CHAPTER XXII.

 When Florinda had gone, Grief said, "Well, what was it?" Wrinkles looked curiously¹ from his drawing-board.

 

Pennoyer lit his pipe and held it at the side of his mouth in the manner of a deliberate man. At last he said, "It was two violets."

 

"You don't say!" ejaculated Wrinkles.

 

"Well, I'm hanged!" cried Grief. "Holding them in his hand and moping over them, eh?"

 

"Yes," responded Pennoyer. "Rather that way."

 

"Well, I'm hanged!" said both Grief and Wrinkles. They grinned in a pleased, urchin-like manner. "Say, who do you suppose she is? Somebody he met this summer, no doubt. Would you ever think old Billie would get into that sort of a thing? Well, I'll be gol-durned!"

 

Ultimately Wrinkles said, "Well, it's his own business." This was spoken in a tone of duty.

 

"Of course it's his own business," retorted Grief. "But who would ever think——" Again they grinned.

 

When Hawker entered the den² some minutes later he might have noticed something unusual in the general demeanour. "Say, Grief, will you loan me your—— What's up?" he asked.

 

For answer they grinned at each other, and then grinned at him.

 

"You look like a lot of Chessy cats," he told them.

 

They grinned on.

 

Apparently³ feeling unable to deal with these phenomena⁴, he went at last to the door. "Well, this is a fine exhibition," he said, standing⁵ with his hand on the knob and regarding them. "Won election bets? Some good old auntie just died? Found something new to pawn⁶? No? Well, I can't stand this. You resemble those fish they discover at deep sea. Good-bye!"

 

As he opened the door they cried out: "Hold on, Billie! Billie, look here! Say, who is she?"

 

"What?"

 

"Who is she?"

 

"Who is who?"

 

They laughed and nodded. "Why, you know. She. Don't you understand? She."

 

"You talk like a lot of crazy men," said Hawker. "I don't know what you mean."

 

"Oh, you don't, eh? You don't? Oh, no! How about those violets you were moping over this morning? Eh, old man! Oh, no, you don't know what we mean! Oh, no! How about those violets, eh? How about 'em?"

 

Hawker, with flushed and wrathful face, looked at Pennoyer. "Penny——" But Grief and Wrinkles roared an interruption. "Oh, ho, Mr. Hawker! so it's true, is it? It's true. You are a nice bird, you are. Well, you old rascal⁷! Durn your picture!"

 

Hawker, menacing them once with his eyes, went away. They sat cackling.

 

At noon, when he met Wrinkles in the corridor, he said: "Hey, Wrinkles, come here for a minute, will you? Say, old man, I—I——"

 

"What?" said Wrinkles.

 

"Well, you know, I—I—of course, every man is likely to make an accursed idiot of himself once in a while, and I——"

 

"And you what?" asked Wrinkles.

 

"Well, we are a kind of a band of hoodlums, you know, and I'm just enough idiot to feel that I don't care to hear—don't care to hear—well, her name used, you know."

 

"Bless your heart," replied Wrinkles, "we haven't used her name. We don't know her name. How could we use it?"

 

"Well, I know," said Hawker. "But you understand what I mean, Wrinkles."

 

"Yes, I understand what you mean," said Wrinkles, with dignity. "I don't suppose you are any worse of a stuff than common. Still, I didn't know that we were such outlaws⁸."

 

"Of course, I have overdone⁹ the thing," responded Hawker hastily. "But—you ought to understand how I mean it, Wrinkles."

 

After Wrinkles had thought for a time, he said: "Well, I guess I do. All right. That goes."

 

Upon entering the den, Wrinkles said, "You fellows have got to quit guying Billie, do you hear?"

 

"We?" cried Grief. "We've got to quit? What do you do?"

 

"Well, I quit too."

 

Pennoyer said: "Ah, ha! Billie has been jumping on you."

 

"No, he didn't," maintained Wrinkles; "but he let me know it was—well, rather a—rather a—sacred subject." Wrinkles blushed when the others snickered.

 

In the afternoon, as Hawker was going slowly down the stairs, he was almost impaled¹⁰ upon the feather of a hat which, upon the head of a lithe¹¹ and rather slight girl, charged up at him through the gloom.

 

"Hello, Splutter!" he cried. "You are in a hurry."

 

"That you, Billie?" said the girl, peering, for the hallways of this old building remained always in a dungeonlike darkness.

 

"Yes, it is. Where are you going at such a headlong gait?"

 

"Up to see the boys. I've got a bottle of wine and some—some pickles¹², you know. I'm going to make them let me dine with them to-night. Coming back, Billie?"

 

"Why, no, I don't expect to."

 

He moved then accidentally in front of the light that sifted¹³ through the dull, gray panes¹⁴ of a little window.

 

"Oh, cracky!" cried the girl; "how fine you are, Billie! Going to a coronation?"

 

"No," said Hawker, looking seriously over his collar and down at his clothes. "Fact is—er—well, I've got to make a call."

 

"A call—bless us! And are you really going to wear those gray gloves you're holding there, Billie? Say, wait until you get around the corner. They won't stand 'em on this street."

 

"Oh, well," said Hawker, depreciating¹⁵ the gloves—"oh, well."

 

The girl looked up at him. "Who you going to call on?"

 

"Oh," said Hawker, "a friend."

 

"Must be somebody most extraordinary, you look so dreadfully correct. Come back, Billie, won't you? Come back and dine with us."

 

"Why, I—I don't believe I can."

 

"Oh, come on! It's fun when we all dine together. Won't you, Billie?"

 

"Well, I——"

 

"Oh, don't be so stupid!" The girl stamped her foot and flashed her eyes at him angrily.

 

"Well, I'll see—I will if I can—I can't tell——" He left her rather precipitately¹⁶.

 

Hawker eventually appeared at a certain austere¹⁷ house where he rang the bell with quite nervous fingers.

 

But she was not at home. As he went down the steps his eyes were as those of a man whose fortunes have tumbled upon him. As he walked down the street he wore in some subtle way the air of a man who has been grievously wronged. When he rounded the corner, his lips were set strangely, as if he were a man seeking revenge.

1 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

2 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

3 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。

4 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 pawn   

n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押

参考例句：

• He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
• It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。

7 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

8 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

9 overdone   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• The lust of men must not be overdone. 人们的欲望不该过分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The joke is overdone. 玩笑开得过火。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 impaled   

钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She impaled a lump of meat on her fork. 她用叉子戳起一块肉。
• He fell out of the window and was impaled on the iron railings. 他从窗口跌下去，身体被铁栏杆刺穿了。

11 lithe   

adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的

参考例句：

• His lithe athlete's body had been his pride through most of the fifty - six years.他那轻巧自如的运动员体格，五十六年来几乎一直使他感到自豪。
• His walk was lithe and graceful.他走路轻盈而优雅。

12 pickles   

n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱

参考例句：

• Most people eat pickles at breakfast. 大多数人早餐吃腌菜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I want their pickles and wines, and that.' 我要他们的泡菜、美酒和所有其他东西。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

13 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

15 depreciating   

v.贬值，跌价，减价( depreciate的现在分词 )；贬低，蔑视，轻视

参考例句：

• Explain how depreciating PP&E is an example of the matching principle. 解释房产、厂房、设备折旧如何体现了配比原则？ 来自互联网
• Explain how depreciating an example of the matching principle. 解释房产、房、备折旧如何体现了配比原则？ 来自互联网

16 precipitately   

adv.猛进地

参考例句：

• The number of civil wars continued to rise until about 1990 and then fell precipitately. 而国内战争的数量在1990年以前都有增加，1990年后则锐减。 来自互联网
• His wife and mistress, until an hour ago and inviolate were slipping precipitately from his control. 他的妻子和情妇，直到一小时前还是安安稳稳、不可侵犯的，现在却猛不防正从他的控制下溜走。 来自互联网

17 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。