CHAPTER XXIV.

 "Penny," said Grief, looking across the table at his friend, "if a man thinks a heap of two violets, how much would he think of a thousand violets?"

 

"Two into a thousand goes five hundred times, you fool!" said Pennoyer. "I would answer your question if it were not upon a forbidden subject."

 

In the distance Wrinkles and Florinda were making Welsh rarebits.

 

"Hold your tongues!" said Hawker. "Barbarians¹!"

 

"Grief," said Pennoyer, "if a man loves a woman better than the whole universe, how much does he love the whole universe?"

 

"Gawd knows," said Grief piously². "Although it ill befits me to answer your question."

 

Wrinkles and Florinda came with the Welsh rarebits, very triumphant³. "There," said Florinda, "soon as these are finished I must go home. It is after eleven o'clock.—Pour the ale, Grief."

 

At a later time, Purple Sanderson entered from the world. He hung up his hat and cast a look of proper financial dissatisfaction at the remnants of the feast. "Who has been——"

 

"Before you breathe, Purple, you graceless scum, let me tell you that we will stand no reference to the two violets here," said Pennoyer.

 

"What the——"

 

"Oh, that's all right, Purple," said Grief, "but you were going to say something about the two violets, right then. Weren't you, now, you old bat?"

 

Sanderson grinned expectantly. "What's the row?" said he.

 

"No row at all," they told him. "Just an agreement to keep you from chattering⁴ obstinately⁵ about the two violets."

 

"What two violets?"

 

"Have a rarebit, Purple," advised Wrinkles, "and never mind those maniacs⁶."

 

"Well, what is this business about two violets?"

 

"Oh, it's just some dream. They gibber at anything."

 

"I think I know," said Florinda, nodding. "It is something that concerns Billie Hawker."

 

Grief and Pennoyer scoffed⁷, and Wrinkles said: "You know nothing about it, Splutter. It doesn't concern Billie Hawker at all."

 

"Well, then, what is he looking sideways for?" cried Florinda.

 

Wrinkles reached for his guitar, and played a serenade, "The silver moon is shining——"

 

"Dry up!" said Pennoyer.

 

Then Florinda cried again, "What does he look sideways for?"

 

Pennoyer and Grief giggled⁸ at the imperturbable⁹ Hawker, who destroyed rarebit in silence.

 

"It's you, is it, Billie?" said Sanderson. "You are in this two-violet business?"

 

"I don't know what they're talking about," replied Hawker.

 

"Don't you, honestly?" asked Florinda.

 

"Well, only a little."

 

"There!" said Florinda, nodding again. "I knew he was in it."

 

"He isn't in it at all," said Pennoyer and Grief.

 

Later, when the cigarettes had become exhausted¹⁰, Hawker volunteered to go after a further supply, and as he arose, a question seemed to come to the edge of Florinda's lips and pend there. The moment that the door was closed upon him she demanded, "What is that about the two violets?"

 

"Nothing at all," answered Pennoyer, apparently¹¹ much aggrieved¹². He sat back with an air of being a fortress¹³ of reticence¹⁴.

 

"Oh, go on—tell me! Penny, I think you are very mean.—Grief, you tell me!"

 

"The silver moon is shining;

Oh, come, my love, to me!

My heart——"

"Be still, Wrinkles, will you?—What was it, Grief? Oh, go ahead and tell me!"

 

"What do you want to know for?" cried Grief, vastly exasperated¹⁵. "You've got more blamed curiosity—— It isn't anything at all, I keep saying to you."

 

"Well, I know it is," said Florinda sullenly¹⁶, "or you would tell me."

 

When Hawker brought the cigarettes, Florinda smoked one, and then announced, "Well, I must go now."

 

"Who is going to take you home, Splutter?"

 

"Oh, anyone," replied Florinda.

 

"I tell you what," said Grief, "we'll throw some poker¹⁷ hands, and the one who wins will have the distinguished¹⁸ honour of conveying Miss Splutter to her home and mother."

 

Pennoyer and Wrinkles speedily routed the dishes to one end of the table. Grief's fingers spun¹⁹ the halves of a pack of cards together with the pleased eagerness of a good player. The faces grew solemn with the gambling²⁰ solemnity. "Now, you Indians," said Grief, dealing²¹, "a draw, you understand, and then a show-down."

 

Florinda leaned forward in her chair until it was poised²² on two legs. The cards of Purple Sanderson and of Hawker were faced toward her. Sanderson was gravely regarding two pair—aces and queens. Hawker scanned a little pair of sevens. "They draw, don't they?" she said to Grief.

 

"Certainly," said Grief. "How many, Wrink?"

 

"Four," replied Wrinkles, plaintively²³.

 

"Gimme three," said Pennoyer.

 

"Gimme one," said Sanderson.

 

"Gimme three," said Hawker. When he picked up his hand again Florinda's chair was tilted²⁴ perilously²⁵. She saw another seven added to the little pair. Sanderson's draw had not assisted him.

 

"Same to the dealer," said Grief. "What you got, Wrink?"

 

"Nothing," said Wrinkles, exhibiting it face upward on the table. "Good-bye, Florinda."

 

"Well, I've got two small pair," ventured Pennoyer hopefully. "Beat 'em?"

 

"No good," said Sanderson. "Two pair—aces up."

 

"No good," said Hawker. "Three sevens."

 

"Beats me," said Grief. "Billie, you are the fortunate man. Heaven guide you in Third Avenue!"

 

Florinda had gone to the window. "Who won?" she asked, wheeling about carelessly.

 

"Billie Hawker."

 

"What! Did he?" she said in surprise.

 

"Never mind, Splutter. I'll win sometime," said Pennoyer. "Me too," cried Grief. "Good night, old girl!" said Wrinkles. They crowded in the doorway²⁶. "Hold on to Billie. Remember the two steps going up," Pennoyer called intelligently into the Stygian blackness. "Can you see all right?"

 

Florinda lived in a flat with fire-escapes written all over the front of it. The street in front was being repaired. It had been said by imbecile residents of the vicinity that the paving was never allowed to remain down for a sufficient time to be invalided²⁷ by the tramping millions, but that it was kept perpetually stacked in little mountains through the unceasing vigilance of a virtuous²⁸ and heroic city government, which insisted that everything should be repaired. The alderman for the district had sometimes asked indignantly of his fellow-members why this street had not been repaired, and they, aroused, had at once ordered it to be repaired. Moreover, shopkeepers, whose stables were adjacent, placed trucks and other vehicles strategically in the darkness. Into this tangled²⁹ midnight Hawker conducted Florinda. The great avenue behind them was no more than a level stream of yellow light, and the distant merry bells might have been boats floating down it. Grim loneliness hung over the uncouth³⁰ shapes in the street which was being repaired.

 

"Billie," said the girl suddenly, "what makes you so mean to me?"

 

A peaceful citizen emerged from behind a pile of débris, but he might not have been a peaceful citizen, so the girl clung to Hawker.

 

"Why, I'm not mean to you, am I?"

 

"Yes," she answered. As they stood on the steps of the flat of innumerable fire-escapes she slowly turned and looked up at him. Her face was of a strange pallour in this darkness, and her eyes were as when the moon shines in a lake of the hills.

 

He returned her glance. "Florinda!" he cried, as if enlightened, and gulping³¹ suddenly at something in his throat. The girl studied the steps and moved from side to side, as do the guilty ones in country schoolhouses. Then she went slowly into the flat.

 

There was a little red lamp hanging on a pile of stones to warn people that the street was being repaired.

1 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

2 piously   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• Many pilgrims knelt piously at the shrine.许多朝圣者心虔意诚地在神殿跪拜。
• The priests piously consecrated the robbery with a hymn.教士们虔诚地唱了一首赞美诗，把这劫夺行为神圣化了。

3 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

4 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

5 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

6 maniacs   

n.疯子（maniac的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Hollywood films misrepresented us as drunks, maniacs and murderers. 好莱坞电影把我们歪曲成酒鬼、疯子和杀人凶手。 来自辞典例句
• They're not irrational, potentially homicidal maniacs, to start! 他们不是非理性的，或者有杀人倾向的什么人！ 来自电影对白

7 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

8 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 imperturbable   

adj.镇静的

参考例句：

• Thomas,of course,was cool and aloof and imperturbable.当然，托马斯沉着、冷漠，不易激动。
• Edward was a model of good temper and his equanimity imperturbable.爱德华是个典型的好性子，他总是沉着镇定。

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 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。

12 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

14 reticence   

n.沉默，含蓄

参考例句：

• He breaks out of his normal reticence and tells me the whole story.他打破了平时一贯沈默寡言的习惯，把事情原原本本都告诉了我。
• He always displays a certain reticence in discussing personal matters.他在谈论个人问题时总显得有些保留。

15 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

16 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

17 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

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

18 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

19 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

20 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

21 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

22 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

23 plaintively   

adv.悲哀地，哀怨地

参考例句：

• The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

25 perilously   

adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地

参考例句：

• They were perilously close to the edge of the precipice. 他们离悬崖边很近，十分危险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It'seemed to me that we had come perilously close to failure already. 对我来说，好像失败和我只有一步之遥，岌岌可危。 来自互联网

26 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

27 invalided   

使伤残（invalid的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He was invalided out of the army because of the wounds he received. 他因负伤而退役。
• A plague invalided half of the population in the town. 这个城镇一半的人口患上了瘟疫。

28 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

29 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

30 uncouth   

adj.无教养的，粗鲁的

参考例句：

• She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬。
• His nephew is an uncouth young man.他的侄子是一个粗野的年轻人。

31 gulping   

v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住

参考例句：

• She crawled onto the river bank and lay there gulping in air. 她爬上河岸，躺在那里喘着粗气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• And you'll even feel excited gulping down a glass. 你甚至可以感觉到激动下一杯。 来自互联网