There is a story—Kipling, I think—that tells of a spirited horse galloping1 in the dark suddenly drawing up tense, hoofs2 bunched, slim flanks quivering, nostrils3 dilated4, ears pricked5. Urging being of no avail the rider dismounts, strikes a match, advances a cautious step or so, and finds himself at the precipitous brink6 of a newly formed crevasse7.
So it is with your trained editor. A miraculous8 sixth sense guides him. A mysterious something warns him of danger lurking9 within the seemingly innocent oblong white envelope. Without slitting10 the flap, without pausing to adjust his tortoise-rimmed glasses, without clearing his throat, without lighting11 his cigarette—he knows.
The deadly newspaper story he scents12 in the dark. Cub13 reporter. Crusty city editor. Cub fired. Stumbles on to a big story. Staggers into newspaper office wild-eyed. Last edition. "Hold the presses!" Crusty C.E. stands over cub's typewriter grabbing story line by line. Even foreman of pressroom moved to tears by tale. "Boys, this ain't just a story this kid's writin'. This is history!" Story finished. Cub faints. C.E. makes him star reporter.
The athletic14 story: "I could never marry a mollycoddle15 like you, Harold Hammond!" Big game of the year. Team crippled. Second half. Halfback hurt. Harold Hammond, scrub, into the game. Touchdown! Broken leg. Five to nothing. "Harold, can you ever, ever forgive me?"
The pseudo-psychological story: She had been sitting before the fire for a long, long time. The flame had flickered18 and died down to a smouldering ash. The sound of his departing footsteps echoed and re-echoed through her brain. But the little room was very, very still.
The shop-girl story: Torn boots and temptation, tears and snears, pathos19 and bathos, all the way from Zola to the vice20 inquiry21.
Having thus attempted to hide the deadly commonplaceness of this story with a thin layer of cynicism, perhaps even the wily editor may be tricked into taking the leap.
Four weeks before the completion of the new twelve-story addition the store advertised for two hundred experienced saleswomen. Rachel Wiletzky, entering the superintendent23's office after a wait of three hours, was Applicant24 No. 179. The superintendent did not look up as Rachel came in. He scribbled25 busily on a pad of paper at his desk, thus observing rules one and two in the proper conduct of superintendents26 when interviewing applicants27. Rachel Wiletzky, standing28 by his desk, did not cough or wriggle29 or rustle30 her skirts or sag31 on one hip32. A sense of her quiet penetrated33 the superintendent's subconsciousness34. He glanced up hurriedly over his left shoulder. Then he laid down his pencil and sat up slowly. His mind was working quickly enough though. In the twelve seconds that intervened between the laying down of the pencil and the sitting up in his chair he had hastily readjusted all his well-founded preconceived ideas on the appearance of shop-girl applicants.
Rachel Wiletzky had the colouring and physique of a dairymaid. It was the sort of colouring that you associate in your mind with lush green fields, and Jersey35 cows, and village maids, in Watteau frocks, balancing brimming pails aloft in the protecting curve of one rounded upraised arm, with perhaps a Maypole dance or so in the background. Altogether, had the superintendent been given to figures of speech, he might have said that Rachel was as much out of place among the preceding one hundred and seventy-eight bloodless, hollow-chested, stoop-shouldered applicants as a sunflower would be in a patch of dank white fungi36.
He himself was one of those bleached37 men that you find on the office floor of department stores. Grey skin, grey eyes, greying hair, careful grey clothes—seemingly as void of pigment38 as one of those sunless things you disclose when you turn over a board that has long lain on the mouldy floor of a damp cellar. It was only when you looked closely that you noticed a fleck39 of golden brown in the cold grey of each eye, and a streak40 of warm brown forming an unquenchable forelock that the conquering grey had not been able to vanquish41. It may have been a something within him corresponding to those outward bits of human colouring that tempted22 him to yield to a queer impulse. He whipped from his breast-pocket the grey-bordered handkerchief, reached up swiftly and passed one white corner of it down the length of Rachel Wiletzky's Killarney-rose left cheek. The rude path down which the handkerchief had travelled deepened to red for a moment before both rose-pink cheeks bloomed into scarlet42. The superintendent gazed rather ruefully from unblemished handkerchief to cheek and back again.
"Why—it—it's real!" he stammered43.
Rachel Wiletzky smiled a good-natured little smile that had in it a dash of superiority.
"If I was putting it on," she said, "I hope I'd have sense enough to leave something to the imagination. This colour out of a box would take a spiderweb veil to tone it down."
Not much more than a score of words. And yet before the half were spoken you were certain that Rachel Wiletzky's knowledge of lush green fields and bucolic45 scenes was that gleaned46 from the condensed-milk ads that glare down at one from billboards47 and street-car chromos. Hers was the ghetto48 voice—harsh, metallic49, yet fraught50 with the resonant51 music of tragedy.
"H'm—name?" asked the grey superintendent. He knew that vocal52 quality.
A queer look stole into Rachel Wiletzky's face, a look of cunning and determination and shrewdness.
"Ray Willets," she replied composedly. "Double l."
"Clerked before, of course. Our advertisement stated—"
"Oh yes," interrupted Ray Willets hastily, eagerly. "I can sell goods. My customers like me. And I don't get tired. I don't know why, but I don't."
The superintendent glanced up again at the red that glowed higher with the girl's suppressed excitement. He took a printed slip from the little pile of paper that lay on his desk.
"Well, anyway, you're the first clerk I ever saw who had so much red blood that she could afford to use it for decorative53 purposes. Step into the next room, answer the questions on this card and turn it in. You'll be notified."
Ray Willets took the searching, telltale blank that put its questions so pertinently54. "Where last employed?" it demanded. "Why did you leave? Do you live at home?"
Ray Willets moved slowly away toward the door opposite. The superintendent reached forward to press the button that would summon Applicant No. 180. But before his finger touched it Ray Willets turned and came back swiftly. She held the card out before his surprised eyes.
"I can't fill this out. If I do I won't get the job. I work over at the Halsted Street Bazaar55. You know—the Cheap Store. I lied and sent word I was sick so I could come over here this morning. And they dock you for time off whether you're sick or not."
The superintendent drummed impatiently with his fingers. "I can't listen to all this. Haven't time. Fill out your blank, and if—"
All that latent dramatic force which is a heritage of her race came to the girl's aid now.
"The blank! How can I say on a blank that I'm leaving because I want to be where real people are? What chance has a girl got over there on the West Side? I'm different. I don't know why, but I am. Look at my face! Where should I get red cheeks from? From not having enough to eat half the time and sleeping three in a bed?"
She snatched off her shabby glove and held one hand out before the man's face.
"From where do I get such hands? Not from selling hardware over at Twelfth and Halsted. Look at it! Say, couldn't that hand sell silk and lace?"
Some one has said that to make fingers and wrists like those which Ray Willets held out for inspection57 it is necessary to have had at least five generations of ancestors who have sat with their hands folded in their laps. Slender, tapering58, sensitive hands they were, pink-tipped, temperamental. Wistful hands they were, speaking hands, an inheritance, perhaps, from some dreamer ancestor within the old-world ghetto, some long-haired, velvet-eyed student of the Talmud dwelling59 within the pale with its squalor and noise, and dreaming of unseen things beyond the confining gates—things rare and exquisite60 and fine.
"Ashamed of your folks?" snapped the superintendent.
"N-no—No! But I want to be different. I am different! Give me a chance, will you? I'm straight. And I'll work. And I can sell goods. Try me."
That all-pervading greyness seemed to have lifted from the man at the desk. The brown flecks61 in the eyes seemed to spread and engulf62 the surrounding colourlessness. His face, too, took on a glow that seemed to come from within. It was like the lifting of a thick grey mist on a foggy morning, so that the sun shines bright and clear for a brief moment before the damp curtain rolls down again and effaces63 it.
He leaned forward in his chair, a queer half-smile on his face.
"I'll give you your chance," he said, "for one month. At the end of that time I'll send for you. I'm not going to watch you. I'm not going to have you watched. Of course your sale slips will show the office whether you're selling goods or not. If you're not they'll discharge you. But that's routine. What do you want to sell?"
"What do I want to—Do you mean—Why, I want to sell the lacy things."
"The lacy—"
Ray, very red-cheeked, made the plunge64. "The—the lawnjeree, you know. The things with ribbon and handwork and yards and yards of real lace. I've seen 'em in the glass case in the French Room. Seventy-nine dollars marked down from one hundred."
The superintendent scribbled on a card. "Show this Monday morning. Miss Jevne is the head of your department. You'll spend two hours a day in the store school of instruction for clerks. Here, you're forgetting your glove."
The grey look had settled down on him again as he reached out to press the desk button. Ray Willets passed out at the door opposite the one through which Rachel Wiletzky had entered.
Some one in the department nick-named her Chubbs before she had spent half a day in the underwear and imported lingerie. At the store school she listened and learned. She learned how important were things of which Halsted Street took no cognisance. She learned to make out a sale slip as complicated as an engineering blueprint65. She learned that a clerk must develop suavity66 and patience in the same degree as a customer waxes waspish and insulting, and that the spectrum's colours do not exist in the costume of the girl-behind-the-counter. For her there are only black and white. These things she learned and many more, and remembered them, for behind the rosy67 cheeks and the terrier-bright eyes burned the indomitable desire to get on. And the finished embodiment of all of Ray Willets' desires and ambitions was daily before her eyes in the presence of Miss Jevne, head of the lingerie and negligées.
Of Miss Jevne it might be said that she was real where Ray was artificial, and artificial where Ray was real. Everything that Miss Jevne wore was real. She was as modish68 as Ray was shabby, as slim as Ray was stocky, as artificially tinted69 and tinctured as Ray was naturally rosy-cheeked and buxom70. It takes real money to buy clothes as real as those worn by Miss Jevne. The soft charmeuse in her graceful71 gown was real and miraculously72 draped. The cobweb-lace collar that so delicately traced its pattern against the black background of her gown was real. So was the ripple17 of lace that cascaded73 down the front of her blouse. The straight, correct, hideously74 modern lines of her figure bespoke75 a real eighteen-dollar corset. Realest of all, there reposed76 on Miss Jevne's bosom77 a bar pin of platinum78 and diamonds—very real diamonds set in a severely79 plain but very real bar of precious platinum. So if you except Miss Jevne's changeless colour, her artificial smile, her glittering hair and her undulating head-of-the-department walk, you can see that everything about Miss Jevne was as real as money can make one.
Miss Jevne, when she deigned80 to notice Ray Willets at all, called her "girl," thus: "Girl, get down one of those Number Seventeens for me—with the pink ribbons." Ray did not resent the tone. She thought about Miss Jevne as she worked. She thought about her at night when she was washing and ironing her other shirtwaist for next day's wear. In the Halsted Street Bazaar the girls had been on terms of dreadful intimacy81 with those affairs in each other's lives which popularly are supposed to be private knowledge. They knew the sum which each earned per week; how much they turned in to help swell82 the family coffers and how much they were allowed to keep for their own use. They knew each time a girl spent a quarter for a cheap sailor collar or a pair of near-silk stockings. Ray Willets, who wanted passionately83 to be different, whose hands so loved the touch of the lacy, silky garments that made up the lingerie and negligee departments, recognised the perfection of Miss Jevne's faultless realness—recognised it, appreciated it, envied it. It worried her too. How did she do it? How did one go about attaining84 the same degree of realness?
Meanwhile she worked. She learned quickly. She took care always to be cheerful, interested, polite. After a short week's handling of lacy silken garments she ceased to feel a shock when she saw Miss Jevne displaying a robe-de-nuit made up of white cloud and sea-foam and languidly assuring the customer that of course it wasn't to be expected that you could get a fine handmade lace at that price—only twenty-seven-fifty. Now if she cared to look at something really fine—made entirely85 by hand—why—
The end of the first ten days found so much knowledge crammed86 into Ray Willets' clever, ambitious little head that the pink of her cheeks had deepened to carmine87, as a child grows flushed and too bright-eyed when overstimulated and overtired.
Miss Myrtle, the store beauty, strolled up to Ray, who was straightening a pile of corset covers and brassieres. Miss Myrtle was the store's star cloak-and-suit model. Tall, svelte88, graceful, lovely in line and contour, she was remarkably89 like one of those exquisite imbeciles that Rossetti used to love to paint. Hers were the great cowlike eyes, the wonderful oval face, the marvellous little nose, the perfect lips and chin. Miss Myrtle could don a forty-dollar gown, parade it before a possible purchaser, and make it look like an imported model at one hundred and twenty-five. When Miss Myrtle opened those exquisite lips and spoke44 you got a shock that hurt. She laid one cool slim finger on Ray's ruddy cheek.
"Sure enough!" she drawled nasally. "Whereja get it anyway, kid? You must of been brought up on peaches 'n' cream and slept in a pink cloud somewheres."
"Me!" laughed Ray, her deft90 fingers busy straightening a bow here, a ruffle91 of lace there. "Me! The L-train runs so near my bed that if it was ever to get a notion to take a short cut it would slice off my legs to the knees."
"Live at home?" Miss Myrtle's grasshopper92 mind never dwelt long on one subject.
"Well, sure," replied Ray. "Did you think I had a flat up on the Drive?"
"I live at home too," Miss Myrtle announced impressively. She was leaning indolently against the table. Her eyes followed the deft, quick movements of Ray's slender, capable hands. Miss Myrtle always leaned when there was anything to lean on. Involuntarily she fell into melting poses. One shoulder always drooped93 slightly, one toe always trailed a bit like the picture on the cover of the fashion magazines, one hand and arm always followed the line of her draperies while the other was raised to hip or breast or head.
Ray's busy hands paused a moment. She looked up at the picturesque94 Myrtle. "All the girls do, don't they?"
"Huh?" said Myrtle blankly.
"Live at home, I mean? The application blank says—"
"Say, you've got clever hands, ain't you?" put in Miss Myrtle irrelevantly95. She looked ruefully at her own short, stubby, unintelligent hands, that so perfectly96 reflected her character in that marvellous way hands have. "Mine are stupid-looking. I'll bet you'll get on." She sagged97 to the other hip with a weary gracefulness98. "I ain't got no brains," she complained.
"Where do they live then?" persisted Ray.
"Who? Oh, I live at home"—again virtuously—"but I've got some heart if I am dumb. My folks couldn't get along without what I bring home every week. A lot of the girls have flats. But that don't last. Now Jevne—"
"Yes?" said Ray eagerly. Her plump face with its intelligent eyes was all aglow99.
Miss Myrtle lowered her voice discreetly100. "Her own folks don't know where she lives. They says she sends 'em money every month, but with the understanding that they don't try to come to see her. They live way over on the West Side somewhere. She makes her buying trip to Europe every year. Speaks French and everything. They say when she started to earn real money she just cut loose from her folks. They was a drag on her and she wanted to get to the top."
"Say, that pin's real, ain't it?"
"Real? Well, I should say it is! Catch Jevne wearing anything that's phony. I saw her at the theatre one night. Dressed! Well, you'd have thought that birds of paradise were national pests, like English sparrows. Not that she looked loud. But that quiet, rich elegance101, you know, that just smells of money. Say, but I'll bet she has her lonesome evenings!"
Ray Willets' eyes darted102 across the long room and rested upon the shining black-clad figure of Miss Jevne moving about against the luxurious103 ivory-and-rose background of the French Room.
"She—she left her folks, h'm?" she mused104 aloud.
Miss Myrtle, the brainless, regarded the tips of her shabby boots.
"What did it get her?" she asked as though to herself. "I know what it does to a girl, seeing and handling stuff that's made for millionaires, you get a taste for it yourself. Take it from me, it ain't the six-dollar girl that needs looking after. She's taking her little pay envelope home to her mother that's a widow and it goes to buy milk for the kids. Sometimes I think the more you get the more you want. Somebody ought to turn that vice inquiry on to the tracks of that thirty-dollar-a-week girl in the Irish crochet105 waist and the diamond bar pin. She'd make swell readin'."
There fell a little silence between the two—a silence of which neither was conscious. Both were thinking, Myrtle disjointedly, purposelessly, all unconscious that her slow, untrained mind had groped for a great and vital truth and found it; Ray quickly, eagerly, connectedly, a new and daring resolve growing with lightning rapidity.
"There's another new baby at our house," she said aloud suddenly. "It cries all night pretty near."
"Ain't they fierce?" laughed Myrtle. "And yet I dunno—"
She fell silent again. Then with the half-sign with which we waken from day dreams she moved away in response to the beckoning106 finger of a saleswoman in the evening-coat section. Ten minutes later her exquisite face rose above the soft folds of a black charmeuse coat that rippled16 away from her slender, supple107 body in lines that a sculptor108 dreams of and never achieves.
Ray Willets finished straightening her counter. Trade was slow. She moved idly in the direction of the black-garbed109 figure that flitted about in the costly110 atmosphere of the French section. It must be a very special customer to claim Miss Jevne's expert services. Ray glanced in through the half-opened glass and ivory-enamel doors.
"Here, girl," called Miss Jevne. Ray paused and entered. Miss Jevne was frowning. "Miss Myrtle's busy. Just slip this on. Careful now. Keep your arms close to your head."
She slipped a marvellously wrought111 garment over Ray's sleek112 head. Fluffy113 drifts of equally exquisite lingerie lay scattered114 about on chairs, over mirrors, across showtables. On one of the fragile little ivory-and-rose chairs, in the centre of the costly little room, sat a large, blonde, perfumed woman who clanked and rustled115 and swished as she moved. Her eyes were white-lidded and heavy, but strangely bright. One ungloved hand was very white too, but pudgy and covered so thickly with gems116 that your eye could get no clear picture of any single stone or setting.
Ray, clad in the diaphanous117 folds of the robe-de-nuit that was so beautifully adorned118 with delicate embroideries119 wrought by the patient, needle-scarred fingers of some silent, white-faced nun120 in a far-away convent, paced slowly up and down the short length of the room that the critical eye of this coarse, unlettered creature might behold121 the wonders woven by this weary French nun, and, beholding122, approve.
"It ain't bad," spake the blonde woman grudgingly123. "How much did you say?"
"Ninety-five," Miss Jevne made answer smoothly124. "I selected it myself when I was in France my last trip. A bargain."
She slid the robe carefully over Ray's head. The frown came once more to her brow. She bent125 close to Ray's ear. "Your waist's ripped under the left arm. Disgraceful!"
The blonde woman moved and jangled a bit in her chair. "Well, I'll take it," she sighed. "Look at the colour on that girl! And it's real too." She rose heavily and came over to Ray, reached up and pinched her cheek appraisingly126 with perfumed white thumb and forefinger127.
"That'll do, girl," said Miss Jevne sweetly. "Take this along and change these ribbons from blue to pink."
Ray Willets bore the fairy garment away with her. She bore it tenderly, almost reverently128. It was more than a garment. It represented in her mind a new standard of all that was beautiful and exquisite and desirable.
Ten days before the formal opening of the new twelve-story addition there was issued from the superintendent's office an order that made a little flurry among the clerks in the sections devoted129 to women's dress. The new store when thrown open would mark an epoch130 in the retail131 drygoods business of the city, the order began. Thousands were to be spent on perishable132 decorations alone. The highest type of patronage133 was to be catered134 to. Therefore the women in the lingerie, negligée, millinery, dress, suit and corset sections were requested to wear during opening week a modest but modish black one-piece gown that would blend with the air of elegance which those departments were to maintain.
Ray Willets of the lingerie and negligée sections read her order slip slowly. Then she reread it. Then she did a mental sum in simple arithmetic. A childish sum it was. And yet before she got her answer the solving of it had stamped on her face a certain hard, set, resolute135 look.
The store management had chosen Wednesday to be the opening day. By eight-thirty o'clock Wednesday morning the French lingerie, millinery and dress sections, with their women clerks garbed in modest but modish black one-piece gowns, looked like a levee at Buckingham when the court is in mourning. But the ladies-in-waiting, grouped about here and there, fell back in respectful silence when there paced down the aisle136 the queen royal in the person of Miss Jevne. There is a certain sort of black gown that is more startling and daring than scarlet. Miss Jevne's was that style. Fast black you might term it. Miss Jevne was aware of the flurry and flutter that followed her majestic137 progress down the aisle to her own section. She knew that each eye was caught in the tip of the little dog-eared train that slipped and slunk and wriggled138 along the ground, thence up to the soft drapery caught so cunningly just below the knee, up higher to the marvelously simple sash that swayed with each step, to the soft folds of black against which rested the very real diamond and platinum bar pin, up to the lace at her throat, and then stopping, blinking and staring again gazed fixedly139 at the string of pearls that lay about her throat, pearls rosily141 pink, mistily142 grey. An aura of self-satisfaction enveloping143 her, Miss Jevne disappeared behind the rose-garlanded portals of the new cream-and-mauve French section. And there the aura vanished, quivering. For standing before one of the plate-glass cases and patting into place with deft fingers the satin bow of a hand-wrought chemise was Ray Willets, in her shiny little black serge skirt and the braver of her two white shirtwaists.
Miss Jevne quickened her pace. Ray turned. Her bright brown eyes grew brighter at sight of Miss Jevne's wondrous144 black. Miss Jevne, her train wound round her feet like an actress' photograph, lifted her eyebrows145 to an unbelievable height.
"Explain that costume!" she said.
"Costume?" repeated Ray, fencing.
Miss Jevne's thin lips grew thinner. "You understood that women in this department were to wear black one-piece gowns this week!"
Ray smiled a little twisted smile. "Yes, I understood."
"Then what—"
Ray's little smile grew a trifle more uncertain. "—I had the money—last week—I was going to—The baby took sick—the heat I guess, coming so sudden. We had the doctor—and medicine—I—Say, your own folks come before black one-piece dresses!"
Miss Jevne's cold eyes saw the careful patch under Ray's left arm where a few days before the torn place had won her a reproof146. It was the last straw.
"You can't stay in this department in that rig!"
"Who says so?" snapped Ray with a flash of Halsted Street bravado147. "If my customers want a peek148 at Paquin I'll send 'em to you."
"I'll show you who says so!" retorted Miss Jevne, quite losing sight of the queen business. The stately form of the floor manager was visible among the glass showcases beyond. Miss Jevne sought him agitatedly149. All the little sagging150 lines about her mouth showed up sharply, defying years of careful massage151.
The floor manager bent his stately head and listened. Then, led by Miss Jevne, he approached Ray Willets, whose deft fingers, trembling a very little now, were still pretending to adjust the perfect pink-satin bow.
The manager touched her on the arm not unkindly. "Report for work in the kitchen utensils152, fifth floor," he said. Then at sight of the girl's face: "We can't have one disobeying orders, you know. The rest of the clerks would raise a row in no time."
Down in the kitchen utensils and household goods there was no rule demanding modest but modish one-piece gowns. In the kitchenware one could don black sateen sleevelets to protect one's clean white waist without breaking the department's tenets of fashion. You could even pin a handkerchief across the front of your waist, if your job was that of dusting the granite153 ware56.
At first Ray's delicate fingers, accustomed to the touch of soft, sheer white stuff and ribbon and lace and silk, shrank from contact with meat grinders, and aluminum154 stewpans, and egg beaters, and waffle irons, and pie tins. She handled them contemptuously. She sold them listlessly. After weeks of expatiating155 to customers on the beauties and excellencies of gossamer156 lingerie she found it difficult to work up enthusiasm over the virtues157 of dishpans and spice boxes. By noon she was less resentful. By two o'clock she was saying to a fellow clerk:
"Well, anyway, in this section you don't have to tell a woman how graceful and charming she's going to look while she's working the washing machine."
She was a born saleswoman. In spite of herself she became interested in the buying problems of the practical and plain-visaged housewives who patronised this section. By three o'clock she was looking thoughtful—thoughtful and contented158.
Then came the summons. The lingerie section was swamped! Report to Miss Jevne at once! Almost regretfully Ray gave her customer over to an idle clerk and sought out Miss Jevne. Some of that lady's statuesqueness was gone. The bar pin on her bosom rose and fell rapidly. She espied159 Ray and met her halfway160. In her hand she carried a soft black something which she thrust at Ray.
"Here, put that on in one of the fitting rooms. Be quick about it. It's your size. The department's swamped. Hurry now!"
Ray took from Miss Jevne the black silk gown, modest but modish. There was no joy in Ray's face. Ten minutes later she emerged in the limp and clinging little frock that toned down her colour and made her plumpness seem but rounded charm.
The big store will talk for many a day of that afternoon and the three afternoons that followed, until Sunday brought pause to the thousands of feet beating a ceaseless tattoo161 up and down the thronged162 aisles163. On the Monday following thousands swarmed164 down upon the store again, but not in such overwhelming numbers. There were breathing spaces. It was during one of these that Miss Myrtle, the beauty, found time for a brief moment's chat with Ray Willets.
Ray was straightening her counter again. She had a passion for order. Myrtle eyed her wearily. Her slender shoulders had carried an endless number and variety of garments during those four days and her feet had paced weary miles that those garments might the better be displayed.
"Black's grand on you," observed Myrtle. "Tones you down." She glanced sharply at the gown. "Looks just like one of our eighteen-dollar models. Copy it?"
"No," said Ray, still straightening petticoats and corset covers. Myrtle reached out a weary, graceful arm and touched one of the lacy piles adorned with cunning bows of pink and blue to catch the shopping eye.
"Ain't that sweet!" she exclaimed. "I'm crazy about that shadow lace. It's swell under voiles. I wonder if I could take one of them home to copy it."
Ray glanced up. "Oh, that!" she said contemptuously. "That's just a cheap skirt. Only twelve-fifty. Machine-made lace. Imitation embroidery—"
She stopped. She stared a moment at Myrtle with the fixed140 and wide-eyed gaze of one who does not see.
"What'd I just say to you?"
"Huh?" ejaculated Myrtle, mystified.
"What'd I just say?" repeated Ray.
Myrtle laughed, half understanding. "You said that was a cheap junk skirt at only twelve-fifty, with machine lace and imitation—"
But Ray Willets did not wait to hear the rest. She was off down the aisle toward the elevator marked "Employées." The superintendent's office was on the ninth floor. She stopped there. The grey superintendent was writing at his desk. He did not look up as Ray entered, thus observing rules one and two in the proper conduct of superintendents when interviewing employees. Ray Willets, standing by his desk, did not cough or wriggle or rustle her skirts or sag on one hip. A consciousness of her quiet penetrated the superintendent's mind. He glanced up hurriedly over his left shoulder. Then he laid down his pencil and sat up slowly.
"Oh, it's you!" he said.
"Yes, it's me," replied Ray Willets simply. "I've been here a month to-day."
"Oh, yes." He ran his fingers through his hair so that the brown forelock stood away from the grey. "You've lost some of your roses," he said, and tapped his cheek. "What's the trouble?"
"I guess it's the dress," explained Ray, and glanced down at the folds of her gown. She hesitated a moment awkwardly. "You said you'd send for me at the end of the month. You didn't."
"That's all right," said the grey superintendent. "I was pretty sure I hadn't made a mistake. I can gauge165 applicants pretty fairly. Let's see—you're in the lingerie, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Then with a rush: "That's what I want to talk to you about. I've changed my mind. I don't want to stay in the lingeries. I'd like to be transferred to the kitchen utensils and household goods."
"Transferred! Well, I'll see what I can do. What was the name now? I forget."
A queer look stole into Ray Willets' face, a look of determination and shrewdness.
"Name?" she said. "My name is Rachel Wiletzky."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
galloping
|
|
| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
hoofs
|
|
| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
nostrils
|
|
| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
dilated
|
|
| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
pricked
|
|
| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
brink
|
|
| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
crevasse
|
|
| n. 裂缝，破口；v.使有裂缝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
miraculous
|
|
| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
lurking
|
|
| 潜在 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
slitting
|
|
| n.纵裂（缝）v.切开，撕开( slit的现在分词 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
lighting
|
|
| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
scents
|
|
| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
cub
|
|
| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
athletic
|
|
| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
mollycoddle
|
|
| v.溺爱，娇养 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rippled
|
|
| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
ripple
|
|
| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
flickered
|
|
| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
pathos
|
|
| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
tempted
|
|
| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
superintendent
|
|
| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
applicant
|
|
| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
scribbled
|
|
| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
superintendents
|
|
| 警长( superintendent的名词复数 )； （大楼的）管理人； 监管人； （美国）警察局长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
applicants
|
|
| 申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
wriggle
|
|
| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
sag
|
|
| v.下垂，下跌，消沉；n.下垂，下跌，凹陷，[航海]随风漂流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
hip
|
|
| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
subconsciousness
|
|
| 潜意识；下意识 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
jersey
|
|
| n.运动衫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fungi
|
|
| n.真菌，霉菌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
bleached
|
|
| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
pigment
|
|
| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
fleck
|
|
| n.斑点，微粒 vt.使有斑点，使成斑驳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
streak
|
|
| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
vanquish
|
|
| v.征服，战胜；克服；抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
stammered
|
|
| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
bucolic
|
|
| adj.乡村的；牧羊的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
gleaned
|
|
| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
billboards
|
|
| n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
ghetto
|
|
| n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
metallic
|
|
| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
fraught
|
|
| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
resonant
|
|
| adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
vocal
|
|
| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
decorative
|
|
| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
pertinently
|
|
| 适切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
bazaar
|
|
| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
ware
|
|
| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
tapering
|
|
| adj.尖端细的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
flecks
|
|
| n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
engulf
|
|
| vt.吞没，吞食 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
effaces
|
|
| v.擦掉( efface的第三人称单数 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
64
plunge
|
|
| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
blueprint
|
|
| n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
suavity
|
|
| n.温和；殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
modish
|
|
| adj.流行的，时髦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
tinted
|
|
| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
buxom
|
|
| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
miraculously
|
|
| ad.奇迹般地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
cascaded
|
|
| 级联的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
hideously
|
|
| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
bespoke
|
|
| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
reposed
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
platinum
|
|
| n.白金 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
deigned
|
|
| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
swell
|
|
| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
passionately
|
|
| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
attaining
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
crammed
|
|
| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
carmine
|
|
| n.深红色，洋红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
svelte
|
|
| adj.（女人）体态苗条的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
deft
|
|
| adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
ruffle
|
|
| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
grasshopper
|
|
| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
drooped
|
|
| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
irrelevantly
|
|
| adv.不恰当地，不合适地；不相关地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
sagged
|
|
| 下垂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
gracefulness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
aglow
|
|
| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
discreetly
|
|
| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
luxurious
|
|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
mused
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
crochet
|
|
| n.钩针织物；v.用钩针编制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
beckoning
|
|
| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
supple
|
|
| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
sculptor
|
|
| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
garbed
|
|
| v.（尤指某类人穿的特定）服装，衣服，制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
wrought
|
|
| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
sleek
|
|
| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
fluffy
|
|
| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
rustled
|
|
| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
gems
|
|
| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
diaphanous
|
|
| adj.(布)精致的，半透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
adorned
|
|
| [计]被修饰的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
embroideries
|
|
| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
nun
|
|
| n.修女，尼姑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
beholding
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
grudgingly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
appraisingly
|
|
| adv.以品评或评价的眼光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
forefinger
|
|
| n.食指 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
reverently
|
|
| adv.虔诚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
epoch
|
|
| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
retail
|
|
| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
perishable
|
|
| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
patronage
|
|
| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
catered
|
|
| 提供饮食及服务( cater的过去式和过去分词 )； 满足需要，适合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
resolute
|
|
| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
aisle
|
|
| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
wriggled
|
|
| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
fixedly
|
|
| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
rosily
|
|
| adv.带玫瑰色地，乐观地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
142
mistily
|
|
| adv.有雾地，朦胧地，不清楚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
enveloping
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
wondrous
|
|
| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
reproof
|
|
| n.斥责，责备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
bravado
|
|
| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
peek
|
|
| vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
agitatedly
|
|
| 动摇，兴奋； 勃然 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
sagging
|
|
| 下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
massage
|
|
| n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
utensils
|
|
| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
aluminum
|
|
| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
expatiating
|
|
| v.详述，细说( expatiate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
gossamer
|
|
| n.薄纱，游丝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
virtues
|
|
| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
espied
|
|
| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
halfway
|
|
| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
tattoo
|
|
| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
thronged
|
|
| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
aisles
|
|
| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
swarmed
|
|
| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
gauge
|
|
| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |