The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. The impressiveness was habitual¹ and not for show, for spectators were few. The time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but chilly² gusts³ of wind with a taste of rain in them had well nigh depeopled the streets.

Trying doors as he went, twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful⁴ eye adown the pacific thoroughfare, the officer, with his stalwart form and slight swagger, made a fine picture of a guardian⁵ of the peace. The vicinity was one that kept early hours. Now and then you might see the lights of a cigar store or of an all-night lunch counter; but the majority of the doors belonged to business places that had long since been closed.

When about midway of a certain block the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. In the doorway⁶ of a darkened hardware store a man leaned, with an unlighted cigar in his mouth. As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke⁷ up quickly.

"It's all right, officer," he said, reassuringly⁸. "I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands--'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant."

"Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down then."

The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed face with keen eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow⁹. His scarfpin was a large diamond, oddly set.

"Twenty years ago to-night," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best chum, and the finest chap in the world. He and I were raised here in New York, just like two brothers, together. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York; he thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come. We figured that in twenty years each of us ought to have our destiny worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be."

点击收听单词发音  

1 habitual
adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的
参考例句：
He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。 They are habitual visitors to our house.他们是我家的常客。

2 chilly
adj.凉快的，寒冷的
参考例句：
I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。 I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

3 gusts
一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作
参考例句：
Her profuse skirt bosomed out with the gusts. 她的宽大的裙子被风吹得鼓鼓的。 Turbulence is defined as a series of irregular gusts. 紊流定义为一组无规则的突风。

4 watchful
adj.注意的，警惕的
参考例句：
The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。 It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

5 guardian
n.监护人；守卫者，保护者
参考例句：
The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。 The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 doorway
n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径
参考例句：
They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。 Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

7 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：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 reassuringly
ad.安心，可靠
参考例句：
He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。 The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑，让人心里很踏实。

9 eyebrow
n.眉毛，眉
参考例句：
Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。 With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

10 hustling
催促（hustle的现在分词形式）
参考例句：
Our quartet was out hustling and we knew we stood good to take in a lot of change before the night was over. 我们的四重奏是明显地卖座的， 而且我们知道在天亮以前，我们有把握收入一大笔钱。 Men in motors were hustling to pass one another in the hustling traffic. 开汽车的人在繁忙的交通中急急忙忙地互相超车。

11 plodder
n.沉重行走的人，辛勤工作的人
参考例句：
He was quiet, conscientious, a bit of a plodder. 他做事闷声不响，小心谨慎，有点死气沉沉的。 来自柯林斯例句

12 groove
n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯
参考例句：
They're happy to stay in the same old groove.他们乐于墨守成规。 The cupboard door slides open along the groove.食橱门沿槽移开。

13 drizzle
v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨
参考例句：
The shower tailed off into a drizzle.阵雨越来越小，最后变成了毛毛雨。 Yesterday the radio forecast drizzle,and today it is indeed raining.昨天预报有小雨，今天果然下起来了。

14 puffs
n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句 Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

15 dismally
adv.阴暗地，沉闷地
参考例句：
Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分 He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

16 absurdity
n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论
参考例句：
The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。 The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

17 bully
n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮
参考例句：
A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。 The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

18 simultaneously
adv.同时发生地，同时进行地
参考例句：
The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。 The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。