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The Shining 原版小说-第40部分

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    asked if his purchase and refurbishing of the Overlook signaled the opening 
    gun in a battle to legalize casino…style gambling in Colorado; the 
    aircraft; movie; munitions; and shipping magnate denied it 。。。 with a 
    smile。 〃The Overlook would be cheapened by gambling;〃 he said; 〃and don't 
    think I'm knocking Vegas! They've got too many of my markers out there for 
    me to do that! I have no interest in lobbying for legalized gambling in 
    Colorado。 It would be spitting into the wind。〃 
      When the Overlook opens officially (there was a gigantic and hugely 
    successful party there some time ago when the actual work was finished); 
    the newly painted; papered; and decorated rooms will be occupied by a 
    stellar guest list; ranging from Chic designer Corbat Stani to。。。 
 
  Smiling bemusedly; Jack turned the page。 Now he was looking at a full…page ad 
from the New York Sunday Times travel section。 On the page after that a story on 
Derwent himself; a balding man with eyes that pierced you even from an old 
newsprint photo。 He was wearing rimless spectacles and a forties…style pencil… 
line mustache that did nothing at all to make him look like Errol Flynn。 His 
face was that of an accountant。 It was the eyes that made him look like someone 
or something else。 
  Jack skimmed the article rapidly。 He knew most of the information from a 
Newsweek story on Derwent the year before。 Born poor in St。 Paul; never finished 
high school; joined the Navy instead。 Rose rapidly; then left in a bitter 
wrangle over the patent on a new type of propeller that he had designed。 In the 
tug of war between the Navy and an unknown young man named Horace Derwent; Uncle 
Sam came off the predictable winner。 But Uncle Sam had never gotten another 
patent; and there had been a lot of them。 
  In the late twenties and early thirties; Derwent turned to aviation。 He bought 
out a bankrupt cropdusting pany; turned it into an airmail service; and 
prospered。 More patents followed: a new monoplane wing design; a bomb carriage 


 
 
used on the Flying Fortresses that had rained fire on Hamburg and Dresden and 
Berlin; a machine gun that was cooled by alcohol; a prototype of the ejection 
seat later used in United States jets。 
  And along the line; the accountant who lived in the same skin as the inventor 
kept piling up the investments。 A piddling string of munition factories in New 
York and New Jersey。 Five textile mills in New England。 Chemical factories in 
the bankrupt and groaning South。 At the end of the Depression his wealth had 
been nothing but a handful of controlling interests; bought at abysmally low 
prices; salable only at lower prices still。 At one point Derwent boasted that he 
could liquidate pletely and realize the price of a three…year…old Chevrolet。 
  There had been rumors; Jack recalled; that some of the means employed by 
Derwent to keep his head above water were less than savory。 Involvement with 
bootlegging。 Prostitution in the Midwest。 Smuggling in the coastal areas of the 
South where his fertilizer factories were。 Finally an association with the 
nascent western gambling interests。 
  Probably Derwent's most famous investment was the purchase of the foundering 
Top Mark Studios; which had not had a hit since their child star; Little Margery 
Morris; had died of a heroin overdose in 1934。 She was fourteen。 Little Margery; 
who had specialized in sweet seven…year…olds who saved marriages and the lives 
of dogs unjustly accused of killing chickens; had been given the biggest 
Hollywood funeral in history by Top Mark — the official story was that Little 
Margery had contracted a 〃wasting disease〃 while entertaining at a New York 
orphanage — and some cynics suggested the studio had laid out all that long green 
because it knew it was burying itself。 
  Derwent hired a keen businessman and raging sex maniac named Henry Finkel to 
run Top Mark; and in the two years before Pearl Harbor the studio ground out 
sixty movies; fifty…five of which glided right into the face of the Hayes Office 
and spit on its large blue nose。 The other five were government training films。 
The feature films were huge successes。 During one of them an unnamed costume 
designer had juryrigged a strapless bra for the heroine to appear in during the 
Grand Ball scene; where she revealed everything except possibly the birthmark 
just below the cleft of her buttocks。 Derwent received credit for this invention 
as well; and his reputation — or notoriety — grew。 
  The war had made him rich and he was still rich。 Living in Chicago; seldom 
seen except for Derwent Enterprises board meetings (which he ran with an iron 
hand); it was rumored that he owned United Air Lines; Las Vegas (where he was 
known to have controlling interests in four hotel…casinos and some involvement 
in at least six others); Los Angeles; and the U。S。A。 itself。 Reputed to be a 
friend of royalty; presidents; and underworld kingpins; it was supposed by many 
that he was the richest man in the world。 
  But he had not been able to make a go of the Overlook; Jack thought。 He put 
the scrapbook down for a moment and took the small notebook and mechanical 
pencil he always kept with him out of his breast pocket。 He jotted 〃Look into H。 
Derwent; Sidwndr lbry?〃 He put the notebook back and picked up the scrapbook 
again。 His face was preoccupied; his eyes distant。 He wiped his mouth constantly 
with his hand as he turned the pages。 
  He skimmed the material that followed; making a mental note to read it more 
closely later。 Press releases were pasted into many of the pages。 So…and…so was 


 
 
expected at the Overlook next week; thus…and…such would be entertaining in the 
lounge (in Derwent's time it had been the Red…Eye Lounge)。 Many of the 
entertainers were Vegas names; and many of the guests were Top Mark executives 
and stars。 
  Then; in a clipping marked February 1; 1952: 
 
                       MILLIONAIRE EXEC TO SELL COLORADO 
                                  INVESTMENTS 
                    Deal Made with California Investors on 
                 Overlook; Other Investments; Derwent Reveals 
 
                      By Rodney Conklin; Financial Editor 
    In a terse munique yesterday from the Chicago offices of the monolithic 
    Derwent Enterprises; it was revealed that millionaire (perhaps billionaire) 
    Horace Derwent has sold out of Colorado in a stunning financial power play 
    that will be pleted by October 1; 1954。 Derwent's investments include 
    natural gas; coal; hydroelectric power; and a land development pany 
    called Colorado Sunshine; Inc。; which owns or holds options on better than 
    500;000 acres of Colorado land。 
      The most famous Derwent holding in Colorado; the Overlook Hotel; has 
    already been sold; Derwent revealed in a rare interview yesterday。 The 
    buyer was a California group of investors headed by Charles Grondin; a 
    former director of the California Land Development Corporation。 While 
    Derwent refused to discuss price; informed sources 。。。 
 
  He had sold out everything; lock; stock; and barrel。 It wasn't just the 
Overlook。 But somehow。。 。 somehow。。。 
  He wiped his lips with his hand and wished he had a drink。 This would go 
better with a drink。 He turned more pages。 
  The California group had opened the hotel for two seasons; and then sold it to 
a Colorado group called Mountainview Resorts。 Mountainview went bankrupt in 1957 
amid charges of corruption; nest…feathering; and cheating the stockholders。 The 
president of the pany shot himself two days after being subpoenaed to appear 
before a grand jury。 
  The hotel had been closed for the rest of the decade。 There was a single story 
about it; a Sunday feature headlined FORMER GRAND HOTEL SINKING INTO DECAY。 The 
acpanying photos wrenched at Jack's heart: the paint on the front porch 
peeling; the lawn a bald and scabrous mess; windows broken by storms and stones。 
This would be a part of the book; if he actually wrote it; too — the phoenix going 
down into the ashes to be reborn。 He promised himself he would tak

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