AfterTwentyYears

1、AfterTwentyYearsThepolicemanonthebeatmoveduptheavenueimpressively.Theimpressivenesswashabitualandnotforshow,forspectatorswerefew.Thetimewasbarely10o'clockatnight,butchillygustsofwindwithatasteofraininthemhadwellnighdepeopledthestreets.Tryingdoorsashewent,twirlinghisclubwithmanyintricateandartful

2、movements,turningnowandthentocasthiswatchfuleyeadownthepacificthoroughfare,theofficer,withhisstalwartformandslightswagger,madeafinepictureofaguardianofthepeace.Thevicinitywasonethatkeptearlyhours.Nowandthenyoumightseethelightsofacigarstoreorofanall-nightlunchcounter;butthemajorityofthedoorsbelongedt

3、obusinessplacesthathadlongsincebeenclosed.Whenaboutmidwayofacertainblockthepolicemansuddenlyslowedhiswalk.Inthedoorwayofadarkenedhardwarestoreamanleaned,withanunlightedcigarinhismouth.Asthepolicemanwalkeduptohimthemanspokeupquickly."It'sallright,officer,"hesaid,reassuringly."I'

4、;mjustwaitingforafriend.It'sanappointmentmadetwentyyearsago.Soundsalittlefunnytoyou,doesn'tit?Well,I'llexplainifyou'dliketomakecertainit'sallstraight.Aboutthatlongagothereusedtobearestaurantwherethisstorestands-'BigJoe'Brady'srestaurant.""Untilfiveyearsago,&

5、quot;saidthepoliceman."Itwastorndownthen."Themaninthedoorwaystruckamatchandlithiscigar.Thelightshowedapale,square-jawedfacewithkeeneyes,andalittlewhitescarnearhisrighteyebrow.Hisscarfpinwasalargediamond,oddlyset."Twentyyearsagoto-night,"saidtheman,"Idinedhereat'BigJoe

6、9;Brady'swithJimmyWells,mybestchum,andthefinestchapintheworld.HeandIwereraisedhereinNewYork,justliketwobrothers,together.IwaseighteenandJimmywastwenty.ThenextmorningIwastostartfortheWesttomakemyfortune.Youcouldn'thavedraggedJimmyoutofNewYork;hethoughtitwastheonlyplaceonearth.Well,weagreedtha

7、tnightthatwewouldmeethereagainexactlytwentyyearsfromthatdateandtime,nomatterwhatourconditionsmightbeorfromwhatdistancewemighthavetocome.Wefiguredthatintwentyyearseachofusoughttohaveourdestinyworkedoutandourfortunesmade,whatevertheyweregoingtobe.""Itsoundsprettyinteresting,"saidthepoli

8、ceman."Ratheralongtimebetweenmeets,though,itseemstome.Haven'tyouheardfromyourfriendsinceyouleft?""Well,yes,foratimewecorresponded,"saidtheother."Butafterayearortwowelosttrackofeachother.Yousee,theWestisaprettybigproposition,andIkepthustlingaroundoveritprettylively.ButIkn

9、owJimmywillmeetmehereifhe'salive,forhealwayswasthetruest,stanchestoldchapintheworld.He'llneverforget.Icameathousandmilestostandinthisdoorto-night,andit'sworthitifmyoldpartnerturnsup."Thewaitingmanpulledoutahandsomewatch,thelidsofitsetwithsmalldiamonds."Threeminutestoten,"h

10、eannounced."Itwasexactlyteno'clockwhenwepartedhereattherestaurantdoor.""DidprettywelloutWest,didn'tyou?"askedthepoliceman."Youbet!IhopeJimmyhasdonehalfaswell.Hewasakindofplodder,though,goodfellowashewas.I'vehadtocompetewithsomeofthesharpestwitsgoingtogetmypile.Am

11、angetsinagrooveinNewYork.IttakestheWesttoputarazor-edgeonhim."Thepolicemantwirledhisclubandtookasteportwo."I'llbeonmyway.Hopeyourfriendcomesaroundallright.Goingtocalltimeonhimsharp?""Ishouldsaynot!"saidtheother."I'llgivehimhalfanhouratleast.IfJimmyisaliveonearth

12、he'llbeherebythattime.Solong,officer.""Good-night,sir,"saidthepoliceman,passingonalonghisbeat,tryingdoorsashewent.Therewasnowafine,colddrizzlefalling,andthewindhadrisenfromitsuncertainpuffsintoasteadyblow.Thefewfootpassengersastirinthatquarterhurrieddismallyandsilentlyalongwithcoa

13、tcollarsturnedhighandpocketedhands.Andinthedoorofthehardwarestorethemanwhohadcomeathousandmilestofillanappointment,uncertainalmosttoabsurdity,withthefriendofhisyouth,smokedhiscigarandwaited.Abouttwentyminuteshewaited,andthenatallmaninalongovercoat,withcollarturneduptohisears,hurriedacrossfromtheoppo

14、sitesideofthestreet.Hewentdirectlytothewaitingman."Isthatyou,Bob?"heasked,doubtfully."Isthatyou,JimmyWells?"criedthemaninthedoor."Blessmyheart!"exclaimedthenewarrival,graspingboththeother'shandswithhisown."It'sBob,sureasfate.IwascertainI'dfindyouhereify

15、ouwerestillinexistence.Well,well,well!-twentyyearsisalongtime.Theoldgone,Bob;Iwishithadlasted,sowecouldhavehadanotherdinnerthere.HowhastheWesttreatedyou,oldman?""Bully;ithasgivenmeeverythingIaskeditfor.You'vechangedlots,Jimmy.Ineverthoughtyouweresotallbytwoorthreeinches.""Oh,

16、IgrewabitafterIwastwenty.""DoingwellinNewYork,Jimmy?""Moderately.Ihaveapositioninoneofthecitydepartments.Comeon,Bob;we'llgoaroundtoaplaceIknowof,andhaveagoodlongtalkaboutoldtimes."Thetwomenstartedupthestreet,arminarm.ThemanfromtheWest,hisegotismenlargedbysuccess,wasbegin

17、ningtooutlinethehistoryofhiscareer.Theother,submergedinhisovercoat,listenedwithinterest.Atthecornerstoodadrugstore,brilliantwithelectriclights.Whentheycameintothisglareeachofthemturnedsimultaneouslytogazeupontheother'sface.ThemanfromtheWeststoppedsuddenlyandreleasedhisarm."You'renotJimm

18、yWells,"hesnapped."Twentyyearsisalongtime,butnotlongenoughtochangeaman'snosefromaRomantoapug.""Itsometimeschangesagoodmanintoabadone,saidthetallman."You'vebeenunderarrestfortenminutes,'Silky'Bob.Chicagothinksyoumayhavedroppedoverourwayandwiresusshewantstohave

19、achatwithyou.Goingquietly,areyou?That'ssensible.Now,beforewegoontothestationhere'sanoteIwasaskedtohandyou.Youmayreadithereatthewindow.It'sfromPatrolmanWells."ThemanfromtheWestunfoldedthelittlepieceofpaperhandedhim.Hishandwassteadywhenhebegantoread,butittrembledalittlebythetimehehadf

20、inished.Thenotewasrathershort."Bob:Iwasattheappointedplaceontime.WhenyoustruckthematchtolightyourcigarIsawitwasthefaceofthemanwantedinChicago.SomehowIcouldn'tdoitmyself,soIwentaroundandgotaplainclothesmantodothejob.JIMMY."紐約的一條大街上，一位值勤的警察正沿街走著。一陣?yán)滹`颼的風(fēng)向他迎面吹來。已近夜間10點(diǎn)，街上的行人寥寥無幾了。在一家小店鋪的門口

21、，昏暗的燈光下站著一個(gè)男子。他的嘴里叼著一支沒有點(diǎn)燃的雪茄煙。警察放慢了腳步，認(rèn)真地看了他一眼，然后，向那個(gè)男子走了過去?！斑@兒沒有出什么事，警官先生?！笨匆娋煜蜃约鹤邅?，那個(gè)男子很快地說，“我只是在這兒等一位朋友罷了。這是20年前定下的一個(gè)約會(huì)。你聽了覺得稀奇，是嗎？好吧，如果有興致聽的話，我來給你講講。大約20年前，這兒，這個(gè)店鋪現(xiàn)在所占的地方，原來是一家餐館”“那餐館5年前就被拆除了?！本旖由先フf。男子劃了根火柴，點(diǎn)燃了叼在嘴上的雪茄。借著火柴的亮光，警察發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)男子臉色蒼白，右眼角附近有一塊小小的白色的傷疤。“20年前的今天晚上，”男子繼續(xù)說，“我和吉米維爾斯在這兒的餐館共進(jìn)晚餐。

22、哦，吉米是我最要好的朋友。我們倆都是在紐約這個(gè)城市里長大的。從孩提時(shí)候起，我們就親密無間，情同手足。當(dāng)時(shí)，我正準(zhǔn)備第二天早上就動(dòng)身到西部去謀生。那天夜晚臨分手的時(shí)候，我們倆約定：20年后的同一日期、同一時(shí)間，我們倆將來到這里再次相會(huì)?！薄斑@聽起來倒挺有意思的?！本煺f，“你們分手以后，你就沒有收到過你那位朋友的信嗎？”“哦，收到過他的信。有一段時(shí)間我們曾相互通信。”那男子說，“可是一兩年之后，我們就失去了聯(lián)系。你知道，西部是個(gè)很大的地方。而我呢，又總是不斷地東奔西跑。可我相信，吉米只要還活著，就一定會(huì)來這兒和我相會(huì)的。他是我最信得過的朋友啦?！闭f完，男子從口袋里掏出一塊小巧玲球的金表。表上的寶石在黑暗中閃閃發(fā)光?！熬劈c(diǎn)五十七分了。”他說，“我們上一次是十點(diǎn)整在這兒的餐館分手的。”“你在西部混得不錯(cuò)吧？”警察問道?！爱?dāng)然羅！吉米的光景要是能趕上我的一半就好了。啊，實(shí)在不容易??！這些年來，我一直不得不東奔西跑”又是一陣?yán)滟?zèng)颼的風(fēng)穿街而過。接著，一片沉寂。他們倆誰也沒有說話。過了一會(huì)兒，警察準(zhǔn)備離開這里。“我得走了，”他對那個(gè)男子說，“我希望你的朋友很快就會(huì)到來。假如他不準(zhǔn)時(shí)趕來，你會(huì)離開這兒嗎？”“不會(huì)的。我起碼要再等他半個(gè)小時(shí)。如果吉米他還活在人間，他到時(shí)候一定會(huì)來到這兒的。就說這些吧，再見，警官先生?！薄霸僖?，先生。