Gerald Fosland, known to be so formal that he had once dressed to answer an emergency call from a friend at the hospital, because the message came in at six o’clock, surprised his guests by appearing before them, in the salon1 just before dinner, in his driving coat and with his motor cap in his hand.
“Sorry,” he informed them, with his stiff bow, “but an errand of such importance that it can not be delayed, causes Mrs. Fosland and myself to return to the city immediately for an hour or so. I am sincerely apologetic, and I trust that you will have a jolly dinner.”
“Is Gail going with you?” inquired the alert Mrs. Helen Davies, observing Gail in the gangway adjusting her furs.
“She has to chaperon me, while Gerald is busy,” Arly glibly3 explained. “Onery, Orey, Ickery, Ann, Filison, Foloson, Nicholas, John; Queevy, Quavy, English Navy, Stigalum, Stagalum, Buck4. You’re it, Aunt Grace,” counted out Arly. “You and Uncle Jim have to be hosts. Good-bye!” and she sailed out to the deck, followed by the still troubled Gail, who managed to accomplish the laughing adieus for which Arly had set the precedence.
A swift ride in the launch, in the cool night air, to 326the landing; a brisk walk to the street, and, since no one had expected to come ashore5 until Monday, a search for a taxi; then Gerald, chatting with correct pleasantness through his submerged preoccupation, having seen the ladies safe under shelter, even if it were but the roof of a night hawk6 taxi, stopped at the first saloon, a queer place, of a sodden7 type which he had never before seen and would never see again. There he phoned half a dozen messages. There were four eager young men waiting in the reception room of the Fosland house, when Gerald’s party arrived, and three more followed them up the steps.
Gerald aided in divesting8 the ladies of their wraps, and slipped his own big top coat into the hands of William, and saw to his tie and the set of his waistcoat and the smoothness of his hair, before he stalked into the reception parlour and bowed stiffly.
“Gentlemen,” he observed, giving his moustache one last smoothing, “first of all, have you brought with you the written guarantees which I required from your respective chiefs, that, in whatsoever9 comes from the information I am about to give you, the names of your informants shall, under no circumstances, appear in print?”
One luckless young man, a fat-cheeked one, with a pucker10 in the corner of his lips where his cigar should have been, was unable to produce the necessary document, and he was under a scrutiny11 too close to give him a chance to write it.
“Sorry,” announced Gerald, with polite contrition12. “As this is a very strict condition, I must ask you to leave the room while I address the remaining gentlemen.”
The remaining gentlemen, of whom there were now 327eleven, grinned appreciatively. Hickey would have been the best newspaper man in New York if he were not such a careless slob. He was so good that he was the only man from the Planet. The others had sent two, and three; for Gerald’s message, while very simple, had been most effective. He had merely announced that he was prepared to provide them with an international sensation, involving some hundreds of billions of dollars—and he had given his right name!
“I must have lost it,” he piteously declared. “Won’t you take my written word that you won’t be mentioned?” and he looked up at the splendidly erect14 Gerald with that honest appeal in his eyes which had deceived so many.
“Sorry,” announced Gerald; “but it wouldn’t be sportsmanlike, since it would be quite unfair to these other gentlemen.”
“Hold the stuff ’til I telephone,” begged Hickey. “Say, if I get that written guarantee up here in fifteen minutes, will it do?”
Gerald looked him speculatively15 in the eye.
“If you telephone, and can then assure me, on your word of honour, that the document I require shall be in the house before you leave, I shall permit you to remain,” he decreed; and Hickey looked him quite soberly in the eye for half a minute.
“I’ll have it here all right,” he decided16, and sprang for the telephone, and came back in three minutes with his word of honour. They could hear him, from the library, yelling, from the time he gave the number until he hung up the receiver, and if there was ever urgency in a man’s voice, it was in the voice of Hickey.
328Gerald Fosland took a commanding position in the corner of the room, where he could see the countenances17 of each of the eager young gentlemen present. He stood behind a chair, with his hands on the back of it, in his favourite position for responding to a toast.
“Gentlemen; Edward E. Allison (Twelve young gentlemen who had been leaning forward with strained interest, and their mouths half open to help them hear, suddenly jerked bolt upright. The little squib over under the statue of Diana, dropped his lead pencil, and came up with a purple face. Hickey, with a notebook two inches wide in one hand, jabbed down a scratch to represent Allison) is about to complete a transportation system encircling the globe. (The little squib on the end choked on his tongue. Hickey made a ring on his note pad, to represent the globe, and while he waited for the sensation to subside18, put a buckle19 on it.) The acquisition of the foreign railroads will be made possible only by a war, which is already arranged. (The little squib got writer’s cramp20. Hickey waited for details. The hollow-cheeked reporter grabbed for a cigarette, but with no intention of lighting21 it.) The war, which will be between Germany and France, will begin within a month. France, unable to raise a war fund otherwise, will sell her railroads. The Russian line is already being taken from its present managers, and will be turned over to Allison’s world syndicate within a week. The important steamship22 lines will become involved in financial difficulties, which have already been set afoot in England. Following these events will come a successful rebellion in India, and the independence of all the British colonies. (The little squib laid down his pencil, and sat in open-mouthed despair. He was three sentences behind, and knew that he would be compelled 329to trust his memory and his imagination, and neither were equal to this task. Hickey had seven serene23 jabs on his notebook, and was peacefully framing his introductory paragraph. A seraphic smile was on his thick lips, and his softened24 eyes were gazing fondly into the fields of rich fancy. The hollow-cheeked young man had cocked his cigarette perpendicularly25, and he was writing a few words with artistic26 precision. The red-headed reporter was tearing off page after page of his notebook and stuffing them loosely in his pocket. One of the boys, a thick-breasted one with large hands, was making microscopic27 notes on the back of an envelope, and had plenty of room to spare.) You will probably require some tangible28 evidence that these large plans are on the way to fulfilment. I call your attention to the fact that, last week, the Russian Duomo began a violent agitation29 over the removal of Olaf Petrovy, who was the controller of the entire Russian railroad system. Day before yesterday, Petrovy was unfortunately assassinated30, and the agitation in the Duomo subsided31. (Hickey only nodded. His eyes glowed with the light of a poet. The little squib sighed dejectedly.) This morning I read that France is greatly incensed32 over a diplomatic breach33 in the German war office; and it is commented that the breach is one which can not possibly be healed. Kindly34 take note of the following facts. From the first to the eighth of this month, Baron35 von Slachten, who is directly responsible for Germany’s foreign relations, was seen in this city at the Fencing Club, under the incognito36 of Henry Brokaw. Chevalier Duchambeau, director of the combined banking37 interests of France, was here in that same week, and was seen at the Montparnasse Cercle. He bore the name of Andree Tirez. The 330Grand Duke Jan, of Russia, was here as Ivan Strolesky. James Wellington Hodge, the master of the banking system of practically all the world, outside the United States, was here as E. E. Chalmers. Prince Nito of Japan, Yu-Hip-Lun of China and Count Cassioni of Rome, were here at the same time; and they all called on Edward E. Allison. (Furious writing on the part of all the young gentlemen except the little squib and Hickey; the former in an acute paralysis38 of body and mind and soul, and Hickey in an acute ecstasy39. He had symbols down for all the foreign gentlemen named, a pretzel for the Baron, and had the local records of Ivan Strolesky and Baron von Slachten up a tree. He had seen them both, and interviewed the former.) Furthermore, gentlemen, I will give you now the names of the eight financiers, who, with Edward E. Allison, are interested in the formation of the International Transportation Company, which proposes to control the commerce of the world. These gentlemen are Joseph G. Clark (the little squib jumped up and sat down. Hickey produced a long, low whistle of unbounded joy. The hollow-faced one jerked the useless cigarette from his mouth and threw it in the fireplace. The red-headed reporter laughed hysterically40, though he never stopped writing. Every young gentleman there made one or another sharp physical movement expressive41 of his astonishment42 and delight), Eldridge Babbitt (more sensation), W. T. Chisholm (Hickey wrote the rest of the list), Richard Haverman, Arthur Grandin, Robert E. Taylor, A. L. Vance. I would suggest that, if you disturb these gentlemen in the manner which I have understood you to be quite capable of doing, you might secure from some one of them a trace of corroboration43 of the things I have said. This is all.” He paused, 331and bowed stiffly. “Gentlemen, I wish to add one word. I thank you for your kind attention, and I desire to say that, while I have violated to-night several of the rules which I had believed that I would always hold unbroken, I have done so in the interest of a justice which is greater than all other considerations. Gentlemen, good-night.”
Nine young gentlemen put the squib right about that photograph. Hickey was lost in the fields of Elysian phantasy, and the red-headed reporter was still writing and stuffing loose pages in his pocket, and the one with the beard was making a surreptitious sketch45 of Gerald Fosland, to use on the first plausible46 occasion. He had in mind a special article on wealthy clubmen at home.
“Company incorporated?” inquired Hickey, who was the most practical poet of his time.
“I should consider that a pertinent47 question,” granted Gerald. “Gentlemen, you will pardon me for a moment,” and he bowed himself from the room.
He had meant to ask that one simple question and return, but, in Arlene’s blue room, where sat two young women in a high state of quiver, he had to make his speech all over again, verbatim, and detail each interruption, and describe how they received the news, and answer, several times, the variously couched question, if he really thought their names would not be mentioned. It was fifteen minutes before he returned, and he found the twelve young gentlemen suffering with an intolerable itch48 to be gone! Five of the young men were in the library, quarrelling, in decently low voices, over the use of phone. The imperturbable49 Hickey, 332however, had it, and he held on, handing in a story, embellished50 and coloured and frilled and be-ribboned as he went, which would make the cylinders51 on the presses curl up.
“I am sorry to advise you, gentlemen, that I am unable to tell you if the International Transportation Company is, or is about to be, incorporated,” reported Gerald gravely, and he signalled to William to open the front door.
The air being too cold, however, he had it closed presently, for now he was the centre of an interrogatory circle from every degree of which came questions so sharply pointed52 that they seemed to flash as they darted53 towards him. Gerald Fosland listened to this babble54 of conversation with a courtesy beautiful to behold55, but at the first good pause, he advised them that he had given them all the information at his command, and once more caused the door to be opened; whereupon the eager young gentlemen, with the exception of the squib, who was on his knees under a couch looking for a lost subway ticket, shook hands cordially and admiringly with the host of the evening, and bulged56 out into the night.
As the rapt and enchanted57 Hickey passed out of the door, a grip like a pair of ice tongs58 caught him by the arm, and drew him gently but firmly back.
“Sorry,” observed Gerald; “but you don’t go.”
“Hasn’t that damn boy got here yet?” demanded Hickey, in an immediate2 mood for assassination59. He was a large young man, and defective60 messenger boys were the bane of his existence.
“William says not,” replied Gerald.
“For the love of Mike, let me go!” pleaded Hickey. “This stuff has to be handled while it’s still sizzling! 333It’s the biggest story of the century! That boy’ll be here any minute.”
“Sorry,” regretfully observed Gerald; “but I shall be compelled to detain you until he arrives.”
“Can’t do it!” returned the desperate Hickey. “I have to go!” and he made a dash for the door.
Once more the ice tongs clutched him by the shoulder and sank into the flesh.
“If you try that again, young man, I shall be compelled to thrash you,” stated the host, again mildly.
Hickey looked at him, very thoroughly61. Gerald was a slim waisted gentleman, but he had broad shoulders and a depressingly calm eye, and he probably exercised twenty minutes every morning by an open window, after his cold plunge62, and took a horseback ride, and walked a lot, and played polo, and a few other effete63 things like that. Hickey sat down and waited, and, though the night was cold, he mopped his brow until the messenger came!
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1
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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glibly
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| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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8
divesting
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| v.剥夺( divest的现在分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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9
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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10
pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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14
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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15
speculatively
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| adv.思考地，思索地；投机地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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18
subside
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| vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降 | |
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buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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cramp
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| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
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21
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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23
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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24
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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25
perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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26
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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27
microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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28
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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29
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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30
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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31
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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32
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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33
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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34
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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35
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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36
incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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38
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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39
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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40
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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41
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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42
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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43
corroboration
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| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
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44
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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45
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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46
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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47
pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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48
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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49
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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50
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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51
cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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52
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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53
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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54
babble
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| v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语 | |
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55
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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56
bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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57
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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58
tongs
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| n.钳；夹子 | |
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59
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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60
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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61
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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62
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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63
effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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