For some days after this, he was very ill, and hardly left his room except to keep the bloodstain in good condition. However, by taking great care of himself, he recovered, and made up his mind to try once more to frighten the United States Ambassador and his family. He chose Friday, 17th August, for his appearance, and spent most of that day planning and preparing. He was going to wear a large hat with a feather, a burial sheet, and to carry a rusty sword.
In the evening there was a violent storm. All the windows and doors in the house shook noisily. It was just the right weather for him. His plan was to start with Washington Otis. He was particularly angry with that young man because he knew that it was Washington who regularly used Pinkerton’s Wonder Stain Cleaner on the bloodstain. He intended to go quietly to Washington’s room, make ghost noises at him, then cut his own throat to the sound of low music. This would fill the foolish youth with terror, and the ghost would then go to the room of the Ambassador and his wife. There he would place a death-cold hand on Mrs Otis’s face while he hissed into her trembling husband’s ear the fearful secrets of the grave.
He had not quite made up his mind about little Virginia. She had never insulted him in any way, and she was pretty and gentle. Perhaps a few groans from behind the curtains, he thought. Or if that failed to wake her, a feverish movement of the blanket with a skeleton’s fingers.
\\t 此后的幾天里，他生了一場(chǎng)大病，除了保證血跡在原地出現(xiàn)，他幾乎足不出戶。不過，經(jīng)過對(duì)自己的悉心照料，他康復(fù)了，而且下定決心要再嚇嚇美國(guó)大使和他的家人。他選擇在8 月17 日星期五這一天現(xiàn)身。這一天，他花了大半天進(jìn)行策劃準(zhǔn)備。他打算戴頂插了羽毛的大帽子，套著裹尸布，再佩一把銹劍。
傍晚時(shí)分，一陣猛烈的暴風(fēng)雨來臨。房子里所有的門窗都哐當(dāng)哐當(dāng)?shù)負(fù)u晃得很厲害。這樣的天氣對(duì)他正合適。按計(jì)劃，他打算先從華盛頓奧蒂斯下手。他對(duì)這位年輕人異常惱火，因?yàn)樗�知道就是這小子一直在用平克頓神奇去污劑擦那塊血跡。他準(zhǔn)備悄悄走進(jìn)華盛頓的房間，沖著他鬼叫一通，再去割自己的喉嚨，再伴上低沉的音樂。這會(huì)把那個(gè)愚蠢的年輕人嚇得夠嗆。之后他再去大使夫婦的房間。他要將死人冰涼的手放在奧蒂斯夫人臉上，同時(shí)對(duì)著她丈夫抖抖嗦嗦的耳朵嘟囔著告訴他墳?zāi)估锏寞}人秘密。
對(duì)于小弗吉妮亞，他還沒想好要怎么處置。她又漂亮又溫柔，從未以任何形式羞辱過他。要不就躲在簾子后面呻吟幾聲吧，他想。要是那樣還不能鬧醒她的話，那就用骷髏手指猛扯她的毯子。