1. The Ugly Duckling McGee Chapter One Every Saturday night, the Shamrock Social Club holds a dance in the hall of the Eastside [Note 1] Equality and Swap Athletic Association.To go to the ball, you had to be a member of the Society for Equal Exchange, or, if you waltzed with your right foot first,[2] you had to work at the Reingold carton factory.Another thing is that every member of Clover enjoys the privilege of giving priority to dancing for outsiders or asking outsiders to dance for themselves, limited to one song at a time.However, in most cases, each member always brings an acquaintance who is often paired with, that is, a female working partner from the carton factory; at ordinary dances, strangers are rarely able to enjoy themselves on the dance floor.

【Note 1】East Side, East Side of Manhattan, New York. [Note 2] Refers to the dancing female character. McGee.Tours, who was born with a pair of dull fish eyes, a big mouth, and a habit of putting his left foot first in two-step dances, used to go to the ball with Anna and her male companion.Anna and McGee work in a factory and have always been best friends.So Anna always let Jimmy on Saturday night.Burns picks up Maggie from her place so her friend can go dancing with them. The Equal Exchange Athletic Association lived up to its name.The association has a building on Orchard Street, which is equipped with various equipment for strengthening the body and exercising muscles.The members have developed muscles from this, so they often like to compete with the police and members of other sports organizations, and enjoy great pleasure from it.In the interval between the above two serious activities, the weekend dance with the female workers of the carton factory played a role in cultivating elegance and refinement, and the dance became an effective filter.Sometimes people are asked to leave the ring, and if you are among them, when you are forced to tiptoe up the dark back stairs, you may see the welterweight boxer in the ring before the bell rings. That kind of life-and-death struggle is really clean and neat, and it's enjoyable.

On Saturdays, the Reingold carton factory closes at three o'clock in the afternoon.One Saturday afternoon, Anna and McGee were walking home together.At the door of Maggie's room, Anna threw out a sentence as usual: Get ready, it's seven o'clock, Maggie [note], Jimmy and I are coming to pick you up. [Note] McGee's nickname. Hey, what's the matter?This time, instead of seeing the usual humility and grateful thanks from the unaccompanied girl, what I saw instead was a head raised high, with two proud dimples on both sides of the wide mouth, and the dull eyes almost It glows brightly like electricity.

Thanks, Anna, McGee replied, and you and Jimmy don't bother tonight.A gentleman is coming to accompany me to the dance. The beautiful Anna grabbed her girlfriend, shook her vigorously, scolded her, and begged her.McGee.Tur has a boyfriend!How was it possible that this homely, intimate, honest, unattractive Maggie, such a lovely friend, was so unattended at the two-step dance, never seen for so long?What's going on?When did it start?Who is that man? You can see him tonight.McGee said he was flushed as if drinking the first grapes from Cupid's vineyard, and he was very fashionable, two inches taller than Jimmy, and he liked to wear fashionable clothes.Anna, I'll introduce you as soon as we get to the ballroom.

Anna and Jimmy were among the first Clover members to arrive that night.Anna's bright eyes were fixed on the door of the ballroom, wanting to be the first to see her girlfriend's prey. At eight-thirty, Miss Tours, accompanied by her male companion, entered the hall gracefully.Her triumphant eyes soon catch her buddy Anna under the wing of her faithful Jimmy. Yo, oops!Anna exclaimed, McGonagall, what a show-off, oh no!handsome guy?Ahh, I guess so!Very trendy?Just look at him. Go for it.Jimmy has a husky voice, if you want him, get him.These newcomers are menacing and always easy to get.Leave me alone.I thought, he can't always win.hey-hey!

Shut up, Jimmy.you know my mind.I'm happy for McGonagall.This is the first time she has a boyfriend.Yo, they're coming! Like a yacht with a variety of styles, under the escort of an extraordinary cruiser, Maggie glides lightly through the ballroom and floats there.That's right, her previous praise was well deserved, and her male companion was very handsome.He was two inches taller than the average member; he had black curly hair, and he showed his teeth when he smiled, and his bright eyes and teeth gleamed when he showed his teeth.The boys in the Clover Club don't value a person's good manners very much. They value their strength, bravery, illustrious achievements in wrestling or boxing, and the ability to protect themselves from prison. The gates of the prison are always there for them. wide open.Any girl who is determined to conquer the carton factory, and any members who tie her to their victory chariot, will inevitably laugh at Bo.Brunmei 【Note】.In their view, dressing up in bright clothes is definitely not an upright way of war.Protruding biceps, bulging chest stretched the chest-length buttons of the coat, and firmly believed that men are the elite of human society. He even showed a pair of bowlegged legs in a hurry, so as to pretend to be a gentle and gentle Cupid The powerful and charming knights of the jousting are the recognized weapons and ammunition of the warriors of the Clover Club.So, they changed their way to hold their heads high and look down on the guest's humility and all kinds of obsequiousness.

【Note】 wave.Brummell: (Beau Brummell, 1778 | 1840), British, pioneer of new fashion for men. My friend, Terry.Mr O'Sullivan.McGee always introduced it like this. She showed him around the ballroom, showing him off whenever she came across a new Clover member.At this moment, she is almost beautiful, with bright eyes that look bright, those bright eyes that you can only see when the girl has a suitor for the first time, and the kitten catches a mouse for the first time. McGee.Tull finally caught a man.All the female workers in the carton factory said this tonight. The red horn tonight is probably the inspector 【Note】 brought by McGonagall.The men of the Equal and Exchange Association expressed their indifference, their full contempt.

【Note】Inspectors refer to the inspectors of large department stores in the United States. Their duties are to guide customers, prevent theft, and monitor shop assistants. Chapter two As usual, at the weekly dance, McGee's back was never far from the wall.So there was a spot on the wall that was always warm.Every time a dance partner who was willing to kill her body came out and asked her to dance a song, she was grateful inside and out, which made the other party's happiness downgrade, which was very boring.She even gradually got used to it.In this regard, Anna had to elbow Jimmy who was full of reluctance, and asked him to dance a two-step dance with McGee as if going through the motions.

But the man of the night is a gentleman from outside.Terry.O'Sullivan became the proud Prince Charming, Maggie.For the first time in his life, Tour spread his wings in pursuit of happiness and became a butterfly wearing flowers.Although the modern version of Wonderland is actually mixed with the insect kingdom, they must not spill a drop of nectar in the hands of the little girl who plays the Rose Queen, and the Rose Queen is tonight's Maggie. The girls surrounded Meggie, vying to get acquainted with her boyfriend.The Clover boys, after two full years of blindness, suddenly realized the charm of Miss Tour.They came to show off their enviable towering muscles, to order her the next dance song or the next dance.

In this way, she succeeded; however, Terry.O'Sullivan was even more in the limelight. For him, the glory tonight really came more and more quickly.He flicked his hair; smiling, he performed seven physical training movements at the window every ten minutes.He danced like a faun; he introduced grace, style, and mood to the ballroom; he spoke with words that danced lightly on his tongue.Twice in a row he waltzed with a girl who was none other than Dempsey Dempsey from the carton factory.Donovan brought it. [Note] The god of agriculture and animal husbandry is half-human and half-goat in Roman mythology.

Dempsey is the head of the club.He wears a tuxedo, can do two pull-ups on a single bar, is a sidekick to Big Mike O'Sullivan, and is a fearless guy. None of the police dared to touch him.Every time he broke the head of the pusher, or hit Heinrich with a single shot.Members of the Sweeney Traveling and Literary Association's knees, a police officer would run up and say: Come to the Bureau sometime, the boss wants to talk to you, Dude Dempsey. But the police station was always full of gentlemen of every description, fellows with thick gold watch chains in their coat pockets and big dark cigars in their fingers; and then someone came and told him a funny story, and Dempsey left the police station, went back to grab six-pound dumbbells, and practiced for half an hour at a stretch.So, if you take Dempsey.Compared with the girl Donovan brought dancing two waltzes in a row, tightrope walking over the Niagara Falls can only be regarded as an ordinary performance on flat ground.At ten o'clock Big Mike O'Sullivan's jovial round face appeared at the door of the ballroom, and he always lingered there for five minutes, smiling at the girls and handing out some genuine pointed cigar. In the blink of an eye, Dempsey.Donovan stood beside him, talking quickly, while Big Mike looked carefully at the dancing men and women, smiled, shook his head and left. The song is over.The dancers scattered in all directions towards the chairs at the base of the wall.I saw Terry.With a charming bow, O'Sullivan handed back a pretty girl in blue to her male companion, and turned back to his Maggie.At this moment, Dempsey stepped forward and stopped him in the middle of the ballroom. Some sensitive instinct inherited from Roman times made almost everyone turn to look at the two of them with the subtle feeling that two gladiators had met each other in the arena.Two or three burly guys from the club approached. Hold on, Mr. O'Sullivan.Dempsey opened his mouth, have a good time.Where do you say you live? The two gladiators are really evenly matched and evenly matched.Dempsey weighed about ten pounds more.This O'Sullivan has broad shoulders and quick reflexes.Dempsey's cold one-eyed, long slit in his mouth gave him a bit of arrogance. He also had an indestructible chin, and his skin was as white as fat, just like the snow skin of a beautiful woman. With icy muscles and an indifferent face, he looked like a gladiator champion.Looking at the foreign visitor again, he also had a look of contempt, mockery, and was very angry.They have been rivals since the beginning of the world.Both of them are exceptionally outstanding, extremely mighty and aggressive, and when put together, they are almost equal, and it is impossible to tell who is superior and who is inferior.However, when two tigers fight each other, one is bound to be injured. I live on Grand Street, O'Sullivan replied arrogantly, and it is not difficult to find me at my house.Where do you live? Dempsey ignored his question at all. You say your name is O'Sullivan, and he goes on, well, Big Mike says he's never seen you before. There were many things he hadn't seen.replied the darling of tonight's ball. Generally, Dempsey went on, with a husky, sweet voice, people in the area called Olishavan knew each other.You're here with one of our female members, and we'd like an opportunity to confirm your identity.If you have a family tree, let's take a look at some of Olishavin's brothers mentioned above.Otherwise, do you want them to get to the bottom of it and take out all your old stories? You better mind your own business.O'Sullivan replied to him indifferently. third chapter Dempsey's one eye lit up.With an idea, he pointed with his index finger, as if he had suddenly thought of a brilliant move. I see.He said excitedly that something went wrong.You are not an O'Sullivan at all.You are a curly-tailed monkey man.I'm sorry we didn't recognize you at first. O'Sullivan's eyes lit up suddenly.The body moves quickly, but Andy.Jergen was prepared and grabbed his arm. Dempsey.Lang Andy nodded, and also turned to the secretary of the association, William.McMahan nodded and walked briskly toward one of the back doors of the ballroom.The other two members of the association hurried over.Now, Terry.O'Sullivan has fallen into the hands of the Association's Disciplinary and Referee Committee.They muttered something briefly to him, and led him out by the same door. At this point in the story, it is necessary to briefly explain the actions of the members of the Sanye Club.Behind the building of the association, there is a hut rented by the association. Whenever there is a problem between people on the dance floor, it is resolved in this hut. The two parties involved are one-on-one, and use the natural weapon bestowed by God to resolve it by themselves under the supervision of the referee committee.In all these years, the ladies have never witnessed a fight at Clover's dance floor.The guys at the club don't let that happen on the dance floor. After finishing the preliminary work on this matter, Dempsey and the referee committee did it easily and smoothly. Many people in the ballroom did not notice that someone was checking the origin of the charming and charming O'Sullivan.McGee is one of them.She is now looking for her boyfriend. Smoke!Rose.Cassidy said, don't you know?Dempsey.Donovan was going to fight with that picked boyfriend of yours, and they took him to the slaughterhouse.I've done this to my hair, does it look good, McGonagall? Maggie put one hand on her throbbing chest, and she was wearing a cheese-colored top tonight. Go fight Dempsey!She said, out of breath, that they had to be stopped.Dempsey.Donovan can't fight him.Hi!He will, he will kill him! aha!What the hell are you doing?Rosa [Note] said, don't they have people fighting at every dance? 【Note】Another name for Rose But Maggie had shot out like an arrow, snaking around among the dancers, booming out the back door, into the dark hallway, into the cell where the hand-to-hand combat was, and exerting all her strength , banged on the door with his shoulder.The door burst open, and as soon as she rushed into the room, a murderous scene appeared in front of her eyes. The referee committee held a pocket watch and stood around in silence; Dempsey.Donovan, wearing only his shirt, was very close; he gesticulated with light steps, with the delicacy of a modern boxer.Terry.O'Sullivan crossed his arms and stood upright, his dark eyes were full of murderous intent.She didn't slow down at all, screamed, and pounced forward at the right time, grabbing O'Sullivan's swishing arm, holding it tightly, and at the same time knocking his arm down. Lastly, he took out a long, shiny dagger from his bosom. The knife fell to the ground with a clang.There is actually an advantage in the Equality and Exchange Association! Such a thing has never happened!Everyone present was stunned.A moment, Andy.Jergen curiously kicked the dagger with the toe of his shoe, as if an antique collector came across an ancient weapon he had never heard of. Then O'Sullivan made a hissing sound that no one could understand, and Dempsey and the referee committee exchanged glances with each other.Then, Dempsey looked at O'Sullivan calmly, as if looking at a lost dog, and nodded in the direction of the door, "Go back the stairs, Giuseppe.he said briefly. Someone will throw your hat at you. McGee turned to Dempsey.Donovan goes.Her cheeks were flushed, and tears rolled down slowly.But she looked at him bravely. I know the truth, Dempsey.she said tearfully.Even though his eyes were moistened with tears, they gradually became dull and lifeless. I actually knew that he was from Guinea, and his name was Tony.Spinelli.As soon as I heard that you were fighting with him, I ran here in a hurry.They Guineans always carry knives.But you don't understand, Dempsey.I've never had a boyfriend in my life.I was getting sick of coming with Anna and Jimmy every night, so I made a deal with him to call him O'Sullivan and bring him to the dance.I knew in my heart that if I called him Dago, it would be of no use for him to come here.I think now I have to quit the association. Dempsey turned to Andy.Jergan said: Throw that cheese knife out the window, he ordered, and tell the people inside to call for Mr. O'Sullivan and tell him to come up to Tammany Hall. After speaking, he turned and walked towards McGee. Hey, McGonagall, he said, I'll take you home.Come back next Saturday night, okay?If I ask you, will you come to the ball with me? McGee's eyes can change from dead fish eyes to eagle eyes in the blink of an eye, which is really a miracle. With you, Dempsey?She stammered, yo, do you even need to ask?