Mr. Patrick Sip had seated himself by the side of the brook2 that purled through the deep green ravine lying about three miles back of the Ossokosee House. Mr. Sip was not a guest at that new and flourishing summer resort. Mr. Sip, indeed, had hardly found himself a welcome guest anywhere within five or six years. He possessed3 a big, burly figure, a very unshaven and sunburnt face, and a suit of clothes once black, when upon the back of an earlier wearer, but long since faded to a dirty brown. Mr. Sip never used an umbrella nowadays, although he exercised much in the open air. Upon his unkempt hair slanted4 a tattered[10] straw hat. Beside him lay a thickish walking-stick without any varnish5. There was one thing which Mr. Sip had not about him, as any body would have inferred at a glance, although it is often difficult to detect by sight—a good character. In short, Mr. Sip looked the complete example of just what he was—a sturdy, veteran tramp of some thirty summers and winters, who had not found through honest labor6 a roof over his head or a morsel7 between his bristly lips since his last release from some one of the dozen work-houses that his presence had graced.
“Humph!” said Mr. Sip, half aloud, as he changed his position so as to let his bare feet sink deeper in the rippling8 creek9 (Mr. Sip was laving them), “I see plenty o’ water around here, but there aint nothin’ in sight looks like bread. Plague them turnips10! Raw turnips aint no sort o’ a breakfast for a gentleman’s stomach. Is they, now?”
He splashed his feet about in the pure cold water, by no means to cleanse11 them from the dust of the highway, but simply because it was easier to drop them into the stream than to hold them out as he sat on the abrupt12 bank. He[11] whistled a part of a tune13 and seemed to forget having put his question to the wrens14 and wagtails in the sassafras.
“If, now, I could jist stick out my hand and pull a ham sangwich off o’ that there useless little tree,” pursued Mr. Sip, complainingly; “or if you could sort o’ lay here an’ meditate15 an’ presen’ly find a good-sized pan o’ cold victuals16 a-comin’ a-floatin’ up.”
Neither of these attractive phenomena17 seeming likely to occur immediately, Mr. Sip sighed as if injured, shook his head, and said with decided18 temper, “Ugh, natur’! They talk so much about natur’ in them books an’—an’ churches, an’ p’lice courts, an’ sich. What’s there nice about natur’, I’d like to know, when a man can keep company with natur’ as stiddy as I do an’ never git so much as his reg’lar meals out o’ her one day in the week? Natur’, as fur as I’ve found out, don’t mean nothing ’cept wild blackberries in season. I don’t want no more to do with natur’!” Mr. Sip concluded with an angry slap at a huge horsefly that had lighted upon his ankle, and uttered his favorite exclamation19, “My name aint Sip!”—which, although he meant the phrase merely as an expletive when[12] he was particularly put out over any matter, happened to be the case.
Just at that moment Mr. Sip looked across to the opposite bank of the creek and discovered that he and the horsefly were not alone. A boy was standing20 rather further up the stream with a fishing-rod in his hand observing the odd figure this wandering philosopher upon nature cut. The boy appeared to be in the neighborhood of twelve years of age. He had a trim figure and fair hair, and the sunlight on it and through a green branch of a young maple21 behind him made the brightest spots of color in the somber22 little chasm23. On his young face were mingled24 expressions of amusement and disgust as to Mr. Sip. Across his arm was a basket. A napkin dangled25 out of this suggestively.
“Come here, sonny,” invited Mr. Sip in an amiable26 tone, and with a leer of sudden good feeling—for the luncheon27 basket.
“What did you say?” the boy called back rather timidly, without moving toward his new acquaintance.
“I said, ‘Come here,’” repeated Mr. Sip, sharply, drawing his feet out of the water and beckoning28. He took a hasty glance up and[13] down the stream. “How many nice little fishes has you and that pa o’ yourn caught since morning? Ten?”
“I haven’t caught any fish so far,” replied the lad, “and my father isn’t here. He’s up in Nova Scotia, thank you.”
“O,” Mr. Sip responded, “Nova Scotia? I remember I heard o’ his goin’ there. Say, sonny,” he went on, wading29 out to the middle of the creek with an ugly expression deepening over his red face as he realized that the bearer of the basket was alone, “What time is it?”
The boy retreated a few steps, pulling out a neat little silver watch, too polite to refuse the information. “Half past eleven,” he said, in his pleasant accent.
“O, but is that there watch correck?” inquired the evil-faced gentleman, taking several steps in the water toward that margin30 from which the lad had drawn31 back prudently32. “Let me come up and see it for myself, wont34 you? That looks like a new watch.”
“I say, keep off!” cried the owner of the watch, all at once suspecting the designs of Mr. Sip and turning slightly pale. “Keep off, there, I say!” The intrepid35 little fellow[14] dropped his rod and caught up a stone that lay near. “I—I don’t like your looks! I’ll throw this at you if you come any closer.”
The boy’s face was whiter at each word, although his spirit gave a ring to his threat. But Mr. Sip had invaded too many kitchens and terrified far too many helpless servant-maids to allow himself to be daunted36 by a boy well dressed and carrying a watch and a basket of good things. He uttered an angry oath and splashed violently toward the lad, stumbling among the sharp flints of the creek. It was open war begun by hot pursuit.
The path by which Gerald Saxton (for that happened to be the name of the solitary37 little fisherman) had made his way to the creek was steep and irregular. He ran up it now, panting, with Mr. Sip in stumbling chase, the latter calling out all manner of threats as he pursued. The boy was frightened greatly, but to be frightened is not to be a coward, and he knew that the path led into Farmer Wooden’s open meadow.
Through the green underbrush he darted38, running up along the slope of the ravine, prudent33 enough not to waste his wind in cries that[15] would not be at all likely to reach the farm-house, until he should dash out in the field itself, and planting his small feet carefully.
“If he catches up to me,” thought Gerald, “he will knock me over and get the watch and be off before I can help it! I must make the meadow!”
On hurtled Mr. Sip, floundering up the narrow path, still giving vent39 to exclamations40 that only quickened Gerald’s flight. Suddenly Mr. Sip saw an opportunity for a short cut by which Gerald might yet be overtaken. He bounced into it. Just as Gerald shot forth41 into the long meadow the furious philosopher found himself hardly ten yards in arrear42.
“Now I’ve got yer!” he called, too angry to observe that the farm-house was in sight. “You drop—that basket—an’ that watch—or—” Now Gerald shouted lustily, still flying ahead.
But Mr. Sip did not finish. A new figure came into action.
“What under the canopy43 is that?” cried a boy who was so much older and larger than little Gerald that he might almost have been called a young man. He was standing by the well up in the Woodens’s dooryard waiting for[16] the horse he had been driving to finish drinking. In another moment he grasped the situation and was leaping swiftly and noiselessly down the long slope over the stubble.
Tramps had been plentiful44 lately. His voice rang out to comfort Gerald and warn Mr. Sip. Gerald looked up, but with a white, set little face ran past him. Mr. Sip, taking in the height, weight, and courage of the frightened boy’s new ally, turned and began running toward the low oak trees.
A strong ash stick, thrown with excellent aim, struck Mr. Sip squarely in the small of his back. He staggered for an instant, but rallied, and, a coward to the last, vanished in the thicket45 with a parting curse. Within an hour he might have been seen drinking buttermilk thirstily at a cottage a mile away. The good-humored farmer’s daughter gave it to him, pitying a man who was “walking all the way from Wheelborough Heights to Paterson, in Jersey46, marm, to find my old boss and git a job he’s promised me.”
And now good-bye, Mr. Sip! You have done something to-day that would surprise your lazy self immensely. You have done a stroke of[17] work. Thanks to your being a brutal47 vagrant48, there is just coming about an acquaintance that is of the utmost import in the carrying on of this story—without which it would never have been worth writing or reading.
“Well, upon my word!” ejaculated the new-comer, wheeling about as if disposed to waste no more pains upon a man of Mr. Sip’s kidney, and coming back to Gerald Saxton. “I am very glad I heard you! What did that rascal49 want of you? His kind have been uncommonly50 thick this autumn.”
“Why—he was after my watch, I think,” replied Gerald, sitting down on a flat rock, a smile re-appearing upon his startled face. “I was standing down at the bottom of the path in the glen when he began talking to me. First thing I knew I saw that he meant mischief51. I suppose it wasn’t wonderfully brave of me to run from him.”
“Brave in you!” exclaimed merrily the solid-looking older lad. “As if a brute52 like that was not as big as six of you! You acted precisely53 as any sensible fellow of your size would do. ‘He who fights and runs away,’ you know. Did he do you any harm?”
[18]
“Not a bit, thanks. He didn’t get close enough to me”—this with a chuckle54.
“Were you fishing down in that lonely glen? It is a very fair spot for bass55.”
“Yes; Mr. Wooden took me down into the ravine quite a little way above it. Do you know the place, sir?”
“O, yes, sir; I know the place very well, sir,” answered Gerald’s defender56, with a quizzical twinkle in his eyes as he repeated those “sirs.” Then they both laughed. Gerald slyly compared their respective heights. His new friend could not be so very much taller. Certainly he was not over seventeen.
“You see, I was raised here—after a fashion,” went on the latter in his clear, strong voice. “You are one of the guests over at our Ossokosee House, aren’t you? I think I’ve seen you on the piazza57.”
“Yes; I’ve been stopping there while my father is away. My name is Gerald Saxton, though almost every body calls me Gerald.”
“And mine is Philip Touchtone, but every body calls me Philip, and you needn’t call me ‘sir,’ please. I know Mr. Marcy, who keeps the Ossokosee, very well. It was to deliver a[19] message from him to the Woodens about the hotel butter that I stopped here this afternoon. But do tell me how that scamp dared run after you? The minute I saw him and you, even as far off as Mrs. Wooden’s back door, I suspected that it was a tramp, and I didn’t hesitate very long.”
“No, you didn’t,” answered Gerald. And he walked along, swinging his arm manfully and fighting over again for Philip Touchtone’s benefit those details of the brief skirmish between himself and Mr. Sip that had hurriedly followed one another previous to Philip’s advent58. He continued his furtive59 observation of his new friend all the time. Touchtone had gained about five feet four of his full height, with a broad, well-developed chest, active legs, and a good straight way of carrying himself that reminded one of his sharp, pleasant way of speaking. His hair was dark enough to pass for black, as would his eyes and eyebrows60, although they were actually brown, and full of an honest brightness. As for his face, it was rather long, full, and not particularly tanned, though the sun was well acquainted with it. The most attractive feature of it was a mouth that expressed good humor and resolution. In short,[20] Gerald might have easily made up his mind that Philip Touchtone was a person born to work for and get what the world held for him.
“Whew!” exclaimed he, as Gerald reminded him, “I forgot Mrs. Wooden’s carpet-beater! I threw it after your friend down there. He got the full benefit of it.”
“And I forgot my rod! I dropped it when I thought it was best to run.”
“Wait a minute and I’ll get both,” said Philip. “I know that identical rock where you say you stood—at the foot of the path.” And before Gerald could remonstrate61 Philip ran from his side and darted down into the glen where Mr. Sip must have still lurked62 in wrath63. But sooner than Gerald could feel alarm for him Philip came back with rod and beater.
“We need never expect to see him again,” he said, breathlessly. “But—halloa! There are Mrs. Wooden and Miss Beauchamp, who boards with her. She teaches the district school here, and it’s just begun. They must be wondering what has become of me. Suppose we hurry up a trifle. You can ride back to the hotel with me, unless you care to stay and fish—for more tramps.”
[21]
“No, I thank you,” answered Gerald. “You would be nowhere near to help me fight them.” A determined64 flash came into the boy’s countenance65, such as he had shown when he caught up the bit of rock in defiance66 of the ragged67 Sip.
“O, I beg your pardon,” he went on in his odd, rather grown-up manner; “I haven’t said how much obliged to you I am for coming down there.”
“You are quite welcome,” laughed his new friend, looking down with frank eyes upon the younger boy.
“Perfectly welcome, ‘Gerald,’ you were going to say,” added his companion, simply, feeling as if he had known for years this winning new-comer, who seemed not so much boy or man, but a confusion of both, that made up some one with whom he could speedily be on familiar terms. “Hark! Mrs. Wooden is calling you. That horse of yours is eating an apple out of Miss Beauchamp’s hand, too.”
The two Woodens and their boarder, Miss Beauchamp, walked forward to meet the boys as they advanced from the lane.
“Well, Philip,” was the white-headed old farmer’s greeting, “where did you fly to so[22] sudden? Neither wife, here, nor I could set eyes on you. And so you’ve struck up an acquaintance with Master Gerald, have you?”
“Well, yes; and struck an acquaintance of his in the middle of his back,” responded Philip. “How do you do, Miss Beauchamp? Didn’t you, any of you, see the fight?”
“Fight!” cried Mrs. Wooden, clapping her fat hand to her bosom68 and nearly dropping the wooden tray of fresh butter she held. “Why, Philip Touchtone! Who has been a-fightin’? Not you—nor you?” she added, turning to Gerald.
“We all have been fighting, I’m afraid, Mrs. Wooden,” said the latter—“three of us.”
After this preamble69 there had to be an account of the skirmish. Miss Beauchamp and Mrs. Wooden alike decided it was “shocking.”
“He might have drawn a pistol on both of you!” exclaimed Miss Beauchamp, “and a great deal more might have come of it.”
“Well,” Gerald protested, “the only thing that’s come of it is that I have met a friend of yours here.”
“And you couldn’t do a better thing, Gerald!” exclaimed Mrs. Wooden, beginning to[23] stow away butter and eggs in the spring-wagon70 from the Ossokosee House. “Mr. Philip Touchtone is a particular pet of Miss Beauchamp’s and mine when he is a good boy—as he almost always is,” the farmer’s fat wife lightly added.
“And a capital friend,” added the grave Miss Beauchamp, with a smile, “for a boy about the age and size of one I know to have on his books. You ask Mr. Marcy over at the hotel all about him, Gerald. Now, you do that for me soon.”
“O, pshaw, Miss Beauchamp!” Philip interrupted, his wide-awake face rather red, and straightening himself up to endure these broad compliments, “you and Mrs. Wooden ought to remember that people who praise friends to their faces are said to be fond of slandering71 them behind their backs. Come, Mr. Wooden, I promised Mr. Marcy to be back as soon as I could. Jump in, Gerald.”
The boy swung his slender figure up to the cushioned seat. Philip quickly followed after a few more words with the farmer. Then the wagon rattled72 out into the road and was soon bowling73 along to the Ossokosee. Philip favored[24] the baskets and bundles in the back of the spring-wagon with a final glance, and then turned to Gerald with the manner of a person who intends asking and answering a large number of questions. And Gerald felt quite eager to do the same thing.
Why each of these lads, so entirely74 out of his own free will, should have mutually confided75 details of their two histories, when each was so much a stranger, met to-day, and perhaps never sitting again within speaking-distance after to-morrow, was a riddle76 to both of them. But the solution of it is as old as the rocks in Wooden’s Ravine, perhaps older. We may keep our lives and thoughts under a lock and key as tightly as we like until the day comes when, somewhere along this crowded highway called Life, we all at once run square against some other human creature who is made by fate to be our best friend. Then, take my word for it, whether he is younger or older, he will find out from our own lips every thing in the bottom of our hearts that he chooses to ask about; and, what is more, we ought to find ourselves glad to trust such a person with even more than the whole stock that is there.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
sip
|
|
| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
brook
|
|
| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
slanted
|
|
| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
varnish
|
|
| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
labor
|
|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
morsel
|
|
| n.一口，一点点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
rippling
|
|
| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
turnips
|
|
| 芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
cleanse
|
|
| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
wrens
|
|
| n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
meditate
|
|
| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
victuals
|
|
| n.食物；食品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
phenomena
|
|
| n.现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
exclamation
|
|
| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
maple
|
|
| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
somber
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
chasm
|
|
| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
dangled
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
luncheon
|
|
| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
beckoning
|
|
| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
wading
|
|
| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
margin
|
|
| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
prudently
|
|
| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
prudent
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
intrepid
|
|
| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
daunted
|
|
| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
vent
|
|
| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
exclamations
|
|
| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
arrear
|
|
| n.欠款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
canopy
|
|
| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
plentiful
|
|
| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
thicket
|
|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
jersey
|
|
| n.运动衫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
vagrant
|
|
| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
rascal
|
|
| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
uncommonly
|
|
| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
chuckle
|
|
| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
bass
|
|
| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
defender
|
|
| n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
piazza
|
|
| n.广场；走廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
advent
|
|
| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
furtive
|
|
| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
remonstrate
|
|
| v.抗议，规劝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
lurked
|
|
| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
bosom
|
|
| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
preamble
|
|
| n.前言；序文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
slandering
|
|
| [法]口头诽谤行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
rattled
|
|
| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
bowling
|
|
| n.保龄球运动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
confided
|
|
| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
riddle
|
|
| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |