佚名/Anonymous
Located in the checkroom in Union Station as I am,I see everybody that comes up the stairs.
Harry came in a little over three years ago and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9：05 train.
I remember seeing Harry that first evening.He wasnt much more than a thin,anxious kid then.He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his girl and that they would be married twenty minutes after she arrived.
Well,the passengers came up and I had to get busy.I didnt look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9：18 and I was very surprised to see that the young fellow was still there.
She didnt come on the 9：18 either,nor on the 9：40，and when the passengers from the 10：02 had all arrived and left,Harry was looking pretty desperate.Pretty soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what she looked like.
“Shes small and dark,”he said,“and nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walks.She has a face,”he said,thinking a minute,“that has lots of spirit.I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long,and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle.She’s got a brown fur,but maybe she isn’t wearing it.”
I couldnt remember seeing anybody like that.
He showed me the telegram hed received:ARRIVE THURSDAY.MEET ME STATION.LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.MAY.It was from Omaha,Nebraska.
“Well,”I finally said,“why don’t you phone to your home?She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you.”
He gave me a sick look.“I’ve only been in town two days.We were going to meet and then drive down South where I’ve got a job.She hasnt any address for me.”He touched the telegram.
When I came on duty the next day he was still there and came over as soon as he saw me.
“Did she work anywhere?”I asked.
He nodded.“She was a typist.I telegraphed her former boss.All they know is that she left her job to get married.”
Harry met every train for the next three or four days.Of course,the railroad lines made a routine checkup and the police looked into the case.But nobody was any real help.I could see that they all figured that May had simply played a trick on him.But I never believed that,somehow.
One day,after about two weeks,Harry and I were talking and I told him about my theory.“If youll just wait long enough,”I said,“youll see her coming up those stairs some day.”He turned and looked at the stairs as though he had never seen them before.
The next day when I came to work,Harry was behind the counter of Tongs magazine stand.He looked at me rather sheepishly and said,“Well,I had to get a job somewhere,didnt I?”
So he began to work as a clerk for Tony.We never spoke of May anymore and neither of us ever mentioned my theory.But I noticed that Harry always saw every person who came up the stairs.
Toward the end of the year Tony was killed in some argument over gambling,and Tonys widow left Harry in complete charge of the magazine stand.And when she got married again some time later,Harry bought the stand from her.He borrowed money and installed a soda fountain and pretty soon he had a very nice little business.
Then came yesterday.I heard a cry and a lot of things falling.The cry was from Harry and the things falling were a lot of dolls and other things which he had upset while he was jumping over the counter.He ran across and grabbed a girl not ten feet from my window.She was small and dark and her eyebrows came to a little point in the middle.
For a while they just hung there to each other laughing and crying and saying things without meaning.Shed say a few words like,“It was the bus station I meant-”and hed kiss her speechless and tell her the many things he had done to find her.What apparently had happened three years before was that May had come by bus,not by train,and in her telegram she meant“bus station”，not“railroad station”.She had waited at the bus station for days and had spent all her money trying to find Harry.Finally she got a job typing.
“What?”said Harry.“Have you been working in town?All the time?”
She nodded.
“Well,heavens.Didnt you ever come down here to the station?”He pointed across to his magazine stand.“I’ve been there all the time.I own it.I’ve watched everybody that came up the stairs.”
She began to look a little pale.Pretty soon she looked over at the stairs and said in a weak voice,“I never came up the stairs before.You see,I went out of town yesterday on a short business trip.Oh,Harry!”Then she threw her arms around his neck and really began to cry.
After a minute she backed away and pointed very stiffly toward the north end of the station.“Harry,for three years,for three solid years,Ive been right over there working right in this very station,typing,in the office of the stationmaster.”
我在聯合車站的行李寄存處工作，由於工作地點的關係，可以看見走上樓梯的每一個人。
3年前哈裏曾來過這兒，站在樓梯口接乘坐9點05分到站的旅客。
我依然記得第一晚見到他時的情景。那時的他無異於一個身材削瘦，眼中透著焦慮的孩子。他穿戴整齊，我知道他是在等他的女友，並且在她到後20分鍾，他們將舉行婚禮。
好了，旅客們來了，我得去忙了。直到9點18分我才又有時間往樓梯那邊看，令我吃驚的是那年輕人還在那兒。
她既沒乘9點18的車，也沒乘9點40的車到。等10點02的那次車的旅客都出站後，哈裏看起來很失望。不一會兒，他走近我的窗口，我招呼他，問他，她長什麽樣。
“她矮小的個子，黝黑的皮膚，”他說，“19歲。走起路來幹脆利落。她的臉嘛，”他想了一會說，“蘊含著豐富的表情，我是說她會生氣，但從不會持續太久。她眉心有顆小痣。她有件棕色毛皮大衣，但也有可能沒穿。”
我似乎沒見過這樣的人。
他拿出電報給我看：“周四到。車站接我。愛愛愛愛。——梅。”電報是從內布拉斯加州的奧馬哈市發來的。
“噢，”最後，我說，“你怎麽不往家裏打個電話？如果她比你先到這兒，她可能已經給你家打電話了。”
他憂鬱地看著我，“我才來城裏兩天。我們約定見麵後開車去南方，我工作的那個地方。她根本沒有我的地址。”他擺弄著電報。
我第二天去值班時，看到他還在那兒。一見到我，他就立刻朝我走來。
“她在哪兒工作過呢？”我問。
他點頭，說道：“她原來是打字員。我給她原來的老板發過電報。他們隻知道她辭職結婚去了。”
接下來的三四天，哈裏接了每趟火車。當然，鐵路方麵也進行了檢查，警察也介入了此事。但事實上誰也沒能幫上他的忙。看得出來，他們都認為梅隻是和他開了個玩笑，但不知為什麽，我卻從不那麽認為。
大約兩周後的一天，與哈裏聊天時，我把我的想法告訴了他，“如果你等了足夠長的時間，”我說，“總有一天，你會看到她從那邊樓梯處走來。”他轉過身直勾勾地望著樓梯，就好像從未見過它。
第二天上班時，我發現哈裏已站在托尼的雜誌攤後麵了。他有點兒羞怯地看著我說，“哦，我得找份工作幹，是吧？”
就這樣他給托尼賣起了雜誌。我們沒再談梅，也不提我曾經的那個想法。但是我發覺哈裏還是愛看走過樓梯的每個人。
年底，托尼因賭博與別人發生爭執而被殺。他的妻子將雜誌攤完全交給哈裏去打理。不久她再婚了，哈裏就把雜誌攤買了下來。他又借了些錢，裝了個冷飲機，不久小買賣就紅火起來。
直到昨天，哈裏的生活才有了變化。當時，我聽見一陣喊聲，隨後是東西落地的聲音。是哈裏在叫。他跳出櫃台，把櫃台上陳列的玩具和其它東西都掀翻在地，然後從這些東西上跑過去，抓住了一個離我窗戶不到10英尺遠的女孩。她個子矮小，皮膚黝黑，眉心處有顆小痣。
他們對視了好一會兒，又哭又笑，語無倫次地說著話。她好像說：“我說的是汽車站——”而他則用熱吻捂住了她說話的嘴，告訴她，在找她的過程中所發生的一切。顯然，梅3年前是坐汽車來的，而不是火車。她的電報裏指的是“汽車站”而不是“火車站”。她在汽車站等了好幾天，為了找哈裏，她把身上所有的錢都花光了。後來，她找了份打字員的工作。
“什麽？”哈裏說，“你一直在城裏工作？直到現在？”
她點了點頭。
“啊，天哪！難道你從沒來過這個車站嗎？”他用手指了指雜誌攤。“我一直都在那兒。那個攤兒是我的。我留意著每個走過樓梯的人。”
她的臉色變得有些蒼白。接著，她向樓梯望去，用微弱的聲音說道：“我從沒走過這個樓梯。你看，昨天我出差了。哦，哈裏！”然後她用手臂摟緊他的脖子，開始哭了起來。
過了一會兒，她往後站了站，用手指著車站最北頭說：“哈裏，3年來，整整3年，我就在那兒——這個車站的站長辦公室當打字員。”
詞匯筆記
checkroom[t?ekru:m]n.衣帽寄放處
Would you please deposit your bag at our checkroom.
請到寄存處寄存您的包。
passenger[p?sind??]n.乘客；旅客
A bus conveys passengers to the airport.
一輛公共汽車把旅客送到機場。
gambling[g?mbli?]n.賭博；投機
Life is like gambling,luck is very important!
人生就像賭博，運氣是非常重要的！
stationmaster[stei?(?)nmɑ:st?(r)]n.站長
The stationmaster stepped forward eagerly and opened a door.
站長匆忙走過去打開了車門。
小試身手
我依然記得第一晚見到他時的情景。那時的他就像是個消瘦的孩子，眼神中透著焦急。
看得出來，他們都認為梅隻是和他開了個玩笑，但不知為什麽，我卻從不那麽認為。
總有一天，你會看到他從那邊樓梯處走來。
短語家族
Well,the passengers came up and I had to get busy.
come up：提出來（流行；走近；來臨；上；升）
When I came on duty the next day he was still there and came over as soon as he saw me.
as soon as：一……就