there was no mistake. And I really am awfully sorry--"



"Don't mention it," said Mr. Hoopdriver. "Don't mention it." He

hesitated and gripped his handles to mount. "It's me," he said,



"ought to be sorry." Should he say it? Was it an impertinence?

Anyhow!--"Not being the other gentleman, you know."



He tried a quietly insinuating smile that he knew for a grin even

as he smiled it; felt she disapproved--that she despised him, was



overcome with shame at her expression, turned his back upon her,

and began (very clumsily) to mount. He did so with a horrible



swerve, and went pedalling off, riding very badly, as he was only

too painfully aware. Nevertheless, thank Heaven for the mounting!



He could not see her because it was so dangerous for him to look

round, but he could imagine her indignant and pitiless. He felt



an unspeakable idiot. One had to be so careful what one said to

Young Ladies, and he'd gone and treated her just as though she



was only a Larky Girl. It was unforgivable. He always WAS a fool.

You could tell from her manner she didn't think him a gentleman.



One glance, and she seemed to look clear through him and all his

presence. What rot it was venturing to speak to a girl like that!



With her education she was bound to see through him at once.

How nicely she spoke too! nice clear-cut words! She made him feel



what slush his own accent was. And that last silly remark. What

was it ? 'Not being the other gentleman, you know!' No point in



it. And 'GENTLEMAN!' What COULD she be thinking of him?

But really the Young Lady in Grey had dismissed Hoopdriver from



her thoughts almost before he had vanished round the corner. She

had thought no ill of him. His manifest awe and admiration of her



had given her not an atom of offence. But for her just now there

were weightier things to think about, things that would affect



all the rest of her life. She continued slowly walking her

machine Londonward. Presently she stopped. "Oh! Why DOESN'T he



come?" she said, and stamped her foot petulantly. Then, as if in

answer, coming down the hill among the trees, appeared the other



man in brown, dismounted and wheeling his machine.

HOW MR. HOOPDRIVER WAS HAUNTED



IX

As Mr. Hoopdriver rode swaggering along the Ripley road, it came



to him, with an unwarrantable sense of comfort, that he had seen

the last of the Young Lady in Grey. But the ill-concealed bladery



of the machine, the present machinery of Fate, the deus ex

machina, so to speak, was against him. The bicycle, torn from



this attractive young woman, grew heavier and heavier, and

continually more unsteady. It seemed a choice between stopping at



Ripley or dying in the flower of his days. He went into the

Unicorn, after propping his machine outside the door, and, as he



cooled down and smoked his Red Herring cigarette while the cold

meat was getting ready, he saw from the window the Young Lady in



Grey and the other man in brown, entering Ripley.

They filled him with apprehension by looking at the house which



sheltered him, but the sight of his bicycle, propped in a drunk

and incapable attitude against the doorway, humping its rackety



mud-guard and leering at them with its darkened lantern eye,

drove them away--so it seemed to Mr. Hoopdriver--to the spacious



swallow of the Golden Dragon. The young lady was riding very

slowly, but the other man in brown had a bad puncture and was



wheeling his machine. Mr. Hoopdriver noted his flaxen moustache,

his aquiline nose, his rather bent shoulders, with a sudden,



vivid dislike.

The maid at the Unicorn is naturally a pleasant girl, but she is



jaded by the incessant incidence of cyclists, and Hoopdriver's

mind, even as he conversed with her in that cultivated voice of



his--of the weather, of the distance from London, and of the

excellence of the Ripley road--wandered to the incomparable



freshness and brilliance of the Young Lady in Grey. As he sat at

meat he kept turning his head to the window to see what signs



there were of that person, but the face of the Golden Dragon

displayed no appreciation of the delightfulmorsel it had



swallowed. As an incidental consequence of this distraction, Mr.

Hoopdriver was for a minute greatly inconvenienced by a mouthful

• altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)


• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)


• awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)


• charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)


• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)


• distinguish [di´stiŋgwiʃ] v.区分；识别；立功 (初中英语单词)


• sympathy [´simpəθi] n.同情，怜悯 (初中英语单词)


• aspect [´æspekt] n.面貌；神色；方向 (初中英语单词)


• dislike [dis´laik] vt.&n.不喜爱，厌恶 (初中英语单词)


• saddle [´sædl] n.鞍子 v.装鞍(于) (初中英语单词)


• incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)


• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)


• trifle [´traifəl] n.琐事，小事；少量 (初中英语单词)


• valley [´væli] n.谷；河谷；流域 (初中英语单词)


• resistance [ri´zistəns] n.抵抗；抵制；耐力 (初中英语单词)


• handkerchief [´hæŋkətʃif] n.手帕，手绢 (初中英语单词)


• recognition [,rekəg´niʃən] n.认出；认识；承认 (初中英语单词)


• horrible [´hɔrəbəl] a.可怕的；恐怖的 (初中英语单词)


• consideration [kən,sidə´reiʃən] n.考虑；原因；体谅 (初中英语单词)


• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)


• assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• innocent [´inəsənt] a.无罪的；单纯的 (初中英语单词)


• disappointment [,disə´pɔintmənt] n.失望；挫折 (初中英语单词)


• nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)


• nicely [naisli] ad.恰好地；谨慎地 (初中英语单词)


• accent [´æksənt, æk´sent] n.重音；口音 vt.重读 (初中英语单词)


• admiration [,ædmə´reiʃən] n.赞赏，钦佩 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


• attractive [ə´træktiv] a.有吸引力；诱人的 (初中英语单词)


• doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)


• dragon [´drægən] n.龙 (初中英语单词)


• consequence [´kɔnsikwəns] n.结果；后果；推断 (初中英语单词)


• treacherous [´tretʃərəs] a.虚伪的；不忠的 (高中英语单词)


• subsequently [´sʌbsikwəntli] a.其次，接着 (高中英语单词)


• brotherhood [´brʌðəhud] n.兄弟情谊；兄弟关系 (高中英语单词)


• half-way [´hɑ:fwei] ad.半途；几乎 (高中英语单词)


• spinning [´spiniŋ] n.纺织 a.纺织品的 (高中英语单词)


• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)


• admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)


• pleasantly [´plezntli] ad.令人愉快地；舒适地 (高中英语单词)


• disorder [dis´ɔ:də] n.杂乱 vt.扰乱 (高中英语单词)


• unexpected [ʌniks´pektid] a.突然的；意外的 (高中英语单词)


• decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)


• bicycle [´baisik(ə)l] n.自行车 (高中英语单词)


• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)


• awfully [´ɔ:fuli] ad.令人畏惧地 (高中英语单词)


• dismount [dis´maunt] v.(使)下马(车) (高中英语单词)


• counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)


• desperately [´despəritli] ad.绝望地；拼命地 (高中英语单词)


• manifest [´mænifest] a.明显的 v.表明 (高中英语单词)


• apprehension [,æpri´henʃən] n.理解；忧虑；逮捕 (高中英语单词)


• lantern [´læntən] n.灯笼；提灯 (高中英语单词)


• appreciation [ə,pri:ʃi´eiʃən] n.评价；感激 (高中英语单词)


• shameful [´ʃeimfəl] a.可耻的；猥亵的 (英语四级单词)


• episode [´episəud] n.插曲；一段情节 (英语四级单词)


• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)


• mumble [´mʌmbəl] v.咕哝 n.咕噜 (英语四级单词)


• wooded [´wudid] a.多树林的 (英语四级单词)


• unaware [,ʌnə´weə] a.不知道的；不觉察的 (英语四级单词)


• gracefully [´greisfuli] ad.优美地，斯文地 (英语四级单词)


• clearing [´kliəriŋ] n.(森林中的)空旷地 (英语四级单词)


• aristocratic [,æristə´krætik] a.贵族政治的；贵族的 (英语四级单词)


• hopelessly [´həuplisli] ad.无希望地，绝望地 (英语四级单词)


• painfully [´peinfuli] ad.痛苦地；费力地 (英语四级单词)


• indignant [in´dignənt] a.义愤的，愤慨的 (英语四级单词)


• herring [´heriŋ] n.鲱鱼；青鱼 (英语四级单词)


• incapable [in´keipəbəl] a.无能力的；不能的 (英语四级单词)


• morsel [´mɔ:səl] n.佳肴 vt.少量地分配 (英语四级单词)


• mouthful [´mauθful] n.一口；少量 (英语四级单词)


• mastery [´mɑ:stəri] n.精通；控制；优势 (英语六级单词)


• prophetic [prə´fetik] a.预言(家)的；预示的 (英语六级单词)


• heather [´heðə] n.石南属植物 (英语六级单词)


• wayside [´weisaid] n.&a.路边(的) (英语六级单词)


• albeit [ɔ:l´bi:it] conj.即使；纵使；虽然 (英语六级单词)


• numbness [´nʌmnis] n.麻木；愚蠢 (英语六级单词)


• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)


• devoid [di´vɔid] a.无…的，缺…的 (英语六级单词)


• emancipation [i,mænsi´peiʃən] n.解放，翻身 (英语六级单词)


• doubtfully [´dautfuli] ad.怀疑地，可疑地 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• mechanically [mi´kænikəli] ad.机械地；无意识地 (英语六级单词)


• pitiless [´pitiləs] a.无怜悯心的；无情的 (英语六级单词)


• unspeakable [ʌn´spi:kəbl] a.不能以言语表达的 (英语六级单词)


• incessant [in´sesənt] a.不断的，不停的 (英语六级单词)


• cultivated [´kʌltiveitid] a.在耕作的；有教养的 (英语六级单词)


• brilliance [´briljəns] n.光辉，辉煌 (英语六级单词)


• incidental [,insi´dentəl] a.伴随的；易发生的 (英语六级单词)