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Now, I must ask you if anything similar has happened to you.'
哦，我必须问一下在你身上是不是也发生了类似的事情。”
Dunning told him what had happened in the British Museum.
邓宁把大英博物馆里发生的事情告诉了他。
'So Karswell did actually pass you some papers?'said Harrington.'Have you checked them? No? Well, I think we should do so at once, if you agree.'
“这么说卡斯韦尔真给了你一些什么材料？”哈林顿说：“你看了吗？没有？噢，如果你同意的活，我想我们应该马上看一看。”
They went round to Dunning's empty house where his papers were lying on the table. As he picked them up, a thin piece of paper fell to the ground. A sudden wind blew it to-wards the open window, but Harrington closed the window just in time to stop the paper escaping. He caught the paper in his hand.
他们到了邓宁空落落的家，他的材料就放在桌子上。他拿起来，这时一张薄纸掉在地上。突然一阵风把它刮向开着的窗户，这时哈林顿及时关上窗户使那张纸没有跑掉。他一把把它抓在手里。
'I thought so,' he said.'It looks just like the one my brother was given. I think you're in great danger, Dunning.'
“如我所料，”他说，“这张纸很像我哥哥收到的那张。邓宁，我觉得你的处境很危险。”
The two men discussed the problem for a long time. The paper was covered in Runic letters which they could not under-stand, but both men felt certain that the message, whatever it was, could bring unknown horrors to its owner. They agreed that the paper must be returned to Karswell, and that the only safe and sure way was to give it to him in person and see that he accepted it. This would be difficult since Karswell knew what Dunning looked like.
两个人就此事商谈了很长时间。那张纸满篇都是他们看不懂的如尼字母，可两个人很明白，不管是什么内容，它都会给其主人带来不知什么样的可怕事情。他们俩都觉得一定得把这张纸还给卡斯韦尔，唯一安全保险的办法就是亲自把它交给他，让他确实接受下来。因为卡斯韦尔知道邓宁的长相，所以这样做是很困难的。
'I can grow a beard,' said Dunning, 'so that he won't recognize me. But who knows when the end will come?'
“我可以蓄胡须，”邓宁说，“这样他就不会认出我来了，可谁知道我的末日什么时候来临呢？”
'I think I know,'said Harrington.'The concert where my brother was given the paper was on June 18th, and he died on September 18th, three months later.'
“我想我知道，”哈林顿说，“在音乐会上我哥哥拿到那张纸的日子是6月18日，而他死在9月18日，相隔三个月。”
