As for Johnny, finding Butson ceasing, so far as he could see, from active offence, he gave thought to other things; though watching still. His drawing was among p. 208the other matters that claimed his care; but chief of them all was a different thing altogether.
For at the Institute he had found the girl he first saw on the dark morning when he set out to be an engineer. He had seen her since—once as he was on his way to a ship-launch, and twice a little later; then not at all for eighteen months at least, till he began to forget. But now that he saw her again and found her a woman—or grown as much a woman as he was grown a man—he wondered that he could ever have forgotten for a moment; more, when he had seen her twice or thrice, and knew the turn of her head and the nearing of her step, he was desperately6 persuaded that nothing in the world, nor time nor tide, could make him forget again. So that he resolved to learn to dance.
But the little society that danced at the Institute saw nothing of her, this radiant unforgettable. She came twice a week to the dressmaking class; wherein she acted as monitor or assistant to the teacher, being, as Johnny later discovered—by vast exertions—a dressmaker herself, in her daily work. She made no friendships, walked sedately7 apart, and was in some sort a mystery; being for these reasons regarded as “stuck-up” by the girls of the class, and so made a target for many small needle-thrusts of spite. Johnny had a secret notion that she remembered him; because she would pass him with so extreme an unconsciousness in her p. 209manner, so very blank an unacquaintance in her eyes. Neat and grey in her dress, she had ever a placid8 gravity of air, almost odd by contrast with the unceasing smirk9 and giggle10 of the rest of the girls of the Institute. And her name—another happy discovery, attained11 at great expense of artless diplomacy—was Nora Sansom.
And now for awhile the practice of orthographic12 projection13 suffered from neglect and abstraction of mind. Long Hicks, all ignorant of the cause, was mightily14 concerned, and expostulated, with a face of perplexed15 surprise, much poking16 of fingers through the hair, and jerking at the locks thus separated. But it was a great matter that tugged17 so secretly at Johnny’s mind, and daily harder at his heart-strings, till he blushed in solitude18 to find himself so weak a creature. Nora Sansom did not come to the dancing. She knew nobody that he knew. She was unapproachable as—as a Chinese Empress. How to approach Nora Sansom? And at the thought he gulped19 and tingled20, and was more than a little terrified. He was not brought to a stand by contemplation of any distinct interposing labyrinth21 of conventional observance, such as he who can see can pick his way through in strict form; but by a difficulty palpable to instinct rather than figured in mind: an intangible barrier that vexed22 Johnny to madness, so that he hammered the Institute punching-ball p. 210with blind fury. And again, because the world was now grown so many heavens wider, he would sit and dream of things beyond its farthest margin24 yet. And between plan and section, crank-shaft and piston25, he would wake to find himself designing monograms26 of the letters N. S. and J. M. Altogether becoming a sad young fool, such as none of us ever was in the like circumstances.
But an angel—two angels, to be exact, both of them rather stout—came one night to Johnny’s aid. They came all unwitting, in a cab, being man and wife, and their simple design was to see for themselves the Upraising of the Hopeless Residuum. They had been told, though they scarce believed, that at the Institute, far East—much farther East than Whitechapel, and therefore, without doubt, deeper sunk in dirt and iniquity—the young men and women danced together under regular ball-room conventions, neither bawling27 choruses nor pounding one another with quart pots. It was even said that partners were introduced in proper form before dancing—a thing so ludicrous in its incongruity28 as to give no choice but laughter. So the two doubters from the West End (it was only Bayswater, really) took a cab, to see these things for themselves.
But, having taken no pains to inform themselves of the order of things at the Institute, they arrived on an evening when there was no dancing. This was very p. 211annoying, and they said so, with acerbity29. They were, indeed, so very indignant at the disconformity of the arrangements to their caprice, and so extremely and so obviously important, and the lady waggled her gilt-handled lorgnon with such offended majesty30, that it was discussed among those in direction whether or not something might be done to appease31 them. And in the end, after a few hasty inquiries32, the classes were broken up for the evening and an off-hand dance was declared, to the music extracted from the Institute piano and the fiddle33 of a blushing young amateur.
The girls came in gay and chattering34 from the dressmaking class, and the lads rushed to exchange gymnasium-flannels for the clothes they had come in—all unconscious that they were to be made a show of. They who kept their dancing-shoes on the premises35 triumphed in their foresight36, and Johnny was among them. As for him, he had seen Nora Sansom coming in with the others, alone and a little shy, and he resolved to seize occasion with both hands.
And he did so very gallantly37, with less trepidation38 than at a calmer moment he would have judged possible. First a quadrille was called, and Johnny’s courage rose—for as yet he had no great confidence in his dancing in general, but he did know the figures of a quadrille, having learned them by rote39, as most boys learn Euclid. He laid hands on the mild young p. 212shopman who had unexpectedly found himself appointed master of ceremonies, and in two minutes he was standing40 in a set with Nora Sansom at his side. The sheer pride of it disorganised his memory, so that it was lucky they were a side couple, or there would have been a rout41 in the first figure. Johnny’s partner knew very little or nothing of dancing, but she was quick to learn, and Johnny, a rank beginner himself, had a proud advantage in his knowledge of the figures—unstable as it was. So that the thing went very joyfully42, and the girl’s eyes grew brighter and her face gayer each moment to the end. For her life had been starved of merriment, and here was merriment in plenty, of the sort a girl loves.
Four or five dances were all there were, for the place shut at ten. To dance them all with Nora Sansom were impossible and scandalous, for everybody was very “particular” at the Institute. But Johnny went as far as two and a “sit out,” and extracted a half-promise that she would come and dance some other time. More, he walked two streets of the way home with her, and the way was paved with clouds of glory. Why he might go no farther he could not guess, but there he was dismissed, quite unmistakably, though pleasantly enough.
Fair, very fair were the poor little streets in the moonlight as Johnny walked home, and very sweet the p. 213air. It was a good world, a kind world, a world as one may see it who has emptied a bottle of good champagne43. Johnny would have shaken hands with anybody on the way—probably even with Butson if he had met him; but nobody made the offer, and even the baked-chestnut man—he was still there, by the high wall—growled merely when Johnny gave him good night. And so Johnny went to dreams of gentle grey eyes in a dimpled face with brown hair about it. For few of the song-book beauties were Nora Sansom’s. Her hair was neither golden nor black, but simple brown like the hair of most other people, and her eyes were mere23 grey; yet Johnny dreamed.
As for the two angels from Bayswater who caused all these things to come to pass, they looked at the dancing from the gallery, and said that it was really very creditable, considering; quite surprising, indeed, for people of that class, and they hoped it didn’t lead to immorality44. And they went home virtuously45 conscious of having done their duty toward the Submerged. But the lady left her gilt-handled lorgnon in the cab, whereof the gentleman hadn’t thought to take the number. And the lady said a great many times before they went to bed (and after) that it was Just Like a Man.
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1
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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2
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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3
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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4
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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5
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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6
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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7
sedately
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| adv.镇静地，安详地 | |
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8
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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9
smirk
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| n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说 | |
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10
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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11
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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12
orthographic
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| adj.正字法的，拼字正确的；正射 | |
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13
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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14
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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15
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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16
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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17
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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19
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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20
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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22
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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23
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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24
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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25
piston
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| n.活塞 | |
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26
monograms
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| n.字母组合( monogram的名词复数 ) | |
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27
bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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28
incongruity
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| n.不协调，不一致 | |
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29
acerbity
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| n.涩，酸，刻薄 | |
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30
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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31
appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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32
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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33
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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34
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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35
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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36
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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37
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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38
trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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39
rote
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| n.死记硬背，生搬硬套 | |
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40
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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41
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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42
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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43
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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44
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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45
virtuously
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| 合乎道德地，善良地 | |
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