into sight and was held for some moments beyond the windows. The twilight had
washed off the details of the buildings. They rose in thin shafts of a soft,
porcelain blue, a color not of real things, but of evening and distance. They
rose in bare outlines, like empty molds waiting to be filled. The distance had
flattened the city. The single shafts stood immeasurably tall, out of scale to
the rest of the earth. They were of their own world, and they held up to the sky
the statement of what man had conceived and made possible. They were empty
molds. But man had come so far; he could go farther. The city on the edge of the
sky held a question--and a promise.
#
Little pinheads of light flared up about the peak of one famous tower, in the
windows of the Star Roof Restaurant. Then the train swerved around a bend and
the city vanished.
That evening, in the banquet hall of the Star Roof Restaurant, a dinner was held
to celebrate the admittance of Peter Keating to partnership in the firm to be
known henceforward as Francon & Keating.
At the long table that seemed covered, not with a tablecloth, but with a sheet
of light, sat Guy Francon. Somehow, tonight, he did not mind the streaks of
silver that appeared on his temples; they sparkled crisply against the black of
his hair and they gave him an air of cleanliness and elegance, like the rigid
white of his shirt against his black evening clothes. In the place of honor sat
Peter Keating. He leaned back, his shoulders straight, his hand closed about the
stem of a glass. His black curls glistened against his white forehead. In that
one moment of silence, the guests felt no envy, no resentment, no malice. There
was a grave feeling of brotherhood in the room, in the presence of the pale,
handsome boy who looked solemn as at his first communion. Ralston Holcombe had
risen to speak. He stood, his glass in hand. He had prepared his speech, but he
was astonished to hear himself saying something quite different, in a voice of
complete sincerity. He said:
"We are the guardians of a great human function. Perhaps of the greatest
function among the endeavors of man. We have achieved much and we have erred
often. But we are willing in all humility to make way for our heirs. We are only
men and we are only seekers. But we seek for truth with the best there is in our
hearts. We seek with what there is of the sublime granted to the race of men. It
is a great quest. To the future of American Architecture!"
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: