When we got to the city we went to the hotel we knew about and got two rooms, and then we had supper and walked around a little, looking in windows and at folks on the street, and had a bully3 time. Mark set a record for eating peanuts. He got away with three bags between seven o’clock and nine, when we went to bed, and they were good big bags, too. Each of us ate a bag, but he said it was his duty to eat just as much as we did, so he had to have one for each of us.
He woke us up in the morning, and saw to it that when we dressed we fixed4 up special and neat, because he let on that when you were going to see big business men it made a heap of difference how you looked and whether they got a good impression of you right off. He made me tie my tie three times, and Binney had to comb his hair over, and Tallow had to shine up his shoes. I got kind of scared on account of making such preparations as that. I tell you things are pretty serious when a fellow has to be as fussy5 as Mark seemed to be.
Anyhow, he got us dressed to suit him, and then we had breakfast, and then we started out to an address that Mark had found out before he left Wicksville. We walked, and it was quite a ways, but we knew there wasn’t any use getting there too early. Our experience with the railroad men proved that. We figured we would get there about nine o’clock, which we did. But that was too early, so we went for another walk and got back at ten.
Then we went up in the elevator to the tenth floor and got off, and Mark led us along till we came to a door that said Middle-West Power Company on it, and he turned the knob and walked right in as bold as brass6. I went right behind him, though I didn’t want to much, for I sort of figured we’d get thrown out faster than we went in. But we didn’t.
There was a young lady at a desk and Mark asked her if the president was in.
“President James is in a meeting of the board of directors,” she said, as courteous7 as could be. “He’ll be busy some time. Can I do anything?”
“Board of directors of the P-Power Company?”
“Yes.”
“Better l-luck than I expected,” says Mark. “We want to see all of that b-board of directors. How kin2 we m-manage it?”
“Why,” says she, “I’m afraid you can’t manage it! They’re pretty busy, you know.”
“This is important—to t-t-them,” says Mark. “It’s about their dam and p-p-power-plant to Wicksville. We own the dam and there’s other things we’re mixed up in. We just got to get to see them.”
“I wouldn’t dare let you in,” says she.
“Suppose you just l-l-look the other way, and we’ll walk in, anyhow,” says Mark.
“I couldn’t do that,” she says.
“No,” says Mark, “I s’pose it wouldn’t be right.”
And just then in walks Wiggamore!
He gave one look at us and scowled8. Then he marched right over to us and says, as savage10 as a mean watch-dog, “Git out of here!”
“Not to-day,” says Mark. “We’re here on business.”
“Git out before I throw you out,” says Wiggamore. He raised his voice so it was pretty loud, and Mark spoke11 back to him just a little louder, and afterward12 I found out he did it on purpose. He wanted to be heard, because he figured that was about the only way he would get into the board meeting.
“I’m here on b-b-business with President James,” he said, “and I’m going to stay. You won’t t-throw us out, Mr. Wiggamore, and you hadn’t better try. You looked for trouble, and we’re here with it, and we’re goin’ to see President James and don’t you forget it.” He lifted his voice a little louder and almost hollered, “President James is the m-man we got to see, and if he knew about the p-papers I got in my pocket he’d see us mighty13 quick.”
“Hush!” says Wiggamore. “Don’t yell so in here.”
Just then a door opened and a great big man with shoulders as broad as a house, and with white hair and a white mustache, and a face that looked like it was carved out of a rock, but that you kind of took a liking14 to right off, looked out. He looked cross. When I say you took a liking to him, I don’t mean that exactly. I mean you felt a kind of a respect for him. That’s the way he looked.
“Here, here!” says he. “What’s all this disturbance15?”
“These boys,” says Wiggamore. “I can’t get rid of them.”
“So it seems, Wiggamore. What ails16 ’em?”
“They want to see you, sir,” said the young woman. “The noise really wasn’t their fault.”
“It wasn’t, eh? Did you tell them I was in a board meeting?”
“Yes, and then they wanted to see the whole board. They come from Wicksville.”
At that President James shot a kind of a look at us and stepped a little closer.
“What about Wicksville?” says he.
Wiggamore interrupted. “These kids,” says he, “have been making a pest of themselves there. I don’t know why they came here, but I’ll ’tend to them. I’ll see they don’t disturb you any more.”
“Um!... Four boys don’t come ’way to the city from Wicksville and try to break into a board meeting without there’s something back of it. We’ve been talking about that Wicksville situation this morning, and if these boys can clear it up any I’d like to talk to them. As for me, I don’t understand it.”
“We kin clear it up a l-l-lot,” says Mark. “Just take us into that meeting and l-l-let us tell you.”
“It’s nonsense,” says Wiggamore. “It’s some kind of a kid practical joke.”
“Kids don’t joke like this,” says President James. “Come in, all of you. If there’s nothing to it we won’t waste a great deal of time finding it out.”
So in we went, and there were six men sitting around a table, looking sour and impatient, and every one of them gave us a scowl9 as we came in. Wiggamore came along.
“Gentlemen,” says President James, “here are four boys from Wicksville—and Mr. Wiggamore. Maybe between them we can get some satisfactory idea of what is happening there.”
“What have a crowd of kids to do with it?” said a fat man.
“I’m sure I don’t know. Best way to find out is to ask ’em,” says President James. “What are you here for, boys?”
“To fight,” says Mark, just like that.
“Fight, eh? What for?”
“First for the p-p-principle of the thing, and then for our rights,” says Mark.
“What principle, son?”
“Decent b-b-business,” says Mark.
“Um!... Decent business! What’s your name, young man? And why do you mention a principle ahead of your rights?”
“My name’s Mark Tidd—Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Tidd, and these f-f-fellers are Tallow Martin, Plunk Smalley, and Binney Jenks. We put p-p-principle first because it looks to us like it was consid’able more important to see everything in the world done square than just to see one little thing that concerns us done square.”
The men around the table kind of leaned forward and looked at Mark close and interested.
“Go ahead,” says President James.
“I protest,” says Wiggamore. “These boys have got in my way, and they’re here with lying stories about me. I protest against wasting our time with a lot of kids.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” says President James. “It looks like they had something to say, and I’m for listening to them. This Mark Tidd made an interesting start.”
“Let ’em go ahead,” says the fat director, and he nodded to Mark.
“Well,” says Mark, slow and careful and sort of hand-picking every word to get a good sound one without wormholes in it, “well, we got it into our heads that the Middle-West Power Company must have honest men runnin’ it, and that they wouldn’t be likely to stand for cheatin’ and underhand work. We b-believed that business couldn’t go on if that wasn’t so, and we come to find out. If it was so, we wanted to show you how things goes on that you don’t understand about—that gits b-b-blamed onto you and makes some f-folks think all business men is crooked17. That’s why we came.”
“Go ahead,” says President James. “Tell it to us.”
“We own the dam and mill in Wicksville,” says Mark, “and we and Silas Doolittle Bugg have been runnin’ it.”
“Mark’s been the boss,” says I.
“That don’t m-matter. Well, we was r-runnin’ this mill to get Silas Doolittle out of a hole. He didn’t know anythin’ about b-business, so we took holt, and things was goin’ perty good till Mr. Wiggamore come to town and wanted to git our dam. He come into the mill and wanted we should give it to him. That was about it. And when we wouldn’t do that, he started in to threaten us and to tell us he would t-t-take the dam away from us anyhow.... That’s what he’s been t-t-tryin’ to do. Here’s a few of the things he’s done, that we kin p-p-prove. He hired a man to damage our m-machinery18. He t-t-tried to buy up some debts of ours to use ’em to s-shut down the mill. He’s hired our men away so we couldn’t run. He’s managed to get the f-f-factory inspector19 to close us down when there wasn’t right or reason to it, and he’s found a couple of chattel20 m-mortgages on machinery that Silas Doolittle forgot to tell us about, and deputy sheriffs are in the mill now. That’s only a p-part. He wouldn’t make us a f-f-fair offer, and he wouldn’t talk business. He wanted to gouge21 us out of our mill. That’s the whole thing, and we kin p-p-prove it.”
“Um!” says President James.
“It isn’t true,” says Wiggamore. “I’ve done none of those things. These boys wanted the earth for their broken-down dam, and I couldn’t stand for it. I knew you gentlemen wanted this thing done cheaply and quickly, and I’ve been doing my best. They wanted some silly sum of money, and I wouldn’t listen to them.”
“So you told us. What did you want, young men?”
“Here’s our p-p-pickle,” says Mark. “We own that m-m-mill and dam. The mill hain’t worth a cent with the dam gone. We said Mr. Wiggamore ought to buy the m-mill, too, at a reasonable price, and he wouldn’t l-listen. I guess he’d rather do things crooked than straight.”
“Wiggamore hasn’t done anything,” the fat man whispered to the man next him. “That dam is vital and the site for the power-house below it is vital. He hasn’t got results either place.”
“So,” says Mark, “we come here to f-f-fight. We know what we’re entitled to and we’re goin’ to git it.”
“In ten days, gentlemen,” says Wiggamore, “I can promise you the dam at a cost of only a few hundred dollars.”
“You can not,” says Mark.
“The mill is bankrupt. It is closed down now never to open again.”
“You did that,” says Mark, “but it will open again, and it will s-s-stay open, and you won’t n-never git our dam till we say so. We’re here to l-listen to any fair offer. But we’re in a p-p-position to m-make demands, and if we’re f-forced, why, we’ll make ’em!”
“YOU WON’T NEVER GET OUR DAM TILL WE SAY SO”
“Say, Wiggamore, you tell us we can have the dam in ten days, but how about the site for the power-house?”
“That is owned by a deaf old maid and her brother that is a fugitive22 from justice for stealing a hog23. She won’t talk business without him, and he can’t be found. I’ve had men looking for him, but we can’t locate him. That is a trifling24 matter, and will be straightened up the minute George Piggins is found.”
“Um!...” The fat man turned to Mark and says: “You say you are in a position to force us to your terms if you want to. That sounds like talking pretty big, for a kid. What do you mean by it?”
“I mean just this, sir, that if I’m wrong about you men, and you aren’t b-big and square and honest like I think, why, I’m g-goin’ to git all I kin out of you, and I’ve got a way to do it!”
President James looked at Mark mighty interested, and sort of smiled to himself, and says: “Mark Tidd, for the minute make believe we are a pack of dirty business men. What can you do to us?”
“Bust up your whole p-p-power development on that river or m-make you pay what I ask.”
“How?”
“Why,” says Mark, “I’ve f-found George Piggins, and I’ve got a l-legal option to your p-power site signed by him and his sister. You can go ahead with b-bustin’ our mill, and you kin t-take our dam, but we got your power site. That’s how I’ll do what I said.”
Every man there turned like their heads was all connected, to look at Wiggamore, and Wiggamore looked at Mark like he was seeing a ghost.
“I don’t believe it,” says he.
“I don’t ask you to,” says Mark.
“Have you that option with you, Mark?” says President James.
“Yes, sir.”
“Will you let me see it? Can you trust me that much?”
“Certainly, sir. I haven’t had any doubt from the m-m-minute I saw you.”
“Thank you,” says President James, and Mark handed him the option. He read it careful and passed it along to the others. Then he turned to Wiggamore, and his face was set and stern.
“So this is the way you’ve been working?” says he. “We hire you to do a job, and you go out and create a situation like this. You stoop to trickery and meanness, and let a whole community get the idea that you have our support and countenance25 in such ways. I have suspected it. I’ve suspected it in other cases—but I shall never have to worry about you again. You are through with us, Mr. Wiggamore. The Middle-West Power Company employs decent men only. I’m ashamed to have been associated with you. I’m ashamed of what people must think of me, of what you have made people think of me.... It doesn’t pay, Mr. Wiggamore. Here you have been tricky26 and crooked, and you have been beaten, and beaten badly by a boy. He has done you. Besides being a trickster and a disgrace to decent business, you are incompetent27. Your connection with this company is severed28 from this instant. Good day, sir.”
“He means you’re fired, Wiggamore,” said the fat man, “and with the approval of the whole board. Now get. You’re lucky to get off as easy as you are. If I had my way—”
But Wiggamore was gone. He turned and almost ran out of the room, and that was the last we ever saw of him.
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收听单词发音
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1
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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2
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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3
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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4
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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5
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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6
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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7
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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8
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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10
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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11
spoke
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| 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 | |
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12
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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13
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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14
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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15
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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16
ails
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| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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17
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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18
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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19
inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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20
chattel
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| n.动产；奴隶 | |
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21
gouge
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| v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈 | |
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22
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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23
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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24
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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25
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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26
tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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27
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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28
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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