CHAPTER II "Thousands in that safe"

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NO names!" hoarsely¹ interrupted the other. "If you speak my name again I'll give the whole thing up."

 

"No you won't; you're too deep in it for that. But I'll drop the Fellows and just call you Sam. If that's too familiar, we'll drop the job. I'm not so keen on it."

 

"You will be. It's right in your line." Sam Fellows, as he was called, was whispering now—a hot, eager whisper, breathing of guilt² and desperation. "If I could do it alone—but I haven't the wit—the——"

 

"Experience," dryly put in the other. "Well, well!" he exclaimed impatiently,as Fellows crept nearer, but said nothing.

 

"I'm going to speak, but—Well, then, here's how it is!" he suddenly conceded, warned by the other's eye. "The building is a twenty-story one, chuck full and alive with business. The room I mean is on the twelfth floor; it is one of five, all communicating, and all in constant use except the one holding the safe. And that is visited constantly. Some one is always going in and out. Indeed, it is a rule of the firm that every one of the employees must go into that room once, at least, during the day, and remain there for five minutes alone. I do it; every one does it; it's a very mysterious proceeding³ which only a crank like my employer would devise."

 

"What do you do there?"

 

"Nothing. I'm speaking now for myself. The others—some of the others—one of the others may open the safe. That's what I believe, that's what I want to know about and how it's done. There are thousands in that safe, and the old man being away——"

 

"Yes, this is all very interesting. Go on. What you want is an artist with a jimmy."

 

"No, no. It's no such job as that. I want to know the person, the trusted person who has all those securities within touch. It's a mania⁴ with me. I should have been the man. I'm—I'm manager."

 

The hoarseness⁵ with which this word was uttered, the instinct of shame which made his eyes fall as it struggled from his lips, wakened a curious little gleam of hardy⁶ cynicism in the steady gaze of his listener.

 

"Oh, you're manager, are you!" came in slow retort, filling a silence that had more of pain than pleasure in it. "Well, manager, your story is very interesting, but by no means complete. Suppose you hurry on to the next instalment."

 

Cringing⁷ as from a blow, Fellows took up his tale, no longer creeping nearer his would-be confederate, but, if anything, edging away.

 

1 hoarsely   

adv.嘶哑地

参考例句：

• "Excuse me," he said hoarsely. “对不起。”他用嘶哑的嗓子说。
• Jerry hoarsely professed himself at Miss Pross's service. 杰瑞嘶声嘶气地表示愿为普洛丝小姐效劳。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

2 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

3 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

4 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

5 hoarseness   

n.嘶哑， 刺耳

参考例句：

• His hoarseness and coughing showed that he had contracted a cold. 他嗓音嘶哑又咳嗽，这表明他患了感冒。
• Occasionally, recurrent laryngeal nerve involvement causes hoarseness. 有时，喉返神经受累引起声音嘶哑。

6 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

7 cringing   

adj.谄媚，奉承

参考例句：

• He had a cringing manner but a very harsh voice.他有卑屈谄媚的神情，但是声音却十分粗沙。
• She stepped towards him with a movement that was horribly cringing.她冲他走了一步，做出一个低三下四，令人作呕的动作。