At eight o'clock the next evening Aunt Ellen took a quaint old gold ring from a moth-eaten case and gave it to Richard.

第二天傍晚八点钟，埃伦姑妈从一个蛀虫斑斑的盒子里取出一枚古雅的金戒指，交给理查德。

"Wear it to-night, nephew," she begged. "your mother gave it to me. Good luck in love she said it brought.

“今晚戴上吧，孩子，”她央求说。“这戒指是你母亲托付给我的。她说，这戒指能给情人带来好运，

She asked me to give it to you when you had found the one you loved."

嘱咐我当你找到意中人时，就把它交给你。”

young Rockwall took the ring reverently and tried it on his smallest finger. It slipped as far as the second joint and stopped.

小罗克韦尔郑重其事地接过戒指，在他的小指上试了试，只滑到第二指节就不动了。

He took it off and stuffed it into his vest pocket, after the manner of man. And then he 'phoned for his cab.

他取下来，按照男人的习惯，把它放进坎肩兜里，然后打电话叫马车。

At the station he captured Miss Lantry out of the gadding mob at eight thirty-two.

八点三十二分，他在火车站杂乱的人群中接到了兰特里小姐。

"We mustn't keep mamma and the others waiting," said she.

“我们别让妈妈和别人等久了，”她说。

"To Wallack's Theatre as fast as you can drive!" said Richard loyally.

“去沃拉克剧院，越快越好！”理查德按她的意愿吩咐车夫。

They whirled up Forty-second to Broadway,

他们飞快地向百老汇路驶去，

and then down the white- starred lane that leads from the soft meadows of sunset to the rocky hills of morning.

接着通过一条灯火繁若星辰的小巷，从光线幽暗的绿草地段到达灯光耀眼、陡如高山的建筑区。

At Thirty-fourth Street young Richard quickly thrust up the trap and ordered the cabman to stop.

到第三十四街时，理查德迅速推开车窗隔板，叫车夫停下。

"I've dropped a ring," he apologised, as he climbed out. "It was my mother's, and I'd hate to lose it.

“我掉了一枚戒指，”他下车时抱歉似地说。“是我母亲的遗物，我悔不该把它丢了。

I won't detain you a minute--I saw where it fell."

我耽误不了一分钟——我看到了它掉在什么地方。”