CHAPTER XXII

Next morning Mark got a telegram from Zadok Biggs. It’s quite a thing for a boy to get a real telegram, and he was puffed¹ up over it considerable, showing it to me and Plunk and Binney as if it was a diamond stole out of an idol’s eye, or some such precious thing as that. It said:

Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Tidd,—Coming. Hold the fort. Shoo ’em away. News. Friend for life.
Zadok Biggs.

We couldn’t make much out of it except that he was coming, so we waited for him to turn up, which he did late that afternoon. He drove up the alley² whistling “Marching through Georgia,” and left his red wagon³ back of Mr. Tidd’s barn-workshop while he turned Rosinante loose in the back yard to eat the grass and Mrs. Tidd’s vegetable garden. We hustled⁴ out to meet him.

“Ah!” says he. “My friend, Marcus Aurelius, and his friends awaiting me, so to speak, with eagerness, eh? I telegraphed. Couldn’t wait.” He was fairly jumping up and down with excitement, and his long, lean face was almost glittering, he was so happy. “I said I would look after the business matters. I, Zadok Biggs, said so. And I have looked after them. I have news for you.”

“W-won’t you c-c-come in?” Mark asked, when he got a chance.

“Of course. Certainly. To meet your esteemed⁵ father, the man of genius, who bestowed⁶ upon—gave—you your name, and who, as a secondary example of his genius, invented the Tidd turbine.” He came trotting⁷ after Mark, and we followed him. It was a funny sight to see Mark waddling⁸ along, big as a hippopotamus⁹, and Zadok trotting after with little short steps sort of like a playful puppy.

Mr. Tidd was sitting in the kitchen, with the Decline and Fall open on his lap, watching his wife thumb a pie around the edge. He looked up when we came in, and then got onto his feet.

“F-f-father,” says Mark, “here is Zadok B-b-biggs again.”

“Um!” says Mr. Tidd, looking at Zadok like he was some peculiar¹⁰ kind of a bug¹¹ and he didn’t know whether to be afraid of him or not. “Um! Zadok Biggs. Howdy do, Mr. Biggs. Howdy do.”

Zadok grabbed hold of his hand and shook it like he was pumping water on a cold morning. “Mr. Tidd,” says he, “this is a proud minute. I, Zadok Biggs, swell¹² with pride to clasp your hand, the hand that named Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus.”

“And,” Mrs. Tidd put in, “the hand that hain’t never spanked¹³ him in the way he deserved.”

“Mrs. Tidd,” says Zadok, “do you recall my promise? You do. Of course you do. I said I would look after the financial aspects—business side is perhaps the more usual expression—of the Tidd turbine. Did I not? Of course I did. Well, madam and sir, my friends, I have looked after it. Did Zadok Biggs let grass grow under his feet? No. Behold¹⁴!”

He drew a letter out of his pocket and waved it in the air. “From William Abbott,” he said. “Yes, my friends, from William Abbott. Know him? No? Ah! We went to school together. Zadok Biggs and William Abbott, schoolmates. Now look at us. William, a millionaire; Zadok, a tin-peddler. Life is strange.”

Mrs. Tidd was wiping her hands on her apron¹⁵, and Mr. Tidd was thumbing over the Decline and Fall with a bewildered look on his face. “Yes,” says she. “But what about it? What’s in the letter?”

“Of course. Natural question; and I, Zadok Biggs, will answer it. I communicated—wrote—on account of the Tidd turbine to him. I described it. I discussed the merits of the invention, not forgetting the genius of the inventor. And he has replied. He is interested. In short, my friends, through the instrumentality of Zadok Biggs he is coming to Wicksville, and for no other purpose than to look into this matter. Wonderful? No, not at all.”

“W-when’s he c-c-comin’?” asked Mark.

“Natural question, again. William Abbott, millionaire, will arrive—be here—on the six-o’clock train. We will await him. Mrs. Tidd will greet him with a piece of that pie, eh? A large piece. It will delight him.”

We all went into the parlor¹⁶ and waited. Mrs. Tidd made us go into that room because she thought it was the most fitting place to receive a millionaire. Well, sure enough, before half past six up drove Uncle Ike’s bus, and out got a big man, ’most as big as Sammy, but dressed kind of careless, with an old slouch hat on. I was disappointed. I’d expected to see a fellow all over diamonds, with one of those coats cut out in the front so all the shirt showed, and a plug hat. But he wasn’t that way at all; he might have owned a grocery store for all you could tell by the looks of him.

Zadok rushed out to meet him, and they shook hands cordial. Mr. Abbott was tickled¹⁷ to see Zadok, that was plain; and Zadok was tickled to see Mr. Abbott. They came into the parlor, and every one of us was introduced. He was a fine man, no frills and no fuss. I’d like to take him fishing.

He was sort of bashful at first, I guess, but pretty soon he had us boys talking baseball and things, and we were all laughing and having the best sort of a time.

“I was invited to supper,” he says to Mrs. Tidd, “and I’ve been looking forward to it, I can tell you. Zadok wrote about your pies. We’re going to have pie, aren’t we?” He seemed to be mighty¹⁸ anxious about it till he found out we were.

It was a dandy meal. When it was all done we went back into the parlor to talk business. Mr. Abbott and Zadok did all the talking, and the rest of us just looked on. Before bedtime the whole thing was settled, and Mr. Tidd was going to be a rich man. Mr. Abbott was going to manufacture and sell the Tidd turbine, and Mr. Tidd was going to get what they called a royalty¹⁹. That means he was going to get a certain amount of money for every one that was sold.

“Of course,” said Mr. Abbott, “this is provided the turbine does what you say it will do. I haven’t seen it, you know, and am depending wholly on what Zadok Biggs here has told me.”

“It’ll w-w-w-work,” says Mark. “I s-seen it.”

Mr. Abbott laughed and said he was sure it would work; and then we fellows went home, and the Tidds and Zadok and Mr. Abbott went to bed.

Next day the turbine was set up and tested again in Mr. Whiteley’s machine shop, and all the papers were signed.

That’s about the end of the story of Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Tidd and the turbine. But you might as well know that the invention was a great success. Mr. Tidd did get rich. Money came in so fast he didn’t know what to do with it, so he just let Mr. Abbott look after it for him.

It was a good thing for every one of us boys, because Mr. Tidd said we had helped so much he had to do something for us; and next year, when we’re through high school, he’s going to send the whole four of us to college together.

And Sammy? Mr. Tidd fixed²⁰ it up with the poor-farm so Sammy won’t be disturbed, but can go all over whenever he wants to. And there’s no danger of his going hungry or wanting anything as long as he lives.

Uncle Ike keeps right on driving the bus, because that’s the thing he enjoys the most—says it’s interesting and instructive. He told me it was a better education than going to college, but I don’t put much stock in that.

And there you are! Taking it all together, we had quite a time of it, and lots of excitement, and every bit of it was due, just as I prophesied²¹, to having a fat boy that stuttered in town.

THE END

1 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

3 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

4 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

5 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

7 trotting   

小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
• Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳，小马开始慢跑起来。

8 waddling   

v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Rhinoceros Give me a break, were been waddling every day. 犀牛甲：饶了我吧，我们晃了一整天了都。 来自互联网
• A short plump woman came waddling along the pavement. 有个矮胖女子一摇一摆地沿人行道走来。 来自互联网

9 hippopotamus   

n.河马

参考例句：

• The children enjoyed watching the hippopotamus wallowing in the mud.孩子们真喜观看河马在泥中打滚。
• A hippopotamus surfs the waves off the coast of Gabon.一头河马在加蓬的海岸附近冲浪。

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

11 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

12 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

13 spanked   

v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。 来自辞典例句

14 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

15 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

16 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

17 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

18 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

19 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 prophesied   

v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She prophesied that she would win a gold medal. 她预言自己将赢得金牌。
• She prophesied the tragic outcome. 她预言有悲惨的结果。 来自《简明英汉词典》