Chapter 8

WE used to meet on this rock when we was boys,” said Uncle William, sitting down, “—You remember them times, Andy?”

“I don’t remember nothin’,” said Andy. Uncle William looked at him. “I do’ ’no’ how you forget so easy.... I can see it all, just as plain as you be—settin’ there—you and me and Benjy, racing¹ to get to this rock first—and planning suthin’—suthin’ ’t we hadn’t o’t to.... Seems kind o’ good to have Benjy back—just ’s if he ’d never been off the island?”

“He’s changed some,” said Andy. “Well—outside he’s peaked up a little—but inside, I can’t see a mite² o’ difference. He gets mad just about ’s easy ’s ever,” said Uncle William contentedly³.... “Now, this morning—” Uncle William moved his hand toward the horizon, “He’s gone over to his place, all kind o’ boilin’-like. He stopped and gazed at a figure that loomed⁴ on the horizon at the end of the long road. They watched the light, high-stepping figure come swiftly down the road.

“He’s got something on his mind,” said Uncle William, “I can see by the way his elbows act—kind o’ stiff so. I reckon that contractor⁵ does bother him—a good deal,” he added thoughtfully.

The man came on quickly, lessening⁶ his gait a little as he neared the rock, and taking off his hat to the breeze. “Feels good,” he said, nodding. He seated himself on the big rock. “Well—I’ve done it.” He turned his head slowly, taking in great whiffs of the fresh, bracing⁷ air. “I’ve fired him,” he said.

“You hev!” Uncle William’s face beamed. “That’s good—He’s fired him, Andy—”

“When’s he going to leave?” asked Andy.

“He’s going to leave just as soon as he can pack,” said Bodet with satisfaction, “He’s stood all he can—and so have I.” He threw out his thin legs and looked at them. “I don’t think I ever knew a man that irritated me the way he did,” he said reflectively.

“I see he kind o’ did,” said Uncle William.

Andy looked out to sea. “Harr’et was boardin’ him,” he said, “She was cal’-lating on the board money—right along.” His eye dropped to Bodet.

The man threw out an impatient leg.

“Now, don’t you mind about that,” said Uncle William hastily, “Benjy ’ll fix it up all right—He’s got to have somebody to build his house, and it’s got to be somebody that ’ll eat—somebody with a stomach.”

The thin man sat up, smiling a little.

“I wish to the Lord I knew whose stomach it was!” he said, “It’s like trying to build a house in heaven—having to import contractors⁸ and masons and plumbers—”

Uncle William chuckled—— “We gen’ally use the home-folks, round here,” he said after a pause.

Bodet looked at him a little. “You wouldn’t build a twenty-thousand dollar house just with the home-folks, would you!”

“I do’ ’no’ why not,” said Uncle William, “It ain’t so much different from any other house, fur as I see—just more of it—more spread. There’s George Manning,” he suggested.

“The carpenter?” Bodet’s lip smiled.

“Well—he ain’t exactly a carpenter—not exactly,” said Uncle William. “He’s a fisherman too—first-class—and he can steer⁹ any kind of a craft you want to rig up. He was captain on the Halifax Line one spell.” Uncle William’s eye followed the boats passing across the harbor. “An’ he’s a kind o’ mason, and a first-rate painter—I do’ ’no’s you could git a man knows more ’n George Manning does.... I never see the thing yet George wa ’n’t willing to tackle. Seems’s if he kind o’ liked to try his hand at things folks said couldn’t be done. I’ve seen him sit up night after night figgering on things—”

“He ’ll have to figure some on this,” said Bodet. He drew the plans from his pocket. “This is what we’ve just split on—Ordway and I—” He spread out the paper, holding it between his hands. Uncle William moved over a little toward it. Andy dropped an eye from above.... “This is it,” said Bodet. “You see how that roof-line comes down, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” Uncle William looked at it with pleased smile—“Comfy, ain’t it—Sort o’ makes a house look like an old hen with her chickens.”

“That’s it,” said Bodet quickly, “It’s the very thing I want—a house that settles down among the rocks as if it belonged there—The architect got the idea all right—from photographs. But he hadn’t been here and we hadn’t allowed for that dip to the south—You know it?”

Uncle William nodded. “Drops fo’-five feet, I should think?”

“Six—: a little over six,” replied Bodet, “and this is the kind of thing he wanted—Ordway wanted!” He took out a rough pencil sketch¹⁰ and held it at arm’s length. “He wants to run it out here in the air, this way, and put a lattice-work underneath¹¹.... paint it green, I suppose.” He snorted a little.

“Does look kind o’ funny—don’t it, Andy?” said Uncle William.

“Looks good enough—far as I see,” said Andy, “I’ve seen a lot of houses built that way.”

“—So have I,” broke in Bodet. He crushed the paper in his hand. “It’s a seaside cottage,” he said, “—a regular seaside cottage!”

“I do’ ’no’ what you feel that way about it for,” said Andy, “if ’tis a cottage and ’tis built on the sea—right along side—”

Bodet got impatiently to his feet—“Ordway couldn’t see, either. That’s why I fired him—’seaside cottage!’—” He fizzed a little and straightened his garments and shook his legs.

“There, there, Benjy,—don’t you mind. I’m a-thinkin’ about it,” said Uncle William soothingly¹².

Benjy smiled—the thin, sweet smile that seemed to come of itself from somewhere behind the high, nervous features, when Uncle William’s voice spoke¹³ to it, “All right, William, I won’t mind—now I’ve got Ordway off my hands. I thought one time he would drive me crazy—”

“I didn’t know but he would, too,” said Uncle William, “You acted kind o’ queer.”

“Well, I felt kind o’ queer,” responded Bodet dryly. “Now, about Manning—We ’ll go talk things over with him.... He might do—with a little watching.”

1 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

2 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

3 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

4 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

6 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

7 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

10 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。