“Hello, girlie,” Jimmy called out pleasantly, “what’s the matter?”
“Don’t you dare girlie me, Mr. James T. Martin,” retorted Lolita in a voice that she was palpably trying, with a great effort, to keep at an even and menacing tone. “Don’t you dare to speak to me again. I came in to tell you that and to let you know that even if I do come from Cedar7 Rapids I can’t be fooled by any New York—by any New York—bunco man.”
Her voice broke on the last word and tears came into her eyes despite the struggle she was making to hold herself in hand. Jimmy came toward her, but she waved him off hysterically8. McClintock watched the proceedings9 in amazement10.
“What’s the idea, Lolita?”, began the press agent beseechingly11. “I don’t get you. I don’t understand.”
“Don’t try to tell me that,” ran on Lolita, who was now half sobbing13. “Don’t try to tell me that you didn’t turn me down when that English girl came into the park with all those society people and that you didn’t get together with that Wilkins fellow to have me left there so you could get a better story out of it with her. You fixed14 it all up and you can’t tell me that you didn’t because I just know, that’s all. I had a sweater on under my dress so’s I wouldn’t catch cold, and I had milk chocolate in my pocket and I’d written home to mother about it’s going to happen and telling her not to worry about anything she might read in the papers the first day, and now nothing’s happened at all to me and I’ve been made a fool of and it’s all your fault if you ever try to come near me again or speak to me I’ll slap your face, Mr. James T. Martin, I’ll slap your face. Do you hear me, Mr. James T. Martin?—I’ll slap your fresh little face.”
She was gone before Jimmy could remonstrate15. The door closed behind her with a more reverberating16 bang than the one which had heralded17 her entrance. Jimmy dropped into the nearest chair and gazed vacantly into space. McClintock shook him roughly by the shoulder.
“Say,” he shouted. “What in hell is this all about?”
“She handed me the mitt18, Mac—she’s handed me the mitt, and she wouldn’t even let me explain,” responded Jimmy brokenly. “It’s the real heart-throb stuff this time, Mac, the real heart-throb stuff. I had everything framed up for her and this English jane just drops in like a joker runnin’ wild and wins the hand.”
“You had what framed?”
“Why—this drifting out to sea stunt,” replied Jimmy in a dead voice.
“This drifting out to sea—you don’t—you can’t mean that this thing is a plant,” gasped19 the manager incredulously.
“Of course it is,” returned the press agent with something of the old note of self-assertiveness in his voice. “I had it all fixed up for Lolita, and now this society dame20 is goin’ to get away with all the head-lines. When I saw Wilkins pull her into the car I didn’t think he’d go all the way through, but it looks as if he’s decided21 to. There’s no use in worryin’ about it. Every little thing is comin’ out all right—and say—don’t forget to remember that it’s goin’ to be some story now—some story.”
“Just let me get this big idea through my head,” persisted McClintock. “What happens next?”
“Of course his motor hasn’t really gone dead,” replied Jimmy. “He’s just ordered his engineer to shut it off so they can drift with the wind. That was all framed up between us. He’ll probably turn on the gas again and cruise around out of sight of land for a couple of hours and shut off his engine every time he sees a ship comin’ in sight. That’ll be an alibi22 for the story. When the little old sun starts to sink in the west he’ll turn that gas bag towards the Jersey23 coast and he’ll make a landing just before dark at a place we picked out yesterday morning. He’s going to lay under cover there, and we’ll keep the country guessin’ all day tomorrow.”
“But someone will see him land,” criticized the manager.
“I don’t think there’s a chance of that,” replied Jimmy jauntily24. “We picked out a spot that’s as lonesome lookin’ as an iceberg25. There isn’t a house within two miles, and there’s nothin’ but marsh-land all around. There’s one little place right in the center that’s high and dry. That’s where he lands. Wilkins has got his car planted a couple of miles away and his chauffeur26 is goin’ to be right on the job in a row-boat—you see there’s a little creek27 that runs through the swamp—and the girl is goin’ to be taken away in the boat and slipped away to a hotel—that is, Lolita was goin’ to be slipped away and was goin’ to keep dark until she got the signal to appear again. Maybe this society queen’ll be game enough to go through with it just for the fun of the thing.”
“We were goin’ to keep the agony up until tomorrow night at the earliest and maybe until the day after tomorrow. Then Wilkins was goin’ to telephone that he’d just landed after bein’ tossed about in the air and all that, and Lolita was goin’ to have a nervous collapse28 and be interviewed in bed by a flock of reporters with a couple of trained nurses and three doctors hoverin’ around in the offing. You can fill in the other details yourself. Anyhow, it’s a grand little notion for a story even if this Betty Ashley person doesn’t come through. We’ll know about that tonight.”
“How so?”
“Why, the chauffeur has instructions to telephone me the minute he gets to the hotel. That ought to be not later than nine-thirty.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all about this beforehand?”
Jimmy smiled a bit guiltily before replying.
“I had a hunch29 that maybe you’d put the kibosh on the whole scheme because I was featurin’ a certain party too much,” he responded. He grew serious again for a minute and a far-away look crept into his eyes. “Say, Mac,” he went on, “I had a number that called for the grand prize, and I’ve lost the ticket. It’s rotten luck. From the way she spoke30 a few minutes ago I’ll bet I don’t ever get out again, not even on probation31.”
“That’s be all right,” consoled McClintock. “I’ll fix that part of it for you. It’s a great story even if the Hon. Betty Ashley doesn’t go through and if she does—why, if she does, it’ll be the biggest thing ever pulled off in this country. Think of that for a little while.”
The Associated Press and the metropolitan newspapers were inclined to be a bit skeptical32 of the facts which Jimmy telephoned them at the outset, but outside confirmation33 was forthcoming promptly34 and within two hours after Major Bobby Wilkins and Hon. Betty Ashley had disappeared in the general direction of the open sea the story was the sensation of the summer in journalistic circles.
A squad35 of picked feature writers invaded Jollyland in quest of detailed36 particulars concerning the events leading up to the beginning of the ill-fated balloon trip; seven sob12 sisters motored to the palatial37 home at which the Hon. Betty was a house guest and interviewed a weeping and distraught maiden38 aunt of that lady who had been acting39 as a submissive chaperone, and who was certain that when “dear Ned, her father, hears the news he’ll froth at the mouth and have a stroke;” cables were frantically40 dispatched to London instructing correspondents to break the news to “dear Ned” and watch the results; city editors pawed over assortments41 of photographs of the beautiful heroine and conferred with art department heads as to the most suitable ones to use for decorative42 lay-outs; dozens of “leg-men” were sent out to points along the Jersey and Long Island coasts with directions to watch for any possible news of the return of the balloon and to keep on the lookout43 for any pleasure yacht owner who might have seen the dirigible after she passed out of sight of land; the Washington offices were instructed to post a man in the navy department all night long to watch for any wireless44 news which might come flashing back from the torpedo45 boat destroyers which, at the urgent solicitation46 of the British ambassador, were to be sent out to scour47 the sea in search of the missing airship, and it was unanimously decided at editorial councils in every office to let the story “lead” the paper the following morning unless some great unforeseen national or international calamity48 transpired49 in the meantime.
Jimmy Martin became the focus point of more importunate50 newsgatherers than he had ever fancied, in his wildest dreams, would assail51 him for information and when a delegation52 of correspondents from a half dozen London papers looked in on him at eight o’clock and told him that they had been instructed to rush as much stuff as the cables would carry he almost passed into a trance.
“Mac,” he confided53 to the manager when the English correspondents had gone, “I feel like the fellow who looked at the giraffe and said ‘there ain’t no such animal.’ There ain’t no such story. It’s a dream.”
“Well, I’ve left instructions that we’re not to be called,” returned McClintock. “Let’s dream a little more.”
In the star dressing54 room on the big stage of the open air auditorium55 Lolita Murphy was getting ready for the evening performance of “Secret Service Sallie,” and was making a brave effort to control herself. She was as forgotten as yesterday’s newspaper and the realization56 of it sent great tears of bitter disappointment coursing down her rouged57 cheeks into the make-up box on the little table in front of which she sat.
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1
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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ingenuousness
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| n.率直；正直；老实 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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beseechingly
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| adv. 恳求地 | |
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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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14
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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17
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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18
mitt
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| n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手 | |
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19
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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29
hunch
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| n.预感，直觉 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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31
probation
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| n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期) | |
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skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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palatial
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| adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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40
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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41
assortments
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| 分类，各类物品或同类各种物品的聚集，混合物( assortment的名词复数 ) | |
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42
decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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43
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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44
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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45
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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46
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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47
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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48
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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49
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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50
importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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51
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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52
delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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53
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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54
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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55
auditorium
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| n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂 | |
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56
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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57
rouged
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| 胭脂，口红( rouge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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