began to suspect me?” repeated the outlaw with increased intensity. “Did you really have the gumption to suspect me just because I brought you up to this bare part of the heath?”

“No, no,” said Brown with an air of apology. “You see, I suspected you when we first met. It’s that little bulge up the sleeve where you people have the spiked bracelet.”

“How in Tartarus,” cried Flambeau, “did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?”

“Oh, one’s little flock, you know!” said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. “When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets. So, as I suspected you from the first, don’t you see, I made sure that the cross should go safe, anyhow. I’m afraid I watched you, you know. So at last I saw you change the parcels. Then, don’t you see, I changed them back again. And then I left the right one behind.”

“Left it behind?” repeated Flambeau, and for the first time there was another note in his voice beside his triumph.

“Well, it was like this,” said the little priest, speaking in the same unaffected way. “I went back to that sweet-shop and asked if I’d left a parcel, and gave them a particular address if it turned up. Well, I knew I hadn’t; but when I went away again I did. So, instead of running after me with that valuable parcel, they have sent it flying to a friend of mine in Westminster.” Then he added rather sadly: “I learnt that, too, from a poor fellow in Hartlepool. He used to do it with handbags he stole at railway stations, but he’s in a monastery now. Oh, one gets to know, you know,” he added, rubbing his head again with the same sort of desperate apology. “We can’t help being priests. People come and tell us these things.”

Flambeau tore a brown-paper parcel out of his inner pocket and rent it in pieces. There was nothing but paper and sticks of lead inside it. He sprang to his feet with a gigantic gesture, and cried:

“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe a bumpkin like you could manage all that. I believe you’ve still got the stuff on you, and if you don’t give it up — why, we’re all alone, and I’ll take it by force!”

“No,” said Father Brown simply, and stood up also, “you won’t take it by force. First, because I really haven’t still got it. And, second, because we are not alone.”

Flambeau stopped in his stride forward.

“Behind that tree,” said Father Brown, pointing, “are two strong policemen and the greatest detective alive. How did they come here, do you ask? Why, I brought them, of course! How did I do it? Why, I’ll tell you if you like! Lord bless you, we have to know twenty such things when we work among the criminal classes! Well, I wasn’t sure you were a thief, and it would never do to make a scandal against one of our own clergy. So I just tested you to see if anything would make you show yourself. A man generally makes a small scene if he finds salt in his coffee; if he doesn’t, he has some reason for keeping quiet. I changed the salt and sugar, and you kept quiet. A man generally objects if his bill is three times too big. If he pays it, he has some motive for passing unnoticed. I altered your bill, and you paid it.”

The world seemed waiting for Flambeau to leap like a tiger. But he was held back as by a spell; he was stunned with the utmost curiosity.

“Well,” went on Father Brown, with lumbering lucidity, “as you wouldn’t leave any tracks for the police, of course somebody had to. At every place we went to, I took care to do something that would get us talked about for the rest of the day. I didn’t do much harm — a splashed wall, spilt apples, a broken window; but I saved the cross, as the cross will always be saved. It is at Westminster by now. I rather wonder you didn’t stop it with the Donkey’s Whistle.”

“With the what?” asked Flambeau.

“I’m glad you’ve never heard of it,” said the priest, making a face. “It’s a foul thing. I’m sure you’re too good a man for a Whistler. I couldn’t have countered it even with the Spots myself; I’m not strong enough in the legs.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” asked the other.

“Well, I did think you’d know the Spots,” said Father Brown, agreeably surprised. “Oh, you can’t have gone so very wrong yet!”

“How in blazes do you know all these horrors?” cried Flambeau.

The shadow of a smile crossed the round, simple face of his clerical opponent.

“Oh, by being a celibate simpleton, I suppose,” he said. “Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men’s real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil? But, as a matter of fact, another part of my trade, too, made me sure you weren’t a priest.”

“What?” asked the thief, almost gaping.

“You attacked reason,” said Father Brown. “It’s bad theology.”

And even as he turned away to collect his property, the three policemen came out from under the twilight trees. Flambeau was an artist and a sportsman. He stepped back and swept Valentin a great bow.

“Do not bow to me, mon ami,” said Valentin with silver clearness. “Let us both bow to our master.”

And they both stood an instant uncovered while the little Essex priest blinked about for his umbrella.