“My dear Sir,” said he, when he had listened to their story, “any friend of Mrs. Westmacott's is a friend of mine. Try a pinch. I wonder that you should have gone to this man Metaxa. His advertisement is enough to condemn9 him. Habet foenum in cornu. They are all rogues10.”
“Arcades ambo. But now we must see what we can do for you. Of course what Metaxa said was perfectly12 right. The pension is in itself no security at all, unless it were accompanied by a life assurance which would be an income in itself. It is no good whatever.”
His clients' faces fell.
“But there is the second alternative. You might sell the pension right out. Speculative13 investors14 occasionally deal in such things. I have one client, a sporting man, who would be very likely to take it up if we could agree upon terms. Of course, I must follow Metaxa's example by sending for a doctor.”
For the second time was the Admiral punched and tapped and listened to. This time, however, there could be no question of the qualifications of the doctor, a well-known Fellow of the College of Surgeons, and his report was as favorable as the other's had been adverse15.
“He has the heart and chest of a man of forty,” said he. “I can recommend his life as one of the best of his age that I have ever examined.”
“That's well,” said Mr. McAdam, making a note of the doctor's remarks, while the Admiral disbursed16 a second guinea. “Your price, I understand, is five thousand pounds. I can communicate with Mr. Elberry, my client, and let you know whether he cares to touch the matter. Meanwhile you can leave your pension papers here, and I will give you a receipt for them.”
“Very well. I should like the money soon.”
“That is why I am retaining the papers. If I can see Mr. Elberry to-day we may let you have a cheque to-morrow. Try another pinch. No? Well, good-bye. I am very happy to have been of service.” Mr. McAdam bowed them out, for he was a very busy man, and they found themselves in the street once more with lighter17 hearts than when they had left it.
“Well, Westmacott, I am sure I am very much obliged to you,” said the Admiral. “You have stood by me when I was the better for a little help, for I'm clean out of my soundings among these city sharks. But I've something to do now which is more in my own line, and I need not trouble you any more.”
“Oh, it is no trouble. I have nothing to do. I never have anything to do. I don't suppose I could do it if I had. I should be delighted to come with you, sir, if I can be of any use.”
“No, no, my lad. You go home again. It would be kind of you, though, if you would look in at number one when you get back and tell my wife that all's well with me, and that I'll be back in an hour or so.”
“All right, sir. I'll tell her.” Westmacott raised his hat and strode away to the westward18, while the Admiral, after a hurried lunch, bent19 his steps towards the east.
It was a long walk, but the old seaman20 swung along at a rousing pace, leaving street after street behind him. The great business places dwindled21 down into commonplace shops and dwellings22, which decreased and became more stunted23, even as the folk who filled them did, until he was deep in the evil places of the eastern end. It was a land of huge, dark houses and of garish24 gin-shops, a land, too, where life moves irregularly and where adventures are to be gained—as the Admiral was to learn to his cost.
He was hurrying down one of the long, narrow, stone-flagged lanes between the double lines of crouching25, disheveled women and of dirty children who sat on the hollowed steps of the houses, and basked26 in the autumn sun. At one side was a barrowman with a load of walnuts27, and beside the barrow a bedraggled woman with a black fringe and a chequered shawl thrown over her head. She was cracking walnuts and picking them out of the shells, throwing out a remark occasionally to a rough man in a rabbit-skin cap, with straps28 under the knees of his corduroy trousers, who stood puffing29 a black clay pipe with his back against the wall. What the cause of the quarrel was, or what sharp sarcasm30 from the woman's lips pricked31 suddenly through that thick skin may never be known, but suddenly the man took his pipe in his left hand, leaned forward, and deliberately32 struck her across the face with his right. It was a slap rather than a blow, but the woman gave a sharp cry and cowered33 up against the barrow with her hand to her cheek.
“Garn!” growled36 the rough, with the deep rasping intonation37 of a savage38. “Garn out o' this or I'll——” He took a step forward with uplifted hand, but in an instant down came cut number three upon his wrist, and cut number five across his thigh39, and cut number one full in the center of his rabbit-skin cap. It was not a heavy stick, but it was strong enough to leave a good red weal wherever it fell. The rough yelled with pain, and rushed in, hitting with both hands, and kicking with his ironshod boots, but the Admiral had still a quick foot and a true eye, so that he bounded backwards40 and sideways, still raining a shower of blows upon his savage antagonist41. Suddenly, however, a pair of arms closed round his neck, and glancing backwards he caught a glimpse of the black coarse fringe of the woman whom he had befriended. “I've got him!” she shrieked42. “I'll 'old 'im. Now, Bill, knock the tripe43 out of him!” Her grip was as strong as a man's, and her wrist pressed like an iron bar upon the Admiral's throat. He made a desperate effort to disengage himself, but the most that he could do was to swing her round, so as to place her between his adversary44 and himself. As it proved, it was the very best thing that he could have done. The rough, half-blinded and maddened by the blows which he had received, struck out with all his ungainly strength, just as his partner's head swung round in front of him. There was a noise like that of a stone hitting a wall, a deep groan45, her grasp relaxed, and she dropped a dead weight upon the pavement, while the Admiral sprang back and raised his stick once more, ready either for attack or defense46. Neither were needed, however, for at that moment there was a scattering47 of the crowd, and two police constables48, burly and helmeted, pushed their way through the rabble49. At the sight of them the rough took to his heels, and was instantly screened from view by a veil of his friends and neighbors.
“I have been assaulted,” panted the Admiral. “This woman was attacked and I had to defend her.”
“This is Bermondsey Sal,” said one police officer, bending over the bedraggled heap of tattered50 shawl and dirty skirt. “She's got it hot this time.”
“He was a shortish man, thick, with a beard.”
“Ah, that's Black Davie. He's been up four times for beating her. He's about done the job now. If I were you I would let that sort settle their own little affairs, sir.”
“Do you think that a man who holds the Queen's commission will stand by and see a woman struck?” cried the Admiral indignantly.
“Well, just as you like, sir. But you've lost your watch, I see.”
“My watch!” He clapped his hand to his waistcoat. The chain was hanging down in front, and the watch gone.
He passed his hand over his forehead. “I would not have lost that watch for anything,” said he. “No money could replace it. It was given me by the ship's company after our African cruise. It has an inscription51.”
“What'll you give me if I tell yer where it is?” said a sharp-faced boy among the crowd. “Will you gimme a quid?”
“Certainly.”
“Well, where's the quid?”
The Admiral took a sovereign from his pocket. “Here it is.”
“Then 'ere's the ticker!” The boy pointed53 to the clenched54 hand of the senseless woman. A glimmer55 of gold shone out from between the fingers, and on opening them up, there was the Admiral's chronometer56. This interesting victim had throttled57 her protector with one hand, while she had robbed him with the other.
The Admiral left his address with the policeman, satisfied that the woman was only stunned58, not dead, and then set off upon his way once more, the poorer perhaps in his faith in human nature, but in very good spirits none the less. He walked with dilated59 nostrils60 and clenched hands, all glowing and tingling61 with the excitement of the combat, and warmed with the thought that he could still, when there was need, take his own part in a street brawl62 in spite of his three-score and odd years.
His way now led towards the river-side regions, and a cleansing63 whiff of tar64 was to be detected in the stagnant65 autumn air. Men with the blue jersey66 and peaked cap of the boatman, or the white ducks of the dockers, began to replace the corduroys and fustian67 of the laborers68. Shops with nautical69 instruments in the windows, rope and paint sellers, and slop shops with long rows of oilskins dangling70 from hooks, all proclaimed the neighborhood of the docks. The Admiral quickened his pace and straightened his figure as his surroundings became more nautical, until at last, peeping between two high, dingy71 wharfs72, he caught a glimpse of the mud-colored waters of the Thames, and of the bristle73 of masts and funnels74 which rose from its broad bosom75. To the right lay a quiet street, with many brass76 plates upon either side, and wire blinds in all of the windows. The Admiral walked slowly down it until “The Saint Lawrence Shipping77 Company” caught his eye. He crossed the road, pushed open the door, and found himself in a low-ceilinged office, with a long counter at one end and a great number of wooden sections of ships stuck upon boards and plastered all over the walls.
“Is Mr. Henry in?” asked the Admiral.
“No, sir,” answered an elderly man from a high seat in the corner. “He has not come into town to-day. I can manage any business you may wish seen to.”
“You don't happen to have a first or second officer's place vacant, do you?”
“Do you hold certificates?” he asked.
“I hold every nautical certificate there is.”
“Then you won't do for us.”
“Why not?”
“Your age, sir.”
“I give you my word that I can see as well as ever, and am as good a man in every way.”
“I don't doubt it.”
“Why should my age be a bar, then?”
“Well, I must put it plainly. If a man of your age, holding certificates, has not got past a second officer's berth80, there must be a black mark against him somewhere. I don't know what it is, drink or temper, or want of judgment81, but something there must be.”
“I assure you there is nothing, but I find myself stranded82, and so have to turn to the old business again.”
“Oh, that's it,” said the manager, with suspicion in his eye. “How long were you in your last billet?”
“Fifty-one years.”
“What!”
“Yes, sir, one-and-fifty years.”
“In the same employ?”
“Yes.”
“Why, you must have begun as a child.”
“I was twelve when I joined.”
“It must be a strangely managed business,” said the manager, “which allows men to leave it who have served for fifty years, and who are still as good as ever. Who did you serve?”
“The Queen. Heaven bless her!”
“Oh, you were in the Royal Navy. What rating did you hold?”
“I am Admiral of the Fleet.”
The manager started, and sprang down from his high stool.
“My name is Admiral Hay Denver. There is my card. And here are the records of my service. I don't, you understand, want to push another man from his billet; but if you should chance to have a berth open, I should be very glad of it. I know the navigation from the Cod83 Banks right up to Montreal a great deal better than I know the streets of London.”
The astonished manager glanced over the blue papers which his visitor had handed him. “Won't you take a chair, Admiral?” said he.
“Thank you! But I should be obliged if you would drop my title now. I told you because you asked me, but I've left the quarter-deck, and I am plain Mr. Hay Denver now.”
“May I ask,” said the manager, “are you the same Denver who commanded at one time on the North American station?”
“I did.”
“Then it was you who got one of our boats, the Comus, off the rocks in the Bay of Fundy? The directors voted you three hundred guineas as salvage84, and you refused them.”
“It was an offer which should not have been made,” said the Admiral sternly.
“Well, it reflects credit upon you that you should think so. If Mr. Henry were here I am sure that he would arrange this matter for you at once. As it is, I shall lay it before the directors to-day, and I am sure that they will be proud to have you in our employment, and, I hope, in some more suitable position than that which you suggest.”
“I am very much obliged to you, sir,” said the Admiral, and started off again, well pleased, upon his homeward journey.
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收听单词发音
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1
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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snuggest
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| adj.整洁的( snug的最高级 )；温暖而舒适的；非常舒适的；紧身的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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speculative
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| adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的 | |
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investors
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| n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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disbursed
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| v.支出，付出( disburse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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garish
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| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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basked
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| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
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walnuts
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| 胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木 | |
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28
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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29
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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30
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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31
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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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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intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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42
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tripe
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| n.废话，肚子, 内脏 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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47
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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48
constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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50
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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51
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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52
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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53
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
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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56
chronometer
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| n.精密的计时器 | |
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57
throttled
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| v.扼杀( throttle的过去式和过去分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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58
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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61
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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brawl
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| n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂 | |
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cleansing
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| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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64
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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fustian
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| n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布 | |
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laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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wharfs
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| 码头，停泊处 | |
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bristle
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| v.（毛发）直立，气势汹汹，发怒；n.硬毛发 | |
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funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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76
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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77
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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78
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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79
applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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80
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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81
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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82
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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83
cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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84
salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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