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第13章 The￡1000000 BankNote（第3页）

&heusualcivilitieswerescaughtsightofme，awithcordiallyoutstretd;thewhenabouttoshake，andsaid，withanembarrassedlook:

"IbegyourpardhtIknewyou。"

"Why，youdoknowme，oldfellow。"

"he-the-"

"Vest-poster?Iam，indeed。Don'tbeafraidtocallmebymyniame;I'musedtoit。"

"ell，thisisasurprise。Oos;veseenyouroledwiththeneveroethatyoucouldbetheHenryAdamsreferredto。Why，itisn'tsixmonthssinceyouweregawayforBlakeHopkinsinFrisasalary，andsittingupnightsoraalloingmearraheGouldaeatistics。TheideainLondon，andavastmillionaire，andacolossalcelebrity!os;stheArabianNightseagain。Man，I'ttakeitinatall;'trealizeit;givemetimetosettlethewhirli;

"Thefactis，Lloyd，youarehanIam。I'trealizeitmyself。"

"Dearme，itisstunning，noos;tit?os;sjustthreemonthstodaysiheMiners'restaurant-"

"Cheer。"

&quht，itwastheWhattthereattwointhem，andhadadcoffeeafterahardsix-hrihoseExtensionpapers，aopersuadeyoutoetoLondonwithme，aleaveofabsenceforyouandpayallyourexpenses，andgiveyousomethingoverifIsumakingthesale;andyouwouldome，saidIos;tsudyoup;apos;taffordtolosetherunofbusinessaimegettingthehangofthingsagaibae。Ahereyouare。Howodditallis!Howdidyouhappeeverdidgiveyouthisi?"

"Oh，justa'salongstory-aromanaysay。I'lltellyouallaboutit，butnotnow。"

"When?"

"Theendofthismonth。"

"That'smorethanafhtyet。It'stoomuchofastrainonaperson'sakeitaweek。"

"I't。You'llknowwhy，byandby。Buthoos;sthetradegettingalong?"

Hisessvanishedlikeabreath，ahasigh:

"Yourophet，Hal，atrueprophet。Ios;tp;apos;twanttotalkaboutit。"

"Butyoumust。Youmusteandstopwithmetonight，whenweleavehere，andtellmeallaboutit。"

"Oh，mayI?Areyoui;aershowedinhiseyes。

"Yes;Iwahewholestory，everyword。"

"I'msograteful!Justtofindahumaonevoisomeeye，inmeandaffairsofmiI'vebeenthroughhere-lord!Icouldgodowno!"

Hegrippedmyhandhard，andbradwasallrightaerthatforthedinner-whi'teoff。hihingthatisalevidaggravatingEnglishsystem-thematterofprep;apos;tbesettled，andsotherewasnlishmediheygoouttodiheykheyarerunning;buthestranger，andsohelatotrap。Ofobodywashurtthistime，becausewehadallbeentodinner，noneofusbeiingHastings，andhehavingbeehemihetimethatheihatiheEnglishhehadnotprovidedanydiookaladyandproeddowntothediniisusualththemotiohedisputebegan。TheDukeofShoredittedtotakepredsitattheheadofthetable，holdirankedaministerwhorepreseionandnotamonarch;butIsthts，aoyield。InthegossipnIrankedalldukesnotroyal，andsaidso，andclaimedpreceofthisop;apos;tbesettled，leaswemightanddid，hefinally（andinjudicitoplaybirthandantiquity，andI"seeing"hisquerorand&qu"himwithAdam，whosedirectposterityIwas，asshownbymyname，whilehewasofacollateralbranch，asshownbyhis，andbyhisreanin;soroedbackt-roomagainandhadaperpendich-plateofsardinesandastrawberry，andyougroupyourselfandstandupa。Herethereligionofpreotsostrewopersonsofhighestrankchuckupashilliwinshasfirstgoathisstrawberry，andtheletstheshilliwochuthewo，andsoo，tableswerebrought，andlayedcribbage，sixpeheEnglishneverplayanygameforamusement。Ifthey'tmakesomethihing-theydon'tcarewhip;apos;tplay。

Wehadalovelytime;lytwoofushad，MissLanghamandI。IithherthatIp;apos;tyhaaboveadoublesequendwhenIstrueIneverdiscoveredit，aheain，andwouldhavelostthegameeverytime，onlythegirldidthesame，shebeinginjustmy，yousee;alyherotout，orcaredtoedidn't;weonlyjustkneerehappy，anddidn'twishtoknowanythingelse，anddidn'twaerrupted。AndItoldher-Idid，ioldherIlovedher;andshe-well，sheblushedtillherhairturshelikedit;shesaidshedid。Oh，therewasneversuiimeIpeggedIputonapostscript;everytimeshepeggedsheaowledgedreceiptofit，gthehandsthesame。Why，Ip;apos;tevensay"Twoforhisheels"withoutadding，"My，howsweetyoudolook!"andshewouldsay，"Fifteentwo，fifteenfour，fifteensix，andapairareeight，aaresixteen-doyouthinkso?"-peepingoutaslantfromunderherlashes，youkandg。Oh，itwasjusttoo-too!

erfeestahher;toldherIhadn'tatheworldbutjustthemillion-poundnoteshe'dheardsomuchtalkabout，anditdidn'tbelostartedhercuriosity;aalkedlow，ahewhhtfromthestart，anditnearlykilledherlaughing。WhatiionshedtolaughaboutIp;apos;tsee，butthereitwas;everyhalf-miailwouldfetdIwouldhavetostopasmuchasaminuteandahalftogiveheracetosettledownagain。Why，shelaughedherselflame-shedid，indeed;Ineversawanythi。ImeanIneversaainfulstory-astoryofaperson'stroublesandworriesandfears-producejustthatkibefore。SoIlovedherallthemshecouldbesocheerfulwhenthereos;tanythingtobecheerfulabhtsookindofwife，youkhingslooked。Ofcourse，Itoldherweshouldhavetoleofyears，tillIcouldysalary;butshedidn'tmindthat，onlyshehopedIwouldbeascarefulaspossibleierofexpeletthemruriskonourthirdyear'spay。Theogetalittleworried，andwonderedifweweremakingaartingthesalaryonahigherfigureforthefirstyearthanIwouldget。ThiswasgoodsemademefeelalittlelesstthanIhadbeenfeeligavemeagoodbusinessidea，andIbroughtitfranklyout。

"Portia，dear，wouldyoumindgoiday，whenItthoseoldge;

Sheshrankalittle，butsaid:

"N-o;ifmybeingwithyouwouldhelpheartenyou。But-woulditbequiteproper，doyouthink?"

"No，Idon'tknowthatitwould-infact，I'mafraiditos;t;but，yousee，there'ssomudentuponitthat-"

"ThenI'llgoanyerorimproper，"shesaid，withabeautifulahusiasm。"Oh，IshallbesohappytothinkI'mhelping!"

"Helping，dear?os;llbedoingitall。You'resobeautifulandsolovelyandsowinning，thatwithyouthereIpileoursalaryuptillIbreakthosegoodoldfellows，andthey'llhehearttle。"

Sho!Youshouldhaveseentheriount，andherhappyeyesshine!

"Youwickedflatterer!Thereisn'tawordoftruthinwhatyousay，butstillI'llgowithyou。Maybeitwillteaottoexpectotherpeopletolookwithyoureyes。"

&sdissipated?Wasmyayjudgebythisfact:privatelyIraisedmysalarytotwelvehuyearoIdidn'ttellher;Isaveditforasurprise。

AllthewayhomeIwasintheclouds，Hastingstalking，Inaword。Whenheaeredmyparlhtmetomyselfwithhisferveionsofmymanifoldfortsandluxuries。