Even so, Clement had still thirty miles to cover. But the postboy, a sportsman with his heart in the game, had ridden in, waving his whip and shouting for horses, and his good word spread like magic. Two minutes let the yard know that here was a golden customer, an out-and-outer, and almost before Clement could swallow a cup of scalding coffee and pocket a hot roll he had wrung4 the farmer's hand, fee'd old Sam to his heart's content, and was away again, on the ten-mile downhill stage to St. Albans. They cantered most of the way, the postboy's whip in the air and the chaise running after the horses, and did the distance triumphantly5 in forty-three minutes. Then on, with the reputation of a good paymaster, to Barnet--Barnet, that seemed to be almost as good as London.
Luck could not have stood by him better, and, now the sun shone, they raced with taxed-carts, and flashed by sober clergymen jogging along on their hacks6. The midnight shifts to which he had been put, the despairing struggle about Meriden and Dunchurch, were a dream. He was in the fairway now, though the pace was not so good, and the hills, with windmills atop, seemed to be set on the road at intervals7 on purpose to delay him. Still he was near the end of his journey, and he began to consider all the alternatives to success, all the various ways in which he might yet fail. He might miss Bourdillon; he began to be sure that he would miss him. Either he would be at the India Office when Bourdillon was at the brokers8', or at brokers' when he was at the India Office; and, failing the India Office or the brokers', he had no clue to him. Or his quarry9 would have left town already, with the treasure in his possession. Or they might pass one another in the streets, or even on the road. He would be too late and he would fail, after all his exertions10! He began to feel sure of it.
Yes, he had certainly been a fool not to think at starting of the hundred chances, the scores of accidents that might occur to prevent their meeting. And every minute that he spent on the road made things worse. He had had yonder windmill in sight this half-hour--and it seemed no nearer. He fidgeted to and fro, lowered a window and raised it again, scolded the postboy, flung himself back in the chaise.
At the Green Man at Barnet he got sulkily into his last chaise, and they pounded down five miles of a gentle slope, then drove stoutly11 up the easy ascent12 to Highgate. By this time the notion that Bourdillon would pass him unseen had got such hold upon him--though it was the unlikeliest thing in the world that Arthur could have got through his business so early--that his eyes raked every chaise they met, and a crowded coach by which they sped, as it crawled up the southern side of the hill, filled him with the darkest apprehensions13. Had he given a moment's thought to the state of the market, to the pressure of business which it must cause, and to the crowd, greedy for transfers, in which Arthur must take his turn, he would have seen that this fear was groundless.
However, the true state of things was by and by brought home to his mind. He had directed the postboy to take him direct to the brokers' in the City, and he had hardly exchanged the pleasant country roads of Highbury and Islington, with their villas14 and cow-farms, for the noisy, dirty thoroughfares of north London, before he was struck by the evidences of excitement that met his eyes. Lads, shouting raucously15, ran about the busier streets, selling broadsheets, which were fought for and bought up with greedy haste. A stream of walkers, with their faces set one way, hastened along almost as fast as his post-chaise. Busy groups stood at the street corners, debating and gesticulating. As he advanced still farther, and crossed the boundary and began to thread the narrow streets of the City--it wanted a half hour of noon--he found himself hampered16 and almost stopped by the crowd which thronged18 the roadway, and seemed in its preoccupation to be insensible to the obstacles that barred its way and into which it cannoned19 at every stride. And still, with each yard that he advanced, the press increased. The signs of ferment20 became more evident. Distracted men, hatless and red-hot with haste, regardless of everything but the errand on which they were bent21, sprang from offices, hurled22 themselves through the press, leaped on their fellows' backs, tore on their way; while those whom they had maltreated did not even look round, but continued their talk, unaware23 of the outrage24. Some pushed through the press, so deep in thought that they saw no one and might have walked a country lane, while others, meeting as by appointment, seized one another, shook one another, bawled25 in each other's faces as if both had become suddenly deaf. And now and again the whole tormented26 mass, seething27 in the narrow lanes or narrower alleys28, swayed this way or that under the impulse of some unknown mysterious impulse, some warning, some call to action.
Clement had never seen anything like it, and he viewed it with awe29, his ears deafened30 by the babel or pierced by the shrill31 cries of the news-sellers who constantly bawled, "Panic! Great panic in the City! Panic! List of banks closed!" He had heard as he changed at Barnet that fourteen houses in the City had shut their doors, but he had not appreciated the fact. Now he was to see with his own eyes shuttered windows and barred doors with great printed bills affixed32 to them, and huge crowds at gaze before them, groaning33 and hooting34. Even the shops bore singular and striking witness to the crisis, for in Cheapside every other window exhibited a card stating that they would accept bank-notes to any extent and for goods to any amount--a courageous35 attempt to restore public confidence which deserved more success than it won; while there, and on all sides, he heard men execrating36 the Bank of England and loudly proclaiming--though this was not the fact--that it had published a notice that it could no longer pay cash.
Here was panic indeed! Here was an appalling37 state of things! And very low his heart sank, as the chaise made a few yards, stopped, and advanced again. What chance had Ovington's, what hope of survival had their little venture, when the very credit of the country tottered38, and here in the heart of London age-long institutions with vast deposits and forty or fifty branches toppled down on all sides? When merchant princes with tens of thousands in sound but unsaleable securities could do nothing to save themselves, and men of world-wide fame, the giants of finance, went humbly39, hat in hand, to ask for time?
Stranded40, or moving at a snail's pace, he caught scraps41 of the talk about him. Smith's in Mansion42 House Street had closed its doors. Everett and Walker's had followed Pole's into bankruptcy43. Wentworth's at York had failed for two hundred thousand pounds. Telford's at Plymouth had been sacked by an angry mob. The strongest bank in Norwich was going or gone. The Bank of England had paid out eight millions in gold within the week--and had no more. They were paying in one-pound notes now, a set found God knows where--in the cellars, it was said. The tellers44 were so benumbed with terror that they could not separate them or count them.
For the moment he forgot Arthur and Arthur's business, and thought only of his father and of their own plight45. "We are gone!" he reflected, his face almost as pale as the faces in the street. "We are ruined! There is no hope. When this reaches Aldersbury we must close!" He could no longer bear the inaction. He could not sit still. He paid off the chaise--with difficulty, owing to the press--and pushed forward on foot. But his mind still ran on Aldersbury, was still busy with the fate of their own bank. He felt an immense pity for his father, and recognized that until this moment, when panic in its most dreadful form stared him in the face, he had not realized the catastrophe46, or the sadness, or the finality of it. They must close. They must begin the world again, begin it at the bottom, in competition with a multitude of beggared men, three-fourths of whom had never speculated, never touched a share, never left the safe path of industrious47 commerce, but were now to pay with all they possessed48 in the world, their daughters' portions and their sons' fortunes, for the recklessness or the extravagance of others.
For a space there was vouchsafed49 to him the wider vision, and he saw the thing that was passing in its true light. He saw the wave of ruin spread from these crowded streets ever farther and farther, from city to town and town to country; and where it passed it wrecked50 homes, it made widows, it swept away the dowries of children, it separated lovers, it overwhelmed the happiness of thousands and tens of thousands. He saw the honest trader, whose father's good name was his glory, broken in heart and fortune through the failure of others, his health shattered, his house sold over his head, his pensioners51 and dependants52 flung into the workhouse. He saw deluded53 parsons doomed54 to spend the close of their lives in a hopeless wrestle55 with debt, their sons taken from school, their daughters sent out into a cold and unfeeling world. He saw squires56, the little gods of their domain57, men once wealthy, doomed to drink themselves into forgetfulness of the barred entail58 and the lost estate; the great house would be closed, the agent would squeeze the tenants59, and they in turn the laborers60, until the very village shop would feel the pinch. Thousands upon thousands would lose their hoarded61 savings62, and, too old to begin again, would sink, they and their children and their children's children, into the under-world, there to be lost amid the dregs of the population.
And he and his? Why should they escape? How could they escape? It would be much if they could feel, while they shared the common lot, that they had deserved to escape, that they were not of those whose wild speculations63 had brought this disaster on their kind.
He had by this time fought his way as far as the end of Cheapside, and here, where the roar was loudest and the contending currents mingled64 their striving masses, where the voices of the news-boys were shrillest, and the timid stood daunted65, while even strong men paused, measuring the human whirlpool into which they must plunge66, Clement's eye was caught by a side-scene which was passing in the street hard by the Mansion House. Raised above the crowd on the steps of a large building, a haggard man was making an announcement--but in dumb show, for no word could be heard even by those who stood beside him, and his meaning could be deduced only from his gestures of appeal. The lower windows of the house were shuttered, and the upper exhibited many broken panes67; but behind these and the cornice of the roof gleamed here and there a pale frightened face, peering down at the proceedings68 below. From the crowd collected before the haggard man rose a continuous roar of protest, a forest of menacing hands, shrill cries and curses, and now and again a missile, which, falling absurdly short--for in that press no man could swing his arm--still bore witness to the malice69 that urged it. Nearer to Clement on the skirts of the throng17, where they could see little and were perpetually elbowed by impatient passersby70, loitered a few who at a first glance seemed to be uninterested--so apathetic71 were their attitudes, so absent was their gaze. But a second glance disclosed the truth. They were men whom the tidings of ruin, sudden and unforeseen, had stunned72. Spiritless and despairing, seeing only the home they had forfeited73 and the dear ones they had beggared, they stood in the street, blind and deaf to what was passing about them, and only by the mute agony of their eyes betrayed the truth.
The sight wrung Clement's heart with pity, and he seized a news-lad by the arm. "What is that place?" he shouted in his ear. In that babel no man could make himself heard without shouting.
The man looked at him suspiciously. "Yar! Yer kidding!" he said. "Yer know as well as me!"
Clement shook him in his impatience74. "No, I don't," he shouted. "I'm a stranger! What is it, man? A bank?"
"Where d'yer come from?" the lad retorted, as he twisted himself free. "It's Everitt's, that's what it is! They closed an hour ago! Might as well ha' never opened!"
He went off hurriedly, and Clement went too, plunging75 into the maelstrom76 that divided him from Cornhill. But as he buffeted77 his way through the throng, the faces of the ruined men went with him, coming between him and the street, and with a sinking heart he fancied that he read, written on them, the fate of Ovington's.
点击收听单词发音
1 reassurance | |
n.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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2 clement | |
adj.仁慈的;温和的 | |
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3 nags | |
n.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的名词复数 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责v.不断地挑剔或批评(某人)( nag的第三人称单数 );不断地烦扰或伤害(某人);无休止地抱怨;不断指责 | |
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4 wrung | |
绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水) | |
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5 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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6 hacks | |
黑客 | |
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7 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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8 brokers | |
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排… | |
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9 quarry | |
n.采石场;v.采石;费力地找 | |
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10 exertions | |
n.努力( exertion的名词复数 );费力;(能力、权力等的)运用;行使 | |
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11 stoutly | |
adv.牢固地,粗壮的 | |
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12 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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13 apprehensions | |
疑惧 | |
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14 villas | |
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅 | |
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15 raucously | |
adv.粗声地;沙哑地 | |
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16 hampered | |
妨碍,束缚,限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 throng | |
n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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18 thronged | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19 cannoned | |
vi.与…猛撞(cannon的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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20 ferment | |
vt.使发酵;n./vt.(使)激动,(使)动乱 | |
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21 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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22 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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23 unaware | |
a.不知道的,未意识到的 | |
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24 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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25 bawled | |
v.大叫,大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 );放声大哭;大声叫出;叫卖(货物) | |
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26 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
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27 seething | |
沸腾的,火热的 | |
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28 alleys | |
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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29 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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30 deafened | |
使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 ); 使隔音 | |
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31 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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32 affixed | |
adj.[医]附着的,附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 );粘贴;加以;盖(印章) | |
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33 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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34 hooting | |
(使)作汽笛声响,作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 ); 倒好儿; 倒彩 | |
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35 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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36 execrating | |
v.憎恶( execrate的现在分词 );厌恶;诅咒;咒骂 | |
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37 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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38 tottered | |
v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠 | |
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39 humbly | |
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地 | |
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40 stranded | |
a.搁浅的,进退两难的 | |
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41 scraps | |
油渣 | |
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42 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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43 bankruptcy | |
n.破产;无偿付能力 | |
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44 tellers | |
n.(银行)出纳员( teller的名词复数 );(投票时的)计票员;讲故事等的人;讲述者 | |
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45 plight | |
n.困境,境况,誓约,艰难;vt.宣誓,保证,约定 | |
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46 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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47 industrious | |
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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48 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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49 vouchsafed | |
v.给予,赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 );允诺 | |
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50 wrecked | |
adj.失事的,遇难的 | |
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51 pensioners | |
n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 ) | |
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52 dependants | |
受赡养者,受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 ) | |
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53 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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55 wrestle | |
vi.摔跤,角力;搏斗;全力对付 | |
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56 squires | |
n.地主,乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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57 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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58 entail | |
vt.使承担,使成为必要,需要 | |
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59 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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60 laborers | |
n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工 | |
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61 hoarded | |
v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62 savings | |
n.存款,储蓄 | |
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63 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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64 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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65 daunted | |
使(某人)气馁,威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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67 panes | |
窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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68 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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69 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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70 passersby | |
n. 过路人(行人,经过者) | |
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71 apathetic | |
adj.冷漠的,无动于衷的 | |
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72 stunned | |
adj. 震惊的,惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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73 forfeited | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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75 plunging | |
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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76 maelstrom | |
n.大乱动;大漩涡 | |
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77 buffeted | |
反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续猛击; 打来打去; 推来搡去 | |
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