The sun dipped low in the West; the great crowds hurrying hither and thither1 were beginning to thin out. New York's busy throngs2 were seeking their homes to enjoy the meal which they had worked for in factory and shop, for they were mostly working people who composed this seething3 mass of humanity.
Slowly time dragged on. Seven o'clock tolled4 from a far-off belfry. Bernardine was getting frightfully nervous.
What could have happened to her handsome young husband, who had left her with the promise that he would return within the hour?
Eight o'clock struck slowly and sharply. The wind had risen, and was now howling like a demon6 around the corners of the great buildings.
"What shall I do? Oh, Heaven, help me! what shall I do?" sobbed7 Bernardine, in nervous affright. "He—he must have forgotten me."
At that moment a hand fell heavily on her shoulder.
Looking up hastily through her tears, Bernardine saw a policeman standing8 before her and eyeing her sharply.
"What are you doing here, my good girl?" he asked. "Waiting for somebody? I would advise you to move on. We're going to have a storm, and pretty quick, too, and I judge that it will be a right heavy one."
"I—I am waiting for my husband," faltered9 Bernardine. "He drove me here in a cab. I was to do a little shopping while he went to find a boarding-house. He was to return in an hour—-by six o'clock. I—I have been waiting here since that time, and—and he has not come."
"We—we didn't live anywhere before. We—we were just married to-day," admitted the girl, her lovely face suffused11 with blushes.
"The old story," muttered the officer under his breath. "Some rascal12 has deluded13 this simple, unsophisticated girl into the belief that he has married her, then cast her adrift."
"I am going to tell you what I think, little girl," he said, speaking kindly14 in his bluff15 way. "But don't cry out, make a scene, or get hysterical16. It's my opinion that the man you are waiting for don't intend to come back."
He saw the words strike her as lightning strikes and blasts a fair flower. A terrible shiver ran through the young girl, then she stood still, as though turned to stone, her face overspread with the pallor of death.
The policeman was used to all phases of human nature. He saw that this girl's grief was genuine, and felt sorry for her.
"Surely you have a home, friends, here somewhere?" he asked.
"I lived in the tenement18 house on Canal Street that has just been burned down. My father perished in it, leaving me alone in the world—homeless, shelterless—and—and this man asked me to marry him, and—and I—did."
The policeman was convinced more than ever by her story that some roué had taken advantage of the girl's pitiful situation to lead her astray.
"That's bad. But surely you have friends somewhere?"
Again Bernardine shook her head, replying, forlornly:
"Not one on earth. Papa and I lived only for each other."
The policeman looked down thoughtfully for a moment. He said to himself that he ought to try to save her from the fate which he was certain lay before her.
"Oh, don't speak of him harshly!" cried Bernardine, distressedly. "I am sure something has happened to prevent his coming. He left his pocket-book with me, and there is considerable money in it."
"Ah! the scoundrel had a little more heart than I gave him credit for," thought the policeman.
He did not take the trouble to ask the name of the man whom she believed had wedded20 her, being certain that he had given a fictitious21 one to her.
"There is a boarding-house just two blocks from here, that I would advise you to go to for the night, at least, young lady," he said, "and if he comes I will send him around there. I can not miss him if he comes, for I will be on this beat, pacing up and down, until seven o'clock to-morrow morning. See, the rain has commenced to come down pretty hard. Come!"
There was nothing else to do but accept the kind policeman's suggestion. As it was, by the time she reached the house to which he good-naturedly piloted her, the fierce storm was raging in earnest.
He spoke22 a few words, which Bernardine could not catch, to the white-haired, benevolent-looking lady who opened the door.
She turned to the girl with outstretched hands.
"Come right in, my dear," she said, gently; "come right in."
"I was waiting for my husband, but somehow I missed him," explained Bernardine. "The policeman will be sure to run across him and send him around here."
The lady looked pityingly at the beautiful young face—a look that made Bernardine a little nervous, though there was nothing but gentleness and kindness in it.
"We will talk about that in the morning," she said. "I will show you to a room. The house is quite full just now, and I shall have to put you in a room with another young girl. Pardon the question, but have you had your supper?"
"I will send you up a bowl of bread and milk, and a cup of nice hot tea," said the lady.
"How good you are to me, a perfect stranger!" murmured Bernardine. "I will be glad to pay you for the tea and——"
The lady held up her white hand with a slow gesture.
"We do not take pay for any services we render here, my dear," she said. "This is a young girls' temporary shelter, kept up by a few of the very wealthy women in this great city."
Bernardine was very much surprised to hear this; but before she could reply, the lady threw open a door to the right, and Bernardine was ushered25 into a plain but scrupulously26 neat apartment in which sat a young girl of apparently27 her own age.
"Sleep here in peace, comfort and security," said the lady. "I will have a talk with you on the morrow," and she closed the door softly, leaving Bernardine alone with the young girl at the window, who had faced about and was regarding her eagerly.
"I am awfully28 glad you are come," she broke in quickly; "it was terribly slow occupying this room all alone, as I told the matron awhile ago. It seems she took pity on me and sent you here. But why don't you sit down, girl? You look at me as though you were not particularly struck with my face, and took a dislike to me at first sight, as most people do."
Bernardine forgot her own trials and anxiety in listening to the sorrowful story of this hapless creature.
"Why don't you try to find work in some other factory or some shop?" asked Bernardine, earnestly.
"My clothes are so shabby, my appearance is against me. No one wants to employ a girl whose dress is all tatters."
A sudden thought came to Bernardine, and she acted on the impulse.
"Here," she said, pulling out her pocket-book—"here is ten dollars. Get a dress, and try to find work. The money is not a loan; it is a gift."
The girl had hardly heard the words, ere a cry of amazement30 fell from her lips. She was eyeing the well-filled pocket-book with a burning gaze.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
thither
|
|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
throngs
|
|
| n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
seething
|
|
| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
tolled
|
|
| 鸣钟（toll的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
curiously
|
|
| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
demon
|
|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
sobbed
|
|
| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
faltered
|
|
| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
brass
|
|
| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
suffused
|
|
| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
rascal
|
|
| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
deluded
|
|
| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
bluff
|
|
| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
hysterical
|
|
| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
tenement
|
|
| n.公寓；房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
queried
|
|
| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
wedded
|
|
| adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
fictitious
|
|
| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
fatigued
|
|
| adj. 疲乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
ushered
|
|
| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
scrupulously
|
|
| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
awfully
|
|
| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
surmise
|
|
| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |