roblemoftheStolenRubens
雅克·福特雷尔 / JacquesFutrelle
雅克·福特雷尔（JacquesFutrelle，1875—1912），美国推理小说家。在他的推理短篇小说中，最著名的是《思想机器》。 脍炙人口的侦探小说为他在侦探小说界赢得了较高的声誉。
MatthewKalemadefiftymilliondollarsoutofaxlegrease， ： hehadthemoney， ， moreorless， inthehugegalleryofhismarblemansionwhichweretobecovered， soheboughtfivethousandsquareyards， moreorless， ， someofitfair， ， whichhehadpickedupinRomeforfiftythousanddollars.
Soonafteracquiringhiscollection， ， equallyvast， .
， ， quick， andagile， andhetoldKaleinconfidencethathewasnotonlyapainterhimself， ， KalewenttoagooddealoftroubletoexhibithisprivatecollectionfordeLesseps' ， andthetrueartist' sdelightshoneintheFrenchman' ， butitwasaninoffensivesortofsmile.
WithhisownhandsKaleliftedthepreciousRubensandhelditbeforetheFrenchman' "MadonnaandChild， " .
"Why， it' saRubens！" heexclaimed.
"Yes， Isee， " replieddeLesseps.
"Itcostmefiftythousanddollars."
"Itisperhapsworthmorethanthat， " andtheFrenchmanshruggedhisshouldersasheturnedaway.
， andthatRubenswasapainter？ ； therefore，
"Don' tyoulikeit？ " heasked.
"Verymuchindeed， " replieddeLesseps； "."
Theyrummagedonthroughthepictures， ， ' faceradiatedexcitement， andseveraltimesheglancedfromthewatercolortotheRubensasifmentallycomparingtheexquisitelypenciledandcoloredmodernworkwiththebold， masterlytechnicoftheold.
Kalemisunderstoodthesilence."Idon' tthinkmuchofthisonemyself， " heexplainedapologetically."It' saWhistler， andallthat， anditcostmefivethousanddollars， andIsortofhadtohaveit， butstillitisn' ？ "
"Ithinkitisperfectlywonderful！" repliedtheFrenchmanenthusiastically."Itistheessence， thesuperlative， ， " andheturnedtofaceKale， "formetomakeacopyofthat？ Ihavesomeslightskillinpaintingmyself， anddaresayIcouldmakeafairlycreditablecopyofit."
."Why， certainly， " hereplied."Iwillhaveitsentuptothehotel， andyoucan—"
"No， no， no！" interrupteddeLessepsquickly."Iwouldn' —thisroomislargeandairyandlight， andbesidesitisquiet—"
"Justasyoulike， " saidKalemagnanimously."Imerelythoughttheotherwaywouldbemostconvenientforyou."
DeLessepsdrewnear， andlaidonehandonthemillionaire' sarm."Mydearfriend， " hesaidearnestly， "ifthesepicturesweremypictures， Ishouldn' —"
"Sixhundredandeighty-seventhousanddollars， " volunteeredKaleproudly.
"Andsurelytheymustbewellprotectedhereinyourhouseduringyourabsence？ "
"Thereareabouttwentyservantsinthehousewhiletheworkmenaremakingthealterations， " saidKale， "andthreeofthemdon' —theothersarelockedandbarred—andthenonlywithmypermission， ， sir， nobodycangetawaywithanythinginthisroom."
