Читать книгу Великий Гэтсби / The Great Gatsby онлайн на КулЛиб

The servant behind his shoulder said:

“Philadelphia wants you on the phone, sir.”

“All right, in a minute. Tell them I'll be right there… good night.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” He smiled. “Good night, old sport… Good night.”

As I walked down the steps I saw that the party was not over. In the ditch beside the road rested a new automobile which had left Gatsby's drive two minutes before. A dozen curious chauffeurs left their automobiles blocking the road and were watching the scene.

A man in a long coat had dismounted from the wreck and now stood in the middle of the road, looking from the automobile to the observers and from the observers to the automobile.

“See!” he explained. “It went in the ditch.”

I recognized the man – I met him in the Gatsby's library.

“How did it happen?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I know nothing whatever about mechanics,” he said decisively.

“But how did it happen? Did you run into the wall?”

“Don't ask me,” said he. “I know very little about driving – next to nothing. It happened, and that's all I know.”

“Well, if you're a poor driver why did you drive at night?”

“But I wasn't driving,” he explained, “I wasn't even trying.”

“Do you want to commit suicide?”

“You don't understand,” explained he. “I wasn't driving. There's another man in the automobile.”

The door of the automobile slowly opened. The crowd – it was now a crowd – stepped back and when the door had opened wide there was a pause. Then, very gradually, part by part, a man appeared.

“What's the matter?” he inquired calmly.