ABC谋杀案 27

NOT FROM CAPTAIN HASTINGS’ PERSONAL NARRATIVEBelow his breath Mr. Leadbetter uttered a grunt of impatience as his next-door neighbour got upand stumbled clumsily past him, dropping his hat over the seat in front, and leaning over toretrieve it.,All this at the culminating moment of Not a Sparrow, that all-star, thrilling drama of pathos andbeauty that Mr. Leadbetter had been looking forward to seeing for a whole week.,The golden-haired heroine, played by Katherine Royal (in Mr. Leadbetter’s opinion the leadingfilm actress in the world), was just giving vent to a hoarse cry of indignation:,“Never. I would sooner starve. But I shan’t starve. Remember those words: not a sparrow falls— ”,Mr. Leadbetter moved his head irritably from right to left. People! Why on earth peoplecouldn’t wait till the end of a film…And to leave at this soul-stirring moment.,Ah, that was better. The annoying gentleman had passed on and out. Mr. Leadbetter had a fullview of the screen and of Katherine Royal standing by the window in the Van Schreiner Mansionin New York.,Ah, there was Steve again in his shack in the mountains….,The film pursued its course to its emotional and semi-religious end.,Mr. Leadbetter breathed a sigh of satisfaction as the lights went up.,He rose slowly to his feet, blinking a little.,He never left the cinema very quickly. It always took him a moment or two to return to theprosaic reality of everyday life.,