04-01-02-不平静的坟墓 [24]
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'That's very strange，'said Parkins．'I remember that I locked my door when I went out this morning and the key is still in my pocket．'
They went upstairs，found that the door of the room was still locked，unlocked it，and went in．
'Well，everything seems perfectly all right，'said Parkins， looking around．
'Except your bed，'said the Colonel．
'That's not my bed，'said Parkins．'But it certainly looks very untidy．The sheets and blankets were thrown about all over the bed．Parkins thought for a while．'Ah，'he said，'I disarranged it when I was unpacking．Perhaps the girl came in to make the bed，the boy saw her at the window，and then she was called away before she could finish it．'
'Well，ring the bell and ask her，'said the Colonel．
When the girl came，she explained that she had made the bed in the morning and that no one had been in the room since the Professor had left．Mr Simpson，the manager，had the only other key．Mr Simpson then came up and said that he had not been in the room himself，and had not given the key to anyone else．Parkins checked the room carefully；nothing was missing and his books and papers were as he had left them． The girl made the bed again and the two men went down to have their tea．
That evening， Colonel Wilson was unusually quiet and thoughtful during dinner and cards and，as they were going up to their rooms， he said to Parkins：
'You know where I am if you need me during the night．'
'Thank you，Colonel，but I don't expect to call on you，'replied Parkins．'Oh，I have that whistle I told you about． Would you like to see it？'
The Colonel turned the whistle over in his hands，looking at it carefully．
'What are you going to do with it？' he asked．
'I'll show it to the people at Cambridge when I get back and probably give it to the museum，if it's any good．'
'If it were mine，'said the Colonel，'I'd throw it into the sea right now．But，of course， you and I don't think the same way about these things．Good night．'
And he went off to his room．
There were no curtains at the windows in the Professor's room．The previous night it had not mattered， but tonight there was a bright moon in a cloudless sky．Parkins was afraid that the moonlight might wake him up in the middle of the night，so he arranged a blanket，held up with a stick and his umbrella，which would stop the moonlight shining on to his bed．Soon he was comfortably in bed where he read a book for a while．Then he blew out his candle and went to sleep．
An hour or so later he was suddenly woken by a loud crash． In a moment he realized that the blanket had fallen down and a bright moon was shining on his bed．Should he get up and put the blanket up again，or could he manage to sleep if he did not？He lay in bed for several minutes trying to decide what to do．
All at once he turned over in bed，eyes wide open，listening hard．There had been a movement in the other bed！Was it a rat？The sound came again，something moving in the blankets and making the bed shake．No rat could make a noise like that，surely！
Suddenly his heart nearly stopped beating as a figure sat up in the empty bed．Parkins jumped out of his own bed and ran towards the window to get his stick．As he did so，the thing in the other bed slid to the floor and stood， with arms stretched out，between Parkins and the door．
Parkins stared at the creature in horror．He could not reach the door without touching it as he passed，and the thought of that touch made him feel sick．
Now it began to move，bending low and feeling its way with arms that were hidden in its flowing garment．Parkins realized with horror that it could not see．It turned away from him and，in doing so，touched the bed he had just left． It bent its head low and felt all over the bed in a way that made Parkins tremble with fear．
Realizing that the bed was empty，the creature moved for－ ward into the moonlight which shone in through the window． For the first time Parkins saw it clearly， but the only thing he could remember later was a horrible， a sickeningly horrible， face of crumpled cloth．The expression on that face he could not or would not describe
'That's very strange，'said Parkins．'I remember that I locked my door when I went out this morning and the key is still in my pocket．'
They went upstairs，found that the door of the room was still locked，unlocked it，and went in．
'Well，everything seems perfectly all right，'said Parkins， looking around．
'Except your bed，'said the Colonel．
'That's not my bed，'said Parkins．'But it certainly looks very untidy．The sheets and blankets were thrown about all over the bed．Parkins thought for a while．'Ah，'he said，'I disarranged it when I was unpacking．Perhaps the girl came in to make the bed，the boy saw her at the window，and then she was called away before she could finish it．'
'Well，ring the bell and ask her，'said the Colonel．
When the girl came，she explained that she had made the bed in the morning and that no one had been in the room since the Professor had left．Mr Simpson，the manager，had the only other key．Mr Simpson then came up and said that he had not been in the room himself，and had not given the key to anyone else．Parkins checked the room carefully；nothing was missing and his books and papers were as he had left them． The girl made the bed again and the two men went down to have their tea．
That evening， Colonel Wilson was unusually quiet and thoughtful during dinner and cards and，as they were going up to their rooms， he said to Parkins：
'You know where I am if you need me during the night．'
'Thank you，Colonel，but I don't expect to call on you，'replied Parkins．'Oh，I have that whistle I told you about． Would you like to see it？'
The Colonel turned the whistle over in his hands，looking at it carefully．
'What are you going to do with it？' he asked．
'I'll show it to the people at Cambridge when I get back and probably give it to the museum，if it's any good．'
'If it were mine，'said the Colonel，'I'd throw it into the sea right now．But，of course， you and I don't think the same way about these things．Good night．'
And he went off to his room．
There were no curtains at the windows in the Professor's room．The previous night it had not mattered， but tonight there was a bright moon in a cloudless sky．Parkins was afraid that the moonlight might wake him up in the middle of the night，so he arranged a blanket，held up with a stick and his umbrella，which would stop the moonlight shining on to his bed．Soon he was comfortably in bed where he read a book for a while．Then he blew out his candle and went to sleep．
An hour or so later he was suddenly woken by a loud crash． In a moment he realized that the blanket had fallen down and a bright moon was shining on his bed．Should he get up and put the blanket up again，or could he manage to sleep if he did not？He lay in bed for several minutes trying to decide what to do．
All at once he turned over in bed，eyes wide open，listening hard．There had been a movement in the other bed！Was it a rat？The sound came again，something moving in the blankets and making the bed shake．No rat could make a noise like that，surely！
Suddenly his heart nearly stopped beating as a figure sat up in the empty bed．Parkins jumped out of his own bed and ran towards the window to get his stick．As he did so，the thing in the other bed slid to the floor and stood， with arms stretched out，between Parkins and the door．
Parkins stared at the creature in horror．He could not reach the door without touching it as he passed，and the thought of that touch made him feel sick．
Now it began to move，bending low and feeling its way with arms that were hidden in its flowing garment．Parkins realized with horror that it could not see．It turned away from him and，in doing so，touched the bed he had just left． It bent its head low and felt all over the bed in a way that made Parkins tremble with fear．
Realizing that the bed was empty，the creature moved for－ ward into the moonlight which shone in through the window． For the first time Parkins saw it clearly， but the only thing he could remember later was a horrible， a sickeningly horrible， face of crumpled cloth．The expression on that face he could not or would not describe