Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

Pug.Henry with his two sons, Janice and Katar.Esther stood together in the welcome procession at the Garden Party on the Governor's Mansion's Great Lawn.The guest of honor stood out among the palm trees, the bright tropical bushes, and the crowd of raucous fashions.Although Erist.Tudsbury had not lost weight in his sufferings on the high seas in an undecked boat; or else, if he had, he had fed himself not only back to his old shape, but fatter.He was dressed in a yellow silk suit, a bright yellow tie, and a yellow wreath around his neck; propped up on a yellow palm cane, he worked from head to toe in the yellow Hawaiian sun near dusk. Like a cream man.He wears a black patch over his left eye.

Tudsbury hugged Pug like a bear when he came forward. "Aha! Pug. Henry, my God! Just returned from a round trip in Berlin, London and Moscow! My God, Pug, how are you!" He came forward to hug Pug, revealing his daughter standing behind him in a tight gray dress.Until then Pug had been wondering if she had come to the garden party.Although the newspaper said she had come to Hawaii with Tudsbury.The correspondent, out of embarrassment or mischief, did not mention her on the phone.Victor.Henry was embraced by Tudsbury, lost sight of her sweet yellow flowers, and thought how small she was, and how white her slender bare arms were; Never been in the sun?Her light brown hair, piled high on her head as usual, was not at all fashionable.

"Well, Yankees," Tudsbury said into his ear, his voice thundering like thunder, with a puff of steam from his mouth, "you're in the war with us now! Up to your neck It's deep! You're going to die if you don't see anyone!" He let go of Pug. "Ah-ha-ha! It's finally here, at last, my God. Oh! You remember Pam, don't you? Or have you forgotten her?" "Hello." Low voice, dry and brief handshake.Her pale face was as calm, indifferent, and unfamiliar as it had been when they first met aboard the Bremen.But because her father's bulk hides her, he has the illusion that she is small.Pamela's gray-green eyes were about the same level as Pug's; her breasts were fuller under the gray dress than he remembered.

Tudsbury said: "Governor, this is Victor of the 'Northampton'. Colonel Henry. As I told you, he is a close friend of many presidents and prime ministers." Said, was wasted; he was a wrinkled, tired-looking man in seersucker who gave Pug a faint smile, a perk befitting a cruiser captain.cried Tudsbury, over the noise of the garden party: "Well, Pug, three sturdy boys, eh? I think I remember two. Hello, Senator's beautiful daughter coming." The Governor's bored eyes animated as Pug introduced Major Esther. "Ah, Captain of the Squid? Seriously! Oh, yes, I heard you. Let the Japanese have what they've given us, eh, Captain? Well done!"

"Thank you, Governor." Esther nodded modestly. Tudsbury's good eye shone brightly. "Sub Hero, huh? Let's talk about that later." Esther grinned coldly as an answer. Under a palm tree deep in the garden, Spruance stood beside Admiral Nimitz, his hands folded across his chest.Spruance's hands were on his hips, as if he didn't know where else to let them go.Both admirals squinted with distressed eyes.Spruance waved to Pug.He approached the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, a little flustered, because he had never met Nimitz. "Sir, this is Colonel Henry."

"Oh! We'll see you at our planning meeting tonight, Colonel." On Nimitz's breast pocket were dolphin medals and rows of brightly colored combat medals.Short-cropped white hair, rosy skin, serene blue eyes, square jaw, flat stomach; a weather-beaten, strong, mild-looking old submariner, yet fully bearing the air of a Supreme Commander.Nimitz tilted his head toward the welcoming procession. "I heard that you are a friend of the reporter." "When I was serving in Europe, Commander, we have known each other." "I've been advised to show my face here because the army is out on a large scale." Nimitz pointed to the khaki uniforms crowding around General Richardson, the military governor. Joyful Hawaiian high society people wave. "Is it worth the spectacle to welcome this man?"

"The whole world listens to him, sir." "The News Office wants me to talk to him tomorrow." There was an inquiring expression in the blue eyes.His words are actually asking a question.Nimitz already felt the weight of the coming battle, Pug thought.The request reminded him of the short piece in Variety touting Madeleine. "Commander, if you have time to receive reporters, then he is a good candidate." Nimitz grimaced. "Time is an issue. But they keep telling me we have to inspire people at home." "One good way to inspire, Commander, is with victory."

Nimitz's eyes lit up, he nodded, and let him go away.A few minutes later Pug saw two admirals slipping out of the garden, one after the other, through the crowd.Tudsbury, the huge man in yellow, now stood beside General Richardson in front of the tent bar, surrounded by a circle of brightly dressed women who only wanted to squeeze forward. Pug stood alone, not drinking.In order not to be crushed by the bustling guests, he retreated to the palm tree, unconsciously pressed his knuckles to his hip like Spruance, and looked around with almost the same distressed squint. .Pamela.Tudsbury was drinking with Janice, his two sons, and Esther, and she was telling a story; it was a Singapore anecdote, Pug guessed from the way the men were absorbed.He was glad to see that Byron was having a good time, because he had been looking downcast and morose this afternoon after his second unresolved conversation in two days with a fumbling little man in the State Department. As a result, that person neither confirmed nor denied whether Natalie had left for the country.As for Pamela, although Pug was eager to talk to her, he didn't want to disturb the group of young people.It has been half a year since they parted in Moscow.It doesn't matter if you wait a few more minutes.After all, how young she looked!She was thirty-one years old, older than his two sons.But not much bigger, not much bigger.

A thought weighed heavily on Pug's mind: the Japanese fleet was riding the wind and waves to approach Midway on the high seas.The other was a ridiculously insignificant thing compared with this idea, but carried equal weight in his mind, and that was Pamela.Tudsbury greeted him coldly.He didn't expect to be treated enthusiastically, but even a woman in the welcoming procession could express affection secretly with a twist of her lips, a press of a hand, a glance of an eye.nothing!The first sight of Pam wasn't as attractive as he'd expected; it was kind of sleazy, flat even, and rather gaunt.But now, a few yards away, she was talking animatedly to the young man, recovering the iridescent light he had given her in his memories and fancies; He felt the same feeling now, though she stood there alive with flesh and blood.

The merry spectacle, full of chatter and laughter, looked to his dark eyes like a game of children in grown-up clothes.The great ball in Brussels on the eve of Waterloo, reproduced in poems, novels, and films, came alive in his mind; the beautiful women, the handsome officers, the music, the wine, the Duke of Wellington himself dancing; In the distance came the muffled boom of French guns; and then all the merriment evaporated into panic, scurrying, tears, farewells, and haste to arms.Perhaps this rowdy and lavish reception in the gardens of Washington House was not as colorful as it had been in Napoleon's day, but the war that was coming, was in Victor.In Henry's fantasy, the Battle of Waterloo was approaching rumblingly.Its consequences, he thought, would be even more catastrophic for the defeated party.

"What's the matter with you, what's the matter, Pug. Henry?" Alister.Tudsbury left the bar and limped towards him. "Standing aside by yourself, with that worried look on your manly face for the world?" "Oh. Did you enjoy this garden party?" "Ah, one can't say no sometimes." Tudsbury made a funny face. "Wasted afternoon. Is that wedding anniversary dinner still scheduled for tonight?" "Arranged for tonight." "very impressive." "What's wrong with your eyes, Toky?" "A little bit of inflammation. After meeting with Nimitz tomorrow, I'll go to your Naval Hospital for a checkup." "Are you sure you'll see him?" "Hey, Pug, this guy was at this silly garden party just now, wasn't he? These guys are never too busy to see me. They're always trying to get famous. Oh, Air Marshal Dowding is in Göring talked to me during the climax of the September 7th air raid! If I were at Waterloo and Napoleon was running away from the field, he would still be talking to me on horseback. No matter his hemorrhoids How it pains him! Ah-ha-Hang Pug gestures to the joyful crowd around him." I was thinking of Napoleon just now.Think of that ball in Brussels before the Battle of Waterloo. " "Ah, that's right. The noise of 'the night is feasting'—' But at least the approaching rumble of guns hasn't been heard for the moment." The one eye blinked and stared. "Did anyone hear it?" "I have no idea." "Come on, Pug!" The fat face fell into an expression of cleverness and tenacity. "Something's brewing on this island. It must be something big. Tell me what you know." "I can't help you." "You have a preoccupied look on your face." A blond girl in a cloud of white organdy came up to Tudsbury, giggling, and out of the cloud peeked out small pink hands holding a yearbook and a pencil. "Will you sign it, Mr. Tudsbury?" she said in a voice like a silver bell.He snorted and signed hastily.The girl floated away like a white cloud amidst the giggles. "I tell you, this reminds me of something," cried Tudsbury, "of the Basit party and dance I went to in Singapore, when those yellow gnomes were in Malay The peninsula went south, some on bicycles. Those behemoths in your harbor were blown to pieces, and then the entire US force in the Philippines was captured by yellow men, who were still crowding Southeast Asia and the East Indies Singapore is lost, the British Empire is torn apart, Australia is like a naked bride and may be ravaged at any time, and the Japanese fleet is bigger than what you have left in the Pacific A little bit is four or five times stronger—and in view of all this, may we say that one in Hawaii expects an air of apprehension, a sense of urgency, a hint of painful resolution, just as our old English home was in the frenzy of madness? As shown during indiscriminate bombing? But the tropics make the white man unfit for modern warfare." Tutzberg patted the wreath with a fat hand. "The natives look as if they are very easy to control and give a false sense of invincibility. There is no such illusion in Australia. People are scared to death. They know that the Dolittle air raid was a clever and brave American effort." show, but it does no harm to Japan's combat capabilities. A third of the people at this garden party asked me about the Dolittle Raids, clapping buttons proudly, hey man, the RAF has Several hundred bombers were sent to Germany several times—one night we sent a thousand bombers to Cologne—and we still hadn't weakened the enemy's morale. Maybe my nerves are failing, but I see it all a little It's like a Singapore with American accents and pineapples." "Sounds like this will be your next broadcast, Talkey." "Basically. These people need to be woken up. I didn't like the haste to escape from a falling British fort under Asian fire. Neither would these people. I didn't like it even more. Torpedoed by the Asians. I wish I didn't have to spend a week drifting in the open sea in a whaler or a lifeboat in the equatorial sun." "You'll be relieved once you talk to Nimitz." Pamela had Qatar on her arm.Esther's arm walked over, and the two talked enthusiastically. "What do you think of my Pam's face?" "Looks a little tired." "She had a hard time the previous period. We parted when they put a group of women on an old Greek ship bound for Java. Pam fell ill with dysentery on the ship and had to be hospitalized in Java, Then my God, the Japanese started landing there. So had to scramble to get to the boat again, and she could barely walk. Pam's recovering well, she's getting better fast. Hey , is that submarine hero coming to your banquet?" "He was not invited." "Would you please, old man? I'd love to talk to him. Oh, and I've got to talk to General Richardson again. He's very dull, isn't he?" Tudsbury limped away, and Pug decided stubbornly that he would not invite Esther.He didn't like the captain of the Squid.His insincere politeness was palpable in his obstinate self-importance, a vague display of virtuosity for a senior commanding a treaty-built cruiser.Life in the Navy helps overcome pettiness, and Pug.Henry also often allows others to be praised.But it annoyed him that the Governor of Hawaii, who had treated him coldly in Pamela's presence, praised the young officer. Byron came zigzagging through the crowd, a large glass of punch in his hand. "Oh, Dad! Here's a drink for you, please?" His eyes were bright and red, and there was a smirk on his face. "Big garden party, eh? What would you like to drink, Dad?" Pug glanced from the glass to his son's face, and said, "Is there anything left?" Byron laughed. "Dad, you can't make me drink, not this afternoon. I'm so happy. I haven't been this happy in a year. Look, Dad, let's have 'Mrs.' Esther over for dinner, shall we? He Queer by nature, but you can't help being a little bit dumbfounded when you're in a submarine. He's a terrific captain." Victor.Henry looked over through a gap in the crowd and could see Pamela and Esther in front of the bar, still talking happily.Well, thought Pug.What if the able officer had just come back from a brilliant readiness reconnaissance campaign and he liked Pam and she liked him?What objection is there to this matter?What rights do I have over her, and if so, how can I claim to enforce them? " "Certainly, invite him. If you can find yourself a good girl, invite her too." "I have a." "Okay! I thought it over and brought me a Collins with a hairy chest." "You're kidding." Byron put an arm around his dad and muttered something inarticulate, Victor.Henry's jaw-dropping words: "I love you," or "God loves you."The father didn't hear clearly. Byron ran crookedly to the long bar under the strip tent, where Janice was talking to a bushy gray-haired army general.Pug saw her waving excitedly to Byron.Beside her, Pamela and Esther looked at each other and laughed.Victor.Henry could not help smiling at the thought of his ridiculous suffering; then he recognized the gray-haired soldier as Senator Ragucho.He strode over to the bar. "Hello, General! Welcome and congratulations." "Oh, thanks, Pug." The commodore's uniform was new, the brass buttons too shiny. There was a look of pleasure on the Senator's overly ruddy face. "Yeah, I'm not quite used to being in the military yet! Hey, General Richardson's driver picked me up at the airport, squeak! - and sent me straight to this garden party, fast. I guess I'm about to like Army, lol!" "She's not in that boat," said Byron in a dead, cold, sober voice. "what!" "They detained her and Jastrow. She's still in Siena. All the other Americans are going home soon, but she can't." "Yes, but don't worry, young man," said Ragucho cheerfully, "someone in the State Department has been negligent and has not sent you a telegram. I am sorry that I have not received reliable information. This is a temporary difficulty. The State Department assured me that it could be resolved within a few weeks at most, involving the issue of Italian journalists in Brazil." "Senator, here are two very beautiful ladies who would very much like to see you," General Richardson called to him. La Guqiu hurried to go. "Here comes Collins with the hairy chest," Byron said quietly, pale. "Come on, Dad." "Byron..." With his back turned to him, Byron pushed his way through the brown Army uniformed crowd to the bar. In the large dining room of the Moana Hotel, men in brass-buttoned military uniforms and women in colorful dresses turned around like an ever-changing kaleidoscope, people crowded against the walls, voices of conversation and jazz music from brass instruments merged. Synthesize a noise.Young officers, mostly from the Pacific Fleet submarine crew recuperation center at the nearby Royal Hawaiian Hotel, twirled and danced Lindy with excited girls on their arms.Hop dance.The band's songstress, in a strapless red evening gown that bared her billowing breasts, writhed, swayed, and howled to the crowd packed at tables around the dance floor: "That swinging washerwoman floats away!" most of the people at those tables were men in military uniform and laughing, pretty girls in jewels, paint, and luxurious evening gowns that exposed their breasts and arms.Elderly people, who looked like retired rich men, sat at a few tables and looked enviously at the dizzying battlefield in the light of the setting sun coming in through the open windows. time love scene.Although it was still daytime, the restaurant was as loud as a midnight dance hall, and since this carnival had to end at ten o'clock, it started early.The ten o'clock curfew was set in stone. Pug reserved a large table by the dance floor.Qatar.Esther sat there by herself.The submarine officer jumped to his feet when Pug came in, accompanying the Tudsburys. "Where's Byron?" asked Handsome B. "Sir, I thought he was with you. I couldn't find him at the garden party." Esther pulled out a chair for Pamela with a gesture of gallant exaggeration. "I even went to the governor's house. I thought he must have hitchhiked away with you." "He didn't." Warren danced past them, shouting, "Where's Braney, Dad?" Pug flipped his hands up. "The swinging washerwoman floated away..." Warren was blinded by the crowd of dancing couples.Esther and Pamela immediately began talking vigorously.Under the circumstances, Pug thought, he might never have a chance to talk to her again.A meeting of HQ Pacific Fleet is scheduled for ten o'clock.The fleet was leaving for Midway early in the morning.Just now in the car Tudsbury went on and on about Singapore, the Russian front, Rommel, the Japanese advance to India and all that nasty stuff.At that time, Pamela sat in the back seat, silent as a fish.Now, Tudsbury almost put his mouth to Pug's ear, and began pestering him again for inside information about what was about to happen.The jelly-vibrating songstress babbles out completely inexplicable lyrics right after the line "Swinging Laundry Woman." "Hilt-sut rawlson on the riller-ah and a brawla, braw-la soo-it" was roughly what Pug heard shouting.He listened to this "end of the gods" nonsense with one ear and Tudsbury's irritating questions at the top of his voice with the other, watching Esther and Pamela stand up Dancing, brooding over Byron's disappearance, feeling more and more clearly that the Japanese fleet was approaching - Pug.Henry's interest will not be very good. I saw Byron come in, holding a big brown envelope, and leading a girl. "Oh, Dad. Oh, Mr. Tudsbury. This is Ursula. Sigpen. Remember Ursula, Mr. Tudsbury? You signed her yearbook. You think Ursula Is Ra a pretty name?" Úrsula sat down on the chair next to the reporter without waiting for Tudsbury to answer. "Look, that's how Sigpen spells it, Alister. Mr. Tudsbury." She tapped his arm with a small straight pink finger and spelled: "T— h an i —g —p —e —n! Sigpen! Not 'pigpen'. Maybe you'll mention me on the radio. Hee hee!" "Oh, oh, Blaney! You've finally surfaced," said Esther and Pamela, coming back from the dance floor. "Where the hell have you been?" Warren and Janice returned to the table. "It's like dancing in a rush-hour crowd on the Underground Railroad." Hut - Sut rawlson on the riller -ah... "Ursula asked Janice and Pamela who was going to take a pee. Byron took her all over the island in a jeep, she said. He even took her on" "Squid," but there's no room for little girls on the submarine. "I'm suffocated," she elaborated. Janice took her there, wondering why Byron brought such an idiot.Ursula dropped a condom out of her little handbag while she was putting on makeup in the ladies' room, and she put it back nonchalantly, giggling, it's hard to say when it's going to rain in Hawaii, isn't it? ? "Though, frankly, your brother-in-law doesn't look like that," she said, "he's handsome, but he's also weird." "What were you doing in the submarine?" "Ah, he's going to move a big wooden box. The box's out there on the jeep right now. It's a real problem getting it up those iron ladders, but it's nothing compared to my problems, dear. Oh, the one on the submarine The sailors are so bad! They saw everything. How could they not see it! I bet; the eyes of these people were straight." Ursula laughed and talked about it all the way, and walked back to the at the table.A waiter was there pouring wine. Byron and Pamela were dancing Lindy on the dance floor.Hope danced, and she kept an arm's length away from him, studying his graceful antics with a mixture of dismay and interest. Warren said to Janice, "Byron is flying to San Francisco tonight. He's got his crate. He said he wants us to take him to the Naval Air Transport Station at nine-thirty and put him on the plane." Janice said to Esther, "But have you assigned him yet?" "This is his order." Esther waved helplessly at the envelope on the table. "I just signed it." "Is the air freight priority done?" "He got the airlift priority. Byron does these things himself." "Byron has two efficiencies," his father observed, "one crawls like a snail, and the other like the speed of light in a vacuum." Jitterbug dances the best, put Lindy.The blunt knee lifts and crazy pirouettes that are so popular at the moment of Hop Dance are turned into cute-looking soft moves.Pamela.Tudsbury danced steadily and carefully, and the outstretched hand barely touched his.Compared with his dancing posture, it looks ridiculous. "Ursey Sigpen!" A plump, sweaty navy captain put a thick arm around her waist.His dolphin medal was green from the seawater. "My dear Ursey! How about a dance, Ursy? Do you agree with her going away, boys?" And so they spun and danced, and danced away. Warren jumped to his feet and held out a hand to Janice. "Well, let's dance, anniversary girl. Tonight is your night." "These goddamn Lindy Hoppers!" grumbled Janice. "Don't they play something for married people?" "It's a terrible dance," said Pamela, sitting down in a chair beside Pug, and rubbing a little gray handkerchief to her forehead.She looked up and said to Byron with a smile, "You are a lovely person who can bear to dance with me." "It's a pity that you don't want to jump down." Byron returned to his seat, drank a large glass of iced Collins in one gulp like water, and then called the waiter for another glass. Esther and Tudsbury were talking warmly in low voices, completely drowned out by the music.This was a good opportunity for Pug to talk to Pamela.How to start?Instead of looking at him, she turned to look at the dance floor.How he missed her, and now that she was alive beside him, it disturbed him, as if she were unreal; as if she were a secondary actress, not quite up to the great role— The Pamela he longed for and imagined.Her face, up close, looked haggard and older than ever, her cheeks sunken deeply, her lipstick so sloppy, and her upper lip covered with a faint dank of wet hair.He touched her bare white forearm. "I'm sorry to hear you've had an illness, Pam." She turned to him.Her voice was as low as his: "I look sick, don't I?" "That's not what I meant. You look great." Bad start!He clumsily continued to bite the bullet: "You haven't received a letter from me from here, have you? It was a few months ago." "A letter? No, I never had a letter from you." "I did get one from you." "Ah, did you really get that letter? It was written in another time, wasn't it?" "I'm so glad I got it." "How is your wife?" "She asked for a divorce from me." Pamela straightened her body, clenched her hands, stretched out her bare pale arms, put them on the table, and stared eagerly at him with shining eyes. "How could she? It's impossible for you to catch her." "She said she was in love with someone else." "How bad that is for you." "Oh, she later expressed regret about it, somewhat regretted it. I still don't know how to solve it." She looked straight at Byron, who was looking at them, and whispered, "Do your two sons know?" "They don't know a thing." "I'm sorry to hear that. Besides, you lost your battleship." Victor.Henry was about to reply: Now that you're here, it's all right, but her indifference and indifference kept him from uttering the words. "How long are you and your father going to be in Honolulu?" "I can't say." Janice and Warren slid past, the only couple standing upright amidst the bent-kneed dancers. "Didn't you propose to pair me with one of your sons on board the 'Bremen'?" "Ah, do you remember that incident?" "Yes, it must be Warren?" "Yes. But then, Janice had him on a leash." Pamela frowned and shook her head. "Absolutely not. It's possible, Byron. Although I admit I was surprised when you first told me about him and Natalie Jastrow. I think that's the odd thing, Natalie." , my age, with one of your sons... a son..." "I still think about it." She looked at Byron, reclining in his chair with his second glass of Collins in front of him, dark red hair hanging over his eyes. "Oh, I know Natalie now. There's something irresistible about him. Quiet and easy. He's deadly. As for Warren, he's good-looking, but frightening. Nata Are Li and her child really in danger?" "I think they'll get out safely." "Why should Byron be transferred to the Atlantic? What can he do for them?" "do not ask me." The waiters brought bottles of champagne and cold shrimp.Ursula turned around briskly nearby, smoothed her skirt, twirled her fingers, and left her partner. "Oh, champagne, so beautiful, so beautiful! Good-bye, soldier!" Byron ordered the champagne at once. "Oh, master of the party," he said to Pug, "who is the first toast?" "Okay. Raise your glasses. Long life, Janice. Good day for you and your husband. Good luck, Warren." Then Byron raised his glass.Just then the music stopped. "For mother's health," he said.Victor.Henry heard this clear and piercing word without warning. Warren raised his glass. "And Madeleine." Janice said: "And Natalie and her baby, may they come back safely." Byron cast a dark glance at her, raised his glass to her, and drained it. Pug only ate cold shrimp, and Pamela was attracted by Esther again.The submarine officer made a joke that he couldn't hear.Pamela threw back her head and laughed, and they got up again to dance.Everyone else went too.He and Tudsbury were alone at the table, and Tudsbury leaned forward and gave him a slight nudge at the elbow. "I said, Pug, do you know this submarine captain very well? Does he like to trick people?" "Pamela can take care of herself." "Pamela? What has she got to do with this? He just told me the most amazing story that happened during his last readiness reconnaissance." "What was it roughly about?" Tudsbury shook his head. "Come up to our room after supper, won't you? The music is so loud you can't talk about this kind of thing loudly." Pug thought of the meeting at HQ Pacific Fleet and said, "I'll come if I have time." When the roast chicken was served, champagne was served.Pug wondered how Byron had managed to acquire so many rare California wines.It was nearly nine o'clock and the dance floor was filled with couples dancing wildly.With difficulty the waiter made his way through the crowd and brought the cake to their table.The pattern on the icing on the surface of the cake is a fuzzy blue plane on a white background, with a trail of red smoke trailing from the tail of the plane: Janice and Warren. "It's so cute," Janice said. "Misunderstood a war," Warren said. "It wasn't supposed to be a biplane." While Warren cut the cake, the waiter poured the last round of wine. Tudsbury grabbed his glass. "Well, at the close of this sumptuous feast," he said, rising with grandeur, "I propose a toast to our master and his two sons. Gentlemen, your simple American sailors are Convincing, but still recognizable that you are Homer's heroes. You are the three of them. I drink to your health and your victory." "My God! That's a fine toast," said Pag. "Three what?" Ursula asked Byron. "The three characters in 'The Idiot,'" he said. "It's a Russian novel." Pamela suddenly burst into shrill laughter and spilled her champagne too. The lights in the restaurant were dimmed because the show was on.One is a great imitation of Bob.The master of ceremonies that Hope talks to makes some jokes about food rationing, Hitler, Tojo, and curfews.Two Hawaiians played guitar and sang.Then six hula-hooping girls writhed barefoot into the circle of pink spotlights, their hula skirts making noise.她们边唱边跳，后来打破合舞的队形，在空舞池中分散开来，邀请就餐的客人同她们一起跳舞。男人一个接一个跳起来，面对姑娘们，跳起呼拉圈舞来，有的甩掉了他们的皮鞋。他们大都只是做出一些滑稽的动作罢了。那个最漂亮的姑娘，看上去更象个欧亚混血儿而不太象夏威夷人，扭着屁股向亨利的桌子走过来。看到华伦座位前那个花式蛋糕，她向他娇媚地微笑，伸出双手来招呼他。 “去吧，亲爱的，”杰妮丝说，“让他们看看应该怎么跳的。” 华伦带着严肃的表情站起来，面对着那个穿草裙的姑娘。他没脱掉皮鞋，优雅地摆动着身子，保持着他那身有一双金翼的白军服的尊严，冷冰冰地跳着循规蹈矩的呼拉圈舞，使帕格想起了《蝴蝶夫人》中的那个海军军官那个同亚洲美女调情的、气派十足的、沉着的年轻白人。 “我以前不知道男人也跳这种舞，帅眯拉对帕格说。 “看来他真的能跳呢。” 那个跳呼拉圈舞的姑娘脸上那种歌舞女郎经常流露出的笑容变成了甜蜜的欢笑。她直勾勾地盯着华伦的眼睛看，而且感情冲动地把她的花环套在他的脖子上。她的舞姿更富于性感了。其他桌子旁的客人望着，低声谈论起来。Victor.亨利向他自己的桌子周围瞟了一眼，看到杰妮丝、帕米拉和乌苏拉把赞美的眼光停留在华伦身上，而埃斯特和塔茨伯利却兴致勃勃地紧盯着那个跳舞的姑娘。拜伦没对她看。他的脸上凝着一副喝醉了的神情，他正注视着他的哥哥，眼泪正从他的脸颊上淌下来。