首页 >出版文学> The Works of Rudyard Kipling One>第123章
  MissTAside。Niceman!HeknowsthatquotationHeisn’taPhilistinewithamoustacheAloud。Good-bye,CaptainGamsby。
  Aside。Whatahugehandandwhatasqueeze!Idon’tsupposehemeantit,buthehasdriventheringsintomyfingers。
  POORDEARMAMMAHasVermillioncomeroundyet?Oh,yes!CaptainGadsby,don’tyouthinkthatthesaddleistoofarforward?Theypassintothefrontveranda。
  CAPTGAside。HowthedickensshouldIknowwhatsheprefers?ShetoldmethatshedotedonhorsesAloud。Ithinkitis。
  MissTComingoutintofrontveranda。Oh!BadBuldoo!I
  mustspeaktohimforthisHehastakenupthecurbtwolinks,andVermillionbatesthatPassesoutandtohorse’shead。
  CAPTGLetmedoit!
  MissTNo,VermillionunderstandsmeDon’tyou,oldman?
  Loosescurb-chainskilfully,andpatshorseonnoseandthrottle。
  PoorVermillion!Didtheywanttocuthischinoff?There!
  CaptainGadsbywatchestheinterludewithundisguisedadmiration。
  POORDEARMAMMATartlytoMissT。You’veforgottenyourguest,Ithink,dear。
  MissTGoodgracious!SoIhave!Good-byeRetreatsindoorshastily。
  POORDEARMAMMABunchingreinsinfingershamperedbytootightgauntlets。CAPTAINGamsby!
  CAPTAINGADSBYstoopsandmakesthefoot-restPOOR
  DEARMAMMAblunders,haltstoolong,andbreaksthroughit。
  CAPTGAside。Can’tholdup~evenstoneforeverIt’sallyourrheumatismAloud。Can’timaginewhyIwassoclumsy。
  Aside。NowLittleFeatherweightwouldhavegoneuplikeabird。
  TheyrideoatofthegardenTheCaptainfallsback。
  CAPTGAside。Howthathabitcatchesherunderthearms!
  Ugh!
  POORDEARMAMMAWiththewornsmileofsixteenseasons,theworseforexchange。You’redullthisafternoon,CAPTAINGamsby。
  CAPTGSpurringupwearily。Whydidyoukeepmewaitingsolong?
  Etcetera,etcetera,etcetera。
  ANINTERVALOFTHREEWEEKS。
  GILDEDYOUTHSittingonrailingsoppositeTownHall。
  Hullo,Gandy!’BeentrottingouttheGorgonzola!WeallthoughtitwastheGorganyou’remashing。
  CAPTGWithwitheringemphasis。Youyoungcub!Whatthe-
  doesitmattertoyou?
  ProceedstoreadGILDEDYOUTHalectureondiscretionanddeportment,whichcrumbleslatterlikeaChineseLanternDepartsfuming。
  FURTHERINTERVALOFFIVEWEEKS。SCENE-ExteriorofNewSimlaLibraryonafoggyeveningMissTHREECANandMissDEERCOURT
  meetamongthe’rickshawsMissTiscarryingabundleofbooksunderherleftarm~
  MissDLevelintonation。Well?
  Miss’I’Ascendingintonation。Well?
  MissDCapturingherfriend’sleftarm,takingawayallthebooks,placingbooksin’rickshaw,returningtoarm,securinghandbythirdfingerandinvestigating。Well!Youbadgirl!Andyounevertoldme。
  MissTDemurely。He-he-heonlyspokeyesterdayafternoon。
  MissDBlessyou,dear!AndI’mtobebridesmaid,aren’tI?Youknowyoupromisedeversolongago。
  MissTOfcourseI’lltellyouallaboutitto-morrowGetsinto’rickshaw。OEmma!
  MissDWithintenseinterest。Yes,dear?
  MissTPiano。It’squitetrue——about-the-egg。
  MissDWhategg?
  MissTPianissimoprestissimo。Theeggwithoutthesalt。
  Porte。Chalogharkojaldi,jhampani!Gohome,jhampani。
  THEWORLDWITHOUT
  Certainpeopleofimportance。
  SCENE-Smoking-roomoftheDegchiClubTime,10。30PMofastuffynightintheRainsFourmendispersedinpicturesqueattitudesandeasy-chairsTotheseenterBLAYNEoftheIrregularMoguls,ineveningdress。
  BLAYNEPhew!TheJudgeoughttobehangedinhisownstore-godownHi,khitmatgarlPoorawhiskey-peg,totakethetasteoutofmymouth。
  CURTISSRoyalArtillery。That’sit,isit?WhatthedeucemadeyoudineattheJudge’s?Youknowhisbandobust。
  BLAYNE’Thoughtitcouldn’tbeworsethantheClub,butI’llswearhebuysullagedliquoranddoctorsitwithginandinklookingroundtheroom。Isthisallofyouto-night?
  DOONEP。W。D。AnthonywascalledoutatdinnerMinglehadapaininhistummy。
  CURTISSMiggydiesofcholeraonceaweekintheRains,andgetsdrunkonchlorodyneinbetween’Goodlittlechap,though。
  AnyoneattheJudge’s,Blayne?
  BLAYNECockleyandhismemsahiblookingawfullywhiteandfagged’F’。malegirl-couldn’tcatchthename-onherwaytotheHills,undertheCockleys’charge-theJudge,andMarkynfreshfromSimla-disgustinglyfit。
  CURTISSGoodLord,howtrulymagnificent!Wasthereenoughice?WhenImangledgarbagethereIgotonewholelump-nearlyasbigasawalnutWhathadMarkyntosayforhimself?
  BLAYNE’SeemsthateveryoneishavingafairlygoodtimeupthereinspiteoftherainByJove,thatremindsme!IknowI
  hadn’tcomeacrossjustforthepleasureofyoursocietyNews!
  Greatnews!Markyntoldme。
  DOONEWho’sdeadnow?
  BLAYNENoonethatIknowof;butGandy’shookedatlast!
  DROPPINGCHORUSHowmuch?TheDevil!MarkynwaspullingyourlegNotGANDY!
  BLAYNEHumming。“Yea,verily,verily,verily!Verily,verily,Isayuntothee。”Theodore,thegifto’God!OurPhillup!It’sbeengivenoutupabove。
  MACKESYBarrister-at-Law。Huh!WomenwillgiveoutanythingWhatdoesaccusedsay?
  BLAYNEMarkyntoldmethathecongratulatedhimwarily-onehandheldout,t’otherreadytoguardGandyturnedpinkandsaiditwasso。
  CURTISSPooroldCaddy!TheyalldoitWho’sshe?Let’shearthedetails。
  BLAYNEShe’sagirl-daughterofaColonelSomebody。
  DOONESimla’sstiffwithColonels’daughtersBemoreexplicit。
  BLAYNEWaitashakeWhatwashername?Thresomething。
  Three-
  CURTISSStars,perhapsCaddyknowsthatbrand。
  BLAYNEThreegan-MinnieThreegan。
  MACKESYThreeganIsn’tshealittlebitofagirlwithredhair?
  BLAYNE’Boutthat-fromwhatfromwhatMarkynsaid。
  MACKESYThenI’vemetherShewasatLucknowlastseason。
  ’OwnedapermanentlyjuvenileMamma,anddanceddamnablyI
  say,Jervoise,youknewtheThreegans,didn’tyou?
  JERVOISECivilianoftwenty-fiveyears’service,wakingupfromhisdoze。Eh?What’sthat?Knewwho?How?IthoughtIwasatHome,confoundyou!
  MACKESYTheThreegangirl’sengaged,soBlaynesays。
  JERVOISESlowly。Engaged-en-gaged!Blessmysoul!I’mgettinganoldman!LittleMinnieThreeganengagedItwasonlytheotherdayIwenthomewiththemintheSurat-no,theMassilia-
  andshewascrawlingaboutonherhandsandkneesamongtheayahs’Usedtocallmethe“TickTackSakib“becauseIshowedhermywatchAndthatwasinSixty-Seven-no,SeventyGoodGod,howtimeflies!I’manoldmanIrememberwhenThreeganmarriedMissDerwent-daughterofoldHookyDerwent-butthatwasbeforeyourtimeAndsothelittlebaby’sengagedtohavealittlebabyofherown!Who’stheotherfool?
  MACKESYGadsbyofthePinkHussars。
  JERVOISE’NevermethimThreeganlivedindebt,marriedindebt,and’lldieindebt’Mustbegladtogetthegirloffhishands。
  BLAYNECaddyhasmoney-luckydevilPlaceatHome,too。
  DOONEHecomesoffirst-classstock’Can’tquiteunderstandhisbeingcaughtbyaColonel’sdaughter,andlookingcautiouslyroundroom。BlackInfantryatthat!Nooffencetoyou,Blayne。
  BLAYNEStiffly。Notmuch,thaanks。
  CURTISSQuotingmottoofIrregularMoguls。“Wearewhatweare。”eh,oldman?ButGandywassuchasuperioranimalasarule。
  Whydidn’thegoHomeandpickhiswifethere?
  MACKESYTheyareallalikewhentheycometotheturnintothestraightAboutthirtyamanbeginstogetsickoflivingalone。
  CURTISSAndoftheeternalmuttony-chopinthemorning。
  DOONEIt’sadeadgoatasarule,butgoon,Mackesy。
  MACKESYIfaman’soncetakenthatwaynothingwillholdhim,DoyourememberBenoitofyourservice,Doone?TheytransferredhimtoTharandawhenhistimecame,andhemarriedaplatelayer’sdaughter,orsomethingofthatkindShewastheonlyfemaleabouttheplace。
  DONEYes,poorbruteThatsmashedBenoit’schancesofpromotionaltogetherMrsBenoitusedtoask“Wasyougem’tothedancethisevenin’?”
  CURTISSHangitall!Gandyhasn’tmarriedbeneathhimThere’snotarbrushinthefamily,Isuppose。
  JERVOISETar-brush!NotanannaYouyoungfellowstalkasthoughthemanwasdoingthegirlanhonorinmarryingher。
  You’realltooconceited-nothing’sgoodenoughforyou。
  BLAYNENotevenanemptyClub,adam’baddinnerattheJudge’s,andaStationassicklyasahospitalYou’requiteright。
  We’reasetofSybarites。
  DOONELuxuriousdogs,wallowingin-
  CURTISSPricklyheatbetweentheshouldersI’mcoveredwithitLet’shopeBeorawillbecooler。
  BLAYNEWhew!Areyouorderedintocamp,too?IthoughttheGunnershadacleansheet。
  CURTISSNo,worseluckTwocasesyesterday-onedied-andifwehaveathird,outwegoIsthereanyshootingatBeora,Doone?
  DOONEThecountry’sunderwater,exceptthepatchbytheGrandTrunkRoadIwasthereyesterday,lookingatabund,andcameacrossfourpoordevilsintheirlaststageIt’sratherbadfromheretoKuchara。
  CURTISSThenwe’reprettycertaintohaveaheavygoofit。
  Heigho!Ishouldn’tmindchangingplaceswithGaddyforawhile。
  ’SportwithAmaryllisintheshadeoftheTownHall,andallthat。
  Oh,whydoesn’tsomebodycomeandmarryme,insteadoflettingmegointocholera-camp?
  MACKESYAsktheCommittee。
  CURTISSYouruffian!You’llstandmeanotherpegforthat。
  Blayne,whatwillyoutake?Mackesyisfineonmoralgrounds。
  Done,haveyouanypreference?
  DONESmallglassKummel,pleaseExcellentcarminative,thesedaysAnthonytoldmeso。
  MACKESYSigningvoucherforfourdrinks。MostunfairpunishmentIonlythoughtofCurtissasActaeonbeingchiviedroundthebilliardtablesbythenymphsofDiana。
  BLAYNECurtisswouldhavetoimporthisnymphsbytrainMrs。
  Cockley’stheonlywomanintheStationShewon’tleaveCockley,andhe’sdoinghisbesttogethertogo。
  CURTISSGood,indeed!Here’sMrsCockley’shealthTotheonlywifeintheStationandadamnedbravewoman!
  OMNESDrinking。AdamnedbravewomanBLAVNEIsupposeGandywillbringhiswifehereattheendofthecoldweatherTheyaregoingtobemarriedalmostimmediately,Ibelieve。
  CURTISSGandymaythankhisluckthatthePinkHussarsarealldetachmentandnoheadquartersthishotweather,orhe’dbetornfromthearmsofhisloveassureasdeathHaveyouevernoticedthethorough-mindedwayBritishCavalrytaketocholera?It’sbecausetheyaresoexpensiveIfthePinkshadstoodfasthere,theywouldhavebeenoutincampamonthTHEWORLDWITHOUT