THE ensuing patrol ride, while commonplace and uneventful from the viewpoint of one accustomed to such jaunts1, produced in the bosom2 of at least one of the prisoners emotions of the most painful and poignant3 nature. It was not for himself that Drayton suffered.
In the recent past he had been too thoroughly4 seared by the fires of undeserved disgrace to be hurt by so trifling5 a touch of flame as this. But that Viola Trenmore—Viola of the clear blue eyes and innocent white brow—that she should be forced to enter a common patrol wagon6 and be carried openly, like any pickpocket7, through the city streets, was an intolerable agony in whose endurance he alternately flushed red with shame and paled with ineffective rage.
Trenmore the mighty8 also sat quiescent9; but his was the quiescence10 of a white-hot anger, held in check for a worthy11 occasion and object. A pity to waste all that on mere12 underlings.
Having slowly ascended13 the short, steep incline where Market Street descended14 to the ferry, the patrol drove on with increased speed. A mile ahead, at the end of a long, straight, brilliantly lighted perspective, reared the huge bulk of City Hall. The immense building’s lower part was sketched15 in lines of light; its tower gleamed gray and pale against the black sky.
High upon that uttermost pinnacle16 there brooded a ghostly figure. It was the enormous statue of William Penn, set there to bless the children of his city, with outstretched, benevolent17 hand.
“Are you taking us to City Hall?” queried18 Drayton, turning to the officer on his left.
The man nodded. “Your offense19 is too serious, of course, for a branch temple.”
“A—what?”
“A branch,” said the man impatiently. “Headquarters will want to handle this; eh, sergeant20?”
“They will, but no more conversation, please. Everything you say, my man, will be used against you.”
“One would think we were murderers,” reflected Drayton bitterly. Of what real offense could they have been guilty? Beneath surface absurdity21 he had begun to sense something secret and dangerous; something upon which his mind could as yet lay no hold, but which might be revealed to them at City Hall.
The night was fine; the hour eight-thirty by the clock in City Hall tower; the streets well filled. Most of the stores seemed to be open, and innumerable “movie” theaters, saloons and shooting galleries each drew in and expelled its quota22 of people, like so many lungs breathing prosperity for the owners.
There was a New York Bowery touch to the amusements and the crowds which Drayton did not remember as characteristic of Market Street. The thought, however, was passing and only half-formed.
The patrol clanged its way over the smooth pavement, attracting the usual number of stares and fortunately unheard comments, and presently swung off Market Street into Juniper. They had approached City Hall from the east. Since the patrol entrance was on the western side, it was necessary for them to pass half around the great building to reach it.
As they passed the Broad Street entrance, Drayton chanced to glance upward. Above the arch hung an emblem23 done in colored lights. It seemed to be a sword crossing a bell. Above the emblem itself glowed a number, consisting of four figures done in glowing red, white and blue—2118.
The bell, thought Drayton, might represent the old Liberty Bell, Philadelphia’s most cherished possession; the numerals, however, conveyed to him no more significance than had those on the yellow buttons about which these police were so concerned.
Again turning, the patrol reached Market Street on the western side. Shortly afterward24 it rolled beneath the portico25 of City Hall.
The Public Buildings, to use the more ancient name for Philadelphia’s proud edifice26 of administration and justice, are built in the form of an irregular hollow square. The larger inner court may be entered by means of any one of four short tunnels, placed at the four cardinal27 points of the compass, and passing beneath the walls of the building proper.
As the three prisoners recalled it, that inner court was squarish in shape, paved with gray concrete, and of no very beautiful or imposing28 appearance. Several old cannon29, relics30 of past wars, adorned31 the corners and stood at either side of the northward32 entrance. In the northeast corner there was a sort of pavilion, where various free civic33 exhibits were perennially34 on view.
As the center of the place was actually the intersection35 of those two main arteries36 of the city, Broad Street and Market, two continuous streams of pedestrians37 passed through there all day long.
Such was the interior of City Hall as the three prisoners remembered it and into which they now expected to be carried.
While yet in the short, dark entrance tunnel, however, the patrol halted. Rising from their seats, the officers hustled38 their prisoners from the wagon. A moment later and they all stood together, halted just within the rim39 of the inner arch.
And there the three received another of those wildly disturbing shocks, of which they had suffered so many in the past few hours.
Instead of a bare gray courtyard, open to the sky, there stood revealed an interior which might have been lifted bodily from an Arabian Nights entertainment.
Above, rounding to a level with the top of the fourth story, curved the golden hollow of a shallow but glorious dome40. It seemed to have been carved from the yellow metal itself. The entire under surface was without a seam or trace of ornament41, and was polished to almost blinding brilliance42.
Striking upward upon it from invisible sources at the sides, light was reflected downward in a diffused43 glow, yellow as sunshine and giving a curious, almost shadowless appearance to the great chamber44 below. From the center of the dome, swung at the end of a twenty-foot chain, depended a huge bell. This bell had either been enameled45 smoothly46, or was cast of some strange metal.
The color of it was a brilliant scarlet47, so that it hung like an enormous exotic blossom. Some change or repairs to the thing seemed to be in progress for out to it from the southern wall extended narrow suspension bridge of rough planking, that terminated in a partial scaffolding about one side of the bell. No tongue or clapper was within the bell, nor was there any visible means of ringing it.
As for the floor beneath, it was of common gray concrete no longer. An exquisite48 pavement gleamed there, made of white porcelain49 or some similar substance, seamless and polished. In it the blood-red bell and certain colored panels of the golden walls were reflected as in a pool of milk. Near the northern wall a design appeared in this floor, set in as a mosaic50 of varicolored marbles.
Where had been the southern and eastern entrances, short flights of green marble stairs led up to carved golden doors, Gothic in style and all closed. The windowless walls, also of gold, were carved in heavy bas-relief. At regular intervals51 appeared panels, done in bright enamels52, representing various weird53 figures resembling Chinese gods and heroes. The entire color scheme of red, gold, green and white had a peculiarly barbaric effect, itself entirely54 out of keeping with the formerly55 staid and dignified56 old Public Buildings.
Trenmore, as he gazed, forgot even his anger, and stared open-mouthed. They all had time to stare, for the sergeant, having pressed an electric buzzer57 near the door, stood at ease, obviously waiting for something or some one to answer the summons.
“And is this the place they have for a courthouse?” Trenmore murmured. “I’ve seen the Taj Mahal, and I’ve seen the inside of Westminster Abbey and St. Pauls, but never, never—”
“I can’t understand it!” broke in Drayton desperately58. Amazement59 had given place to distress60, as the enormity of the change came home to him. “Why, but this is incredible; it’s preposterous61! I—”
“Here, here!” broke in the sergeant’s brusque voice. “None of that. What were you muttering there? Never mind. Be silent. Here comes a gentleman who will dispose of your case in quick order.”
At the south, a golden door had opened and a man was seen descending62 the short flight of green marble steps before it. Even at a distance, he seemed an impressive figure. Over a largely checked vest he wore an exquisitely63 cut frock coat. His trousers were of a delicate pearl-gray hue64, and a pair of white spats65 surmounted66 immaculate patent-leather pumps. On his head gleamed a shining silk hat.
Had the gentleman but carried a flag, or Roman candle, he might creditably have adorned a political parade. A large bouquet67 would have completed his costume for a Bowery wedding. Amid the barbaric splendor68 which actually surrounded him, he seemed out of place, but happily unconscious of that fact.
Slowly and with dignity he advanced, while in the gleaming porcelain beneath an inverted69, silk-hatted replica70 of him followed every step. At last his majestic71 progress ceased. He had halted some six paces from the group of prisoners and policemen. Without speaking, he surveyed them with a slow, long, insolent72 gaze.
He was a small man, handsome in a weak, dissipated way; old with the age of self-indulgence rather than years. His greenish-hazel eyes were close-set and cunning. He possessed73 a little, pointed74 mustache, and, in the opinion of the prisoners, an unjustifiably impertinent manner.
Out of the corner of his eye Drayton saw that his Irish friend was bristling75 anew. Well, if the outbreak had to come, he wished it would burst now and annihilate76 this silk-hatted monstrosity. No man could eye Viola in just the manner of this stranger and deserve continued life!
The high-hatted one deigned77 to speak.
“Well, Fifty-three,” he drawled languidly, addressing the sergeant, “and why have you brought them here? The chief is in attendance on His Supremity, and there’s no one else about who cares to be bothered. I myself came over to warn you that Penn Service is tired of having these trivial cases brought to the Temple. Lately you police chaps seem to consider the Temple a sort of petty court for pickpockets78!”
Trenmore passed the sergeant in one stride.
“You miserable79, insolent, little whippersnapper!” he thundered in a voice that was amazingly re-echoed from the golden dome above.
Instantly, as if sprung by a single trigger, the six policemen had hurled80 themselves upon him. High-hat skipped back nimbly out of the way. Drayton, seeing no alternative with honor, flung himself into the combat, and was promptly81 knocked out by the blow of a policeman’s club.
收听单词发音 |
1
jaunts
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| n.游览( jaunt的名词复数 ) | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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pickpocket
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| n.扒手；v.扒窃 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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quiescent
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| adj.静止的，不活动的，寂静的 | |
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quiescence
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| n.静止 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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pinnacle
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| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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quota
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| n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额 | |
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emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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29
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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30
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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civic
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| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
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perennially
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| adv.经常出现地；长期地；持久地；永久地 | |
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35
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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36
arteries
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| n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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38
hustled
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| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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40
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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42
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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44
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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45
enameled
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| 涂瓷釉于，给…上瓷漆，给…上彩饰( enamel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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47
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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48
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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49
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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50
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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51
intervals
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| 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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52
enamels
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| 搪瓷( enamel的名词复数 )； 珐琅； 釉药； 瓷漆 | |
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53
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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54
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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55
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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56
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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57
buzzer
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| n.蜂鸣器；汽笛 | |
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58
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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59
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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60
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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61
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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62
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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63
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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64
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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65
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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66
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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67
bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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69
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
replica
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| n.复制品 | |
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71
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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73
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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74
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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75
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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76
annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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77
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
pickpockets
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| n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 ) | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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