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Файл:Элис Эдамс. Учебное пособие – книга для чтения на английском языке
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Alice Adams
181
Booth Tarkington
No, it isnt, Walter said. In the darkness his face
could not be seen; he stood motionless, in what seemed
an apathetic attitude; and he spoke quietly, No, he
repeated. That isnt what I want.
You stay down at that place, Adams went on, hotly,
instead of trying to be a little use to your family; and the
only reason your
Lambs never happened to notice you ARE still ther
just wait
Your
e off, Walter said, in the same quiet way. He
knows Im there. He spoke to me yesterday: he asked me
how I was getting along with my work.
He did? Adams said, seeming not to believe him.
Yes. He did.
What else did he say, Walter? Mrs. Adams asked
quickly.
Nothin. Just walked on.
I dont believe he knew who you were, Adams
declared.
Think not? He called me Walter Adams.
At this Adams was silent; and Walter
moment, said:
Well, are you going to do anything about me? About
what I told you I got to have?
What is it, Walter? his mother asked, since Adams did
not speak.
Walter clear
as that he had used before, though with a slight huskiness,
I got to have thr
get him to give it to me if you can.
Adams found his voice. Y
all he asks! He wont do anything I ask HIM to, and in
return he asks me for three hundred and fifty dollars!
Thats all!
What in the world! Mrs. Adams exclaimed. What
FOR, W
alter?
I got to have it, Walter said.
But what FOR?
e ALLOWED to stay there is because Mr.
, after waiting a
ed his thr
ee hundred and fifty dollars. Y
oat, and replied in a tone as quiet
ou better
es, he said, bitterly. Thats
e! You
182
Alice Adams
His quiet huskiness did not alter
But cant you tell us
I got to have it.
Thats all you can get out of him, Adams said. He
seems to think itll bring him in three hundred and fifty
dollars!
A faint tremulousness became evident in the husky
voice. Havent you got it?
NO, I havent got it! his father answered. And Ive
got to go to a bank for more than my pay-roll next week.
Do you think Im a mint?
I dont understand what you mean, W
Adams interposed, perplexed and distressed. If your father
had the money, of course hed need every cent of it,
especially just now, and, anyhow, you could scarcely
expect him to give it to you, unless you told us what you
want with it. But he hasnt got it.
All right, Walter said; and after standing a moment
more, in silence, he added, impersonally, I dont see as
you ever did anything much for me, anyhow either of
you.
Then, as if this were his valedictory, he turned his
back upon them, walked away quickly, and was at once
lost to their sight in the darkness.
Theres a fine boy tove had the trouble of raising!
Adams grumbled. Just crazy, thats all.
What in the world do you suppose he wants all that
money for? his wife said, wonderingly. I cant imagine
what he could DO with it. I wonder She paused. I
wonder if he
If he what? Adams prompted her irritably.
If he COULD have bad associates.
God knows! said Adams. I dont! It just looks to me
like he had something in him I dont understand. Y
keep your eye on a boy all the time in a city this size, not
a boy W
house, but a boyll follow his nature. I dont know what
to do with him!
alters age. Y
ou got a girl pr
. I got to have it.
alter, Mrs.
ou cant
etty much in the
183
Booth Tarkington
Mrs. Adams brightened a little. Hell come out all
right, she said. Im sure he will. Im sure hed never be
anything really bad: and hell come around all right about
the glue-works, too; youll see. Of course every young
man wants money it doesnt prove hes doing anything
wrong just because he asks you for it.
No. All it proves to me is that he hasnt got good
sense asking me for three hundred and fifty dollars, when
he knows as well as you do the position Im in! If I
wanted to, I couldnt hardly let him have three hundred
and fifty cents, let alone dollars!
Im afraid youll have to let ME have that much
and maybe a little more, she ventured, timidly; and she
told him of her plans for the morrow. He objected
vehemently.
Oh, but Alice has probably asked him by this time,
Mrs. Adams said. It really must be done, Virgil: you dont
want him to think shes ashamed of us, do you?
Well, go ahead, but just let me stay away, he begged.
Of course I expect to undergo a kind of talk with him,
when he gets ready to say something to us about Alice,
but I do hate to have to sit thr
Why, it isnt going to bother you, she said; just one
young man as a guest.
Yes, I know; but you want to have all this fancy
cookin; and I see well enough youre going to get that old
dress suit out of the cedar chest in the attic, and try to
make me put it on me.
I do think you better
I hope the moths have got in it, he said. Last time
I wore it was to the banquet, and it was pretty old then.
Of course I didnt mind wearing it to the banquet so
much, because that was what you might call quite an
occasion. He spoke with some reminiscent complacency;
the banquet, an affair now five years past, having provided
the one time in his life when he had been so distinguished
among his fellow-citizens as to receive an invitation to be
present, with some seven hundred others, at the annual
ough a fashionable dinner
, Virgil.
.
184
Alice Adams
eating and speech-making of the citys Chamber of
Commerce. Anyhow, as you say, I think it would look
foolish of me to wear a dress suit for just one young
man, he went on protesting, feebly. Whats the use of
all so much howdy-do, anyway? Y
believe we put on all that style every night, do you? Is
that what youre after?
Well, we want him to think we live nicely, she
admitted.
So thats it! he said, querulously. Y
think thats our r
better about me, no matter how you fix me up, because
he saw me in my regular suit the evening she introduced
me to him, and he could tell anyway Im not one of these
moving-picture sporting-men thats always got a dress suit
on. Besides, you and Alice certainly have some idea hell
come AGAIN, havent you? If they get things settled
between
most any time, wont he? Y
on style all the time, I guess. W
kind of thing was all show-off, and bluff, wont he? What
about it?
Oh, well, by THA
unfinished, as if absently. You could let us have a little
money for tomorrow, couldnt you, honey?
Oh, I reckon, I reckon, he mumbled. A girl like Alice
is some comfort: she dont come around acting as if shed
commit suicide if she didnt get three hundred and fifty
dollars in the next five minutes. I expect I can spare five
or six dollars for your show-off if I got to.
However, she finally obtained fifteen befor
and the next morning went to market after breakfast,
leaving Alice to make the beds. W
downstairs. You had better call him, Mrs. Adams said, as
she departed with a big basket on her arm. I expect hes
pretty sleepy; he was out so late last night I didnt hear
him come in, though I kept awake till after midnight,
listening for him. Tell him hell be late to work if he
em hell be around the house and to meals
egular gait, do you? W
ou dont hardly expect to put
T time She left the sentence
ou dont expect him to
ou want him to
ell, hell know
ell, hell see then that this
e his bedtime;
alter had not yet come
185
Booth Tarkington
doesnt hurry; and see that he drinks his coffee, even if he
hasnt time for anything else. And when Malena comes, get
her started in the kitchen: show her where everything is.
She waved her hand, as she set out for a corner where the
cars stopped. Everythingll be lovely. Dont forget about
Walter.
Nevertheless, Alice for
She closed the door
and stared vaguely at one of the old brown-plush rockingchairs there. Upon her forehead were the little shadows of
an apprehensive reverie, and her thoughts overlapped one
another in a fretful jumble. What will he think? These old
chairs theyre hideous. Ill scrub those soot-streaks on
the columns: it wont do any good, though. That long
crack in the column nothing can help it. What will he
think of papa? I hope mama wont talk too much. When he
thinks of Mildreds house, or of Henriettas, or any of
beside this She said she
ought to help some. Nothing could be done about these
horrible chairs: cant take
got to have chairs! Might have rented some. No; if he ever
comes again hed see they werent here. If he ever comes
again oh, it wont be THAT bad! But it wont be what he
expects. Im responsible for what he expects: he expects
just what the airs Ive put on have made him expect. What
did I want to pose so to him for as if papa were a
wealthy man and all that? What WILL he think? The
photograph of the Colosseums a rather good thing, though.
It helps some as if wed bought it in Rome perhaps. I
hope hell think so; he believes Ive been abroad, of
course. The other night he said, Y
you get in the Sainte-Chapelle. Theres another lie of
mine, not saying I didnt remember because Id never been
there. What makes me do it? Papa MUST wear his evening
clothes. But W
With that she recalled her mothers admonition, and
went upstairs to Walters door
her fingers.
alter
got about W
, went into the living room absently,
d buy plenty of roses; that
em up in the attic a rooms
alter for a few minutes.
em,
ou remember the feeling
. She tapped upon it with
186
Alice Adams
Time to get up, Walter
over half an hour ago, and its nearly eight oclock. Y
be late. Hurry down and Ill have some coffee and toast
ready for you. There came no sound from within the
room, so she rapped louder.
Wake up, W
She called and rapped again, without getting any
response, and then, finding that the door yielded to her,
opened it and went in. Walter was not ther
He had been there, however; had slept upon the bed,
though not inside the covers; and Alice supposed he
must have come home so late that he had been too
sleepy to take off his clothes. Near the foot of the bed
was a shallow closet where he kept his other suit and
his evening clothes; and the door stood open, showing a
bare wall. Nothing whatever was in the closet, and Alice
was rather surprised at this for a moment. Thats queer
she murmured; and then she decided that when he woke
he found the clothes he had slept in so mussy he had
put on his other suit, and had gone out before breakfast
with the mussed clothes to have them pressed, taking his
evening things with them. Satisfied with this explanation,
and failing to observe that it did not account for the
absence of shoes fr
absently, Yes, that must be it; and, when her mother
retur
ned, told her that Walter had pr
down-town. They did not delay over this; the coloured
woman had arrived, and the baskets disclosures were
important.
I stopped at Worligs on the way back, said Mrs.
Adams, flushed with hurry and excitement. I bought a can
of caviar there. I thought wed have little sandwiches
brought into the living room befor
said they did when you went to that dinner at the
But I think that was to go with cocktails, mama, and
of course we havent
No, Mrs. Adams said. Still, I think it would be nice.
We can make them look very dainty, on a tray, and the
alter!
. The rest of us had breakfast
e.
om the closet floor
e dinner
, she nodded
obably breakfasted
, the way you
oull
,
187
Booth Tarkington
waitress can bring them in. I thought wed have the soup
already on the table; and we can walk right out as soon
as we have the sandwiches, so it wont get cold. Then,
after the soup, Malena says she can make sweetbread
pates with mushrooms: and for the meat course well
have larded fillet. Malenas really a fancy cook, you
know, and she says she can do anything like that to
perfection. W
balls and Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are fashionable
now, they told me at market. Then will come the chicken
salad, and after that the ice-cream shes going to make
an angel-food cake to go with it and then coffee and
crackers and a new kind of cheese I got at Worligs, he
says is very fine.
Alice was alarmed. Dont you think perhaps its too
much, mama?
Its better to have too much than too little, her
mother said, cheer
were the kind that skimp. Lord knows we have to
enough, though, most of the time! Get the flowers in
water, child. I bought em at market because theyr
much cheaper ther
fix em any way you want. Hurry! Its got to be a busy
day.
She had bought three dozen little roses. Alice took
them and began to arrange them in vases, keeping the
stems separated as far as possible so that the clumps
would look lar
vases in the living
the center of the room, and one at each end of the
mantelpiece. Then she took the rest of the roses to the
dining-room; but she postponed the arrangement of them
until the table should be set, just befor
thoughtful; planning to dry the stems and lay them on the
tablecloth like a vine of roses running in a delicate design,
if she found that the dozen and a half she had left were
enough for that. If they werent she would arrange them in
a vase.
ell have peas with the fillet, and potato
fully. We dont want him to think
e so
e, but theyll keep fr
ger. She put half a dozen in each of thr
room, placing one vase on the table in
esh and nice. Y
e dinner. She was
ou
ee
188
Alice Adams
She looked a long time at the little roses in the
basin of water
sighed, and went away to heavier tasks, while her
mother worked in the kitchen with Malena. Alice dusted
the living
all the time with a look that grew more and more
pensive; and having dusted everything, she wiped the
furniture; rubbed it hard. After that, she washed the
floors and the woodwork.
Emerging from the kitchen at noon, Mrs. Adams found
her daughter on hands and knees, scrubbing the bases of
the columns between the hall and the living
Now, dearie, she said, you mustnt tire yourself out,
and youd better come and eat something. Your father said
hed get a bite down-town today he was going down to
the bank and W
so I thought we wouldnt bother to set the table for lunch.
Come on and well have something in the kitchen.
No, Alice said, dully, as she went on with her
I dont want anything.
Her mother came closer to her. Why, whats the
matter? she asked, briskly. You seem kind of pale, to me;
and you dont look you dont look HAPPY
Well Alice began, uncertainly, but said no mor
See here! Mrs. Adams exclaimed. This is all just for
you! Y
weve weve entertained in I dont know how long! I
guess its almost since we had that little party when you
were eighteen. Whats the matter with you?
evening?
Oh, yes, of course, she said, and tried to smile. Of
course we had to do it I do think itll be nice. Of course
Im looking forward to it.
ou ought to be ENJOYING it. Why, its the first time
Nothing. I dont know.
But, dearie, arent you looking FORWARD to this
The girl looked up, showing a pallid and solemn face.
, where she had put them; then she
room and the dining
alter eats down-town all the time lately,
room vigorously, though
room.
work.
.
e.
189
Booth Tarkington
Chapter XX
She was indeed looking forward to that evening, but
in a cloud of apprehension; and, although she could never
have guessed it, this was the simultaneous condition of
another person none other than the guest for whose
pleasure so much cooking and scrubbing seemed to be
necessary. Mor
were no product of mere coincidence; neither had any
magical sympathy produced them. His state of mind was
rather the result of rougher undercurrents which had all
the time been running beneath the surface of a romantic
friendship.
Never shrewder than when she analyzed the gentlemen,
Alice did not libel him when she said he was one of those
quiet men who are a bit flirtatious, by which she meant
that he was a bit susceptible,
had proved himself susceptible to Alice upon his first sight
of her. Ther
the crowd of girls at his cousins dance, all strangers to
him, she was the one he wanted to know.
Since then, his summer evenings with her had been as
secluded as if, for three hours after the falling of dusk,
they two had drawn apart from the world to some dear
bower of their own. The little veranda was that glamorous
nook, with a faint golden light falling through the glass of
the closed door upon Alice, and darkness elsewhere,
except for the one round globe of the street lamp at the
corner. The people who passed along the sidewalk, now
and then, were only shadows with voices, moving vaguely
under the maple trees that loomed in obscure contours
against the stars. So, as the two sat together
the world was the wall and closed door behind them; and
Russell, when he was away from Alice, always thought of
her as sitting ther
about her thus, and a spell upon him; but he had a
formless anxiety never put into words: all the pictures of
her in his mind stopped at the closed door.
eover, Mr. Arthur Russells pr
the same thing and he
e! he said to himself. Whos that? And in
e before the closed door
emonitions
, the back of
. A glamour was
190
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