“还要晚，艾莱柯？为什么？利钱不是半年一结吗？”
“THAT kind of an investment—yes， but I shant invest in that way.”
“照那种办法投资——是半年，可是我不愿用那种办法投资。”
“What way， then？”
“那你用什么办法？”
“For big returns.”
“赚大钱的办法。”
“Big. Thats good. Go on， Aleck. What is it？”
“大钱。那好啊。接着说，艾莱柯。是什么办法？”
“Coal. The new mines. Cannel. I mean to put in ten thousand. Ground floor. When we organize， well get three sharesshare n.共享， 参与， 一份， 部分， 份额， 参股 vt.分享，均分，共有， 分配 vi.分享 [计］ 使DOS支持文件共享和锁定 for one.”
“投资煤炭。投到开新矿、挖烛煤上头。我说，先投一万打底。等咱们做起来了，一股可以送三股。”
“By George， but it sounds good， Aleck！ Then the shares will be worth—how much？ And when？”
“老天，听起来真不错，艾莱柯！到时候那些股值——能值多少钱？要等到什么时候？”
“About a year. Theyll pay ten per cent. half yearly， and be worth thirty thousand. I know all about it， the advertisement is in the Cincinnati paper here.”
“约摸一年吧。半年利息百分之十，到一年头上就值三万块。我全都清楚，这张辛辛那提报纸上的广告都写着呢。”
“Land， thirty thousand for ten—in a year！ Lets jam in the whole capital and pull out ninety！ Ill write and subscribe right now—tomorrow it maybe too late.”
“老天，一万块钱一年变成三万！咱们把那笔钱都投进去，拿回九万来！我马上写信，现在就投——明天就怕来不及了。”
He was flying to the writingdesk， but Aleck stopped him and put him back in his chair. She said：“Dont lose your head so. We mustnt subscribe till weve got the money， dont you know that？”
他朝写字台飞奔而去，可是艾莱柯拦住他，把他拉回椅子上来。她说：“别晕头转向了。那笔钱不到手，咱们就买不了股，这你还不知道吗？”
Sallys excitement went down a degree or two， but he was not wholly appeasedappease vt.平息， 安抚， 缓和， 使满足。“Why， Aleck， well HAVE it， you know—and so soon， too. Hes probably out of his troubles before this， its a hundred to nothing hes selecting his brimstoneshovel this very minute. Now， I think—”
萨利的激情减了几分，可他还没有完全平静下来。“可是，艾莱柯，那笔钱是咱们的了，你知道——而且马上就要到手了。说不定他已经脱离苦海了。百分之百，现在他正打点下地狱的行头呢。我想——”
Aleck shudderedshudder n.vi.战栗， 发抖， and said：“How CAN you， Sally！ Dont talk in that way， it is perfectly scandalousscandalous adj.诽谤性的。”
艾莱柯打了个激灵说：“你怎么能这样呢，萨利！可别说这种没脸的话。”
“Oh， well， make it a halo， if you like， I dont care for his outfit， I was only just talking. Cant you let a person talk？”
“那好，只要你高兴，让他戴个光圈上天堂也行，他怎么样和我无关，我只是随便说说。连句话都不许说啦？”
“But why should you WANT to talk in that dreadful way？ How would you like to have people talk so about YOU， and you not cold yet？”
“可你干吗要说那么可怕的话呢？你还没死的时候，别人这样说你，你高兴吗？”
“Not likely to be， for ONE while， I reckon， if my last act was giving away money for the sake of doing somebody a harm with it. But never mind about Tilbury， Aleck， lets talk about something worldly. It does seem to me that that mine is the place for the whole thirty. Whats the objectionobjection n.异议， 缺陷， 妨碍， 拒绝之理由？”
“不高兴。假如一辈子最后一件事就是送钱害人，他也别不高兴。艾莱柯，别管提尔伯里了，咱们说点儿实实在在的事吧。我看煤矿倒是值得把那三万块钱都投进去，这样做有问题吗？”
“All the eggs in one basket—thats the objection.”
“把赌注全押到一边——这就是问题。”
“All right， if you say so. What about the other twenty？ What do you mean to do with that？”
“如果这样，那就算了。另外那两万怎么办呢？你想拿它们做什么？”
“There is no hurry， I am going to look around before I do anything with it.”
“不用着急，我好好想想再决定。”
“All right， if your minds made up，” signed Sally. He was deep in thought awhile， then he said：“Therell be twenty thousand profitprofit n.利润， 益处， 得益 vi.得益， 利用 vt.有益于， 有利于 coming from the ten a year from now. We can spend that， can we， Aleck？”
萨利叹了口气：“要是你打定了主意，就这么办吧。”他又沉思了一会儿，说：“从现在起，一年之内咱们就能用一万赚两万。赚的钱咱们总可以花了吧，艾莱柯？”
Aleck shook her head.“No， dear，” she said， “it wont sell high till weve had the first semiannual dividend. You can spend part of that.”
艾莱柯摇摇头。“不行，亲爱的，”她说，“在咱们分到头半年的红利以前，股票卖不出好价钱。你只能花一部分。”
“Shucks， only THAT—and a whole year to wait！ Confound it， I—”
“哼，就能花那么一点儿啊——还得等整整一年！活见鬼，我——”
“Oh， do be patient！ It might even be declared in three months—its quite within the possibilities.”
“哎，沉住气！也许用不了三个月就分红呢——这完全有可能啊。”