“格洛里亚斯科特”号三桅帆船14（在线收听）

“‘It was the year '55 when the Crimean war was at its height, and the old convict ships had been largely used as transports in the Black Sea. The government was compelled, therefore, to use smaller and less suitable vessels for sending out their prisoners. The Gloria Scott had been in the Chinese tea-trade, but she was an old-fashioned, heavy-bowed, broad-beamed craft, and the new clippers had cut her out. She was a five-hundred-ton boat; and besides her thirty-eight jail-birds, she carried twenty-six of a crew, eighteen soldiers, a captain, three mates, a doctor, a chaplain, and four warders. Nearly a hundred souls were in her, all told, when we set sail from Falmouth.

“‘The partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of being of thick oak, as is usual in convict-ships, were quite thin and frail. The man next to me, upon the aft side, was one whom I had particularly noticed when we were led down the quay. He was a young man with a clear, hairless face, a long, thin nose, and rather nut-cracker jaws. He carried his head very jauntily in the air, had a swaggering style of walking, and was, above all else, remarkable for his extraordinary height. I don't think any of our heads would have come up to his shoulder, and I am sure that he could not have measured less than six and a half feet. It was strange among so many sad and weary faces to see one which was full of energy and resolution. The sight of it was to me like a fire in a snow-storm. I was glad, then, to find that he was my neighbor, and gladder still when, in the dead of the night, I heard a whisper close to my ear, and found that he had managed to cut an opening in the board which separated us.

“‘“Hullo, chummy!” said he, “what's your name, and what are you here for?”

“‘I answered him, and asked in turn who I was talking with.

“‘“I'm Jack Prendergast,” said he, “and by God! You'll learn to bless my name before you've done with me.”

“‘I remembered hearing of his case, for it was one which had made an immense sensation throughout the country some time before my own arrest. He was a man of good family and of great ability, but of incurably vicious habits, who had, by an ingenious system of fraud, obtained huge sums of money from the leading London merchants.

“‘“Ha, ha! You remember my case!” said he proudly.

“‘“Very well, indeed.”

“‘“Then maybe you remember something queer about it?”

“‘“What was that, then?”

“‘“I'd had nearly a quarter of a million, hadn't I?”

“‘“So it was said.”

“‘“But none was recovered, eh?”

“‘“No.”

“‘“Well, where d'ye suppose the balance is?” he asked.

“‘“I have no idea,” said I.

“‘“Right between my finger and thumb,” he cried. “By God! I've got more pounds to my name than you've hairs on your head. And if you've money, my son, and know how to handle it and spread it, you can do anything. Now, you don't think it likely that a man who could do anything is going to wear his breeches out sitting in the stinking hold of a rat-gutted, beetle-ridden, mouldy old coffin of a Chin China coaster. No, sir, such a man will look after himself and will look after his chums. You may lay to that! You hold on to him, and you may kiss the book that he'll haul you through.”

“‘那是一八五五年，克里米亚战事正酣。本来载运罪犯的船只大部分在黑海中作军事运输，因此政一府只好用较小的不适当的船只来遣送罪犯。“格洛里亚斯科特”号帆船是做中国茶叶生意的，式样古老，船首很重，船身很宽。新式快速帆船早已胜过了它。这只三桅帆船载重五百吨，船上除了三十八名囚犯以外，还载有水手二十六名，士兵十八名，船长一名，船副三名，医生一名，牧师一名和狱卒四名。从法尔默思启航时，船上共约一百人。

“‘通常囚犯船的囚室隔板都用厚橡木制成，可是这只船的囚室隔板却非常薄。还在我们被带到码头时，我特别注意到一个人，他现在就囚在船尾和我相邻的囚室里。这是一个年轻人，面容清秀，没有一胡一须，细长的鼻子，瘪嘴。他一副得意神情，走起路来昂首阔步，最突出的，还是身材特别高大，我看谁的头也到不了他的肩部，他肯定至少有六英尺半高。在这么多忧郁而消沉的面孔里，看到这样一张一精一力充沛而坚定果断的面孔，那是非同小可的。看到这张面孔，犹如暴风雨中送来炉火。我发现他和我为邻，非常欢喜。一天夜深人静，几句细语送进我的耳鼓，我回头一看，原来是他设法在囚室隔板上挖了一个洞，这更使我喜不自胜。

“‘他说道：“喂，朋友！你叫什么名字？因什么罪名被关在这里？”

“‘我回答了他，反问他是谁。

“‘他说道：“我叫杰克-普伦德加斯特，我发誓，在你和我分手之前，你会知道我的好处的。”

“‘我记得听说过他的案子，因为在我自己被捕以前，他的案子在全国曾经轰动一时。他出身良家，又很能干，但沾染了不可救药的恶一习一，靠巧妙的欺诈，从伦敦巨商手中骗取了巨款。

“‘这时他便骄傲地说道：“哈，哈！你想起我这件案子了。”

“‘我说：“的确，我记得很清楚。”

“‘他说：“那么，你可记得那案子有什么特别吗？”

“‘我说：“有什么特别呢？”

“‘他说：“我弄到将近二十五万镑巨款，不是吗？”

“‘我说：“人家说是这么多。”

“‘他说：“可这笔赃款并没有追回去，你知道吗？”

“‘我回答：“不知道。”

“‘他又问道：“喂，你猜这笔巨款现在在什么地方？”

“‘我说道：“一点也猜不出。”

“‘他大声说道：“这笔钱还在我的掌握之中。一点不假！记在我名下的金镑数，比你的头发一丝还要多。小伙伴，要是你手里有钱，又懂得怎样管钱用钱，那你就可以随一心一所一欲了。喂！你不要认为一个可以随一心一所一欲的人，他会甘心在这满是耗子、甲虫的破旧中国航船的恶臭货舱里坐以待毙，不，先生，这样的人不仅要自救，还要搭救他的难友。你可以大干一场！紧紧依靠他，你可以凭圣经宣誓，他一定能把你救出来。”