Chapter 2

Late that afternoon he returned to Jack¹ Berners’ waiting rooms. He had an idea about a man who meets a girl in an office and he thinks she’s a stenographer² but she turns out to be a writer. He engages her as a stenographer, though, and they start for the South Seas. It was a beginning, it was something to tell Jack, he thought — and, picturing Pricilla Smith, he refurbished some old business he hadn’t seen used for years.

He became quite excited about it — felt quite young for a moment and walked up and down the waiting room mentally rehearsing the first sequence. ‘So here we have a situation like It Happened One Night — only new. I see Hedy Lamarr —’

Oh, he knew how to talk to these boys if he could get to them, with something to say.

‘Mr Berners still busy?’ he asked for the fifth time.

‘Oh, yes, Mr Hobby. Mr Bill Costello and Mr Bach are in there.’

He thought quickly. It was half-past five. In the old days he had just busted³ in sometimes and sold an idea, an idea good for a couple of grand because it was just the moment when they were very tired of what they were doing at present.

He walked innocently out and to another door in the hall. He knew it led through a bathroom right in to Jack Berners’ office. Drawing a quick breath he plunged⁴ . . .

‘ . . . So that’s the notion,’ he concluded after five minutes. ‘It’s just a flash — nothing really worked out, but you could give me an office and a girl and I could have something on paper for you in three days.’

Berners, Costello and Bach did not even have to look at each other. Berners spoke⁵ for them all as he said firmly and gently:

‘That’s no idea, Pat. I can’t put you on salary for that.’

‘Why don’t you work it out further by yourself,’ suggested Bill Costello. ‘And then let’s see it. We’re looking for ideas — especially about the war.’

‘A man can think better on salary,’ said Pat.

There was silence. Costello and Bach had drunk with him, played poker⁶ with him, gone to the races with him. They’d honestly be glad to see him placed.

‘The war, eh,’ he said gloomily. ‘Everything is war now, no matter how many credits a man has. Do you know what it makes me think of? It makes me think of a well-known painter in the discard. It’s war time and he’s useless — just a man in the way.’ He warmed to his conception of himself, ‘— but all the time they’re carting away his own paintings as the most valuable thing worth saving. And they won’t even let me help. That’s what it reminds me of.’

There was again silence for a moment.

‘That isn’t a bad idea,’ said Bach thoughtfully. He turned to the others. ‘You know? In itself?’

Bill Costello nodded

‘Not bad at all. And I know where we could spot it. Right at the end of the fourth sequence. We just change old Ames to a painter.’

Presently they talked money.

‘I’ll give you two weeks on it,’ said Berners to Pat. ‘At two-fifty.’

‘Two-fifty!’ objected Pat. ‘Say there was one time you paid me ten times that!’

‘That was ten years ago,’ Jack reminded him. ‘Sorry. Best we can do now.’

‘You make me feel like that old painter —’

‘Don’t oversell it,’ said Jack, rising and smiling. ‘You’re on the payroll⁷.’

Pat went out with a quick step and confidence in his eyes. Half a grand — that would take the pressure off for a month and you could often stretch two weeks into three — sometimes four. He left the studio proudly through the front entrance, stopping at the liquor store for a half-pint to take back to his room.

By seven o’clock things were even better. Santa Anita tomorrow, if he could get an advance. And tonight — something festive⁸ ought to be done tonight. With a sudden rush of pleasure he went down to the phone in the lower hall, called the studio and asked for Miss Pricilla Smith’s number. He hadn’t met anyone so pretty for years . . .

In her apartment Pricilla Smith spoke rather firmly into the phone.

‘I’m awfully⁹ sorry,’ she said, ‘but I couldn’t possibly . . . No — and I’m tied up all the rest of the week.’

As she hung up, Jack Berners spoke from the couch.

‘Who was it?’

‘Oh, some man who came in the office,’ she laughed, ‘and told me never to read the story I was working on.’

‘Shall I believe you?’

‘You certainly shall. I’ll even think of his name in a minute. But first I want to tell you about an idea I had this morning. I was looking at a photo in a magazine where they were packing up some works of art in the Tate Gallery in London. And I thought —’

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 stenographer   

n.速记员

参考例句：

• The police stenographer recorded the man's confession word by word. 警察局速记员逐字记下了那个人的供词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A qualified stenographer is not necessarily a competent secretary. 一个合格的速记员不一定就是个称职的秘书。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

4 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

5 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。

6 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

8 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

9 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。