CHAPTER XXVII

 It would seem that Rachel Corrie had forgotten her own weakness in her brother’s collapse¹.  He had risen as usual, but it was evident that he was totally unfit for the business of the day.  Crouched in his chair by the kitchen fire he presented a sad spectacle of human misery² and shame.  It was after nine, and Rachel was endeavouring to persuade him to eat some breakfast.

 

With scarcely any warning Symington, coming from the shop, was upon them.  His face was like chalk, his eyes were congested.

 

“Corrie,” he cried hoarsely³, “I give you three minutes to produce my Zenith certificates!”

 

Corrie seemed to shrink—that was all.

 

Rachel placed herself in front of him.

 

“Mr. Symington,” she said steadily⁴, “I took them, and ye can just make up your mind never to see them again.”

 

Just for an instant he seemed baulked.  Then p. 277he said viciously: “Hand them over, or see your brother go to jail!”

 

“For what?  ’Twas me that fired the postman’s house, but that’s all settled.  Anything else?”

 

He glared at her, uncertain how to proceed.

 

She did not wait for him.  “Mr. Symington, two gentlemen were here last night, and I sent them to a house at Richmond, Surrey—”

 

“What? . . .  Devil, you’ve ruined me!”  He fairly staggered.  He did not ask how she had learned about the house.

 

“They’ll be there by now, I should say,” she went on unemotionally.  “A dirty business, Mr. Symington.  If I were you, I would make haste to quit this country.  You’re a done man.”

 

“Corrie,” he shouted, “you’re responsible!  You sold me the shares.  Find me the certificates at once, or by—”

 

“Dinna tell all the neighbours about it,” Rachel said quietly.  “I’m responsible.  Do what ye like wi’ me.  But mind ye broke your part o’ the bargain by selling some o’ the shares secretly—”

 

“You fool, that was no legal bargain!  But the law will recognize your brother’s receipt for—”

 

p. 278“Gang to the law! . . .  Man, I can fancy ye sweating at the sight o’ a policeman!”

 

He looked death at her then, yet he must still use guile⁵ rather than force.  Suddenly he spoke⁶.

 

“Look here!  I’ll make terms with you.  I’ll give you a—a third.”

 

“I’ll keep what I’ve got—for Kitty.  So that’s the end, and ye can just get out o’ this and leave me to give John his breakfast.”

 

With a snarl⁷ he sprang, thrust her aside, and reached the side of Corrie’s armchair; Corrie leapt, sank back and became rigid⁸, the muzzle⁹ of a revolver against his temple.

 

“Get me the Zeniths!”

 

Rachel’s countenance¹⁰ was grey.  At last she wet her lips, and said almost inaudibly—

 

“I’ll fetch them.”  She turned to go.

 

“No,” whispered the voice of John Corrie.  “Let him shoot.  Ye’ll keep your honour, and he’ll be a murderer.  I’m no caring.”

 

In the silence steps were heard approaching.  The voice of a girl called: “Is Mr. Symington there?  A wire has come for him.”

 

Symington went to the door and took the orange envelope.  Then closing the door and putting his back to it—the revolver still in his hand—he opened the message.  As he read he p. 279seemed to forget the presence of others.  His face took on a bleak¹¹, sickly aspect.

 

This was the message—

 

“At Anchor Line Office, Glasgow, fifty pounds and ticket await Mr. Granton.  One hour after dispatch of this, instructions will be sent local police.  Bearer Zeniths are now subject to scrutiny¹² at Company’s London office before they can be negotiated.  John Risk, Director.”

 

He read it thrice, and during the third reading he slipped, as if unconsciously, the revolver into his pocket.  For a brief space he stood motionless, bowed as if in thought.

 

All at once he turned, opened the door, threw up his head, squared his shoulders, and went out.

 

Dunford saw him no more.

 

John Corrie still carries on business there.  His sister’s money, which turned out to be twice as much as he thought, saved the situation.  The only noticeable change in the man is his open respect for her.  She writes to Kitty a stiff letter twice a year.

 

Sam, the postman, refused a new house, but accepted from Risk a “soft job” in London.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

p. 280On a night, six months after Symington’s disappearance¹³, our five friends occupied a box at the Planet.  The occasion was the 150th performance of the play, which was going as strong as ever.  Anthony West had ceased to grumble¹⁴ at having to accept a fat cheque every Wednesday.  Kitty did not know what to do with all her money, but, as Risk assured her, she had still time to think about it.  Her marriage day was fixed¹⁵ for a month thence.

 

The curtain fell on the last act.

 

“Don’t wait for me,” said Risk.  “I’m going down in a minute to have a word with Craven.  I may look you up later, Hilda,” he added with a more than usual affectionate glance at his sister.

 

That afternoon West had called upon him, and made a confession¹⁶ concerning Hilda.

 

With leisurely¹⁷ haste the four lovers left the box.  None of them had protested at the idea of not waiting for Risk.

 

He gazed after them, smiling whimsically, possibly a little sadly.

 

“And so,” he murmured, “the poor dog got none.”

The End
 

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

3 hoarsely   

adv.嘶哑地

参考例句：

• "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
• Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

5 guile   

n.诈术

参考例句：

• He is full of guile.他非常狡诈。
• A swindler uses guile;a robber uses force.骗子用诈术；强盗用武力。

6 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：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。

8 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

9 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

10 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

11 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

12 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

13 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

14 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

16 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

17 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。