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肩書を与える: The Haunted Bell
Author: Jacques Futrelle
* A 事業／計画（する） Gutenberg of Australia eBook *
eBook No.: 0603591h.html
Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd: July 2006
Date most recently updated: October 2007

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The Haunted Bell

by

Jacques Futrelle

I

It was a thing, trivial enough, yet so strangely mystifying in its happening that the mind hesitated to 受託する it as an actual occurrence にもかかわらず the indisputable 証拠 of the sense of 審理，公聴会. As the seconds ticked on, Franklin Phillips was not at all 確かな that it had happened, and 徐々に the 疑問 began to assume the 割合s of a 有罪の判決. Then, because his 熱心に-attuned brain did not readily explain it, the 事柄 was 解任するd as an impossibility. Certainly it had not happened. Mr. Phillips smiled a little. Of course, it was--it must be--a trick of his 神経s.

But, even as the impossibility of the thing grew upon him, the musical clang still echoed ばく然と in his memory, and his 注目する，もくろむs were still 直す／買収する，八百長をするd inquiringly on the Japanese gong whence it had come. The gong was of the usual type--six bronze レコードs, or inverted bowls, of 卒業生（する）d sizes, 一時停止するd one above the other, with the largest at the 最高の，を越す, and quaintly colored with the 深い, florid トンs of Japan's 古代の decorative art. It hung motionless at the end of a silken cord which dropped 負かす／撃墜する sheerly from the 天井 over a corner of his desk. It was certainly 害のない enough in 外見, yet--yet--

As he looked the bell sounded again. It was a （疑いを）晴らす, rich, vibrant 公式文書，認める--a にわか景気 which belched 前へ／外へ suddenly as if of its own volition, quavered 十分な-トンd, then 減らすd until it was only a ぐずぐず残る sense of sound. Mr. Phillips started to his feet with an exclamation.

Now, in the money-市場s of the world, Franklin Phillips was regarded as a living refutation of all theories as to the physical 災害s consequent upon a long 追跡 of the strenuous life--a human antithesis of 神経s. He breathed fourteen times to the minute and his heart-（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 was always within a fraction of seventy-one. This was true whether there were millions at 火刑／賭ける in a capricious market or whether he ordered a cigar. In this 静める lay the strength which had enabled him to reach his fiftieth year in perfect mental and physical 条件.

支援する of this utter normality was a placid, 問い合わせing mind; so now, deliberately, he took a pencil and tapped the bells of the gong one after another, beginning at the 底（に届く）. The shrill 公式文書，認める of the first told him 即時に that was not the one which had sounded; nor was the second, nor the third. At the fourth he hesitated and struck a second time. Then he tapped the fifth. That was it. The gong trembled and swayed わずかに from the blow, light as it was, and twice again he struck it. Then he was 納得させるd.

For several minutes he stood 星／主役にするing, 星／主役にするing blankly. What had 原因（となる）d the bell to （犯罪の）一味? His manner was 静める, 冷淡な, 静かな, inquisitive--indomitable ありふれた-sense 奮起させるd the query.

"I guess it was 神経s," he said after a moment. "But I was looking at it, and--"

神経s as a 可能性 were suddenly 小衝突d ruthlessly aside, and he systematically sought some 有形の explanation of the 事件／事情／状勢. Had a 飛行機で行くing insect struck the bell? No. He was 肯定的な, because he had been looking 直接／まっすぐに at it when it sounded the second time. He would have seen an insect. Had something dropped from the 天井? No. He would have seen that, too. With 警報, searching 注目する，もくろむs he 調査するd the small room. It was his own personal den--a sort of office in his home. He was alone now; the door の近くにd; everything appeared as usual.

Perhaps a window! The one 直面するing east was open to the lightly stirring 空気／公表する of the first warm evening of spring. The 勝利，勝つd had 乱すd the gong! He jumped at the thought as an inspiration. It faded when he saw the window-curtains hanging 負かす／撃墜する limply; the movement of the 空気／公表する was too light to 乱す even these. Perhaps something had been 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd through the window! The absurdity of that conjecture was proven 即時に. There was a 審査する in the window of so 罰金 a mesh that hardly more than a 穀物 of sand could pass through it. And this 審査する was 損なわれていない.

With bewilderment in his 直面する Mr. Phillips sat 負かす／撃墜する again. Then recurred to him one indisputable fact which 妨げるd the 可能性 of all those things he had considered. There had been 絶対 no movement--that is, perceptible movement--of the gong when the bell sounded. Yet the トン was loud, as if a violent blow had been struck. He remembered that, when he tapped the bell はっきりと with his pencil, it swayed and trembled visibly, but the pencil was so light that the トン sounded far away and faint. To 納得させる himself he touched the bell again, ever so lightly. It swayed.

"井戸／弁護士席, of all the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の things I ever heard of!" he 発言／述べるd.

After a while he lighted a cigar, and for the first time in his life his 手渡す shook. The sight brought a faint 表現 of amused surprise to his lips; then he snapped his fingers impatiently and settled 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める. It was a struggle to bring his mind around to 構成要素 things; it 主張するd on wandering, and wove fantastic, grotesque conjectures in the drifting タバコ smoke. But at last ありふれた-sense 勝利d under the sedative 影響（力） of an excellent cigar, and the 出来事/事件 of the bell floated off into nothingness. 商売／仕事 事件／事情／状勢s--緊急の, real, 有形の 商売／仕事 事件／事情／状勢s--焦点（を合わせる）d his attention.

Then, suddenly, clamorously, with the insistent acclaim of a 解雇する／砲火／射撃-alarm, the bell sounded--once! twice! thrice! Mr. Phillips leaped to his feet. The トンs 冷気／寒がらせるd him and stirred his phlegmatic heart to quicker 活動／戦闘. He took a long, 深い breath, and, with one ちらりと見ること around the little room, strode out into the hall. He paused there a moment, ちらりと見ることd at his watch--it was four minutes to nine--then went on to his wife's apartments.

Mrs. Phillips was reclining in a 議長，司会を務める and listening with an amused smile to her son's recital of some commonplace college happening which chanced to be of 利益／興味 to him. She was forty or forty-two, perhaps, and charming. Women never learn to be charming until they're forty; until then they are only pretty and amiable--いつかs. The son, Harvey Phillips, arose as his father entered. He was a stalwart young man of twenty, a 原型, as it were, of that hard-長，率いるd, masterful financier--Franklin Phillips.

"Why, Frank, I thought you were so 吸収するd in 商売／仕事 that--" Mrs. Phillips began.

Mr. Phillips paused and looked blankly, unseeingly, as one suddenly 誘発するd from sleep, at his wife and son--the two dearest of all earthly things to him. The son 公式文書，認めるd nothing unusual in his manner; the wife, with intuitive 注目する，もくろむs, read some vague uneasiness.

"What is it?" she asked solicitously. "Has something gone wrong?"

Mr. Phillips laughed nervously and sat 負かす／撃墜する 近づく her.

"Nothing, nothing," he 保証するd her. "I feel unaccountably nervous somehow, and I thought I should like to talk to you rather than--than--"

"Keep on going over and over those stupid 人物／姿／数字s?" she interrupted. "Thank you."

She leaned 今後 with a gesture of infinite grace and took his 手渡す. He clenched it spasmodically to stop its absurd trembling and, with an 成果／努力 all the greater because it was repressed so 厳しく, 回復するd 支配（する）／統制する of his panic-stricken 神経s. Harvey Phillips excused himself and left the room.

"Harvey has just been explaining the mysteries of baseball to me," said Mrs. Phillips. "He's going to play on the Harvard team." Her husband 星／主役にするd at her without the slightest 注意する or comprehension of what she was 説.

"Can you tell me," he asked suddenly, "where you got that Japanese gong in my room?"

"Oh, that? I saw it in the window of a queer old curio shop I pass いつかs on my charity 一連の会議、交渉／完成するs. I looked at it two or three months ago and bought it. The place is in Cranston Street. It's kept by an old German--Wagner, I think his 指名する is. Why?"

"It looks as if it might be very old, a hundred years perhaps," 発言／述べるd Mr. Phillips.

"That's what I thought," 答える／応じるd his wife, "and the coloring is exquisite. I had never seen one 正確に／まさに like it, so--"

"It doesn't happen to have any history, I suppose?" he interrupted.

"Not that I know of."

"Or any peculiar 質, or--or せいにする out of the ordinary?'"

Mrs. Phillips shook her 長，率いる.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she replied. "The only peculiar 質 I noticed was the singular 潔白 of the bells and the coloring."

Mr. Phillips coughed over his cigar.

"Yes, I noticed the bells myself," he explained lamely. "It just struck me that the thing was--was out of the ordinary, and I was a little curious about it." He was silent a moment. "It looks as if it might have been 価値のある once."

"I hardly think so," Mrs. Phillips 答える／応じるd. "I believe thirty dollars is what I paid for it--all that was asked."

That was all that was said about the 事柄 at the time. But on the に引き続いて morning an 早期に 訪問者 at Wagner's shop was Franklin Phillips. It was a typical place of its 肉親，親類d, half curio and half junk-蓄える／店, with a coat of dust over all. There had been a 天然のまま 試みる／企てる to 高める the 外見 of the place by an artistic 協定 of several musty antique pieces, but, さもなければ, it was a 大混乱 of all things. An 老年の German met Mr. Phillips as he entered.

"Is this Mr. Wagner?" 問い合わせd the financier.

Extreme 警告を与える, 量ing almost to 疑惑, seemed to be a part of the old German's 商売／仕事 régime, for he looked at his 訪問者 from 長，率いる to foot with keen 注目する，もくろむs, then 避けるd the question.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to know if this is Mr. Wagner," said Mr. Phillips tersely. "Is it, or is it not?"

The old man met his frank 星／主役にする for a moment; then his cunning, faded 注目する，もくろむs wavered and dropped.

"I am Johann Wagner," he said 謙虚に. "What do you want?"

"Some time ago--two or three months--you sold a Japanese gong--" Mr. Phillips began.

"I never sold it!" interrupted Wagner 熱心に. "I never had a Japanese gong in the place! I never sold it!"

"Of course you sold it," 主張するd Mr. Phillips. "A Japanese gong--do you understand? Six bells on a silken cord."

"I never had such a thing in my life--never had such a thing in my shop!" 宣言するd the German excitedly. "I never sold it, so help me! I never saw it!"

Curiosity and incredulity were in Mr. Phillips' 注目する，もくろむs as he 直面するd the old man.

"Do you happen to have any clerk?" he asked. "Or did you have three months ago?"

"No, I never had a clerk," explained the German with a 暴力／激しさ which Mr. Phillips did not understand. "There has never been anybody here but me. I never had a Japanese gong here--I never sold one! I never saw one here!"

Mr. Phillips 熟考する／考慮するd the 老年の, wrinkled 直面する before him calmly for several seconds. He was trying vainly to account for an excitement, a vehemence which was as inexplicable as it was unnecessary.

"It's absurd to 否定する that you sold the bell," he said finally. "My wife bought it of you, here in this place."

"I never sold it!" 嵐／襲撃するd the German. "I never had it! No women ever （機の）カム here. I don't want women here. I don't know anything about a Japanese gong. I never had one here."

深く，強烈に puzzled and 完全に impatient, Mr. Phillips decided to forego this 試みる／企てる at a casual 調査 into the history of the gong. After a little while he went away. The old German watched him 慎重に, with cunning, avaricious 注目する，もくろむs, until he stepped on a car.

As the 冷静な／正味の, pleasant days of 早期に spring passed on the bell held its tongue. Only once, and that was すぐに after his visit to the old German's shop, did Mr. Phillips 言及する to it again. Then he 問い合わせd casually of his wife if she had bought it of the old man in person, and she answered in the affirmative, 述べるing him. Then the question （機の）カム to him: Why had Wagner 絶対 否定するd all knowledge of the bell, of its having been in his 所有／入手 and of having sold it?

But, after a time, this question was lost in 決定的な 商売／仕事 事件／事情／状勢s which engrossed his attention. The gong still hung over his desk and he occasionally ちらりと見ることd at it. At such times his curiosity was keen, poignant even, but he made no その上の 成果／努力 to solve the mystery which seemed to enshroud it.

So, until one evening a 豊富な young Japanese gentleman, Oku Matsumi, by 指名する, son of a distinguished nobleman in his country's 外交の service, （機の）カム to dinner at the Phillips' home as the guest of Harvey Phillips. They were classmates in Harvard, and a friendship had grown up between them which was curious, perhaps, but explainable on the ground of a 相互の 利益／興味 in art.

After dinner Mr. Matsumi 表明するd his 賞賛 for several pictures which hung in the luxurious dining-room, and so it followed 自然に that Mr. Phillips 展示（する）d some other rare 作品 of art. One of these pictures, a Da Vinci, hung in the little room where the gong was. With no thought of that, at the moment, Mr. Phillips led the way in and the Japanese followed.

Then a peculiar thing happened. At sight of the gong Mr. Matsumi seemed amazed, startled, and, taking one step toward it, he bent as if in obeisance. At the same time his 権利 手渡す was thrust outward and 上向き as if 述べるing some symbol in the 空気／公表する.

Utter silence! A suppliant throng, 屈服するd in awed humility with 手渡すs outstretched, palms downward, and yellow 直面するs turned in mute 祈り toward the light which ぱたぱたするd up feebly from the sacred 解雇する／砲火／射撃 upon the stony, leering countenance of Buddha. The gigantic golden image rose cross-legged from its pedestal and receded 上向き and backward into the gloom of the 寺. The multitude shaded off from bold 輪郭（を描く）s within the glow of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 to a shadowy, impalpable 集まり in the remotest corners; hushed of breath, immovably 星／主役にするing into the drooping 注目する，もくろむs of their graven-god.

Behind the image was a 保護するing 隠す of cloth of gold. Presently there （機の）カム a murmur, and the supplicants, with one （許可，名誉などを）与える, prostrated themselves until their 長，率いるs touched the 明らかにする, 冷淡な 石／投石するs of the 寺 床に打ち倒す. The murmur grew into the weirdly beautiful 詠唱する of the priests of Buddha. The flickering light for an instant gave an 外見 of life to the 激しい-lidded, drooping 注目する，もくろむs, then it 安定したd again and they seemed 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on the urn wherein the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 燃やすd.

After a moment the curtain of gold was thrust aside in three places 同時に, and three silken-式服d priests appeared. Each bore in his 手渡す a golden sceptre. Together they approached the sacred 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and together they thrust the sceptres into it. 即時に a 炎 spouted up, illuminating the 広大な, high-roofed palace of worship, and a cloud of incense arose. The sweetly sickening odor spread out, fanlike, over the throng.

The three priests turned away from the urn, and each, with slow, solemn tread, made his way to an altar of incense with the 炎上ing たいまつ held aloft. They met again at the feet of Buddha and prostrated themselves, at the same time 延長するing the 権利 手渡す and forming some symbol in the 空気／公表する. The 詠唱する from behind the golden 隠す 軟化するd to a murmur, and the murmur grew into silence. Then:

"Gautama!"

The 指名する （機の）カム from the three together--the トン was a 祈り. It reverberated for an instant in the 休会s of the 広大な／多数の／重要な 寺; then the multitude, with one 動議, raised themselves, repeated the 選び出す／独身 word and groveled again on their 直面するs.

"Siddhartha, Beloved!"

Again the three priests spoke and again the supplicants moved as one, repeating the words. The 燃やすing incense grew 激しい, the sacred 解雇する／砲火／射撃 flickered, and 影をつくる／尾行するs flitted elusively over the golden, graven 直面する of the Buddha.

"Sayka-muni, Son of Heaven!"

The moving of the multitude as it swayed and answered was in perfect （許可，名誉などを）与える. It was as if one heart, one soul, one thought had 奮起させるd the 活動／戦闘.

"O Buddha! Wise One! Enlightened One!" （機の）カム the 発言する／表明するs of the priests again. "Oh, Son of Kapilavastu! Chosen One! 宗教上の One who 設立する Nirvana! Your unworthy people are at your feet. Omnipotent One! We 捜し出す your gracious counsel!"

The 発言する／表明するs in chorus had risen to a 詠唱する. When they 中止するd there was the 冷気／寒がらせる of suspense; a little shiver ran through the 寺; there was a hushed movement of terrified 苦悩. Of all the throng only the priests dared raise their 注目する，もくろむs to the 冷淡な, graven 直面する of the image. For an instant the 冷気／寒がらせるing silence; then boldly, vibrantly, a bell sounded--once!

"Buddha has spoken!"

It was a murmurous whisper, almost a sigh, plaintive, awestricken. The 公式文書，認める of the bell trembled on the incense-laden 空気／公表する, then was dissipated, welded into silence again. Priests and people were cowering on the 明らかにする 石／投石するs; the lights ゆらめくd up suddenly, then flickered, and the 半分-gloom seemed to grow sensibly deeper. Behind the 隠す of gold the 詠唱する of the priests began again. But it was a more solemn 公式文書，認める--a despairing wail. For a short time it went on, then died away.

Again the sacred 解雇する／砲火／射撃 炎d up as if caught by a gust of 勝利，勝つd, but the glow did not light the Buddha's 直面する now--it was concentrated on a bronze gong which dropped 負かす／撃墜する sheerly on a silken cord at Buddha's 権利 手渡す. There were six レコードs, the largest at the 最高の，を越す, silhouetted against the 不明瞭 of the golden 隠す beyond. From one of these bells the sound had come, but now they hung mute and motionless. Only the three priests raised reverential 注目する，もくろむs to it, and one, the eldest rose.

"O 発言する／表明する of Buddha!" he apostrophized in a moving, swinging 詠唱する--and the 直面する of the graven-god seemed swallowed up in the 影をつくる／尾行するs---"we, your unworthy disciples, を待つ! Each year at the eleventh festival we supplicate! But thrice only hast thou spoken in the half-century, and thrice within the eleventh day of your speaking our Emperor has passed into the 武器 of Death and Nirvana. Shall it again be so, Omnipotent One?"

The 詠唱する died away and the multitude raised itself to its 膝s with supplicating 手渡すs thrust out into the 不明瞭 toward the 薄暗い-lit gong. It was an 態度 of beseeching, of 祈り, of entreaty.

And again, as it hung motionless, the bell sounded. The トン rolled out melodiously, 明確に--Once! Twice! Thrice! Those who gazed at the 奇蹟 lowered their 注目する，もくろむs lest they be stricken blind. And the bell struck on--Four! Five! Six! A plaintive, wailing cry was raised; the priests behind the 隠す of gold were 詠唱するing again. Seven! Eight! Nine! The people took up the rolling 詠唱する as they groveled, and it swelled until the 古代の 塀で囲むs of the 寺 trembled. Ten! Eleven!

Utter silence! A supplicant throng, 屈服するd in awed humility, with 手渡すs outstretched, palms downward, and yellow 直面するs turned in mute 祈り toward the light which ぱたぱたするd up feebly from the sacred 解雇する／砲火／射撃 upon the stony, leering countenance of Buddha!

Mr. Matsumi straightened up suddenly to find his host 星／主役にするing at him in perturbed amazement.

"Why did you do that?" Mr. Phillips blurted uneasily.

"容赦 me, but you wouldn't understand if I told you," replied the Japanese with 静める, inscrutable 直面する. "May I 診察する it, please?" And he 示すd the silent and motionless gong.

"Certainly," replied the financier wonderingly.

Mr. Matsumi, with a 確かな 切望 which was not lost upon the American, approached the gong and touched the bells lightly, one after another, evidently to get the トン. Then he stooped and 診察するd them carefully--最高の，を越す and 底（に届く）. Inside the largest bell--that at the 最高の，を越す--he 設立する something which 利益／興味d him. After a の近くに scrutiny he again straightened up, and in his slant 注目する，もくろむs was an 表現 which Mr. Phillips would have liked to 解釈する／通訳する.

"I 推定する you have seen it before?" he 投機・賭けるd.

"No, never," was the reply.

"But you 認めるd it!"

Mr. Matsumi 単に shrugged his shoulders.

"And what made you do that?" By "that" Mr. Phillips referred to Mr. Matsumi's strange 行為／法令／行動する when he first saw the bell.

Again the Japanese shrugged his shoulders. An exquisite, innate 儀礼 which belonged to him was 明らかに forgotten now in contemplation of the gong. The financier gnawed at his mustache. He was beginning to feel nervous--the nervousness he had felt 以前, and his imagination ran 暴動.

"You have not had the gong long?" 発言／述べるd Mr. Matsumi after a pause.

"Three or four months."

"Have you ever noticed anything peculiar about it?"

Mr. Phillips 星／主役にするd at him 率直に.

"井戸／弁護士席, rather!" he said at last, in a トン which was perfectly 納得させるing.

"It （犯罪の）一味s, you mean--the fifth bell?"

Mr. Phillips nodded. There was a 緊張した 切望 in the manner of the Japanese.

"You have never heard the bell （犯罪の）一味 eleven times?"

Mr. Phillips shook his 長，率いる. Mr. Matsumi drew a long breath--whether it was 救済 the other couldn't say. There was silence. Mr. Matsumi の近くにd and unclosed his small 手渡すs several times.

"容赦 me for について言及するing the 事柄 under such circumstances," he said at last, in a トン which 示唆するd that he 恐れるd giving offence, "but would you be willing to part with the gong?"

Mr. Phillips regarded him 熱心に. He was 捜し出すing in the other's manner some inkling to a 解答 of a mystery which each moment seemed more hopelessly beyond him.

"I shouldn't care to part with it," he replied casually. "It was given to me by my wife."

"Then no 申し込む／申し出 I might make would be considered?"

"No, certainly not," replied Mr. Phillips tartly. There was a pause. "This gong has 利益／興味d me immensely. I should like to know its history. Perhaps you can enlighten me?"

With the imperturbability of his race, Mr. Matsumi 拒絶する／低下するd to give any （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）. But, with a graceful return of his former exquisite 儀礼, he sought more 限定された knowledge for himself.

"I will not ask you to part with the gong," he said, "but perhaps you can 知らせる me where your wife bought it?" He paused for a moment. "Perhaps it would be possible to get another like it?"

"I happen to know there isn't another," replied Mr. Phillips. "It （機の）カム from a little curio shop in Cranston Street, kept by a German 指名するd Johann Wagner."

And that was all. This 出来事/事件 passed as the other had, the 逮捕する result 存在 only その上の to 刺激する Mr. Phillips' curiosity. It seemed a futile curiosity, yet it was ever 現在の, にもかかわらず the fact that the gong still hung silent.

On the next evening, a balmy, ideal night of spring, Mr. Phillips had occasion to go into the small room. This was just before dinner was 発表するd. It was rather の近くに there, so he opened the east window to a 感謝する 微風, and placed the 審査する in position, after which he stooped to pull out a drawer of his desk. Then （機の）カム again the quick, clangorous にわか景気 of the bell--One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven!

At the first 一打／打撃 he straightened up; at the second he leaned 今後 toward the gong with his 注目する，もくろむs riveted to the fifth レコード. As it continued to （犯罪の）一味 he grimly held on to jangling 神経s and looked for the 原因（となる）. Beneath the bells, on 最高の，を越す, all around them he sought. There was nothing! nothing! The sounds 簡単に burst out, one after another, as if from a 激しい blow, yet the bell did not move. For the seventh time it struck, and then with white, 恐ろしい 直面する and 冷気／寒がらせるd, stiff 四肢s Mr. Phillips 急ぐd out of the room. A dew of perspiration grew in the palms of his quavering 手渡すs.

It was a night of little 残り／休憩（する） and strange dreams for him. At breakfast on the に引き続いて morning Mrs. Phillips 注ぐd his coffee and then ちらりと見ることd through the mail which had been placed beside her.

"Do you 特に care for that gong in your room?" she 問い合わせd.

Mr. Phillips started a little. That particular 反対する had enchained his attention for the last dozen hours, awake and asleep.

"Why?" he asked.

"You know I told you I bought it of a curio 売買業者," Mrs. Phillips explained. "His 指名する is Johann Wagner, and he 申し込む／申し出s me five hundred dollars if I will sell it 支援する to him. I 推定する he has 設立する it is more 価値のある than he imagined, and the five hundred dollars would make a comfortable 新規加入 to my charity 基金."

Mr. Phillips was 深く，強烈に thoughtful. Johann Wagner! What was this new 新たな展開? Why had Wagner 否定するd all knowledge of the gong to him? Having 否定するd, why should he now make an 試みる／企てる to buy it 支援する? In 捜し出すing answers to these questions he was silent.

"井戸／弁護士席, dear?" 問い合わせd his wife after a pause. "You didn't answer me."

"No, don't sell the gong," he exclaimed 突然の. "Don't sell it at any price. I--I want it. I'll give you a cheque for your charity."

There was something of uneasiness in her 充てるd 注目する，もくろむs. Some strange, subtle, indefinable 空気／公表する which she could not fathom was in his manner. With a little sigh which breathed her 不安 she finished her breakfast.

On the に引き続いて morning still another letter （機の）カム from Johann Wagner. It was an 控訴，上告--an 情熱的な 控訴，上告--hurriedly scrawled and almost incoherent in form. He must have the gong! He would give five thousand dollars for it. Mrs. Phillips was 率直に bewildered at the letter, and turned it over to her husband. He read it through twice with grimly-始める，決める teeth.

"No," he exclaimed violently; "it sha'n't be sold for any price!" Then his 発言する／表明する dropped as he recollected himself. "No, my dear," he continued, "it shall not be sold. It was a 現在の from you to me. I want it, but"--and he smiled whimsically--"if he keeps raising the price it will 追加する a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to your charity 基金, won't it?"

Twice again within thirty-six hours Mr. Phillips heard the bell （犯罪の）一味--once on one occasion and four on the other. And now visibly, tangibly, a 広大な／多数の／重要な change was upon him. The healthy glow went from his 直面する. There was a constant twitching of his 手渡すs; a continual, impatient snapping of his fingers. His 注目する，もくろむs lost their 安定した gaze. They roved aimlessly, and one's impression always was that he was listening. The strength of the master spirit was 存在 slowly destroyed, eaten up by a hideous gnawing thing of which he seemed hopelessly obsessed. But he took no one into his 信用／信任; it was his own 私的な 事件／事情／状勢 to work out to the end.

This 条件 was upon him at a time when the activity of the 思索的な centres of the world was 異常な, and when every faculty was needed in the 広大な／多数の／重要な 財政上の 計画／陰謀s of which he was the centre. He, in person, held the strings which guided millions. The importance of his 商売／仕事 事件／事情／状勢s was so insistently and relentlessly thrust upon him that he was compelled to 会合，会う them. But the 成果／努力 was a desperate one, and that night late, when a city slept around him, the bell sounded twice.

When he reached his downtown office next day an enormous 量 of 詳細（に述べる） work lay before him, and he attacked it with a feverish exaltation which followed upon days and nights of restlessness. He had been at his desk only a few minutes when his 私的な telephone clattered. With an exclamation he arose; comprehending, he sat 負かす／撃墜する again.

Half-a-dozen times within the hour the bell rang, and each time he was startled. Finally he arose in a passion, tore the desk-telephone from its connecting wires and flung it into the waste-basket. Deliberately he walked around to the 味方する of his desk and, with a 井戸／弁護士席-directed kick, 粉砕するd the 殴打／砲列-box. His 長官 regarded him in amazement.

"Mr. （軍の）野営地，陣営," directed the financier はっきりと, "please 教える the office 操作者 not to （犯罪の）一味 another telephone-bell in this office--ever."

The 長官 went out and he sat 負かす／撃墜する to work again. Late that afternoon he called on his family 内科医, Doctor Perdue, a 強健な individual of whom it was said that his laugh cured more 患者s than his 薬／医学. Be that as it may, he was a successful man, high in his profession. Doctor Perdue looked up with frank 利益／興味 as he entered.

"Hello, Phillips!" was his 迎える／歓迎するing. "What can I do for you?"

"神経s," was the laconic answer.

"I thought it would come to that," 発言／述べるd the 内科医, and he shook his 長，率いる sagely. "Too much work, too much worry and too many cigars; and besides, you're not so young as you once were."

"It isn't work or cigars," Phillips replied impatiently. "It's worry--worry because of some peculiar circumstances which--which--"

He paused with a 確かな childish feeling of shame, of cowardice. Doctor Perdue regarded him 熱心に and felt of his pulse.

"What peculiar circumstances?" he 需要・要求するd.

"井戸／弁護士席, I--I can hardly explain it myself," replied Mr. Phillips, between tightly-clenched teeth. "It's intangible, unreal, ghostly--what you will. Perhaps I can best make you understand it by 説 that I'm always--I always seem to be waiting for something."

Doctor Perdue laughed heartily; Mr. Phillips glared at him.

"Most of us are always waiting for something," said the 内科医. "If we got it there wouldn't be any particular 反対する in life. Just what sort of thing is it you're always waiting for?"

Mr. Phillips arose suddenly and paced the length of the room twice. His under jaw was thrust out a little, his teeth 鎮圧するd together, but in his 注目する，もくろむs lay a haunting, furtive 恐れる.

"I'm always waiting for a--for a bell," he blurted ひどく, and his 直面する became scarlet. "I know it's absurd, but I awake in the night trembling, and 嘘（をつく） for hours waiting, waiting, yet dreading the sound as no man ever dreaded anything in this world. At my desk I find myself 緊張するing every 神経, waiting, listening. When I talk to any one I'm always waiting, waiting, waiting! Now, 権利 this minute, I'm waiting, waiting for it. The thing is 運動ing me mad, man, mad! Don't you understand?"

Doctor Perdue arose with 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 直面する and led the financier 支援する to his seat.

"You are behaving like a child, Phillips!" he said はっきりと. "Sit 負かす／撃墜する and tell me about it."

"Now, look here, Perdue," and Mr. Phillips brought his 握りこぶし 負かす／撃墜する on the desk with a 衝突，墜落, "you must believe it--you've got to believe it! If you don't, I shall know I am mad."

"Tell me about it," 勧めるd the 内科医 静かに.

Then haltingly, hesitatingly, the financier 関係のある the 出来事/事件s as they had happened. Incipient madness, 恐れる, terror, 炎d in his 注目する，もくろむs, and at times his pale lips quivered as a child's might. The 内科医 listened attentively and nodded several times.

"The bell must be--must be haunted!" Mr. Phillips burst out in 結論. "There's no reasonable way to account for it. My ありふれた-sense tells me that it doesn't sound at all, and yet I know it does."

Doctor Perdue was silent for several minutes.

"You know, of course, that your wife did buy the bell of the old German?" he asked after a while.

"Why, certainly, I know it. It's 証明するd 絶対 by the letters he 令状s trying to get it 支援する."

"And your 恐れる doesn't come from anything the Japanese said?"

"It isn't the 否定 of the German; it isn't the childish things Mr. Matsumi said and did; it's the actual sound of the bell that's 運動ing me insane--it's the hopeless, everlasting, eternal groping for a 推論する／理由. It's an inanimate thing and it 行為／法令／行動するs as if--it 行為／法令／行動するs as if it were alive!"

The 内科医 had been sitting with his fingers on Mr. Phillips' wrist. Now he arose and mixed a 静かなing potion which the other swallowed at a gulp. Soon after his 患者 went home somewhat more self-所有するd, and with rigid 指示／教授／教育s as to the regularity of his life and habits.

"You need about six months in Europe more than anything else," Doctor Perdue 宣言するd. "Take three weeks, 形態／調整 up your 商売／仕事 and go. 一方／合間, if you won't sell the gong or throw it away, keep out of its reach."

Next morning a man--a stranger--was 設立する dead in the small room where the gong hung. A 弾丸 through the heart showed the manner of death. The door 主要な from the room into the hall was locked on the outside; an open window 直面するing east 示すd how he had entered and 示唆するd a possible avenue of escape for his slayer.

Attracted by the excitement which followed the 発見 of the 団体／死体, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips went to 調査／捜査する, and thus saw the dead man. The wife entered the room first, and for an instant stood speechless, 星／主役にするing into the white, 上昇傾向d 直面する. Then （機の）カム an exclamation.

"Why, it's the man from whom I bought the gong!" She turned to find her husband peering over her shoulder. His 直面する was ashen to the lips, his 注目する，もくろむs wide and 星／主役にするing.

"Johann Wagner!" he exclaimed.

Then, as if frenzied, he flung her aside and 急ぐd to where the gong hung silent and motionless. He seemed bent on 破壊 as he reached for it with gripping fingers. Suddenly he staggered as if from a 激しい blow in the 直面する, and covered both 注目する，もくろむs with his 手渡すs.

"Look!" he 叫び声をあげるd.

There was a smudge of fresh, red 血 on the fifth bell. Mrs. Phillips ちらりと見ることd from the bell to him inquiringly.

He stood for a moment with 手渡すs 圧力（をかける）d to his 注目する，もくろむs, then laughed mirthlessly, demoniacally.

II

Here a small brazier spouting a blue 炎上, there a retort 部分的に／不公平に filled with some purplish, foul-smelling liquid, yonder a sinuous 巡査 coil winding off into the 影をつくる／尾行するs, and moving about like an alchemist of old, the slender, childlike 人物／姿／数字 of Professor Augustus S. F. X. 先頭 Dusen, Ph. D., LL. D., F. R. S., M. D., etc., etc. A ray of light 発射 負かす／撃墜する blindingly from a reflector above and brilliantly illuminated the 研究室／実験室 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. The 労働者 leaned 今後 to peer at some minute 粒子 under the microscope, and for an instant his 長，率いる and 直面する were thrown out against the 不明瞭 of the room like some grotesque, disembodied thing.

It was a singular 長，率いる and 直面する--a 長，率いる out of all 割合 to 団体／死体, domelike, enormous, with a wilderness of straw-yellow hair. The 直面する was small, wizened, petulant even; the watery blue 注目する，もくろむs, 狭くする almost to the disappearing point, squinted everlastingly through 厚い spectacles; the mouth drooped at the corners. The small, white 手渡すs which 新たな展開d and turned the 反対する-glass into 焦点（を合わせる） were 所有するd of extraordinarily long, slender fingers.

This man of the large 長，率いる and small 団体／死体 was the undisputed leader in contemporaneous science. His was the sanest, coldest, clearest brain in 科学の 業績／成就. His word was the final one. Once upon a time a newspaperman, Hutchinson Hatch, had dubbed him The Thinking Machine, and so it （機の）カム about that the world 捕まらないで had heard of and knew him by that 肩書を与える. The reporter, a tall, slender young man, sat now watching him curiously and listening. The scientist spoke in a トン of perpetual annoyance; but a long 知識 had taught the reporter that it was what he said and not the manner of its 説 that was to be 注意するd.

"Imagination, Mr. Hatch, is the 選び出す／独身 connecting link between man and the infinite," The Thinking Machine was 説. "It is the one 質 which distinguishes us from what we are pleased to call the brute 創造, for we have the same passions, the same appetites, and the same 願望（する）s. It is the most 価値のある adjunct to the 科学の mind, because it is the basis of all 科学の 進歩. It is the thing which 一時的に 橋（渡しをする）s gaps and makes it possible to solve all 構成要素 problems--not some, but all of them. We can 達成する nothing until we imagine it. Just so far as the human brain can imagine it can comprehend. It fails only to comprehend the eternal 目的, the Omnipotent Will, because it cannot imagine it. For imagination has a 限界, Mr. Hatch, and beyond that we are not to go--beyond that is Divinity."

This wasn't at all what Hatch had come to hear, but he listened with a sort of fascination.

"The first intelligent 存在," the irritated 発言する／表明する went on, "had to imagine that when two were 追加するd to two there would be a result. He 設立する it was four, he 証明するd it was four, and 即時に it became immutable--a point in logic, a thing by which we may solve problems. Thus two and two make four, not いつかs, but all the time."

"I had always supposed that imagination was limitless," Hatch 投機・賭けるd for a moment, "that it knows no bounds."

The Thinking Machine squinted at him coldly.

"On the contrary," he 宣言するd, "it has a 境界 beyond which the mind of man 単に reels, staggers, 崩壊（する）s. I'll take you there." He spoke as if it were just around the corner. "By 援助（する） of a microscope of far いっそう少なく 力／強力にする than the one there, the 原子の or molecular theory was 明確に表すd. You know that--it is that all 事柄 is composed of 原子s. Now, imagination 示唆するd and logic immutably 論証するs that the 原子s themselves are composed of other 原子s, and that those 原子s in turn are composed of still others, 広告 infinitum. They are 単に invisible, and imagination--I am not now 明言する／公表するing a belief, but 特記する／引用するing an example of what imagination can do--imagination can make us see the 可能性 of each of those 原子s, 負かす／撃墜する to infinity, 存在 住むd, 存在 in itself a world 比較して as distant from its fellows as we are from the moon. We can even imagine what those inhabitants would look like."

He paused a minute; Hatch blinked several times.

"But the 境界 lies the other way--through the telescope," continued the scientist. "The most powerful glass ever 工夫するd has brought no suggestion of the end of the universe. It only brings more millions of worlds, invisible to the naked 注目する，もくろむ into sight. The stronger the glass, the more hopeless the 仕事 of even conjecturing the end, and here, too, the imagination can 適用する the 原子の theory, and logic will support it. In other words, 原子s make 事柄, 事柄 makes the world, which is an inconceivably tiny speck in our solar system, an 原子; therefore, all the millions and millions of worlds are mere 原子s, infinitesimal parts of some far greater 計画／陰謀. What greater 計画／陰謀? There is the end of imagination! There the mind stops!"

The immensity of the conception made Hatch gasp a little. He sat silent for a long time, awed, 抑圧するd. Never before in his life had he felt of so little consequence.

"Now, Mr. Hatch, as to this little problem that is annoying you," continued The Thinking Machine, and the 事柄-of-fact トン was a 広大な／多数の／重要な 救済. "What I have said has had, of course, no 耐えるing on it, except in so far as it 論証するs that imagination is necessary to solve a problem, that all 構成要素 problems may be solved, and that, in 会合 them, logic is the lever. It is a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 量; its simplest 支配するs have enabled me to solve petty 事件／事情／状勢s for you in the past, so--"

The reporter （機の）カム to himself with a start. Then he laid before this master brain the circumstances which cast so strange a mystery about the death by 暴力／激しさ of Johann Wagner, junk-売買業者, in the home of Franklin Phillips, millionaire. But his （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） was only from the time the police （機の）カム into the 事件／事情／状勢. Mr. Phillips, Doctor Perdue and Mr. Matsumi alone knew of the （犯罪の）一味ing of the bell.

"The 血-位置／汚点／見つけ出す on one of the bells," Hatch told the scientist in 結論, "may be the 示す of a 手渡す, but its significance doesn't appear. Just now the police are working on two queer points which they developed. First, 探偵，刑事 Mallory 認めるd the dead man as 'Old Dutch' Wagner, long 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd of 行為／行うing a '盗品故買者'--that is, receiving and 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせるing of 盗品; and second, one of the servants in the Phillips' 世帯, Giles Francis, has disappeared. He hasn't been seen since eleven o'clock on the night before the 団体／死体 was 設立する, and then he was in bed sound asleep. Every article of his 着せる／賦与するing, except a pair of shoes, trousers, and pajamas, was left behind."

The Thinking Machine turned away from the 研究室／実験室 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and sank into a 議長，司会を務める. For a long time he sat with his enormous yellow 長，率いる thrown 支援する and his slender, white fingers 圧力（をかける）d tip to tip.

"If Wagner was 発射 through the heart," he said at last, "we know that death was instantaneous; therefore he could not have made the 血-示す on the bell." It seemed to be a 声明 of fact. "But why should there be such a 示す on the bell?"

"探偵，刑事 Mallory thinks that--" began the reporter.

"Oh, never mind what he thinks!" interrupted the other testily. "What time was the 団体／死体 設立する?"

"About half-past nine yesterday morning."

"Anything stolen?"

"Nothing. The 団体／死体 was 簡単に there, the window open and the door locked, and there was the 血-示す on the bell."

There was a pause. Cobwebby lines appeared on the 幅の広い forehead of the scientist and the squint 注目する，もくろむs 狭くするd 負かす／撃墜する to mere slits. Hatch was watching him curiously.

"What does Mr. Phillips say about it?" asked The Thinking Machine. He was still 星／主役にするing 上向き and his thin lips were drawn into a straight line.

"He is ill, just how ill we don't know," 答える／応じるd the newspaper man. "Doctor Perdue has, so far, not permitted the police to question him."

The scientist lowered his 注目する，もくろむs quickly.

"What's the 事柄 with him?" he 需要・要求するd.

"I don't know. Doctor Perdue has 拒絶する／低下するd to make any 声明."

Half an hour later The Thinking Machine and Hatch called at the Phillips' house. They met Doctor Perdue coming out. His 直面する was 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な and preoccupied; his professional 空気／公表する of jocundity was wholly absent. He shook 手渡すs with The Thinking Machine, whom he had met years before beside an operating-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and reëntered the house with him. Together the three went to the little room--the scene of the 悲劇.

The Japanese gong still swung over the desk. The crabbed little scientist went straight to it, and for five minutes 充てるd his 分割されない attention to a 熟考する／考慮する of the splotch on the fifth bell. From the 表現 of his 直面する Hatch could gather nothing. What the scientist saw might or might not have been illuminating. Was the splotch the 示す of a 手渡す? If it were, Hatch argued, it 申し込む／申し出d no clew, as the intricate lines of the flesh were smeared together, obliterated.

Next The Thinking Machine 批判的に ちらりと見ることd about him, and finally threw open the window 直面するing east. For a long time he stood silently squinting out; and, save for the minute lines in his forehead, there was no 指示，表示する物 whatever of his mental workings. The little room was on the second 床に打ち倒す and jutted out at 権利 angles across a 狭くする alley which ran beneath them to the kitchen in the 支援する. The dead-塀で囲む of the next building was only four feet from the Phillips' 塀で囲む, and was without windows, so it was easily seen how a man, unobserved, might climb up from below にもかかわらず an arc-light above the wide 前線 door of an apartment-house across the street, 明白な in the vista of the alley.

"Do you happen to know, Perdue," asked The Thinking Machine at last, "if this west window was ever opened?"

"Never," replied the 内科医. "探偵，刑事 Mallory questioned the servants about it. It seems that the kitchen is beneath, somewhat to the 支援する, and the odors of cooking （機の）カム up."

"How many outside doors has this house?"

"Only two," was the reply: "the one you entered, and one 開始 into the alley below us."

"Both were 設立する locked yesterday morning?"

"Yes. Both doors have spring-locks, therefore each locks itself when の近くにd."

"Oh!" exclaimed the scientist suddenly.

He turned away from the window, and, for a second time, 診察するd the still and silent gong. Somewhere in his mind seemed to be an inkling that the gong might be more closely associated than appeared with the mystery of death, and yet, watching him curiously, Doctor Perdue knew he could have no knowledge of the 悪意のある part it had played in the 事件／事情／状勢. With a penknife The Thinking Machine made a slight 示す on the under 味方する of each bell in turn; then squinted at them, one after another. On the inside of the 最高の，を越す bell--the largest--he 設立する something--a 示す, a symbol perhaps--but it seemed meaningless to Hatch and Doctor Perdue, who were peering over his shoulder.

It was 単に a circle with three 上向き rays and three dots inside it.

"The 製造業者's 示す, perhaps," Hatch 示唆するd.

"Of course, it's impossible that the bell could have had anything to do--" Doctor Perdue began.

"Nothing is impossible, Perdue," snapped the scientist crabbedly. "Do not say that. It annoys me exceedingly." He continued to 星／主役にする at the symbol. "Just where was the 団体／死体 設立する?" he asked after a little.

"Here," replied Doctor Perdue, and he 示すd a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す 近づく the window.

The Thinking Machine 手段d the distance with his 注目する，もくろむ.

"The only real problem here," he 発言／述べるd musingly, after a moment, as if 補足（する）ing a previous 声明, "is what made him lock the door and run?"

"What made--who?" Hatch asked 熱望して.

The Thinking Machine 単に squinted at him, through him, beyond him with glassy 注目する，もくろむs. His thoughts seemed far away and the cobwebby lines in his forehead grew deeper. Doctor Perdue was 明らかに at the moment too self-吸収するd to 注意する.

"Now, Perdue," 需要・要求するd The Thinking Machine suddenly, "what is really the 事柄 with Mr. Phillips?"

"井戸／弁護士席, it's rather--" he started haltingly, then went on as if his mind were made up: "You know, 先頭 Dusen, there's something 支援する of all this that hasn't been told, for 推論する／理由s which I consider good ones. It might 利益／興味 you, because you are keen on these things, but I 疑問 if it would help you. And besides, I should have to 主張する that you alone should hear it."

He ちらりと見ることd meaningly at Hatch, whom he knew to be 現在の only in his capacity as reporter.

"There's something else--about the bell," said The Thinking Machine quickly. It was not a question, but a 声明.

"Yes, about the bell," acquiesced the 内科医, as if a little surprised that the other should know. "But as I said it--"

"I undertook to get at the facts here to 援助（する） Mr. Hatch," explained The Thinking Machine; "but I can 保証する you he will print nothing without my 許可."

Doctor Perdue looked at the newspaperman inquiringly; Hatch nodded.

"I guess perhaps it would be better for you to hear it from Phillips himself," went on the 内科医. "Come along. I think he would be willing to tell you."

Thus the scientist and the reporter met Franklin Phillips. He was in bed. The once masterful financier seemed but a 影をつくる／尾行する of what he had been. His strong 直面する was now white and haggard, and lined almost beyond 承認. The lips were pale, the 手渡すs nervously clutched at the sheet, and in his 注目する，もくろむs was horror--hideous horror. They glittered at times, and only at intervals 反映するd the strength, the 力／強力にする which once lay there. His 現在の 条件 was as pitiable as it was inexplicable to Hatch, who remembered him as the rugged 嵐／襲撃する-centre of half a dozen みごたえのある 財政上の 戦う／戦いs.

Mr. Phillips talked willingly--seemed, indeed, relieved to be able to relate in 詳細（に述べる） those circumstances which, in a way, accounted for his utter 崩壊（する）. As he went on volubly, yet coherently enough, his roving 注目する，もくろむs settled on the petulant, inscrutable 直面する of The Thinking Machine as if 捜し出すing, above all things, belief. He 設立する it, for the scientist nodded time after time, and 徐々に the lines in the ドーム-like forehead were dissipated.

"Now I know why he ran," 宣言するd the scientist 前向きに／確かに, enigmatically. The 発言／述べる was hopelessly without meaning to the others. "As I understand it, Mr. Phillips," he asked, "the east window was always open when the bell sounded?"

"Yes, I believe it was, always," replied Mr. Phillips after a moment's thought.

"And you always heard it when the window was open?"

"Oh, no," replied the financier. "There were many times when the window was open that I didn't hear anything."

A (n)艦隊／(a)素早いing bewilderment crossed the scientist's 直面する, then was gone.

"Of course, of course," he said after a moment. "Stupid of me. I should have known that. Now, the first time you ever noticed it the bell rang twice--that is, twice with an interval of, say, a few seconds between?"

"Yes."

"And you had had the gong, then, two or three months?"

"About three months--yes."

"The 天候 remained 冷静な／正味の during that time? Late winter and 早期に spring?"

"I 推定する so. I don't 解任する. I know the first time I heard the bell was an 早期に, warm day of spring, because my window had not 以前 been opened."

The Thinking Machine was dreamily squinting 上向き. As he 星／主役にするd into the 静かな, 狭くする 注目する，もくろむs a 確かな 手段 of 信用／信任 seemed to return to Mr. Phillips. He raised himself on an 肘.

"You say that once you heard the bell （犯罪の）一味 late at night--twice. What were the circumstances?"

"That was the night 先行する a day of some important 操作／手術s I had planned," explained Mr. Phillips, "and I was in the little room for a long time after midnight going over some 人物／姿／数字s."

"Do you remember the date?"

"Perfectly. It was Tuesday, the eleventh of this month,"--and, for an instant, memory called to Mr. Phillips' 直面する an 表現 which 財政上の 敵s know 井戸／弁護士席. "I remember, because next day I 軍隊d the market up to a 記録，記録的な／記録する price on some 鉄道 在庫／株s I 支配（する）／統制する."

The Thinking Machine nodded.

"This servant of yours who is 行方不明の, Francis, was rather a timid sort of man, I imagine."

"井戸／弁護士席, I could hardly say," replied Mr. Phillips doubtfully.

"井戸／弁護士席, he was," 宣言するd The Thinking Machine きっぱりと. "He was a good servant, I dare say?"

"Yes, excellent."

"Would it have been within his 義務s to の近くに a window which might have been left open at night?"

"Certainly."

"Rather a big man?"

"Yes, six feet or so--two hundred and ten 続けざまに猛撃するs, perhaps."

"And Mr. Matsumi was, of course, small?"

"Yes, small even for a Japanese."

The Thinking Machine arose and placed his fingers on Mr. Phillips' wrist. He stood thus for half a minute.

"Did you ever notice any odor after the bell rang?" he 問い合わせd at last.

"Odor?" Mr. Phillips seemed puzzled. "Why, I don't see what an odor would have to do--"

"I didn't 推定する／予想する you to," interrupted The Thinking Machine crustily. "I 単に want to know if you noticed one."

"No," retorted Mr. Phillips すぐに.

"And could you explain your 正確な feelings?" continued the scientist. "Did the 影響 of the bell's （犯罪の）一味ing seem to be 完全に mental, or was it physical? In other words, was there any physical exaltation or 不景気 when you heard it?"

"It would be rather difficult to say--even to myself," 答える／応じるd Mr. Phillips. "It always seemed to be a shock, but I suppose it was really a mental 条件 which 反応するd on my 神経s."

The Thinking Machine walked over to the window and stood with his 支援する to the others. For a minute or more he remained there, and three eager pairs of 注目する，もくろむs were 直す／買収する，八百長をするd inquiringly on the 支援する of his yellow 長，率いる. Beneath the irritated 発言する／表明する, behind the inscrutable 直面する, in the disjointed 尋問, they all knew intuitively there was some 限定された 目的, but to 非，不，無 （機の）カム a 微光 of light as to its nature.

"I think, perhaps, the 事柄 is all （疑いを）晴らす now," he 発言／述べるd musingly at last. "There are two 決定的な questions yet to be answered. If the first of these is answered in the affirmative, I know that a mind--I may say a Japanese mind--of singular ingenious 質 conceived the 条件 which brought about this 事件／事情／状勢; if in the 消極的な, the entire 事柄 becomes ridiculously simple."

Mr. Phillips was leaning 今後, listening greedily. There was hope and 恐れる, 疑問 and 信用／信任, 切望 and a 確かな 緊張した 抑制 in his manner. Doctor Perdue was silent; Hatch 単に waited.

"What made the bell （犯罪の）一味?" 需要・要求するd Mr. Phillips.

"I must find the answer to the two remaining questions first," returned The Thinking Machine.

"You について言及するd a Japanese," said Mr. Phillips. "Do you 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う Mr. Matsumi of any 関係 with the--the mystery?"

"I never 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う persons of things, Mr. Phillips," said The Thinking Machine curtly. "I never 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う--I always know. When I know in this 事例／患者 I shall 知らせる you. Mr. Hatch and I are going out for a few minutes. When we return the 事柄 can be 性質の／したい気がして of in ten minutes."

He led the way out and along the hall to the little room where the gong hung. Hatch の近くにd the door as he entered. Then for the third time the scientist 診察するd the bells. He struck the fifth violently time after time, and after each 一打／打撃 he thrust an inquisitive nose almost against it and 匂いをかぐd. Hatch 星／主役にするd at him in wonderment. When the scientist had finished he shook his 長，率いる as if answering a question in the 消極的な. With Hatch に引き続いて he passed out into the street.

"What's the 事柄 with Phillips?" the reporter 投機・賭けるd, as they reached the sidewalk.

"脅すd, 脅すd," was the tart rejoinder. "He's 単に morbidly anxious to account for the bell's （犯罪の）一味ing. If I had been 絶対 確かな before I （機の）カム out I should have told him. I am 確かな now. You know, Mr. Hatch, when a thing is beyond 即座の understanding it 即時に 示唆するs the supernatural to some minds. Mr. Phillips wouldn't 自白する it, but he sees 支援する of the （犯罪の）一味ing of that bell some uncanny 力／強力にする--a 脅し, perhaps--and the thing has preyed upon him until he's nearly insane. When I can arrange to make him understand perfectly why the bell （犯罪の）一味s he will be all 権利 again."

"I can readily see how the （犯罪の）一味ing of the bell strikes one as uncanny," Hatch 宣言するd grimly. "Have you an idea what 原因（となる）s it?"

"I know what 原因（となる）s it," returned the other irritably. "And if you don't know you're stupid."

The reporter shook his 長，率いる hopelessly.

They crossed the street to the big apartment-house opposite, and entered. The Thinking Machine 問い合わせd for and was shown into the office of the 経営者／支配人. He had only one question.

"Was there a ball, or 歓迎会, or anything of that sort held in this building on Tuesday night, the eleventh of this month?" he 問い合わせd.

"No," was the 返答. "There has never been anything of that sort here."

"Thanks," said The Thinking Machine. "Good-day."

Turning 突然の he left the 経営者／支配人 to 人物／姿／数字 that out as best he could, and, with Hatch に引き続いて, 上がるd the stairs to the next 床に打ち倒す. Here was a wide, airy hallway 延長するing the 十分な length of the building. The Thinking Machine ちらりと見ることd neither to 権利 nor left; he went straight to the 後部, where a plate-glass window enframed a panorama of the city. From where they stood the city's roofs slanted 負かす／撃墜する toward the heart of the 商売／仕事 地区, half a mile away.

As Hatch looked on The Thinking Machine took out his watch and 始める，決める it two and a half minutes 今後, after which he turned and walked to the other end of the hall. Here, too, was a plate-glass window. For just a fraction of an instant he stood 星／主役にするing straight out at the Phillips' home across the way; then, without a word, retraced his steps 負かす／撃墜する the stairs and into the street.

Hatch's 長，率いる was 洪水ing with questions, but he choked them 支援する and 単に 追跡するd along. They re-entered the Phillips' house in silence. Doctor Perdue and Harvey Phillips met them in the hallway. An 表現 of infinite 救済 （機の）カム into the 内科医's 直面する at the sight of The Thinking Machine.

"I'm glad you're 支援する so soon," he said quickly. "Here's a new 開発 and a singular one." He referred evidently to a long envelope he held. "Step into the library here."

They entered, and Doctor Perdue carefully の近くにd the door behind them.

"Just a few minutes ago Harvey received a 調印（する）d envelope by mail," he explained. "It inclosed this one, also 調印（する）d. He was going to show it to his father, but I didn't think it wise because of--because--"

The Thinking Machine took the envelope in one slender 手渡す and 診察するd it. It was a perfectly plain white one, and bore only a 選び出す／独身 line written in a small, 巡査-plate 手渡す with 時折の 予期しない angles:

"To be opened when the fifth bell （犯罪の）一味s eleven times."

Something as nearly approaching complacent satisfaction as Hatch had ever seen overspread the petulant countenance of The Thinking Machine, and a long, aspirated "Ah!" escaped the thin lips. There was a hushed silence. Harvey Phillips, to whom nothing of the mystery was known beyond the actual death of Wagner, sought to read what it all meant in Doctor Perdue's 直面する. In turn Doctor Perdue's 注目する，もくろむs were fastened on The Thinking Machine.

"Of course, you don't know whom this is from, Mr. Phillips?" 問い合わせd the scientist of the young man.

"I have no idea," was the reply. "It seemed to amaze Doctor Perdue here, but, 率直に, I can't imagine why."

"You don't know the handwriting?"

"No."

"井戸／弁護士席, I do," 宣言するd The Thinking Machine emphatically. "It's Mr. Matsumi's." He glared at the 内科医. "And in it lies the 重要な to this 事件／事情／状勢 of the bell. The mere fact that it （機の）カム at all 証明するs everything as I saw it."

"But it can't be from Matsumi," 抗議するd the young man. "The postmark on the outside was Cleveland."

"That means 単に that he is running away to escape 逮捕（する） on a 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of 殺人."

"Then Matsumi killed Wagner?" Hatch asked quickly.

"I didn't say it was a 自白," 答える／応じるd the scientist curtly. "It is 単に a history of the bell. I dare say--"

Suddenly the door was thrown open and Mrs. Phillips entered. Her 直面する was ashen.

"Doctor, he is worse--沈むing 速く!" she gasped. "Please come!"

Doctor Perdue ちらりと見ることd from her pallid 直面する to the impassive Thinking Machine.

"先頭 Dusen," he said solemnly, "if you can do anything to explain this thing, do it now. I know it will save a man's 推論する／理由--it might save his life."

"Is he conscious?" 問い合わせd the scientist of Mrs. Phillips.

"No, he seems to have utterly 崩壊（する）d," she explained. "I was talking to him when suddenly he sat up in bed as if listening, then shrieked something I didn't understand and fell 支援する unconscious."

Doctor Perdue was dragged out of the room by the wife and son. The Thinking Machine ちらりと見ることd at his watch. It was three and a half minutes past four o'clock. He nodded, then turned to Hatch.

"Please go into the little room and の近くに the window," he 教えるd. "Mr. Phillips has heard the bell again, and I imagine Doctor Perdue needs me. 一方／合間, put this envelope in your pocket." And he 手渡すd to Hatch the mysterious 調印（する）d packet.

It was twenty minutes past nine o'clock that evening. In the little room where the gong hung were Franklin Phillips, pale and weak, but eager; Doctor Perdue, The Thinking Machine, Harvey Phillips and Hatch. For four hours Doctor Perdue and the scientist had labored over the unconscious financier, and finally a tinge of color returned to the pale lips; then （機の）カム consciousness.

"It was my suggestion, Mr. Phillips, that we are here," explained The Thinking Machine 静かに. "I want to show you just why and how the bell （犯罪の）一味s, and incidentally （疑いを）晴らす up the other points of the mystery. Now, if I should tell you that the bell will sound a given number of times at a given instant, and it should sound, you would know that I was aware of the 原因（となる）?"

"Certainly," assented Mr. Phillips 熱望して.

"And then if I 論証するd tangibly how it sounded you would be 満足させるd?"

"Yes, of course--yes."

"Very good." And the scientist turned to the reporter: "Mr. Hatch, 'phone the 天候 Bureau and ask if there was a 嵐／襲撃する about midnight 先行する the finding of Wagner's 団体／死体; also if there was 雷鳴. And get the direction and velocity of the 勝利，勝つd. I know, of course, that there was 雷鳴, and that the 勝利，勝つd was either from the east, or there was no 勝利，勝つd. I know it, not from personal 観察, but by the pure logic of events."

The reporter nodded.

"Also I will have to ask you to borrow for me somewhere a violin and a シャンペン酒-glass."

There happened to be a violin in the house. Harvey Phillips went for it, and Hatch went to the 'phone. Five minutes later he 再現するd; Harvey Phillips had に先行するd him.

"Light 勝利，勝つd from the east, four miles an hour," Hatch 報告（する）／憶測d tersely. "The 嵐／襲撃する 脅すd just before midnight. There was vivid 雷 and 激しい 雷鳴."

To prosaic Doctor Perdue these 予選s smacked a little of charlatanry. Mr. Phillips was 利益／興味d, but impatient. The Thinking Machine, watch in 手渡す, lay 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める, squinting 刻々と 上向き.

"Now, Mr. Phillips," he 発表するd, "in just thirty-three and three-４半期/4分の1 minutes the bell will （犯罪の）一味. It will sound ten times. I am taking 苦痛s to 再生する the exact 条件s under which the bell has always sounded since you have known it, because if I show you there can be no 疑問."

Mr. Phillips was leaning 今後, gripping the 武器 of his 議長，司会を務める.

"一方／合間, I will 再建する the events, not as they might have happened, but as they must have happened," continued The Thinking Machine. "They will not be in sequence, but as they were 明らかにする／漏らすd to me by each 追加するd fact, for logic, Mr. Phillips, is only a sum in arithmetic, and the answer based on every known fact must be 訂正する as 必然的に as that two and two make four--not いつかs, but all the time.

"井戸／弁護士席, a man was 設立する dead here--発射. His mere presence 示すd 押し込み強盗. The open window showed how he probably entered. Considering only these superficial facts, we see 即時に that more than one person might have entered that window. Yet it is hardly likely that two thieves entered, and one killed the other before they got their booty, for nothing was stolen, and it is still いっそう少なく likely that one man （機の）カム here to commit 自殺. What then?

"The 血 示す on the bell. It was made by a human 手渡す. Yet a man 発射 即時に dead could not have made it. Therefore we know there was another person. The door locked on the outside 絶対 確認するd this. Ordinarily, I dare say, the door is never locked? No? Then who locked it? Certainly not a second どろぼう, for he would not have 危険d escaping through the house after a 発射 which, for all he knew, had 誘発するd every one. Ergo, some one in the house locked the door. Who?

"One of your servants, Giles Francis, is 行方不明の. Did he hear some one in the room? No, for he would have alarmed the 世帯. What happened to him? Where is he? There is, of course, a chance that he ran out to find an officer and was 性質の／したい気がして of in some way by an outside confederate of the man inside. But remember, please, the last we know of him he was asleep in bed. The 決定的な point, therefore, is, what 誘発するd him? From that we can easily develop his その後の 活動／戦闘s."

The Thinking Machine paused and ちらりと見ることd casually at his watch, then toward the east window, which was open with the 審査する in.

"We know," he 再開するd, "that if Francis had been 誘発するd by 夜盗，押し込み強盗s, or by a sound which he せいにするd to 夜盗，押し込み強盗s, he would have awakened other servants. We must suppose he was awakened by some noise. What is most probable? 雷鳴! That would account for his every 行為／法令／行動する. So let's say for the moment that it was 雷鳴, that he remembered this window was open, 部分的に／不公平に dressed himself and （機の）カム here to の近くに it. This was, we will also 推定する, just before midnight. He met Wagner here, and in some way got Wagner's revolver. Then the 致命的な 発射 was 解雇する／砲火／射撃d.

"From this point, as the facts developed, Francis' 行為／法令／行動するs became more difficult of comprehension. I could readily see how, when Wagner fell, Francis might have placed his を引き渡す the heart to see if he were dead, and thus stained his 手渡すs; but why did Francis then smear 血 on the fifth bell of the gong, leave this room, locking the door behind him, and run into the street? In other words, why did he lock the door and run?

"I had already 大（公）使館員d かなりの importance to the gong, まず第一に／本来 because of the 血, and had 診察するd the bells closely. I even scratched them to 保証する myself that they were bronze and not a precious metal which would attract thieves. Then, Mr. Phillips, I heard your story, and 即時に I knew why Francis locked the door and ran. It was because he was 脅すd--horribly, unspeakably 脅すd. 自然に there was a 神経-racking shock when he 設立する he had killed a man. Then as he stood, horror-stricken perhaps, the bell rang. It 影響する／感情d him as it did you, Mr. Phillips, but under circumstances which were inconceivably more terrifying to a timid man. The bell rang six, seven, eight--perhaps a dozen times. To Francis, looking 負かす／撃墜する upon a man he had killed, it was maddening, inexplicable. He placed his 手渡す on it to stop the sound, then, crazed with terror, ran out of the room, locking the door behind him, and out of the house. The outer door の近くにd with a spring-lock. He will return in time, because, of course, he was 正当化するd in 殺人，大当り Wagner."

Again The Thinking Machine ちらりと見ることd at his watch. Eighteen minutes of the 明示するd thirty-three had elapsed.

"Now, as to the bell itself," he went on, "its history is of no consequence. It's Japanese and we know it's 極端に old. We must assume from Mr. Matsumi's 行為／行う that it is an 反対する of--of, say, veneration. We can imagine it hanging in a 寺; perhaps it rang there, and awed multitudes listened. Perhaps they regarded it as prophetic. After its 見えなくなる from Japan--we don't know how--Mr. Matsumi was 自然に amazed to see it here, and was anxious to buy it. You 辞退するd to listen to him, Mr. Phillips. Then he went to Wagner and 申し込む／申し出d, we'll say, several thousand dollars for it. That accounts for Wagner's letters and his presence here. He （機の）カム to steal the thing which he couldn't buy. His 否定 of all knowledge of the bell is explained readily by 探偵，刑事 Mallory's 声明 that he had long been 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd of 扱うing 盗品. He 否定するd because he 恐れるd a 罠（にかける）.

"I may 追加する that I せいにするd an ingenuity of construction to the bell which it did not 所有する. When I asked if you ever 公式文書，認めるd any odor when it sounded, Mr. Phillips, I had an idea that perhaps your 現在の 条件 had been brought about by a subtle 毒（薬） in which the gong had once been immersed, 粒子s of which, when the bell sounded, might have been cast off and drawn into the 肺s. I can 保証する you, however, that there was no 毒（薬）. That is all, I think."

"But the 調印（する）d letter--" began Doctor Perdue.

"Oh, I opened that," was the casual rejoinder; but Doctor Perdue, as he looked, read a 警告 in the scientist's 直面する. "It 関係のある to another 事柄 完全に."

Doctor Perdue gazed at him a moment and understood. Unconsciously Hatch felt of the pocket where he had placed the letter. It was still there. He, too, understood. The Thinking Machine arose, ちらりと見ることd out of the window, then turned to the reporter.

"Now, Mr. Hatch," he requested, "please go across the street to the apartment-house, and open the 後部 window in the hall where we were. See that it remains open for twenty minutes; then return here. Keep out of the hall while the window is open, and if possible, keep others out."

Without a word or question, Hatch went out. The Thinking Machine dropped 支援する into his 議長，司会を務める, ちらりと見ることd at his watch, then scribbled something on a card which he 手渡すd to Doctor Perdue.

"By the way," he 発言／述べるd irrelevantly, "there's an excellent 構内／化合物 for nervous indigestion I ran across the other day."

Doctor Perdue read the card. On it was:

"Letter dangerous. Probably 予報するs death. Has 宗教的な significance. Would advise Phillips not be 知らせるd."

"I'll try it some time," 発言／述べるd Doctor Perdue.

There was a silence of two or three minutes. The Thinking Machine was idly twirling his watch in his slender fingers; Mr. Phillips sat 星／主役にするing at the bell, but there was no longer fright in his manner; it seemed rather curiosity.

"In just three minutes," said The Thinking Machine at last. A pause. "Now, two!" Again a pause. "Now, one! Be perfectly 静める and listen!" Another pause, then suddenly: "Now!"

"にわか景気!" rang the bell, as if echoing the word. にもかかわらず himself, Mr. Phillips started a little, and the scientist's fingers の近くにd on his pulse. "にわか景気!" again （機の）カム the 公式文書，認める. The bell hung motionless; the musical clangor seemed to roll out methodically, rhythmically. Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine! Ten!

When the last 公式文書，認める sounded, The Thinking Machine was 星／主役にするing into Mr. Phillips' 直面する, 捜し出すing understanding. He 設立する only bewilderment, and with quick impatience 選ぶd up the violin and 屈服する.

"Here!" he exclaimed curtly. "Watch the シャンペン酒 glass."

He tapped the 壊れやすい glass, and it sang shrilly. Then, on the violin, he sought the …を伴ってing chord. Four times he drew the 屈服する across the strings, and the glass was silent. Then the violin caught the pitch and the glass, three or four feet away, sang with it. Louder and louder the violin 公式文書，認める grew, then suddenly, with a 衝突，墜落, the thin receptacle 崩壊（する）d, 粉々にするd, 宙返り／暴落するd to pieces before their 注目する，もくろむs. Mr. Phillips 星／主役にするd in the 最大の astonishment.

"A little demonstration in natural philosophy," explained The Thinking Machine. "In other words, vibration. Vibration sounded the glass, just as vibration sounded the bell on the gong there. You saw me sound the glass; the 公式文書，認める which sounds the bell is a clock on a direct line half a mile away 予定 east."

Mr. Phillips 星／主役にするd first at the 粉々にするd glass, then at the scientist. After a moment he understood, and an inexpressible feeling of 救済 swept over him.

"But the bell didn't always sound when the window was open," 反対するd Doctor Perdue, after a moment.

"The bell can only sound when this window and both hall windows on the second 床に打ち倒す across the way are open--on warm nights, for instance," replied The Thinking Machine. "Then, too, the 勝利，勝つd must be from the east, or else there must be 非，不，無. A gust of 空気／公表する, a person passing through the hall, any one of a dozen things would interrupt the 極度の慎重さを要する sound-waves and 妨げる all 一打／打撃s of the clock reaching the bell here, while some of them might. Of course, any bell on the gong may be sounded with a violin, or, if they are true 公式文書，認めるs, with a piano, and I knew this at first. But Mr. Phillips had once heard the bell long after midnight--say two o'clock in the morning. Pianos and violins are not going so late, except perhaps at a ball. There was no ball across the street that night; therefore we （機の）カム to the obvious 残りの人，物--a clock. It is 明白な from the 後部 window of the second-床に打ち倒す hall over there. It's all logic, logic!"

There was a pause. Doctor Perdue, looking into the 直面する of his 患者, was 安心させるd by what he saw there, and something of his own professional jocundity 主張するd itself.

"Instead of 存在 a thing to make you nervous, Phillips," he said at last with a smile, "it seems to me that the bell is an excellent and reliable timepiece."

Mr. Phillips ちらりと見ることd at him quickly and the drawn, white 直面する was relieved by a slight smile. After a while Hatch returned and for some time the little party sat in the room talking over the 事件／事情／状勢. Their conversation was interrupted at last by the clangor of the bell, and every person 現在の rose and 星／主役にするd at it もう一度 with the exception of The Thinking Machine. His squint 注目する，もくろむs were still turned 上向き--he didn't even alter his position. There were eleven 一打／打撃s of the bell, then silence.

"Eleven o'clock," 発言／述べるd The Thinking Machine placidly. "You left the windows open over there, Mr. Hatch."

Hatch nodded.

Mr. Phillips was in bed sleeping when Doctor Perdue and The Thinking Machine, …を伴ってd by Hatch, went away.

"Suppose we 減少（する） in at my place and look at that letter?" 示唆するd the doctor.

The Thinking Machine, in Doctor Perdue's office, took the 調印（する）d packet from the reporter and opened it. Doctor Perdue was peering over his shoulder. The scientist squinted 負かす／撃墜する the page with inscrutable 直面する, then crumpled up the letter, struck a match and 点火（する）d it.

"But--but--" 抗議するd Doctor Perdue quickly, and Hatch saw that some strange pallor suddenly overspread his 直面する, "it said that--that eleven 一打／打撃s meant--meant--"

"You're a fool, Perdue!" snapped The Thinking Machine, and he glared straight into the 内科医's 注目する，もくろむs. "Didn't I show why and how the bell rang? Do you 推定する／予想する me to account for every 野蛮な superstition of a half-civilized race regarding the bell."

The paper 燃やすd, and The Thinking Machine crumpled up the ashes and dropped them in a waste-basket.

Two days later Franklin Phillips was himself again; on the fourth day he appeared at his office. On the sixth the market began to feel the master's clutch; on the eighth Francis was taken into 保護／拘留 and 関係のある a story 同一の with that told by The Thinking Machine to account for his 見えなくなる; on the eleventh Franklin Phillips was 設立する dead in bed. On his forehead was a pallid, white 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, faintly 明白な. It was a circle with three dots inside and three rays 延長するing out from it.

THE END

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