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高中生经典英文小说阅读欣赏与写作系列 A Retrieved Reformation

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2021-02-13 03:17
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2021年2月13日发(作者:幸福感)


A Retrieved Reformation


by O. Henry


A guard came to the prison shoe- shop, where Jimmy Valentine was assiduously


stitching


uppers,


and


escorted


him


to


the


front


office.


There


the


warden


handed


Jimmy


his


pardon,


which


had


been


signed


that


morning


by


the


governor.


Jimmy


took


it


in


a


tired


kind


of


way.


He


had


served


nearly


ten


months


of


a


four


year


sentence. He had expected to stay only about three months, at the longest. When a


man with as many friends on the outside as Jimmy Valentine had is received in the

< br>



Valentine,


said


the


warden,



go


out


in


the


morning.


Brace


up,


and make a man of yourself. You're not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes,


and live straight.




happened to get sent up on that Springfield job? Was it because you wouldn't prove


an alibi for fear of compromising somebody in


extremely high-toned society? Or


was it simply a case of a mean old jury that had it in for you? It's always one or the


other with you innocent victims.



said


Jimmy,


still


blankly


virtuous.



warden,


I


never


was


in


Springfield in my life!



him


back,


Cronin!


said


the


warden,



fix


him


up


with


outgoing


clothes.


Unlock


him


at


seven


in


the


morning,


and


let


him


come


to


the


bull-pen.


Better think over my advice, Valentine.


At a quarter past seven on the next morning Jimmy stood in the warden's outer


office. He had on a suit of the villainously fitting, ready-made clothes and a pair of


the stiff, squeaky shoes that the state furnishes to its discharged compulsory guests.


The clerk handed him a railroad ticket and the five-dollar bill with which the


law expected him to rehabilitate himself into good citizenship and prosperity. The


warden gave him a cigar, and shook hands. Valentine, 9762, was chronicled on the


books,



by


Governor,


and


Mr.


James


Valentine


walked


out


into


the


sunshine.


Disregarding the song of the birds, the waving green trees, and the smell of the


flowers, Jimmy headed straight for a restaurant. There he tasted the first sweet joys


of liberty in the shape of a broiled chicken and a bottle of white wine--followed by


a


cigar


a


grade


better


than


the


one


the


warden


had


given


him.


From


there


he


proceeded leisurely to


the depot.


He tossed a quarter into the hat


of a blind


man


sitting by the door, and boarded his train. Three hours set him down in a little town



1


near the state line. He went to the cafe of one Mike Dolan and shook hands with


Mike, who was alone behind the bar.



that


protest


from


Springfield


to


buck


against,


and


the


governor


nearly


balked.


Feeling all right?



He


got


his


key


and


went


upstairs,


unlocking


the


door


of


a


room


at


the


rear.


Everything


was


just


as


he


had


left


it.


There


on


the


floor


was


still


Ben


Price's


collar-button that had been torn from that eminent detective's shirt-band when they


had overpowered Jimmy to arrest him.


Pulling out from the wall a folding- bed, Jimmy slid back a panel in the wall


and dragged out a dust-covered suit- case. He opened this and gazed fondly at the


finest


set


of


burglar's


tools


in


the


East.


It


was


a


complete


set,


made


of


specially


tempered


steel,


the


latest


designs


in


drills,


punches,


braces


and


bits,


jimmies,


clamps,


and


augers,


with


two


or


three


novelties,


invented


by


Jimmy


himself,


in


which he took pride. Over nine hundred dollars they had cost him to have made at


----, a place where they make such things for the profession.


In


half


an


hour


Jimmy


went


down


stairs


and


through


the


cafe.


He


was


now


dressed


in


tasteful


and


well-fitting


clothes,


and


carried


his


dusted


and


cleaned


suit-case in his hand.




New


York


Amalgamated


Short


Snap


Biscuit


Cracker


and


Frazzled


Wheat


Company.


This


statement


delighted


Mike


to


such


an


extent


that


Jimmy


had


to


take


a


seltzer- and-milk on the spot. He never touched


A


week


after


the


release


of


Valentine,


9762,


there


was


a


neat


job


of


safe-burglary done in Richmond, Indiana, with no clue to the author. A scant eight


hundred


dollars


was


all


that


was


secured.


Two


weeks


after


that


a


patented,


improved, burglar-proof safe in Logansport was opened like a cheese to the tune of


fifteen


hundred


dollars,


currency;


securities


and


silver


untouched.


That


began


to


interest


the


rogue-


catchers.


Then


an


old- fashioned


bank-safe


in


Jefferson


City


became active and threw out of its crater an eruption of bank-notes amounting to


five thousand dollars. The losses were now high enough to bring the matter up into


Ben


Price's


class


of


work.


By


comparing


notes,


a


remarkable


similarity


in


the


methods


of


the


burglaries


was


noticed.


Ben


Price


investigated


the


scenes


of


the


robberies, and was heard to remark:



combination knob --jerked out as easy as pulling up a radish in wet weather. He's



2


got


the


only


clamps


that


can


do


it.


And


look


how


clean


those


tumblers


were


punched


out!


Jimmy


never


has


to


drill


but


one


hole.


Yes,


I


guess


I


want


Mr.


Valentine.


He'll


do


his


bit


next


time


without


any


short-time


or


clemency


foolishness.


Ben


Price


knew


Jimmy's


habits.


He


had


learned


them


while


working


on


the


Springfield


case.


Long


jumps,


quick


get-aways,


no


confederates,


and


a


taste


for


good society--these ways had helped Mr. Valentine to become noted as a successful


dodger of retribution. It was given out that Ben Price had taken up the trail of the


elusive cracksman, and other people with burglar-proof safes felt more at ease.


One afternoon Jimmy Valentine and his suit-case climbed out of the mail-hack


in Elmore, a little town five miles off the railroad down in the black-jack country of


Arkansas.


Jimmy,


looking


like


an


athletic


young


senior


just


home


from


college,


went down the board side-walk toward the hotel.


A young lady crossed the street, passed him at the corner and entered a door


over


which


was


the


sign,



Elmore


Bank.


Jimmy


Valentine


looked


into


her


eyes,


forgot


what


he


was,


and


became


another


man.


She


lowered


her


eyes


and


coloured slightly. Young men of Jimmy's style and looks were scarce in Elmore.


Jimmy collared a boy that was loafing on the steps of the bank as if he were


one of the stockholders, and began to


ask him questions about


the town, feeding


him


dimes


at


intervals.


By


and


by


the


young


lady


came


out,


looking


royally


unconscious of the young man with the suit- case, and went her way.




come to Elmore for? Is that a gold watch-chain? I'm going to get a bulldog. Got any


more dimes?


Jimmy


went


to


the


Planters'


Hotel,


registered


as


Ralph


D.


Spencer,


and


engaged a room. He leaned on the desk and declared his platform to the clerk. He


said he had come to Elmore to look for a location to go into business. How was the


shoe business, now, in the town? He had thought of the shoe business. Was there an


opening?


The


clerk


was


impressed


by


the


clothes


and


manner


of


Jimmy.


He,


himself,


was something of a pattern of fashion to the thinly gilded youth of Elmore, but he


now


perceived


his


shortcomings.


While


trying


to


figure


out


Jimmy's


manner


of


tying his four-in-hand he cordially gave information.


Yes,


there


ought


to


be


a


good


opening


in


the


shoe


line.


There


wasn't


an


exclusive shoe-store in the place. The dry-goods and general stores handled them.


Business in all lines was fairly good. Hoped Mr. Spencer would decide to locate in


Elmore. He would find it a pleasant town to live in, and the people very sociable.


Mr. Spencer thought he would stop over in the town a few days and look over



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