He stepped through it and found that he was back on the McClane grounds again. There were more woods on this side of the wall, the opening was right at the edge of them. On one hand, what were probably the kitchen gardens stretched up toward the high iron fence that bordered the McClane estate; beyond them he could see the house itself. On the other side, the woods stretched away in the direction of the lake, better tended than those on the other side of the wall, but still dark and thick and mysterious. The footprints led into them.

杰克站了一会儿，决定下一步该做什么。他能看到通向街道的大门在菜园那边；此刻它看起来非常诱人。但是那些脚印可能通向任何地方，甚至可能解释那个无人的坟墓。

Jake stood a moment, deciding what to do next. He could see the gate that led to the street up there beyond the kitchen gardens; right now it looked wonderfully inviting. But those footprints might lead to almost anything, even an explanation of the unoccupied grave.

毫无预兆地，就在他站在那里的时候，一声枪响响起；他听到一颗子弹轻轻地打在他附近的雪地上的声音。他本能地扑倒在地，小心翼翼地环顾四周。

Without warning, while he stood there, the sound of a shot rang out; he heard the soft plop of a bullet in the snow near him. Instinctively he threw himself on his face and looked cautiously around.

小主，

子弹是从那些脚印通向的树林方向射来的。

The bullet had e from the direction of the woods into which those footprints led.

杰克在雪地里躺了一分钟，仔细考虑着。可能是有人在打鸟、松鼠、兔子或者任何可能栖息在枫树公园的动物。很可能是莫娜?麦克莱恩的管理员。

Jake lay there in the snow for a minute, thinking it over. Someone shooting at birds, or squirrels, or rabbits, or whatever kind of fauna might inhabit Maple Park. Mona McClane’s caretaker, most likely.

他开始非常缓慢、小心翼翼地站起来。

He began to get up very slowly and cautiously.

他刚站起来一半，就又听到一声枪响。这一次，子弹从他耳边飞过时发出一阵令人不快的尖啸声。杰克隐约觉得，在他向墙的缺口跑去时，他可能已经超过并跑在了子弹前面。

He was halfway to his feet when he heard another shot. This time the bullet made an unpleasant singing noise as it passed his ear. Jake had a vague notion that he had probably overtaken and passed the bullet as he ran for the opening in the wall.

兔子，见鬼去吧！

Rabbits, hell!

有人在向他开枪，而且是个枪法非常好的人。当然是为了把他吓跑。不，不是为了把他吓跑！当他穿过墙的缺口，沿着小路往回跑时，又响了一枪。

Someone was shooting at him, and someone who was a damned good shot. To scare him away, of course. No, not to scare him away! There was another shot as he dived through the opening in the wall and raced back along the path.

杰克从没想到一个人能这么快地穿过一片林地。在小路的分岔口，他喘了口气。他有一种不舒服的预感，那个向他开枪的人已经追了上来。那样的话，树林外那一大片洁白的草坪会让他成为即使是枪法很差的人的完美目标。

Jake had never had any idea a human being could get through a patch of woodland so fast. At the dividing point of the path he caught his breath. He had an unfortable premonition that whoever had fired at him had taken up the trail. In that case, that broad expanse of pure white lawn beyond the woods would make him a perfect target for even a poor shot.

他继续逃跑，沿着小路朝那个敞开的坟墓的方向跑去。等他跑到尽头该怎么办，以后再决定。现在他只关心尽快远离枪声的来源。

He continued his flight, following the path in the direction of the open grave. What he would do when he got to the end of it would be decided on later. He was concerned now only with getting far away from the source of those shots as fast as possible.

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他在树林中飞奔，一边跑一边把树枝和树杈推到一边。当他跑到环绕着敞开的坟墓的灌木丛时，他一头扎进那个缺口，直到跑到一半时才意识到空地上有人。

He raced on through the woods, shoving twigs and branches aside as he passed. As he reached the ring of bushes surrounding the open grave, he dived into the opening, realizing only when he was halfway through that someone was in the clearing.

上气不接下气地，他聚集起全身的力气，朝着空地上的身影猛扑过去，盲目地希望在另一枪打响之前把对方扑倒在地。一瞬间，他想到他那神秘的敌人是从另一条路到达这片空地的。

Breathless and panting, he gathered all his strength for a flying tackle at the figure in the clearing, with a blind hope of bringing it to earth before another shot could be fired. In one flash it had occurred to him that his mysterious enemy had reached the clearing by another route.

雪地上展开了一场短暂而疯狂的扭打。突然，杰克觉得自己在往下掉。在往下掉的时候，他盲目地抓住了袭击他的人，翻滚着、跌落着、碰撞着，掉进了那个空坟墓的深处。

There was a brief, frantic struggle in the snow. Suddenly Jake felt himself falling. Blindly he clutched his assailant as he fell, rolling, tumbling, crashing, down into the depths of the empty grave.

有那么一会儿，两人都一动不动。然后，杰克伸手拂去眼睛上的雪，大声说道：“你要是敢动，我就勒死你。”

For a moment both were still. Then Jake reached to brush the snow from his eyes and said loudly, “If you move, I’ll strangle you.”

“我不动。” 一个细小的声音说道。

“I won’t move,” said a small voice.

杰克在迈克尔?文宁的坟墓里笔直地坐了起来，忘记了树林里可能还有人在向他开枪，难以置信地盯着海伦?布兰德?贾斯特那双蓝色的大眼睛。

Jake sat bolt upright in Michael Venning’s grave, forgetting that someone out there in the woods might still be shooting at him, and stared incredulously into the wide blue eyes of Helene Brand Justus.