This curious bit of philosophy coming from the lips of Johnny Thompson, youthful world traveler and adventurer, even to himself seemed strange. Yet here he was barking his wares1 at the “Greatest of all Carnivals2.”
12
He had learned those words at a county fair when a boy of seven. That they were as effective now as then was attested4 by the crowds of men and women that thronged6 about his booth. All were eager to place a dime7 on the square and win (if luck were with them) a basket of groceries at the turn of the wheel of fortune that spun8 so freely at Johnny’s touch.
“I don’t like this business,” Johnny had said to a friend only an hour before. “A few win. The rest go away empty handed.”
“I know,” his friend had agreed. “But then, after all, it’s only a dime for each one. And it’s part of the carnival3. Look at those people. Do you ever think much about them? Look at their faces. Not much of a life they lead. The men work in factories putting bolts into places; same kind of bolt in the same kind of place all day long. Perhaps they lift a casting from one place and drop it down in another. The women stay at home and scrub and cook. Carnival comes but once a year. Let them have their fun.”
Johnny’s friend had cheered him up a bit so he went about his barking with a smile:
“We’re here to-day and away to-morrow.”
“For all that,” he assured himself, “I’ll flit as soon as some big thing breaks.”
13
Ah, yes, that was it, “some big thing.” Johnny was here for a purpose. The dimes9 that came, the baskets of groceries that passed over the counter, interested him very little. He was looking all the time for faces, certain faces, and thinking how he would mingle10 more and more with the men and women who were by profession followers11 of the Carnival. And all this for one high purpose.
So now with the bright lights dazzling his eyes and the incessant12 tumult13 of sounds, organs grinding, hawkers hawking14, merry-makers screaming, he kept at his task of the moment, shouting:
“We’re here to-day and away to-morrow. Now! Round and round she goes. Where she stops, nobody knows!”
“Anyway,” he grumbled15 low to himself, “I give ’em something when they do win. No clock that won’t run, nor painted plaster-of-paris doll for me. Real basket of groceries: oatmeal, peas, canned fish and a picnic ham.
14
“There you are, lady!” he shouted as the wheel stopped on the lucky 15. “Take this home for your Sunday dinner.” The crowd laughed and applauded as a short, stout16 Italian woman stumped17 away with her prize.
At that moment, from opposite directions, two youths pressed into the throng5, each to deposit a dime on a favorite square. One was rather tall and broad shouldered; the other thin and of medium height. The one of athletic18 build was dressed as a college youth, and looked the part; latest stiff hat, bright tie, natty19 brown suit and spats20 he wore. The other seemed a freckle-faced country youth. He wore a soft slouch hat. His clothes fitted him badly. He even walked with that curious stride that suggests the lifting of feet from soft earth.
Johnny moved each dime to the center of its square and twirled the wheel. As he did so the college youth winked21, and the freckled22 one, talking from the side of his mouth, said distinctly:
“They’re all here. Greasy23 Thumb and his gang. Saw ’em just now. Greasy is running a wheel. Rest are cappers. Wonder why.”
15
The next moment, without waiting to discover the results of the wheel’s turn, both college boy and country youth disappeared into the milling throng.
Johnny smiled, frowned, then gave himself over to the business of tending a spindle wheel at the “Greatest of all Carnivals.”
* * * * * * * *
The shouts and screams of the merry-makers had subsided24 to a murmur25. The raucous26 grind of the merry-go-round organ was still. Lights were low. The night’s work was done. Behind closed tents the concession27 holders28 counted their nickels and dimes. Fat wives quarreled with slim husbands and grumbled about hard times that dwarfed29 their earnings30. Slender girls of doubtful age combed their peroxide-blonde hair and flirted31 with boys in tight fitting suits. From this tent came a gurgle of laughter, from that a shout of derision. For, after all, the Carnival King and his crowd are as carefree a lot of ne’er-do-wells as one is likely to find in many a day’s travel. There is more truth than poetry in the expression so often at the tips of their tongues: “We’re here to-day and away to-morrow.”
16
“This is the life,” Johnny murmured, as he sauntered over the well-worn path that led from booth to booth. “And then again, I wonder if it is. I—”
He broke short off to stare ahead, for in spite of the lateness of the hour he saw just before him, crowded about a dimly lighted booth, an interested and excited group of men.
“You’re lucky,” said a short dark man with a scar above his eyes, patting a slim man in an ill-fitting suit on the back as Johnny arrived. “You paid only half a dollar. Now see! You may win ten. Put down your dollar quick before he stops the game!”
Johnny recognized the swarthy individual behind the spindle wheel. His wheel carried cheap baubles32 while the lights were on. Now only numbers remained.
“Playing for money. Breaking the law,” the boy thought. “Big stakes if he can get them. Wonder if he could be Greasy Thumb?” He crowded closer.
17
“Say, Mister!” pleaded the man with the scar over his eye. “Let me have his chance!”
The man in the ill-fitting suit squared his shoulders. “I’ll take it myself.” He peeled a sticky dollar bill off a meagre roll.
He played.
Johnny was disgusted. The man with the scar was a capper, one of the gang of crooked33 gamblers. He would lead this dupe on and on, and finally take all his money and leave him flat.
Johnny listened. They were at it again.
“Two calls for twenty-five. Oh, what luck! You’ll win!”
The man in the ill-fitting suit plunged35 again, and yet again. Twenty-five, fifty, a hundred dollars lay on the board. But always it was just beyond his reach. He must always pay more to win. His roll grew slimmer. At last only one bill remained, a fairly large one. He hesitated, then plunged for the last time.
“Oh! Ho! Too bad!” The voice of the man with the scar had gone flat. “You lost again!” The face of the dupe showed his consternation36. He had lost a summer’s savings37.
18
But now a fresh voice broke into the game. A broad-shouldered man with a stubby beard thrust his face close to that of the spindle wheel man.
“That’s a crooked game,” he growled38. “I know this man. He’s a truck farmer. Got five kids. He can’t afford to lose. You’ve robbed him. But you can’t get away with it!”
He put out a hand for the money still on the table. But his grasp fell a foot short. With a grunt39 and a groan40 he went down. From beneath the table, by a well-practiced trick, the crook34 had kicked him in the stomach.
The affair seemed over. It was not. Johnny was to be reckoned with. He was fast as lightning and hard as nails. “Strike first, and take the second,” was his motto. The gambler’s foot was not yet on the ground when he received a blow from Johnny’s good right hand that sent him hurtling into the dark. At the same instant, as if by magic, the money on the board vanished and the kerosene41 flare42 that lighted the wheel went out.
19
“Snap out of it, can’t you? Want to spill the works? C’mon, let’s get out of here!”
Recognizing the voice as one of authority, Johnny obeyed.
“Can you beat that?” he exclaimed in a whisper as he switched on the light and looked down at his right hand. “Got that money, all of it. Now I’ll have to find that truck farmer and give it back. Gee46! I hope I find him. And I hope his five kids are cute.”
He spread the bills out in a neat pile on his knee. Then he made them into a compact roll and thrust them deep into his pocket. But this was not the end of that affair. It was only the beginning.
He snapped off the light. “Can’t be too careful,” he told himself.
For a moment his head was in a whirl. Then of a sudden he leaned forward in the posture47 of one who listens intently. A faint sound had come to his ears.
20
Now a fresh sound greeted his ears.
The steady drum of a powerful airplane motor, growing louder and ever louder until it filled the very air, passed directly above his head and then thundered on into the distance.
Once it had passed he forgot the plane. He might well have given it much thought, for the driver of that plane and its precious freight were to enter much into his life. It was the night Air Mail from New York. And on this particular night it bore curious and priceless freight.
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1
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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carnivals
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| 狂欢节( carnival的名词复数 )； 嘉年华会； 激动人心的事物的组合； 五彩缤纷的颜色组合 | |
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carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
dime
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| n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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dimes
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| n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 ) | |
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10
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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11
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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14
hawking
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| 利用鹰行猎 | |
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15
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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17
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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natty
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| adj.整洁的，漂亮的 | |
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spats
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| n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩 | |
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21
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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22
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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24
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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25
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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28
holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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29
dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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31
flirted
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
baubles
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| n.小玩意( bauble的名词复数 )；华而不实的小件装饰品；无价值的东西；丑角的手杖 | |
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33
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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35
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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36
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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37
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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38
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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39
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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40
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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41
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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42
flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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43
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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44
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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46
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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47
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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48
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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