CHAPTER XXIX A SHADOW FALLS

Her glorious Golden Circle; this is what the fellow members of her cast were coming to be. How different was the atmosphere of this new setting from that of the old Blackmoore.

“Of course,” she whispered charitably, “the Blackmoore was a horrible shell of a place. And it is easier to be happy and kind in beautiful surroundings. And yet I am sure that some of the most wonderful circles of friendship are found in the west side tenement¹ region.” She was thinking of the blue-eyed Merry’s Golden Circle.

“Surely their lot is hard enough,” she told herself. “And yet they are happy in their own little circles.
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“What a sad place this grim old city would be,” she philosophized, “if it were not for the thousands upon thousands of these little golden circles of friendship we find everywhere! Sometimes it is a group that meets periodically in a pool room or a drug store. There are tiny club rooms everywhere. The people who work long days in downtown stores call one another Mary, Bob and Tom. They, too, are happy as they feel their tiny golden circle bind² them round and round.

“But not one of them all,” she exclaimed loyally, “can boast of a more wonderful circle than ours!”

She thought of the Junior Ballet, those beautiful, talented young women who were being trained as her chorus. Their caresses³ and words of encouragement on that first night were not flattery. Every day, by little acts of kindness and courtesy, they proved this. They also bestowed⁴ their affections upon the old trouper, Dan Baker⁵.

“And how I love them for that!” the little French girl said fervently⁶.
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“And yet, who would not love him? His gray hair, his brooding blue eyes, his gentle, kindly⁷ manner toward all; how could anyone resist them?”

Soon enough she was to learn that there were those who could resist the old trouper’s kindly good nature. She was to learn, too, that this gentle old man held within his heart the courage of a soldier, the will and the power, if need be, to become a martyr⁸ for the right.

It was on that very evening that, as they loafed and talked over tea and toast in the studio, Dan Baker was called to the telephone, and Petite Jeanne heard him use language that she had believed quite foreign to his tongue.

“What’s that?” she heard him say. “A fund for actors? I have subscribed⁹ to the Fund for Aged¹⁰ Actors, yes. Yes. What’s that? Another fund? Five hundred dollars? Impossible!

“You will!” She saw his face turn red. His hands twisted themselves into livid knots. “Say, you! I know who you are now. It’s a racket! You’re trying to shake me down. You’ll never do it! Good-bye!”
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He slammed the receiver down on the hook and stood there until the hot blood drained from his face and left him white as marble. Watching him, Jeanne saw him totter¹¹. Thinking he was about to fall she hurried up to encircle him with her slender arms.

“What is it, old trouper?” she asked gently.

“It—why, it’s nothing.”

“Please don’t lie to me,” she pleaded. “One has no need to lie to a friend.”

“Well, then, if you must have it.” On his face a curious smile formed itself. “There’s a racket been going on in this town for a long time. My old friend Barney Bobson told me about it.

“You see,” he explained, leading her back to the fire, “most actors are nervous, temperamental people. They can’t stand suspense¹², lurking¹³ danger and all that. These crooks¹⁴, knowing that, have taken to demanding sums of money for what they term a good cause: The Actors’ Benefit. They are the only actors benefited, and they are not actors at all, but deep-dyed villains¹⁵. They have reaped a harvest.
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“But here—” He threw back his shock of gray hair. “Here is one golden harvest that will never be reaped. I’d rather die. I’m an old man. What’s a year more or less? How wonderful to go out like a candle; providing you go for a good cause!”

As Jeanne looked at him it seemed to her that his face was lit with a strange glory.

“But what will they do?” she asked. “And why do they come to you before the opera has gone on the stage?”

“They know we have had some advances; can perhaps get others. The opera may be a failure; at least that’s what they think. Now is the time to strike.”

“And if you continue to refuse?”

“I may meet them on a dark night. Or—” His face turned gray. “Or they may kidnap you.”

“Kidnap me?”

“Sometimes villains work through our friends to undo¹⁶ their victims,” he replied wearily. “You must be very careful. Never go out on the street without your capable Florence. And never walk when you can use a cab. So, I think you will be safe.
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“There!” he exclaimed, noting the wrinkles in her brow. “I have got you worrying. Do not think of it again. Those men are cowards. All evil doers are. We will not hear from them again.”

“No, no! Dear old trouper,” Jeanne said in the gentlest of tones, “I was not thinking of myself, but of you.

“However,” she added a moment later, “I shall be careful.”

Florence, in her big-hearted way, had given up her work at the settlement house and, casting her lot with the others, had once more become the little French girl’s stage “mother” and protector. She also became the guardian¹⁷ of his Majesty¹⁸ the God of Fire. And it seemed to her that he was quite as much in need of mothering as his youthful possessor. For was there not a dark-faced gypsy lurking, as she sometimes imagined, in every dark corner, ready at any moment to spring upon her and snatch her strange treasure away?
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She had fitted up a Boston bag with a chain, ending in a lock, run through the leather and clamping the top tight. This she carried when the ancient God of Fire, in pursuance of his art as a silent actor, was obliged to make his way from their room to the theatre and back again. At all other times his Highness continued to remain in hiding in the hole beneath the floor of the room.

At times Florence thought of the red-faced man, their chance enemy of Maxwell Street, the one who on that stormy night had apparently¹⁹ ridden half way across the city in order to take down their street address.

“He’s planning some meanness,” she assured herself. “What it will be only time can tell.”

When Petite Jeanne told her of the threat made to the old trouper over the telephone, she redoubled her vigil. They traveled only in taxicabs, and kept a sharp watch on every occasion. One other change was made by the stout²⁰ young guardian. Whenever the gypsy god went with them she carried beneath her arm a rather heavy, paper-bound package, whose contents were her secret.

1 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。

2 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

3 caresses   

爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A breeze caresses the cheeks. 微风拂面。
• Hetty was not sufficiently familiar with caresses or outward demonstrations of fondness. 海蒂不习惯于拥抱之类过于外露地表现自己的感情。

4 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。

9 subscribed   

v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

11 totter   

v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子

参考例句：

• He tottered to the fridge,got a beer and slumped at the table.他踉跄地走到冰箱前，拿出一瓶啤酒，一屁股坐在桌边。
• The property market is tottering.房地产市场摇摇欲坠。

12 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

13 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

17 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

18 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

19 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。