Its wearer nodded solemnly as the elevator bounced up, flashing, and settled to the level of the floor; but the quick drop through the long shaft11 seemed to do the stage-manager a disproportionate amount of good. Halfway12 down he emitted a heavy “Whew!” of relief and threw back his shoulders. He seemed to swell13, to grow larger; lines verged14 into the texture15 of his face, disappearing; and with them went care and seeming years. Canby had casually16 taken him to be about forty, but so radical17 was the transformation18 of him that, as the distance from his harrowing overlord increased, the playwright beheld19 another kind of creature. In place of the placative, middle-aged20 varlet, troubled and hurrying to serve, there stepped out of the elevator, at the street level, a deep-chested, assertive21, manly22 adventurer, about thirty, kindly23 eyed, picturesque24, and careless. The green hat belonged to him perfectly25.
He gave Canby a look of burlesque26 ruefulness over his shoulder, the comedy appeal of one schoolboy to another as they leave a scolding teacher on the far side of the door. “The governor does keep himself worked up!” he laughed, as they reached the street and paused. “If it isn't one thing, it's some thing!”
“Perhaps it's my play just now,” said Canby. “I was afraid, earlier this evening, he meant to drop it. Making so many changes may have upset his nerves.”
“Lord bless your soul! No!” exclaimed the new Packer. “His nerves are all right! He's always the same! He can't help it!”
“I thought possibly he might have been more upset than usual,” Canby said. “There was a critic or something that—”
“No, no, Mr. Canby!” Packer chuckled27. “New plays and critics, they don't worry him any more than anything else. Of course he isn't going to be pleased with any critics. Most of them give him splendid notices, but they don't please him. How could they?”
“He's always the same, you think?” Canby said blankly.
“Always—always at top pitch, that is, and always unexpected. You'll see as you get to know him. You won't know him any better than you do now, Mr. Canby; you'll only know him more. I've been with him for four years—stage-manager—hired man—maid-of-all-work—order his meals for him in hotels—and I guess old Tinker and I know him as well as anybody does, but it's a mighty28 big job to handle him just right. It keeps us hopping29, but that's bread and butter. Not much bread and butter anywhere these days unless you do hop30! We all have to hop for somebody!” He chuckled again, and then unexpectedly became so serious he was almost truculent31. “And I tell you, Mr. Canby,” he cried, “by George! I'd sooner hop for Talbot Potter than for any other man that ever walked the earth!”
He took a yellow walking-stick from under his arm, thrust the manuscript Potter had given him into the pocket of his light overcoat, and bade his companion good-night with a genial32 flourish of the stick. “Subway to Brooklyn for mine. Your play will go, all right; don't worry about that, Mr. Canby. Good-night and good luck, Mr. Canby.”
Canby went the other way, marvelling33.
It was eleven; and for half an hour the theatres had been releasing their audiences to the streets;—the sidewalks were bobbing and fluttering; automobiles34 cometed by bleating35 peevishly36. Suddenly, through the window of a limousine37, brilliantly lighted within, Canby saw the face of Wanda Malone, laughing, and embowered in white furs. He stopped, startled; then he realized that Wanda Malone's hair was not red. The girl in the limousine had red hair, and was altogether unlike Wanda Malone in feature and expression.
He walked on angrily.
Immediately a slender girl, prettily38 dressed, passed him. She clung charmingly to the arm of a big boy; and to Canby's first glance she was Wanda Malone. Wrenching39 his eyes from her, he saw Wanda Malone across the street getting into a taxicab, and then he stumbled out of the way of a Wanda Malone who almost walked into him. Wherever there was a graceful40 gesture or turn of the head, there was Wanda Malone.
He wheeled, and walked back toward Broadway, and thought he caught a glimpse of Packer going into a crowded drug-store near the corner. The man he took to be Packer lifted his hat and spoke41 to a girl who was sitting at a table and drinking soda-water, but when she looked up and seemed to be Wanda Malone with a blue veil down to her nose, Canby turned on his heel, face-about, and headed violently for home.
When he reached quieter streets his gait slackened, and he walked slowly, lost in deep reverie. By and by he came to a halt, and stood still for several minutes without knowing it. Slowly he came out of the trance, wondering where he was. Then he realized that his staring eyes had halted him automatically; and as they finally conveyed their information to his conscious mind, he perceived that he was standing42 directly in front of a saloon, and glaring at the sign upon the window:
ALES WINES LIQUORS AND CIGARS TIM MALONE
At that, somewhere in his inside, he cried out, in a kind of anguish43: “Isn't there anything—anywhere—any more—except Wanda Malone!”
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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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2
devoid
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adj.全无的,缺乏的 | |
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3
pathos
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n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
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4
careworn
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adj.疲倦的,饱经忧患的 | |
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5
harried
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v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 );不断烦扰;一再袭击;侵扰 | |
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6
jaunty
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adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意 | |
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perch
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n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于 | |
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outright
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adv.坦率地;彻底地;立即;adj.无疑的;彻底的 | |
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hilarious
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adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed | |
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10
playwright
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n.剧作家,编写剧本的人 | |
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shaft
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n.(工具的)柄,杆状物 | |
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12
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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13
swell
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vi.膨胀,肿胀;增长,增强 | |
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verged
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接近,逼近(verge的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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15
texture
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n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
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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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17
radical
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n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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transformation
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n.变化;改造;转变 | |
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19
beheld
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v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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20
middle-aged
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adj.中年的 | |
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21
assertive
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adj.果断的,自信的,有冲劲的 | |
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22
manly
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adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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23
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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24
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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25
perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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26
burlesque
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v.嘲弄,戏仿;n.嘲弄,取笑,滑稽模仿 | |
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27
chuckled
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轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mighty
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adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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29
hopping
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n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
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30
hop
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n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过 | |
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31
truculent
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adj.野蛮的,粗野的 | |
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32
genial
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adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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33
marvelling
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v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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automobiles
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n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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bleating
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v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的现在分词 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说 | |
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36
peevishly
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adv.暴躁地 | |
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37
limousine
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n.豪华轿车 | |
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38
prettily
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adv.优美地;可爱地 | |
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39
wrenching
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n.修截苗根,苗木铲根(铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土)v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的现在分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛 | |
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40
graceful
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adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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41
spoke
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n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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42
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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43
anguish
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n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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