“WE’RE in an awful hole,” gasped1 Bella, pulling Grace off to the farthest corner of the dressing-
room. “Er—do get away from that maid; you don’t want her sharp eyes all over you. No, we don’t
either of us want any help;” over her shoulder at that functionary2. “Now, Grace, er—Angela,
you’ve gone and got me into this scrape, and I shall never hold up my head again in all this
world.”
Poor Grace’s head couldn’t droop3 any more than it did, as she mumbled4 miserably5, “I know it. Oh,
dear me!”
This was worse than all, and Bella took fresh alarm. “For mercy’s sake, hold up your head and
look big, as if you were somebody.” It was now her turn to pinch Grace.
“I can’t; because I’m not somebody,” sighed Grace. The frizzes even seemed to droop miserably
on her brow; and she looked like a wilted6 flower, all her smart hired glory gone suddenly out of
her.
“What a horrible scrape!” cried Bella between her teeth. “Oh, dear me, Grace, you must behave!
Dear, dear!” as some ladies hovered7 near.
“I think your mother wants to go down now,” said one; “she is trying to signal you. Introduce your
young friend to me, will you?”
“Oh, I can’t go down-stairs!” cried Grace in a spasm8 of terror, and catching9 Bella’s arm in a way
to make her faint, as that young lady looked over to the knot of ladies by the door, one of whom
was waving her fan frantically10.
The lady who had requested the introduction, extending her hand in a winning way, Bella twitched11
away from the clutch, and said quickly, “Miss Grace Strange—I mean Miss Angela Tupper. Oh,
dear me! I don’t feel very well, and mamma wants me. Come on.” She fairly hauled Grace out
through the ranks of elegant women, regardless of their dismay at her haste. “See what you have
done,” her black looks said when at last she permitted Grace a glimpse of her face.
“You young ladies must attend to my movements, and not expect me to signal you,” said Mrs.
Drysdale, her face only sweetly black, like a becoming thunder-cloud, as Miss Willoughby’s
parlor12 boarder was one of the offenders13. She could scold Bella easier at home. Just then a stout
lady trying to get by, with a good deal of jet trimming about her person, sent out one of the
octopus14 threads, and hooked Mrs. Drysdale in the most vulnerable point,—the choice old lace on
her sleeves.
“Excuse me,” panted the stout lady, pulling at the entanglement15. “There, break it, I’m sure I don’t
care.”
“I’ll get it out,” cried Mrs. Drysdale in a terror, laying a quick hand on it.
“Step out of the doorway16, please,” said some one. And the stout lady and Mrs. Drysdale edged off
as one person, and everybody in the vicinity fell to helping17; even Grace was brought out of her
misery18 enough to take her turn. As she bent19 over her task, some one’s elbow gave her French
bonnet20 a knock. Out fell a hair-pin from her frizzes, and she felt rather than saw the curious eyes
of the lady next to her upon her hair. So she deserted21 the jet and lace, making Mrs. Drysdale say
with some asperity22, “I think you have not bettered it any, Miss Strange.” Then she looked up into
the face of her next neighbor. She was the lady who had asked Bella to introduce her.
Grace darted23 behind a tall fern, and hid her hot, distressed24 face.Grace fled out into the wide upper hall, fragrant25 with its wealth of blossoms, and darted behind a
tall fern, where she hid her hot, distressed face, and tried to stop the throbbing26 of her heart.
“Well, now get Miss Strange,” Mrs. Drysdale was saying as she emerged into the hall. “It is the
last time I shall ever allow you to ask a friend to go with you, Bella. Where in the world is she?”
peering about.
Bella flew back into the room. “Grace, Grace,” she cried in a loud voice.
“Here I am,” said Grace miserably, and creeping out from behind the fern. “I was so hot, and it’s
cool out here,” feeling the necessity for words with the audience that now hung on the scene, and
the throng27 of ladies coming and going to the dressing- room, and whose passage they were
blocking up.
Mrs. Drysdale did not vouchsafe28 a word, only gave her one look, stepped back, and called her
daughter in a tone that scared Bella more than all the rest, and the three sailed down-stairs. That is,
the lady sailed; but Bella went with the tread of an angry young lion, while the parlor boarder at
Miss Willoughby’s slipped after as best she could.
The next thing she knew, she was being introduced to a radiant vision, and feeling the warm touch
of a kind hand, and looking into clear brown eyes, and hearing Mrs. Jasper King say, “I am very
glad to see you, Miss Strange.” And then, despite the crowd pressing her, and that Bella was
picking her by the sleeve, the kind hand retained her trembling one, “I want to see more of you.
Come up and speak to me later,” said Mrs. King, and she smiled; and that cut deepest of all.
Grace broke away from her friends, and made a dive for oblivion. Anywhere—perhaps behind a
sheltering palm, till the Drysdales were ready to go home; she could watch and slip out then.
Instead, however, of reaching such a haven29, she ran against a tall young man in the hall, and not
stopping to beg pardon, rushed on.
“Hello!” exclaimed Mr. Charley Swan startled out of his politeness, and following her after the
rebound30, “anything I can do for you, Miss Strange?”
The sound of this name only added to Grace’s terror, and he had some difficulty in gaining her
side.
“If you please, I’d advise you to stop. People don’t run about in this way, you know, at receptions;
knocking folks down, and all that. Now, what’s the trouble?” He stood squarely in front of her,
and between annihilating31 with his looks a curious youth who was taking this all in, and preserving
a calm exterior32 for the rest of the throng surging through the hall, he still gave her a penetrating33
glance.
“Oh, I’m so wretched!” gasped Grace, all caution thrown to the winds, and clasping her hands.
“Not altogether festive,” said Charley Swan, “that’s a fact. Well, now that orchestra’s going to
play, thank Heaven for that. You just take my arm—Miss—Miss Strange, and we’ll get out of this
mob.”
He had to slip Grace’s hand himself within his arm. There it lay, and shook like a leaf. Charley
piloted her into the large conservatory34 opening into the library, and somehow she found herself in
a quiet corner with just room enough for another person on the rattan35 seat.
“Now, that’s what I call comfort,” he said, not looking at her, to give her time to recover herself.
“Mrs. King is a perfect marvel36 in the flower line, and her music. Did you know that all these
orchids37 are given her by Mr. King the father? Gracious! don’t I wish some old gentleman would
take a fancy to me, and pet me with bank-notes and smother38 me in orchids. Look around a bit,
Miss Strange.”
“I can’t,” said Grace in a low voice; “I’ve no right to.”
“Hush! here comes a perfect old harpy for news, I know by her pinched-up nose, and the way she
sets her lorgnette. Hold your tongue, Miss Strange,—beg your pardon, but it’s a desperate case,—
till she gets away. Yes, as I was saying, these orchids are surely the rarest specimens39 I’ve ever
seen.”
The “old harpy” drew near, and levelled her glances behind her lorgnette at Grace. It was the lady
who had asked Bella to introduce her young friend.
“Are you ill, Miss”—she hesitated, and then laughed unpleasantly, “Tupper—or—Strange?” she
asked sweetly, and drawing near till she stood over the two.
Charley Swan surveyed her coolly as Grace stammered40 out something.
“Thanks,” he drawled. “Miss Strange was faint; but as she is a great friend of our family and came
with us, I believe I can take care of her. Anything I can do for you, Miss—” he hesitated, just as
she had done, looking her squarely in the face; so that, without supplying the name, she murmured
something about the beauty of the flowers, and moved off.
“Are you ill, Miss Tupper—or—Strange?” and she laughed unpleasantly.“Old reptile,” said Charley between his teeth.
“Oh, don’t!” protested Grace, with a little shiver; “she’s right. She sees I’m a humbug41.”
Mr. Swan did not seem to be at all surprised at this confession42, but stood up suddenly.
“Look here,” he said; “you keep your seat. Don’t say a word; she won’t come back, and you don’t
know any one else, I’ll be bound. Anyway, don’t talk. I’m going to get you an ice.”
“No, no,” cried Grace, the color flooding her face; “not a single thing; I won’t take it. I can’t.
Why, I’ve come here all dressed up as one of Mrs. Willoughby’s parlor boarders. I’m only Grace
Tupper—you don’t know. It would choke me.”
“It’s pretty bad, I’ll not deny,” said Charley, sitting down; “but if everybody told how they got to
receptions, you wouldn’t be alone in humbuggery43, I’ll venture to say.”
“But I’ve disobeyed my Au—Aunt Ath—Atherton,” said Grace, battling with her sobs44, and
twisting her fingers to keep from crying like a baby, “and—I—hired this bonnet, and—and”—
“And you’ve spoiled yourself with those horrid45 eyebrows,” finished Charley; “and if I were you,
I’d take off that monstrosity of a frizz, and put the thing in your pocket.”
“Oh, I can’t!” gasped Grace, raising her blue eyes in terror to his face; “why, Aunt will know me
then.”
“Is she here?” demanded Charley with a whistle. He couldn’t help it; this last was too much even
for him.
“Yes — that is, she was coming. Oh, dear me! and I suppose I’ll be expelled from Miss
Willoughby’s school, and I’ll go home, and it’ll kill father and mother and Jimmy and the baby. I
never thought of that.”
“At least I believe we’ll save Jimmy and the baby,” said Charley in a tone of encouragement.
“And Mrs. King smi—smiled at me.” Grace broke down, and cried into her handkerchief, so that
Charlie jumped up. “See here,” he said abruptly46, “I want to take you down to see some of the
greenhouses; they’re wonders.” He made her get up, and take his arm again, while he hurried her
off over the grounds. But they hadn’t gone far, when she saw a lady in advance walking with two
gentlemen.
“There’s Aunt!” she cried; and before Charley could say anything, she broke away from him, and
rushed down a side path.
It was worse than useless to follow her, as the attention thus drawn47 to her would be disastrous48. So
Charley sauntered along, first getting a good view of “Aunt” in her lavender bonnet, so he would
know her again, and then hastening to the mansion49, if perchance he might befriend Grace once
more.
“Charley Swan!” exclaimed Bella, running up, “where is—er—Angela Strange?”
“Miss Tupper has just left me,” said Charley gravely, and pausing abruptly.
“Miss Tupper? Oh, my good gracious!” cried Bella with a little laugh, “you mean Miss Strange.”
“She says her name is Tupper,” said Charley. “I really suppose she ought to know.”
“Oh, dear, dear! then she has told you,” said Bella with a long sigh. “Well, I’m glad. Such an
afternoon as I’ve had!”
“See here, Bella,” said Charley. “You get her; she’s run down that path,” nodding in the direction
of Grace’s flight; “and you and I will take her home. She took fright because she saw her aunt. Be
lively now.”
“Dear, dear!” cried Bella in vexation and alarm. “Well, I’m sure, precious little comfort I’ve had at
this reception!”
“Hurry up, now. I’ll go in and make our excuses to Aunt Isabel.”
But when Bella reached a turn in the shrubbery, she found a little heap on the ground, a group of
people bending over it, conspicuous50 in the front being the lady who had asked her to introduce
Grace, now using a lorgnette most vigorously.
What happened next, Bella never could tell. She only knew that the gardeners lifted Grace, and
carried her into one of the back doors, giving her up to the care of the housekeeper51, whom they
called Mrs. Higby, and that some of the ladies and gentlemen followed, proposing various
remedies, the lady with the lorgnette pressing after most assiduously.
“She tripped on her gown and fell just as we were coming along,” said this lady sweetly. “She
seems somehow unused to a long gown. Let me bathe her face.”
“Here comes Miss Phronsie,” said Mrs. Higby. “Now that blessed dear has heard of the accident.
Make way for Miss Phronsie.”
Phronsie came softly up in her beautiful white gown. She laid down her bunch of lilies-of-the-
valley on the table, and bent over the young girl, laying a quiet hand on the cold one. “Poor thing,”
she said, and she dropped a kiss on the white cheek.
To everybody’s surprise, two tears gushed52 out and rolled down the white face. “Leave her to me,”
said Phronsie gently. “Now, if everybody will please go out, Mrs. Higby and I will take care of
her.”
“You would better let me stay,” the lorgnette lady had the temerity53 to say.
“We do not need you,” said Phronsie, coolly regarding her. “Will you please go out with the
others?”
When Charley Swan came stalking in by the back door, it was to see Miss Phronsie Pepper with
her arms around Grace as they sat on the lounge in the housekeeper’s dining-room, and Bella
Drysdale crouched54 on the floor, with her hands clasped in Phronsie’s lap.
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收听单词发音
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1
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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wilted
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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8
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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9
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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10
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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11
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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12
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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13
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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14
octopus
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| n.章鱼 | |
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15
entanglement
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| n.纠缠，牵累 | |
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16
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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17
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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18
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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19
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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20
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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21
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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22
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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23
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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24
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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26
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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27
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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28
vouchsafe
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| v.惠予，准许 | |
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29
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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30
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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31
annihilating
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的现在分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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32
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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33
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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34
conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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35
rattan
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| n.藤条，藤杖 | |
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36
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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37
orchids
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| n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
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38
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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39
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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40
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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42
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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43
humbuggery
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| 欺骗 | |
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44
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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45
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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46
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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47
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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48
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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49
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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50
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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51
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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52
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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53
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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54
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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