Tertius C. Marrineal was a man of forty, upon whom the years had laid no bonds. A large fortune, founded by his able but illiterate1 father in the timber stretches of the Great Lakes region, and spread out into various profitable enterprises of mining, oil, cattle, and milling, provided him with a constantly increasing income which, though no amateur at spending, he could never quite overtake. Like many other hustlers of his day and opportunity, old Steve Marrineal had married a shrewd little shopgirl who had come up with him through the struggle by the slow, patient steps described in many of our most improving biographies. As frequently occurs, though it doesn't get into the biographies, she who had played a helpful role in adversity, could not withstand affluence2. She bloated physically3 and mentally, and became the juicy and unsuspecting victim of a horde4 of parasites5 and flatterers who swarmed6 eagerly upon her, as soon as the rough and contemptuous protection of her husband was removed by the hand of a medical prodigy8 who advertised himself as the discoverer of a new and infallible cure for cancer, and whom Mrs. Marrineal, with an instinctive9 leaning toward quackery10, had forced upon her spouse11. Appraising12 his prospective13 widow with an accurate eye, the dying man left a testament14 bestowing15 the bulk of his fortune upon his son, with a few heavy income-producing properties for Mrs. Marrineal. Tertius Marrineal was devoted16 to his mother, with a jealous, pitying, and protective affection. This is popularly approved as the infallible mark of a good man. Tertius Marrineal was not a good man.
Nor was there any particular reason why he should be. Boys who have a business pirate for father, and a weak-minded coddler for mother, seldom grow into prize exhibits. Young Marrineal did rather better than might have been expected, thanks to the presence at his birth-cradle of a robust17 little good-fairy named Self-Preservation, who never gets half the credit given to more picturesque18 but less important gift-bringers. He grew up with an instinctive sense of when to stop. Sometimes he stopped inopportunely. He quit several courses of schooling19 too soon, because he did not like the unyielding regimen of the institutions. When, a little, belated, he contrived20 to gain entrance to a small, old, and fashionable Eastern college, he was able, or perhaps willing, to go only halfway21 through his sophomore22 year. Two years in world travel with a well-accredited tutor seemed to offer an effectual and not too rigorous method of completing the process of mind-formation. Young Marrineal got a great deal out of that trip, though the result should perhaps be set down under the E of Experience rather than that of Erudition. The mentor23 also acquired experience, but it profited him little, as he died within the year after the completion of the trip, his health having been sacrificed in a too conscientious24 endeavor to keep even pace with his pupil. Young Marrineal did not suffer in health. He was a robust specimen25. Besides, there was his good and protective fairy always ready with the flag of warning at the necessary moment.
Launched into the world after the elder Marrineal's death, Tertius interested himself in sundry26 of the businesses left by his father. Though they had been carefully devised and surrounded with safeguards, the heir managed to break into and improve several of them. The result was more money. After having gambled with fair luck, played the profuse27 libertine28 for a time, tried his hand at yachting, horse-racing, big-game hunting, and even politics, he successively tired of the first three, and was beaten at the last, but retained an unsatisfied hunger for it. To celebrate his fortieth birthday, he had bought a house on the eastern vista29 of Central Park, and drifted into a rather indeterminate life, identified with no special purpose, occupation, or set. Large though his fortune was, it was too much disseminated30 and he was too indifferent to it, for him to be conspicuous31 in the money game which constitutes New York's lists of High Endeavor. His reputation, in the city of careless reckonings, was vague, but just a trifle tarnished32; good enough for the casual contacts which had hitherto made up his life, but offering difficulties should he wish to establish himself more firmly.
The best clubs were closed to him; he had reached his possible summit along that path in achieving membership in the recently and superbly established Oligarchs Club, which was sumptuous34, but over-vivid like a new Oriental rug. As to other social advancement35, his record was an obstacle. Not that it was worse than, nor indeed nearly as bad as, that of many an established member of the inner circle; but the test for an outsider seeking admittance is naturally made more severe. Delavan Eyre, for example, an average sinner for one of his opportunities and standing36, had certainly no better a general repute, and latterly a much more dubious37 one than Marrineal. But Eyre "belonged" of right.
As sufficient indication of Marrineal's status, by the way, it may be pointed38 out that, while he knew Eyre quite well, it was highly improbable that he would ever know Mrs. Eyre, or, if he did fortuitously come to know her, that he would be able to improve upon the acquaintance. All this Marrineal himself well understood. But it must not be inferred that he resented it. He was far too much of a philosopher for that. It amused him as offering a new game to be played, more difficult certainly and inferentially more interesting than any of those which had hitherto enlisted40 his somewhat languid efforts. He appreciated also, though with a cynical41 disbelief in the logic42 of the situation, that he must polish up his reputation. He was on the new quest at the time when he overheard Banneker and Edmonds discuss the journalistic situation in Katie's restaurant, and had already determined43 upon his procedure.
Sitting between the two newspaper workers, Marrineal overtopped them both; the supple44 strength of Banneker as well as the gnarly slenderness of Edmonds. He gave an impression of loose-jointed and rather lazy power; also of quiet self-confidence. He began to talk at once, with the easy, drifting commentary of a man who had seen everything, measured much, and liked the glittering show. Both of the others, one his elder, the other his junior, felt the ready charm of the man. Both were content to listen, waiting for the clue to his intrusion which he had contrived to make not only inoffensive, but seemingly a casual act of good-fellowship. The clue was not afforded, but presently some shrewd opinion of the newcomer upon the local political situation set them both to discussion. Quite insensibly Marrineal withdrew from the conversation, sipping45 his coffee and listening with an effect of effortless amenity46.
"If we had a newspaper here that wasn't tied hard and fast, politically!" cried Edmonds presently.
Marrineal fingered a specially47 fragrant48 cigar. "But a newspaper must be tied to something, mustn't it?" he queried49. "Otherwise it drifts."
"Why not to its reading public?" suggested Banneker.
"That's an idea. But can you tie to a public? Isn't the public itself adrift, like seaweed?"
"Blown about by the gales51 of politics." Edmonds accepted the figure. "Well, the newspaper ought to be the gale50."
"I gather that you gentlemen do not think highly of present journalistic conditions."
"You overheard our discussion," said Banneker bluntly.
Marrineal assented52. "It did not seem private. Katie's is a sort of free forum53. That is why I come. I like to listen. Besides, it touched me pretty closely at one or two points."
The two others turned toward him, waiting. He nodded, and took upon himself an air of well-pondered frankness. "I expect to take a more active part in journalism54 from now on."
Edmonds followed up the significant phrase. "_More_ active? You have newspaper interests?"
"Practically speaking, I own The Patriot55. What do you gentlemen think of it?"
"Who reads The Patriot?" inquired Banneker. He was unprepared for the swift and surprised flash from Marrineal's fine eyes, as if some profoundly analytical56 or revealing suggestion had been made.
"Forty thousand men, women, and children. Not half enough, of course."
"Not a tenth enough, I would say, if I owned the paper. Nor are they the right kind of readers."
"How would you define them, then?" asked Marrineal, still in that smooth voice.
"Small clerks. Race-track followers57. People living in that class of tenements58 which call themselves flats. The more intelligent servants. Totally unimportant people."
"Therefore a totally unimportant paper?"
"A paper can be important only through what it makes people believe and think. What possible difference can it make what The Patriot's readers think?"
"If there were enough of them?" suggested Marrineal.
"No. Besides, you'll never get enough of them, in the way you're running the paper now."
"Don't say 'you,' please," besought59 Marrineal. "I've been keeping my hands off. Watching."
"And now you're going to take hold?" queried Edmonds. "Personally?"
"As soon as I can find my formula--and the men to help me work it out," he added, after a pause so nicely emphasized that both his hearers had a simultaneous inkling of the reason for his being at their table.
"I've seen newspapers run on formula before," muttered Edmonds.
"Onto the rocks?"
"Invariably."
"That's because the formulas were amateur formulas, isn't it?"
The veteran of a quarter-century turned a mildly quizzical smile upon the adventurer into risky60 waters. "Well?" he jerked out.
Marrineal's face was quite serious as he took up the obvious implication. "Where is the dividing line between professional and amateur in the newspaper business? You gentlemen will bear with me if I go into personal details a little. I suppose I've always had the newspaper idea. When I was a youngster of twenty, I tried myself out. Got a job as a reporter in St. Louis. It was just a callow escapade. And of course it couldn't last. I was an undisciplined sort of cub61. They fired me; quite right, too. But I did learn a little. And at least it educated me in one thing; how to read newspapers." He laughed lightly. "Perhaps that is as nearly thorough an education as I've ever had in anything."
"It's rather an art, newspaper reading," observed Banneker.
"You've tried it, I gather. So have I, rather exhaustively in the last year. I've been reading every paper in New York every day and all through."
"That's a job for an able-minded man," commented Edmonds, looking at him with a new respect.
"It put eye-glasses on me. But if it dimmed my eyes, it enlightened my mind. The combined newspapers of New York do not cover the available field. They do not begin to cover it.... Did you say something, Mr. Banneker?"
"Did I? I didn't mean to," said Banneker hastily. "I'm a good deal interested."
"I'm glad to hear that," returned Marrineal with gravity. "After I'd made my estimate of what the newspapers publish and fail to publish, I canvassed62 the circulation lists and news-stands and made another discovery. There is a large potential reading public not yet tied up to any newspaper. It's waiting for the right paper."
"The imputation63 of amateurishness64 is retracted65, with apologies," announced Russell Edmonds.
"Accepted. Though there are amateur areas yet in my mind. I bought The Patriot."
"Does that represent one of the areas?"
"It represents nothing, thus far, except what it has always represented, a hand-to-mouth policy and a financial deficit66. But what's wrong with it from your point of view?"
"Cheap and nasty," was the veteran's succinct67 criticism.
"Any more so than The Sphere? The Sphere's successful."
"Because it plays fair with the main facts. It may gloss68 'em up with a touch of sensationalism, like the oil on a barkeep's hair. But it does go after the facts, and pretty generally it presents 'em as found. The Patriot is fakey; clumsy at it, too. Any man arrested with more than five dollars in his pocket is a millionaire clubman. If Bridget O'Flaherty jumps off Brooklyn Bridge, she becomes a prominent society woman with picture (hers or somebody else's) in The Patriot. And the cheapest little chorus-girl tart69, who blackmails70 a broker's clerk with a breach71 of promise, gets herself called a 'distinguished72 actress' and him a 'well-known financier.' Why steal the Police Gazette's rouge73 and lip-stick?"
"Because it's what the readers want."
"All right. But at least give it to 'em well done. And cut out the printing of wild rumors74 as news. That doesn't get a paper anything in the long run. None of your readers have any faith in The Patriot."
"Does any paper have the confidence of its public?" returned Marrineal.
Touched upon a sensitive spot, Edmonds cursed briefly75. "If it hasn't, it's because the public has a dam'-fool fad76 for pretending it doesn't believe what it reads. Of course it believes it! Otherwise, how would it know who's president, or that the market sagged77 yesterday? This 'I-never-believe-what-I-read-in-the-papers' guff makes me sick to the tips of my toes."
"Only the man who knows newspapers from the inside can disbelieve them scientifically," put in Banneker with a smile.
"What would _you_ do with The Patriot if you had it?" interrogated78 the proprietor79.
"I? Oh, I'd try to make it interesting," was the prompt and simple reply.
"How, interesting?"
For his own purposes Banneker chose to misinterpret the purport80 of the question. "So interesting that half a million people would have to read it."
"You think you could do that?"
"I think it could be done."
"Will you come with me and try it?"
"You're offering me a place on The Patriot staff?"
"Precisely81. Mr. Edmonds is joining."
That gentleman breathed a small cloud of blue vapor82 into the air together with the dispassionate query83: "Is that so? Hadn't heard of it."
"My principle in business is to determine whether I want a man or an article, and then bid a price that can't be rejected."
"Sound," admitted the veteran. "Perfectly84 sound. But I'm not specially in need of money."
"I'm offering you opportunity."
"What kind?"
"Opportunity to handle big stories according to the facts as you see them. Not as you had to handle the Sippiac strike story."
Edmonds set down his pipe. "What did you think of that?"
"A masterpiece of hinting and suggestion and information for those who can read between the lines. Not many have the eye for it. With me you won't have to write between the lines. Not on labor85 or political questions, anyway. You're a Socialist86, aren't you?"
"Yes. You're not going to make The Patriot a Socialist paper, are you?"
"Some people might call it that. I'm going to make it a popular paper. It's going to be for the many against the few. How are you going to bring about Socialism?"
"Education."
"Exactly! What better chance could you ask? A paper devoted to the interests of the masses, and willing to print facts. I want you to do the same sort of thing that you've been doing for The Courier; a job of handling the big, general stories. You'll be responsible to me alone. The salary will be a third higher than you are now getting. Think it over."
"I've thought. I'm bought," said Russell Edmonds. He resumed his pipe.
"And you, Mr. Banneker?"
"I'm not a Socialist, in the party sense. Besides a Socialist paper in New York has no chance of big circulation."
"Oh, The Patriot isn't going to tag itself. Politically it will be independent. Its policy will be socialistic only in that it will be for labor rather than capital and for the under dog as against the upper dog. It certainly won't tie up to the Socialist Party or advocate its principles. It's for fair play and education."
"What's your purpose?" demanded Banneker. "Money?"
"I've a very comfortable income," replied Marrineal modestly.
"Political advancement? Influence? Want to pull the wires?" persisted the other.
"The game. I'm out of employment and tired of it."
"And you think I could be of use in your plan? But you don't know much about me."
Marrineal murmured smilingly something indefinite but complimentary87 as to Banneker's reputation on Park Row; but this was by no means a fair index to what he knew about Banneker.
Indeed, that prematurely88 successful reporter would have been surprised at the extent to which Marrineal's private investigations89 had gone. Not only was the purchaser of The Patriot apprised90 of Banneker's professional career in detail, but he knew of his former employment, and also of his membership in The Retreat, which he regarded with perplexity and admiration91. Marrineal was skilled at ascertainments. He made a specialty92 of knowing all about people.
"With Mr. Edmonds on roving commission and you to handle the big local stuff," he pursued, "we should have the nucleus93 of a news organization. Like him, you would be responsible to me alone. And, of course, it would be made worth your while. What do you think? Will you join us?"
"No."
"No?" There was no slightest hint of disappointment, surprise, or resentment94 in Marrineal's manner. "Do you mind giving me the reason?"
"I don't care to be a reporter on The Patriot."
"Well, this would hardly be reporting. At least, a very specialized95 and important type."
"For that matter, I don't care to be a reporter on any paper much longer. Besides, you need me--or some one--in another department more than in the news section."
"You don't like the editorials," was the inference which Marrineal drew from this, and correctly.
"I think they're solemn flapdoodle."
"So do I. Occasionally I write them myself and send them in quietly. It isn't known yet that I own the property; so I don't appear at the office. Mine are quite as solemn and flapdoodlish as the others. To which quality do you object the most?"
"Solemnity. It's the blight96 of editorial expression. All the papers suffer from it."
"Then you wouldn't have the editorial page modeled on that of any of our contemporaries."
"No. I'd try to make it interesting. There isn't a page in town that the average man-in-the-street-car can read without a painful effort at thought."
"Editorials are supposed to be for thinking men," put in Edmonds.
"Make the thinking easy, then. Don't make it hard, with heavy words and a didactic manner. Talk to 'em. You're trying to reach for their brain mechanism97. Wrong idea. Reach for their coat-lapels. Hook a finger in the buttonholes and tell 'em something about common things they never stopped to consider. Our editorializers are always tucking their hands into their oratorical98 bosoms99 and discoursing100 in a sonorous101 voice about freight differentials as an element in stabilizing102 the market. How does that affect Jim Jones? Why, Jim turns to the sporting page. But if you say to him casually103, in print, 'Do you realize that every woman who brings a child into the world shows more heroism104 than Teddy Roosevelt when he charged up San Juan Hill?'--what'll Jim do about that? Turn to the sporting page just the same, maybe. But after he's absorbed the ball-scores, he'll turn back to the editorial. You see, he never thought about Mrs. Jones just that way before."
"Sentimentalism," observed Marrineal. "Not altogether original, either." But he did not speak as a critic. Rather as one pondering upon new vistas106 of thought.
"Why shouldn't an editorial be sentimental105 about something besides the starry107 flag and the boyhood of its party's candidate? Original? I shouldn't worry overmuch about that. All my time would be occupied in trying to be interesting. After I got 'em interested, I could perhaps be instructive. Very cautiously, though. But always man to man: that's the editorial trick, as I see it. Not preacher to congregation."
"Where are your editorials, son?" asked the veteran Edmonds abruptly109.
"Locked up." Banneker tapped his forehead.
"In the place of their birth?" smiled Marrineal.
"Oh, I don't want too much credit for my idea. A fair share of it belongs to a bald-headed and snarling110 old nondescript whom I met one day in the Public Library and shall probably never meet again anywhere. Somebody had pointed me out--it was after that shooting mess--and the old fellow came up to me and growled111 out, 'Employed on a newspaper?' I admitted it. 'What do you know about news?' was his next question. Well, I'm always open to any fresh slants113 on the business, so I asked him politely what he knew. He put on an expression like a prayerful owl112 and said, 'Suppose I came into your office with the information that a destructive plague was killing114 off the earthworms?' Naturally, I thought one of the librarians had put up a joke on me; so I said, 'Refer you to the Anglers' Department of the All-Outdoors Monthly.' 'That is as far as you could see into the information?' he said severely115. I had to confess that it was. 'And you are supposed to be a judge of news!' he snarled116. Well, he seemed so upset about it that I tried to be soothing117 by asking him if there was an earthworm pestilence118 in progress. 'No,' answers he, 'and lucky for you. For if the earthworms all died, so would you and the rest of us, including your accursed brood of newspapers, which would be some compensation. Read Darwin,' croaks119 the old bird, and calls me a callow fool, and flits."
"Who was he? Did you find out?" asked Edmonds.
"Some scientific grubber from the museum. I looked up the Darwin book and decided120 that he was right; not Darwin; the old croaker."
"Still, that was not precisely news," pointed out Marrineal.
"Theoretical news. I'm not sure," pursued Banneker, struck with a new idea, "that that isn't the formula for editorial writing; theoretical news. Supplemented by analytical news, of course."
"Philosophizing over Darwin and dead worms would hardly inspire half a million readers to follow your editorial output, day after day." Marrineal delivered his opinion suavely121.
"Not if written in the usual style, suggesting a conscientious rehash of the encyclopedia122. But suppose it were done differently, and with a caption123 like this, 'Why Does an Angle-Worm Wriggle124?' Set that in irregular type that weaved and squirmed across the column, and Jones-in-the-street-car would at least look at it."
"Good Heavens! I should think so," assented Marrineal. "And call for the police."
"Or, if that is too sensational," continued Banneker, warming up, "we could head it 'Charles Darwin Would Never Go Fishing, Because' and a heavy dash after 'because.'"
"Fakey," pronounced Edmonds. "Still, I don't know that there's any harm in that kind of faking."
"Merely a trick to catch the eye. I don't know whether Darwin ever went fishing or not. Probably he did if only for his researches. But, in essentials, I'm giving 'em a truth; a big truth."
"What?" inquired Marrineal.
"Solemn sermonizers would call it the inter-relations of life or something to that effect. What I'm after is to coax125 'em to think a little."
"About angle-worms?"
"About anything. It's the process I'm after. Only let me start them thinking about evolution and pretty soon I'll have them thinking about the relations of modern society--and thinking my way. Five hundred thousand people, all thinking in the way we told 'em to think--"
"Could elect Willis Enderby mayor of New York," interjected the practical Edmonds.
Marrineal, whose face had become quite expressionless, gave a little start. "Who?" he said.
"Judge Enderby of the Law Enforcement Society."
"Oh! Yes. Of course. Or any one else."
"Or any one else," agreed Banneker, catching126 a quick, informed glance from Edmonds.
"Frankly127, your scheme seems a little fantastic to me," pronounced the owner of The Patriot. "But that may be only because it's new. It might be worth trying out." He reverted128 again to his expressionless reverie, out of which exhaled129 the observation: "I wonder what the present editorial staff could do with that."
"Am I to infer that you intend to help yourself to my idea?" inquired Banneker.
Mr. Marrineal aroused himself hastily from his editorial dream. Though by no means a fearful person, he was uncomfortably sensible of a menace, imminent130 and formidable. It was not in Banneker's placid131 face, nor in the unaltered tone wherein the pertinent132 query was couched. Nevertheless, the object of that query became aware that young Banneker was not a person to be trifled with. He now went on, equably to say:
"Because, if you do, it might be as well to give me the chance of developing it."
Possibly the "Of course," with which Marrineal responded to this reasonable suggestion, was just a little bit over-prompt.
"Give me ten days. No: two weeks, and I'll be ready to show my wares133. Where can I find you?"
Marrineal gave a telephone address. "It isn't in the book," he said. "It will always get me between 9 A.M. and noon."
They talked of matters journalistic, Marrineal lapsing134 tactfully into the role of attentive135 listener again, until there appeared in the lower room a dark-faced man of thirty-odd, spruce and alert, who, upon sighting them, came confidently forward. Marrineal ordered him a drink and presented him to the two journalists as Mr. Ely Ives. As Mr. Ives, it appeared, was in the secret of Marrineal's journalistic connection, the talk was resumed, becoming more general. Presently Marrineal consulted his watch.
"You're not going up to the After-Theater Club to-night?" he asked Banneker, and, on receiving a negative reply, made his adieus and went out with Ives to his waiting car.
Banneker and Edmonds looked at each other. "Don't both speak at once," chuckled136 Banneker. "What do _you_?"
"Think of him? He's a smooth article. Very smooth. But I've seen 'em before that were straight as well as smooth."
"Bland137," said Banneker. "Bland with a surpassing blandness138. A blandness amounting to blandeur, as grandness in the highest degree becomes grandeur139. I like that word," Banneker chucklingly approved himself. "But I wouldn't use it in an editorial, one of those editorials that our genial140 friend was going to appropriate so coolly. A touch of the pirate in him, I think. I like him."
"Yes; you have to. He makes himself likable. What do you figure Mr. Ely Ives to be?"
"Henchman."
"Do you know him?"
"I've seen him uptown, once or twice. He has some reputation as an amateur juggler141."
"I know him, too. But he doesn't remember me or he wouldn't have been so pleasant," said the veteran, committing two errors in one sentence, for Ely Ives had remembered him perfectly, and in any case would never have exhibited any unnecessary rancor142 in his carefully trained manner. "Wrote a story about him once. He's quite a betting man; some say a sure-thing bettor. Several years ago Bob Wessington was giving one of his famous booze parties on board his yacht 'The Water-Wain,' and this chap was in on it somehow. When everybody was tanked up, they got to doing stunts143 and he bet a thousand with Wessington he could swarm7 up the backstay to the masthead. Two others wished in for a thousand apiece, and he cleaned up the lot. It cut his hands up pretty bad, but that was cheap at three thousand. Afterwards it turned out that he'd been practicing that very climb in heavy gloves, down in South Brooklyn. So I wrote the story. He came back with a threat of a libel suit. Fool bluff144, for it wasn't libelous145. But I looked up his record a little and found he was an ex-medical student, from Chicago, where he'd been on The Chronicle for a while. He quit that to become a press-agent for a group of oil-gamblers, and must have done some good selling himself, for he had money when he landed here. To the best of my knowledge he is now a sort of lookout146 for the Combination Traction147 people, with some connection with the City Illuminating148 Company on the side. It's a secret sort of connection."
Banneker made the world-wide symbolistic finger-shuffle of money-handling. "Legislative149?" he inquired.
"Possibly. But it's more keeping a watch on publicity150 and politics. He gives himself out as a man-about-town, and is supposed to make a good thing out of the market. Maybe he does, though I notice that generally the market makes a good thing out of the smart guy who tries to beat it."
"Not a particularly desirable person for a colleague."
"I doubt if he'd be Marrineal's colleague exactly. The inside of the newspaper isn't his game. More likely he's making himself attractive and useful to Marrineal just to find out what he's up to with his paper."
"I'll show him something interesting if I get hold of that editorial page."
"Son, are you up to it, d'you think?" asked Edmonds with affectionate solicitude151. "It takes a lot of experience to handle policies."
"I'll have you with me, won't I, Pop? Besides, if my little scheme works, I'm going out to gather experience like a bee after honey."
"We'll make a queer team, we three," mused39 the veteran, shaking his bony head, as he leaned forward over his tiny pipe. His protuberant152 forehead seemed to overhang the idea protectively. Or perhaps threateningly. "None of us looks at a newspaper from the same angle or as the same kind of a machine as the others view it."
"Never mind our views. They'll assimilate. What about his?"
"Ah! I wish I knew. But he wants something. Like all of us." A shade passed across the clearly modeled severity of the face. Edmonds sighed. "I don't know but that I'm too old for this kind of experiment. Yet I've fallen for the temptation."
"Pop," said Banneker with abrupt108 irrelevance153, "there's a line from Emerson that you make me think of when you look like that. 'His sad lucidity154 of soul.'"
"Do I? But it isn't Emerson. It's Matthew Arnold."
"Where do you find time for poetry, you old wheelhorse! Never mind; you ought to be painted as the living embodiment of that line."
"Or as a wooden automaton155, jumping at the end of a special wire from 'our correspondent.' Ban, can you see Marrineal's hand on a wire?"
"If it's plain enough to be visible, I'm underestimating his tact33. I'd like to have a lock of his hair to dream on to-night. I'm off to think things over, Pop. Good-night."
Banneker walked uptown, through dimmed streets humming with the harmonic echoes of the city's never-ending life, faint and delicate. He stopped at Sherry's, and at a small table in the side room sat down with a bottle of ale, a cigarette, and some stationery156. When he rose, it was to mail a letter. That done, he went back to his costly157 little apartment upon which the rent would be due in a few days. He had the cash in hand: that was all right. As for the next month, he wondered humorously whether he would have the wherewithal to meet the recurring158 bill, not to mention others. However, the consideration was not weighty enough to keep him sleepless159.
Custom kindly160 provides its own patent shock-absorbers to all the various organisms of nature; otherwise the whole regime would perish. Necessarily a newspaper is among the best protected of organisms against shock: it deals, as one might say, largely in shocks, and its hand is subdued161 to what it works in. Nevertheless, on the following noon The Ledger162 office was agitated163 as it hardly would have been had Brooklyn Bridge fallen into the East River, or the stalest mummy in the Natural History Museum shown stirrings of life. A word was passing from eager mouth to incredulous ear.
Banneker had resigned.
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illiterate
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affluence
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physically
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horde
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parasites
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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7
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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8
prodigy
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| n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆 | |
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9
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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10
quackery
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| n.庸医的医术，骗子的行为 | |
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11
spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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12
appraising
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| v.估价( appraise的现在分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
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13
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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14
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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15
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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16
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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18
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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19
schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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20
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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21
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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22
sophomore
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| n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的 | |
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23
mentor
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| n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导 | |
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24
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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25
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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26
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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27
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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28
libertine
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| n.淫荡者；adj.放荡的，自由思想的 | |
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29
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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30
disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
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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32
tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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33
tact
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| n.机敏，圆滑，得体 | |
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34
sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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35
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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36
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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38
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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39
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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40
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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41
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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42
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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43
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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44
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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45
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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46
amenity
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| n.pl.生活福利设施，文娱康乐场所；（不可数）愉快，适意 | |
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47
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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48
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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49
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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50
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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51
gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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52
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
forum
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| n.论坛，讨论会 | |
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54
journalism
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| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
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55
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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56
analytical
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| adj.分析的；用分析法的 | |
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57
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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58
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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59
besought
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| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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60
risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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61
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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62
canvassed
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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63
imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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64
amateurishness
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| n.amateurish（业余的）的变形 | |
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65
retracted
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| v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回 | |
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66
deficit
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| n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差 | |
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67
succinct
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| adj.简明的，简洁的 | |
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68
gloss
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| n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰 | |
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69
tart
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| adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇 | |
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70
blackmails
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| 胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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72
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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73
rouge
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| n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红 | |
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74
rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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75
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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76
fad
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| n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好 | |
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77
sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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78
interrogated
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| v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询 | |
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79
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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80
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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81
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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82
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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83
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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84
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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85
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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86
socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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87
complimentary
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| adj.赠送的，免费的，赞美的，恭维的 | |
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88
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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89
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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90
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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91
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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92
specialty
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| n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长 | |
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93
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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94
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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95
specialized
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| adj.专门的，专业化的 | |
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96
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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97
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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98
oratorical
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| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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99
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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100
discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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101
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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102
stabilizing
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| n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 ) | |
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103
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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104
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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105
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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106
vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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107
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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108
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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109
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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110
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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111
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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112
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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113
slants
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| （使）倾斜，歪斜( slant的第三人称单数 )； 有倾向性地编写或报道 | |
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114
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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115
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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116
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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117
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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118
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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119
croaks
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的第三人称单数 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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120
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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121
suavely
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122
encyclopedia
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| n.百科全书 | |
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123
caption
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| n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明 | |
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124
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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125
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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126
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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127
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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128
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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129
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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130
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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131
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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133
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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134
lapsing
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| v.退步( lapse的现在分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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135
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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137
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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blandness
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| n.温柔，爽快 | |
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139
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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juggler
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| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
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142
rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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143
stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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144
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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libelous
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| adj.败坏名誉的，诽谤性的 | |
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lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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147
traction
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| n.牵引；附着摩擦力 | |
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148
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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149
legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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150
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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151
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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152
protuberant
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| adj.突出的，隆起的 | |
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153
irrelevance
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| n.无关紧要；不相关；不相关的事物 | |
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154
lucidity
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| n.明朗，清晰，透明 | |
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155
automaton
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| n.自动机器，机器人 | |
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156
stationery
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| n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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158
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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161
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ledger
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| n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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