THE JAZZ PARTY.“What do you think we ought to wear, Marj?” inquired Lily, as she began to dress for the evening. “Dance frocks?”
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Marjorie thoughtfully. “We want to look like chaperones, so we ought to appear matronly. Let’s wear dark dresses, and put nets over our hair.”
“You’ll be suggesting that we borrow horn-rimmed spectacles next,” joked the other.
“Anyway, I believe that I’ll put on my dark blue velvet1. It has chiffon sleeves, you know, so it would pass for an evening dress. We’re going to drive, aren’t we?”
“Certainly. Which car?”
“Oh, use mine; you don’t care, do you, Lil?”
“It’s immaterial to me; mine’s put away, anyhow.”
They had plenty of time after supper, so they drove leisurely2 into the city, arriving at the settlement at exactly half past eight. Harsh sounds from a jazz orchestra greeted them from the basement windows as they stopped at the curb3. Evidently the dance had begun.
“Better lock your car securely,” Lily warned her companion. “The neighborhood doesn’t seem to be any too good.”
“No, it isn’t,” agreed Marjorie, glancing around at the disreputable looking houses on either side of the street. “John was furious when I told him where we were coming.”
“So was Dick. He said they’d be along before eleven o’clock, as I suggested, because he’d be worried all evening. Aren’t men silly?”
“Sometimes,” Marjorie admitted.
They opened the heavy door of the settlement, and passed down the hall, glancing to right and left at the empty rooms and offices. Concluding that every one must be at the party in the basement, they descended4 the stairway which led to the gymnasium.
Never, in all their boarding school or college days, had they seen a hall so elaborately, so profusely5 decorated. Great sheaves of wheat were banked all around the room; enormous branches of trees covered the apparatus6; paper streamers in every color of the rainbow hung from the lights, and confetti was scattered7 around the floor near the chairs, and upon the seats. The room appeared small, although in reality it was the standard size for a gymnasium.
“It looks crowded,” remarked Marjorie; “and yet when you count them there really aren’t many couples dancing.”
Keeping close to the wall and carefully steering26 their way between the dancers, the girls reached some seats in the corner.
“Such elaborate dresses!” Lily exclaimed, after a hasty glance from one girl to another. “Marj, I don’t believe that one of them has sleeves in her gown!”
“The girls certainly aren’t poor,” returned Marjorie, thinking in amusement of the conversation she had had with Daisy that afternoon. “And they seem to know all the latest tricks in dancing.”
“They need spanking8!” denounced her companion irritably9. “Look at the way that girl is resting her head—right on her partner’s shoulder! Dare me to stop her and advise her that if she’s tired she better go to bed?”
“Oh, Lil, do be careful!” warned Marjorie, fearful lest she might antagonize the girls at the very beginning. “Of course, they haven’t had any home-training, and you can’t expect them to have our standards.”
“Well, they couldn’t possibly hear me above all this awful noise,” returned Lily. “Did you ever hear such an apology for music in your life?”
Marjorie, however, was not interested in the orchestra; she was there to chaperone the girls, and if she failed in doing that, at least to turn in a reliable report upon the evening’s entertainment. She did not mean to waste a minute; if possible she intended to size up the character of every girl present.
With a loud clang the jazz piece abruptly10 came to27 an end, the dancers stopped impatiently and began to applaud uproariously. During the brief pause before the encore, Mrs. Morgan, a stout11, motherly sort of woman, edged her way towards the visitors.
“How do you do, Ladies!” she said breezily. “Miss Winthrop’s friends, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” replied Marjorie, rising. “Miss Gravers asked us to come to help you chaperone the dance.”
“Well, we’re only too glad to have you,” beamed Mrs. Morgan, “and I hope you’ll have a good time, for I can’t see as these girls need much chaperoning. They’re pretty well behaved, as girls go, and I like to see everybody enjoying themselves.”
“I’m sure we will,” murmured Marjorie graciously deciding, however, that Mrs. Morgan was as near-sighted mentally as her glasses proved her to be physically12.
“Come into the office and take off your things,” she urged. “Then you can go back and dance a bit yourselves.”
“Oh, we really don’t care to dance,” answered Lily, a trifle scornfully. “We’re here to observe. But it will be nice to get our things off. It’s rather warm in there.”
Marjorie hoped that Mrs. Morgan would return to the hall with them and introduce them to the girls; such a formality would have rendered the situation less awkward. But she conducted them only as far as the doorway13, excusing herself on the plea of duties in the kitchen.
As Marjorie and Lily re-entered the room, they felt every eye turned piercingly towards them. The first intermission was on, and the hall seemed strangely quiet after so much noise. The couples arranged singly, or in groups of twos and threes about the walls, abruptly stopped talking, and blandly14 stared at the newcomers. Marjorie felt as if she had never been so embarrassed in all her life. In her confusion she turned to Lily.
“Let’s go over to that group and try to get acquainted,” she whispered.
“All right,” agreed Lily indifferently.
As they crossed the floor they heard, to their relief, the buzz of conversation begin again, and Marjorie made a valiant15 effort to get herself in hand. To her chagrin16, however, as she approached the group in question, a coarse laugh broke out among the young men.
“Here come the Janes for some dances!” muttered an eighteen-year-old “sport” of the neighborhood, in an audible undertone. “Look out, Aggie17, you’re goin’ a lose your little Charlie!”
Instead of admonishing18 the youth for his rudeness, as Marjorie hoped she would, the young lady only giggled19.
“Classmate of your grandmother’s, Charlie!” tittered another boy, breaking into hilarious20 laughter at his own exquisite21 wit.
Covered with confusion, Marjorie slipped her arm through Lily’s and staggered to a seat at the side. It was not until the music had started again that she regained22 courage to look about her.
“Don’t take it so hard, Marj!” pleaded Lily. “They don’t faze me—only fill me with disgust.”
“Poor Daisy—it certainly is a lucky thing she didn’t come; she’s so sensitive that she would be in tears by now! But Lil, please don’t say ‘I told you so!’” begged Marjorie penitently23. “You were right—I admit it now—a class election is infinitely24 preferable to this!”
Her roommate smiled indulgently; Marjorie was always so willing to admit it when she was wrong.
“But what are we going to do—all evening?” she inquired. “It’s silly to sit here uselessly, and evidently these young flappers have no intention of speaking to us.”
“I’m going to stay here until I have watched every single girl through a whole dance. During each intermission I’m going out to make my notes.”
“Miss Winthrop surely will get a thorough report,” she remarked. “Which girl are you going to begin with?”
“The one they called Aggie. I’m trying to think of a word to describe her. ‘Mushy’ doesn’t seem soft enough!”
“You’re cruel, Marj! How old do you think she is?”
“About sixteen. I don’t think any girl on the floor is more than seventeen.”
She was quiet for a few minutes, and Lily watched her shift her attention to another dancer. Evidently she felt that she had succeeded in summing up Aggie’s character to perfection.
Their entrances and exits were not especially noticed after that, and Marjorie began to feel at the end of the sixth dance that their presence had been entirely29 forgotten, when a conversation floated towards her ears which changed her opinion. She and Lily were seated on one side of a great sheaf of wheat; evidently directly behind it, two girls were consulting each other in regard to the identity of their visitors.
“Who are those dames30, anyway?” demanded one voice, in a hoarse31 whisper. “They’ve got their noive—pullin’ the high spy act on us!”
“I’ll bet they’re here to tattle to Miss Winthrop, if they find any dirt,” returned the other. “Queenie, you’re the boss, why don’t you put ’em out?”
“How can I? It ain’t our room.”
“It’s ours fer t’night.”
“Aw, my opinion is, they’re only two birds from the country, who dropped in to see the city, and took this fer a dance hall.”
“That’s a laugh. Let’s see if we can razz ’em a bit!”
“How, Clara?”
“No,” replied Queenie, authoritatively33; “then we’d be out of luck for a place to meet the rest of the year. Miss Winthrop’d never stand for that.”
“If we told her it was only a joke——”
“All wrong, Clara. You’ve got a head, but it’s only good to keep your hat on. Fire something else——”
“Can’t think of nuthin’——”
But Marjorie and Lily had listened to enough; they rose and crossed the gymnasium to the door-way.
“I really have hopes of Queenie,” remarked Marjorie, “she seemed to show a glimmer34 of intelligence.”
“Pretty faint,” corrected Lily scornfully. Then, catching35 a glimpse of two young men at the top of the staircase, her eyes lighted up, and she exclaimed joyfully36, “They’re here, Marj! The boys, I mean. Oh, I was never so glad to see anybody in my life!”
John Hadley and Dick Roberts, two old friends of the girls, smiled back at them, and hurried down the steps. Never had they seemed so fine looking, so admirable, so strong to Lily and Marjorie, as at that moment, after their weary evening of watching the insipid37, smirking38, conceited39 faces of the young men at the dance, and listening to their inane40 chatter41 and coarse laughter. Marjorie breathed an audible sigh of relief.
“Don’t tell them how awful it has been, Lil,” she cautioned. “They’d only rave—and it’s all over now.”
“We can’t keep it from them, you know we can’t,” replied her companion.
The boys were beside them now.
“How’s the party going?” John inquired pleasantly.
“Fine,” answered Marjorie, “but I guess it will be all right for us to leave.”
“Not till I get a look at the flappers!” Dick declared. “I want to see what kind of a job you and Lily made of it.”
The girls exchanged glances.
“What’s the matter?” demanded John.
So Marjorie told them the story, thinking that she could make it sound a little better than Lily might.
“We’re going in to see for ourselves!” announced Dick, at the conclusion of the recital42, “and Lily, I want you to promise me that you’ll never come here again!”
“I’ll be only too glad to promise that,” replied the girl, with emotion. “I’ve never gone through such an evening in my life.”
“You’d better make Marj promise the same thing, John,” Dick suggested.
“He knows better,” laughed Marjorie. “But I don’t think there’s much danger of my ever wanting to.”
Fortified43 by the presence of their escorts, Marjorie and Lily assumed a nonchalant air as they re-entered the gymnasium, and seated themselves again upon the chairs by the wall. Instinctively44 they felt the atmosphere change; it was almost as if the dancers regarded their visitors with a real respect. The girls themselves had to conceal45 their amusement.
But if the dancers were hoping that their visitors would join in the party, they were disappointed, for, as soon as the music ceased, John suggested that they go home.
“Mother will be waiting for us,” he said. “She said to come home early.”
He took the wheel of Marjorie’s car, while Lily climbed into Dick’s. Side by side, they made their way to the suburbs.
It was Lily, however, who wondered whether Marjorie had been elected to the class presidency46.
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1
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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2
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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3
curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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7
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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spanking
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| adj.强烈的，疾行的；n.打屁股 | |
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9
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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15
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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16
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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17
aggie
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| n.农校，农科大学生 | |
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18
admonishing
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| v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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19
giggled
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
hilarious
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| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
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21
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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22
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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penitently
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24
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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30
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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32
flasks
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| n.瓶，长颈瓶， 烧瓶( flask的名词复数 ) | |
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33
authoritatively
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| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
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34
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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35
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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38
smirking
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| v.傻笑( smirk的现在分词 ) | |
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39
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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40
inane
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| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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42
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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43
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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44
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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46
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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