Detour to romance 曲折的浪漫路

 　　“哎呀，老天爷——你就从来没到这个车站来过？”他指向杂志摊。“我一直就在那儿。那个摊儿是我的。我看过每个上楼的人。”

　　她的脸色开始变得有些苍白。过了一会儿，她向楼梯看去，声音微弱地说：“我——我过去一直没上这个楼梯。你看，我昨天出城是去办点公事——噢，哈里！”然后，她伸手搂住他的脖子，哭了起来。

　　她往后一站，用手直指车站的最北头。“哈里，3年来，整整3年，我就在那儿——就在这个车站工作，在站长办公室里，打字。”

　　Located in the checkroom in Union Station as I am, I see everybody that comes up the stairs.

　　Harry¹ came in a little over three years ago and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train.

　　I remember seeing Harry that first evening. He wasn’t much more than a thin, anxious kid then. He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his girl and that they would be married twenty minutes after she arrived.

　　Well, the passengers came up and I had to get busy. I didn’t look toward² the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18 and I was very surprised to see that the young fellow was still there.

　　She didn’t come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40, and when the passengers from the 10:02 had all arrived and left, Harry was looking pretty desperate. Pretty soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what she looked like.

　　"She’s small and dark," he said, "and nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walks. She has a face," he said, thinking a minute, "that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows³ come to a little point in the middle. She’s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn’t wearing it."

　　I couldn’t remember seeing anybody like that.

　　He showed me the telegram he’d received: ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME STATION. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. MAY. It was from Omaha, Nebraska.

　　"Well," I finally said, "why don’t you phone to your home? She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you."

　　He gave me a sick look. "I’ve only been in town two days. We were going to meet and then drive down South where I’ve got a job. She hasn’t any address for me." He touched the telegram.

　　When I came on duty the next day he was still there and came over as soon as he saw me.

　　"Did she work anywhere?" I asked.

　　He nodded. "She was a typist. I telegraphed⁴ her former boss. All they know is that she left her job to get married."

　　Harry met every train for the next three or four days. Of course, the railroad⁵ lines made a routine⁶ checkup and the police looked into the case. But nobody was any real help. I could see that they all figured that May had simply played a trick on him. But I never believed that, somehow.

　　One day, after about two weeks, Harry and I were talking and I told him about my theory. "If you’ll just wait long enough," I said, "you’ll see her coming up those stairs some day." He turned and looked at the stairs as though he had never seen them before.

　　The next day when I came to work Harry was behind the counter of Tony’s magazine stand. He looked at me rather sheepishly and said, "Well, I had to get a job somewhere, didn’t I?"

　　So he began to work as a clerk for Tony. We never spoke⁷ of May anymore and neither of us ever mentioned my theory. But I noticed that Harry always saw every person who came up the stairs.

　　Toward the end of the year Tony was killed in some argument over gambling⁸, and Tony’s widow⁹ left Harry in complete charge of the magazine stand. And when she got married again some time later, Harry bought the stand from her. He borrowed money and installed¹⁰ a soda¹¹ fountain and pretty soon he had a very nice little business.

　　Then came yesterday. I heard a cry and a lot of things falling. The cry was from Harry and the things falling were a lot of dolls and other things which he had upset while he was jumping over the counter. He ran across and grabbed¹² a girl not ten feet from my window. She was small and dark and her eyebrows came to a little point in the middle.

　　For a while they just hung there to each other laughing and crying and saying things without meaning. She’d say a few words like, "It was the bus station I meant" and he’d kiss her speechless and tell her the many things he had done to find her. What apparently¹³ had happeded three years before was that May had come by bus, not by train, and in her telegram she meant "bus station," not "railroad station." She had waited at the bus station for days and had spent all her money trying to find Harry. Finally she got a job typing.

　　"What?" said Harry. "Have you been working in town? All the time?"

　　She nodded.

　　"Well, Heavens. Didn’t you ever come down here to the station?" He pointed¹⁴ across to his magazine stand. "I’ve been there all the time. I own it. I’ve watched everybody that came up the stairs."

　　She began to look a little pale. Pretty soon she looked over at the stairs and said in a weak voice, "I never came up the stairs before. You see, I went out of town yesterday on a short business trip. Oh, Harry!" Then she threw her arms around his neck and really began to cry.

　　After a minute she backed away and pointed very stiffly¹⁵ toward the north end of the station. "Harry, for three years, for three solid years, I’ve been right over there working right in this very station, typing, in the office of the stationmaster."

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

3 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

4 telegraphed   

vt.& vi.打电报（telegraph的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• There's a look about him that telegraphed bad news. 他那副样子流露出坏消息。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He telegraphed that he had arrived in London safe and sound. 他电告他已平安抵达伦敦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

6 routine   

n.例行公事，惯例；adj.例行的，常规的

参考例句：

• It is everyday routine.这是每天的例行公事。
• She found the hospital routine slightly dull.她感到医院的工作有点枯燥乏味。

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 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

9 widow   

n.寡妇

参考例句：

• Martha was a very rich young widow.玛莎是个很有钱的年轻寡妇。
• All this money was appropriated for the support of his widow.所有这些钱作为给他的遗孀的抚养费。

10 installed   

安装( install的过去式和过去分词 )； 安顿； 安置； 使…正式就职

参考例句：

• He's getting a phone installed tomorrow. 他明天要装电话。
• A professionally installed alarm will cost from about ￡500. 请专业人员安装的警报器要花费至少500 英镑。

11 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

12 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 stiffly   

adv. 顽固地, 硬

参考例句：

• His manner was stiffly formal.他的举止十分僵硬。
• He got out of bed stiffly.他手脚不灵便地起了床。