During three days the couple walked upon air, with their heads in the clouds. They were but vaguely¹ conscious of their surroundings; they saw all things dimly, as through a veil; they were steeped in dreams, often they did not hear when they were spoken to; they often did not understand when they heard; they answered confusedly or at random²; Sally sold molasses by weight, sugar by the yard, and furnished soap when asked for candles, and Aleck put the cat in the wash and fed milk to the soiled linen³. Everybody was stunned⁴ and amazed, and went about muttering, "What CAN be the matter with the Fosters?"

Three days. Then came events! Things had taken a happy turn, and for forty-eight hours Aleck's imaginary corner had been booming. Up--up--still up! Cost point was passed. Still up--and up-- and up! Cost point was passed. STill up--and up--and up! Five points above cost--then ten--fifteen--twenty! Twenty points cold profit on the vast venture, now, and Aleck's imaginary brokers⁵ were shouting frantically⁶ by imaginary long-distance, "Sell! sell! for Heaven's sake SELL!"

She broke the splendid news to Sally, and he, too, said, "Sell! sell--oh, don't make a blunder, now, you own the earth!-- sell, sell!" But she set her iron will and lashed⁷ it amidships, and said she would hold on for five points more if she died for it.

It was a fatal resolve. The very next day came the historic crash, the record crash, the devastating⁸ crash, when the bottom fell out of Wall Street, and the whole body of gilt-edged stocks dropped ninety-five points in five hours, and the multimillionaire was seen begging his bread in the Bowery. Aleck sternly held her grip and "put up" as long as she could, but at last there came a call which she was powerless to meet, and her imaginary brokers sold her out. Then, and not till then, the man in her was vanished, and the woman in her resumed sway. She put her arms about her husband's neck and wept, saying:

"I am to blame, do not forgive me, I cannot bear it. We are paupers⁹! Paupers, and I am so miserable¹⁰. The weddings will never come off; all that is past; we could not even buy the dentist, now."

A bitter reproach was on Sally's tongue: "I BEGGED you to sell, but you--" He did not say it; he had not the heart to add a hurt to that broken and repentant¹¹ spirit. A nobler thought came to him and he said:

"Bear up, my Aleck, all is not lost! You really never invested a penny of my uncle's bequest¹², but only its unmaterialized future; what we have lost was only the incremented harvest from that future by your incomparable financial judgment¹³ and sagacity. Cheer up, banish¹⁴ these griefs; we still have the thirty thousand untouched; and with the experience which you have acquired, think what you will be able to do with it in a couple years! The marriages are not off, they are only postponed¹⁵."

These are blessed words. Aleck saw how true they were, and their influence was electric; her tears ceased to flow, and her great spirit rose to its full stature¹⁶ again. With flashing eye and grateful heart, and with hand uplifted in pledge and prophecy, she said:

"Now and here I proclaim--"

But she was interrupted by a visitor. It was the editor and proprietor¹⁷ of the SAGAMORE. He had happened into Lakeside to pay a duty-call upon an obscure grandmother of his who was nearing the end of her pilgrimage, and with the idea of combining business with grief he had looked up the Fosters, who had been so absorbed in other things for the past four years that they neglected to pay up their subscription¹⁸. Six dollars due. No visitor could have been more welcome. He would know all about Uncle Tilbury and what his chances might be getting to be, cemeterywards. They could, of course, ask no questions, for that would squelch¹⁹ the bequest, but they could nibble²⁰ around on the edge of the subject and hope for results. The scheme did not work. The obtuse²¹ editor did not know he was being nibbled²² at; but at last, chance accomplished²³ what art had failed in. In illustration of something under discussion which required the help of metaphor²⁴, the editor said:

"Land, it's a tough as Tilbury Foster!--as WE say."

It was sudden, and it made the Fosters jump. The editor noticed, and said, apologetically:

"No harm intended, I assure you. It's just a saying; just a joke, you know--nothing of it. Relation of yours?"

Sally crowded his burning eagerness down, and answered with all the indifference²⁵ he could assume:

"I--well, not that I know of, but we've heard of him." The editor was thankful, and resumed his composure. Sally added: "Is he-- is he--well?"

"Is he WELL? Why, bless you he's in Sheol these five years!"

The Fosters were trembling with grief, though it felt like joy. Sally said, non-committally--and tentatively:

"Ah, well, such is life, and none can escape--not even the rich are spared."

The editor laughed.

"If you are including Tilbury," said he, "it don't apply. HE hadn't a cent; the town had to bury him."

The Fosters sat petrified²⁶ for two minutes; petrified and cold. Then, white-faced and weak-voiced, Sally asked:

"Is it true? Do you KNOW it to be true?"

"Well, I should say! I was one of the executors. He hadn't anything to leave but a wheelbarrow, and he left that to me. It hadn't any wheel, and wasn't any good. Still, it was something, and so, to square up, I scribbled²⁷ off a sort of a little obituarial send-off for him, but it got crowded out."

The Fosters were not listening--their cup was full, it could contain no more. They sat with bowed heads, dead to all things but the ache at their hearts.

An hour later. Still they sat there, bowed, motionless, silent, the visitor long ago gone, they unaware²⁸.

Then they stirred, and lifted their heads wearily, and gazed at each other wistfully, dreamily, dazed; then presently began to twaddle to each other in a wandering and childish way. At intervals²⁹ they lapsed³⁰ into silences, leaving a sentence unfinished, seemingly either unaware of it or losing their way. Sometimes, when they woke out of these silences they had a dim and transient consciousness that something had happened to their minds; then with a dumb and yearning³¹ solicitude³² they would softly caress³³ each other's hands in mutual³⁴ compassion³⁵ and support, as if they would say: "I am near you, I will not forsake³⁶ you, we will bear it together; somewhere there is release and forgetfulness, somewhere there is a grave and peace; be patient, it will not be long."

They lived yet two years, in mental night, always brooding, steeped in vague regrets and melancholy³⁷ dreams, never speaking; then release came to both on the same day.

Toward the end the darkness lifted from Sally's ruined mind for a moment, and he said:

"Vast wealth, acquired by sudden and unwholesome means, is a snare³⁸. It did us no good, transient were its feverish³⁹ pleasures; yet for its sake we threw away our sweet and simple and happy life-- let others take warning by us."

He lay silent awhile, with closed eyes; then as the chill of death crept upward toward his heart, and consciousness was fading from his brain, he muttered:

"Money had brought him misery⁴⁰, and he took his revenge upon us, who had done him no harm. He had his desire: with base and cunning calculation he left us but thirty thousand, knowing we would try to increase it, and ruin our life and break our hearts. Without added expense he could have left us far above desire of increase, far above the temptation to speculate, and a kinder soul would have done it; but in him was no generous spirit, no pity, no--"

这对夫妇过了三天腾云驾雾的日子。对周围的一切他们只有模模糊糊的意识，看到的所有东西都是影影绰绰的，就像罩在纱幕后面。他们沉溺于幻境之中，常常听不懂别人说的话，回答自然也是颠三倒四，东一榔头，西一棒槌。萨利卖蜜用秤称，卖糖用尺量，顾客要蜡烛，却给人家肥皂；艾莱柯把猫放到盆里洗，把牛奶倒在脏衣服上。大家莫名惊诧，嘁嘁喳喳地到处议论，“福斯特两口子这是怎么啦？”

三天以后发生了大事情。事态出现了好的转机，连续二十四个小时，艾莱柯的想像世界迅速膨胀。上涨——上涨——继续上涨！超出了成本价。继续上涨——上涨——上涨！超出成本价五个点了——十个点——十五个点——二十个点！这笔巨额投机生意已经获得了二十个点的净利润，艾莱柯想像中的经纪人从想像中的远方声嘶力竭地喊叫：“抛吧！抛吧！看在上帝的份儿上，抛掉！”

她把这个惊人的消息透露给萨利，萨利也说，“抛吧！抛——可别大意，现在你就能财冠全球了！——抛！抛！”然而，她凭借钢铁意志继续长驱直入，她说，哪怕死在这上面，她也要攥着股，让它再涨五个点。

这是一个致命的决策。就在第二天出现了历史性暴跌，创纪录的暴跌，灾难性的暴跌。华尔街赔掉了底，所有金筹股在五个小时之内下跌了九十五点，有人看见亿万富翁在包华利大道讨饭。艾莱柯仍然持股观望，能坚持多久，就坚持多久；可是，终于来了一个她无力去接的电话，她想像中的经纪人出卖了她。这时——直到这个时候，她身上的巾帼气概才烟消云散，又恢复了女人的本来面目。她搂着丈夫的脖子哭诉：

“都是我的错，你不要原谅我，我实在受不了了。咱们是穷光蛋了！穷光蛋，我的命苦啊。婚礼庆典再也不能举行了。全都完了；现在咱们连个牙医都买不起了。”

尖刻的责难涌到了萨利嘴边，他想说：“我求你抛，可是你——”他没有说出口；他不想在追悔莫及的艾莱柯那颗破碎的心上再捅一刀。他想到了一个比较高尚的念头，说：

“艾莱柯，挺住，还没有全完呢。我叔叔的遗产你并没有拿一分一厘去投资，你投的是那笔钱无形的未来收益。咱们赔了的只是你用举世无双的金融头脑和眼力，凭借那笔未来收益获得的增值部分。打起精神来，抛开这些烦恼。咱们还有三万块钱没有动；可以想像，凭你已经具备的经验，在两年之内用那笔钱你能创造多少业绩！那两桩婚事吹不了；只是推迟了。”

这些宽心话句句在理，艾莱柯听进去了，马上产生了电击一样的作用；她的眼泪止住了，重新焕发出勃勃生机。她眼里闪着光芒，心中充满感激之情，举手发誓，展望未来，她说：

“现在我宣布——”

可是她的话被一位客人打断了。来人是《萨加摩尔周报》的编辑兼老板。他碰巧到湖滨镇来探望即将走完人生旅途的祖母。除了这桩伤心的使命，他还想顺便办一件事，因此来造访福斯特夫妇。这对夫妇过去几年专注于其他事务，忘了付报钱。欠款一共是六块钱。这客人来得正是时候。他一定熟悉提尔伯里，知道他可能什么时候进棺材。当然了，他们不能这样问，因为那会触犯遗嘱，不过他们可以绕着圈子打听，希望能有结果。可是，这个计谋没有奏效。那位木头编辑根本不懂得人家正在跟他套话。有心栽花花不发，无意插柳柳成荫。那位编辑说着说着，需要打个比方，就说：

“老天爷，就像提尔伯里·福斯特那么难缠！——这是我们那儿的一句俗话。”

这句话突如其来，把福斯特夫妇吓了一跳。编辑看见了，抱歉地说：

“我敢说，这句话并无恶意。就是随便说说；是一句玩笑话，你们知道——没什么意思。你们跟这个人沾亲吗？”

萨利压下心头追不及待的热望，极力不动声色地回答：

“我们——这个，我们不认识他，只是听说过。”编辑松了口气，恢复了镇定。萨利又问了一句：“他——他——还好吧？”

“他好？嘿，不瞒您说，他五年前就进了鬼门关了。”

福斯特夫妇伤心得浑身发抖，不过他们自己的感觉倒像是高兴。萨利用一种无关痛痒的口气试探着问：

“喔，是吗，人一辈子就是这样，谁也免不了——富翁也难免一死。”

编辑笑了。

“这话要是包括提尔伯里，”他说，“他可担当不起。他身无分文；是全镇子人凑钱给他送的终。”

福斯特夫妇像霜打似地呆坐了两分钟；泥塑木雕一般，浑身直冒凉气。后来，萨利面色苍白、有气无力地问道：

“是真的吗？您说的这是真事？”

“嘿，那还用说！我是遗嘱执行者之一。他什么都没撇下，只有一架小推车留给我了。那车还没有轮子，没什么用处。不过总算是件东西吧，为了报答他，我给他凑了几句悼词，可又让别的稿子挤掉了。”

福斯特夫妇没听进去，他们的心里堵得满满的，什么也装不下。他们低头坐着，除了心痛，全身没有别的感觉。

过了一个钟头。他们还坐在那儿，低着头，一动不动，一声不响。客人早就走了，他们也没发觉。

后来他们摇晃了一下，精疲力尽地抬起头来，若有所思地相互盯着，如梦如痴，心神恍惚，接着又像小孩子似的颠三倒四说胡话。他们常常只说半句话，就不出声了，看来不是没意识到，就是想不起该说什么。有时候他们从沉默中苏醒过来，闪过一种模模糊糊的感觉：他们的脑袋里想过什么事；然后，他们带着无言的关怀，轻轻拉住彼此的手，表达相互的同情和支持，好像是说：“我就在你身旁，我不会撤下你，咱们一起承受；总会解脱出来，忘了这些，总有一块墓地可以安息；忍着吧，用不了多久了。”

他们又活了两年，夜间受尽心灵的折磨，总是冥思苦想，沉浸在悔恨与悲伤的含混梦境里，一言不发。后来，他们俩人在同一天得到了解脱。

临终之际，萨利万念俱灰的心头笼罩着的黑暗消散了一会儿，这时他说：

“飞来的不义之财是圈套，对咱们没好处。火爆的日子没个长远的，为了这个，咱们把甜甜蜜蜜、和和美美的小日子都丢了——别人可别再跟我们学了。”

他闭着眼静静地躺了一会儿；临终的寒意慢慢爬上了他的心头，意识渐渐从他的脑海里消失，他喃喃地说：

“金钱带给他痛苦，他却拿我们来报复，我们跟他无冤无仇啊。他遂了心愿：他老奸巨猾，说给我们只留三万块钱，他知道我们会想办法多赚点儿，这样一来就毁了我们的日子，伤了我们的心。他本来可以再多留点儿，多得让我们不打赚钱的主意，他这样做也不用多破费。心眼儿好一点儿的就会这么做；可他小肚鸡肠，不懂得发善心，不懂——”