As Sweet, the night-watchman, had informed Mr. Hazeldine, John Brancker and Ephraim Judd were at work this evening in the inner office. It was no unusual thing for them to work overtime13 at certain periods of the month. John Brancker had been in the service of the Bank for between sixteen and seventeen years. He was a homely14-featured, plainly-dressed man of five-and-forty, with no pretentions to style or fashion. It was this very unpretentiousness, in conjunction with a certain simplicity15 of character and a cheerfulness of disposition16 that never varied17, which combined to make him such a universal favorite; everybody in the town knew John Brancker and everybody liked him.
Ephraim Judd was twenty years younger than his fellow-clerk. Mr. Avison the elder had brought him to the Bank when a boy, and there he had been ever since. He was lame18, the result of an accident in childhood, and he made use of a stout19 stick when walking to and from business, although he never seemed to need it when passing from one part of the Bank to another, but got over the ground with a sort of hop20 and skip which had rather a comical effect in the eyes of strangers. He was a tall, narrow-chested young man, with long, straight, black hair, a sallow complexion21, and thin, eager, hungry-looking features. His ears were abnormally large and stuck out prominently from his head, and it was a matter of common report among his fellow clerks that Ephraim could move them backward or forward, after the fashion of certain animals, at will. Like John Brancker, he dressed very plainly, almost shabbily, presenting thereby22 a marked contrast to some of the juniors, with their chains and rings and elaborate display of collar and cuffs23. Mr. Judd's chest was delicate, and when the weather was at all bad he wore a respirator, and at other times he generally muffled24 himself up carefully about the throat in a long, worsted comforter of many colors. It might be for the same reason, perhaps, that he nearly always wore india rubber overshoes; but that could hardly be the reason why his stick should be shod with the same material. By means of his galoshes Ephraim was enabled to move noiselessly about from place to place, and he sometimes quite startled Sweet, who was pursy and scant25 of breath, by going up behind him and touching26 him suddenly on the shoulder when he had no idea that anyone was near him.
"Drat that Mr. Judd with his ingy-rubber shoes!" the night-watchman would say to his wife. "I wish he wouldn't shake one's narves so. He steals about the building like a ghost, or--or as if he was going to commit a burglary; and one never knows whether he's behind one, or in front of one, or where he is."
It was somewhat singular that Ephraim should be so little of a favorite among his fellow clerks--but so it was. He was a man not much given to talking; he kept his own counsel, making friends of nobody, giving offence to none, and seemingly trying to efface27 himself as much as possible; yet everybody seemed to have a vague distrust of him; everybody had the feeling that he was a man who hid more than he showed on the surface--everybody, that is, except simple-hearted John Brancker, who was proud of Ephraim's cleverness at figures, and proud of his handwriting, which was the best of anyone's in the Bank.
Sweet put his head into the office where the two men were at work. "Mr. Hazeldine has come, sir," he said, addressing himself to Mr. Brancker. "I thought you might perhaps have something you wanted to see him about."
"I don't think I shall trouble him to-night," answered John; "he will be tired, and what matters I have to see him about will keep till morning."
Sweet disappeared and shut the door.
"If I were in Mr. H.'s place, I'd take care not to work as hard as he does," remarked Ephraim.
"When a man's heart is in what he does, as Mr. Hazeldine's is, hard work becomes a pleasure."
"What a pretty girl his daughter is!" resumed Ephraim, after a few moments' silence. "Just the sort of young lady I should like to make up to, if I were in a position to do so."
John laughed.
"Yes, Miss Hazeldine is pretty--nobody can deny that; but whether she would make the sort of wife to suit a man like you may be open to doubt."
"Oh, you are a confirmed old bachelor, Mr. B., and are not supposed to know anything about the ladies."
A shadow flitted across John's face for a moment.
"May it not be because we old bachelors know so much about the ladies that we remain bachelors?" he asked, with a smile. "Have you any idea, Ephraim, of making up to Miss Hazeldine?"
"Now you are poking28 fun at me, Mr. B. As if she would condescend29 to look at a poor beggar like me!"
John shut up his inkstand and began to put away his books.
"Are you going to stay much longer?" he asked.
"I shall finish this ledger10 and then be off. I've had about enough of figures for one day."
John presently bade the other good-night, leaving him still perched on his high stool. A sharp walk of ten minutes carried him home. He lived in a pleasant little semi-detached cottage in the suburbs. There was a small garden in front of his house and a larger one behind, with wide-stretching meadows beyond, and a low range of hills crowning the horizon.
John halted for a moment with his hand on the garden gate. A sound of music reached him from the cottage. His niece--Hermia Rivers--and Clement30 Hazeldine were playing a duet on the piano and violin.
"What capital time they keep!" he said to himself. "They are playing something I've never heard before. I suppose Mr. Clement has been having some new music from London."
John's terrier heard its master's footsteps on the gravel31, and began to bark a welcome; the duet ceased in the middle of a bar; Hermia ran to the door, greeted her uncle with a kiss, and relieved him of his hat and coat, the cat came and purred round his legs, its tail erect2 in the air; his sister met him with that cheery smile without which home would not have seemed like home; and Clement Hazeldine gave him a hearty32 grip of the hand.
"We were missing your flute33 sadly," said the latter. "I have brought two or three fresh pieces this evening, and we were trying one of them over."
"You are very late, dear; but I have kept the teapot in the cosy34 for you," said Miss Brancker.
"And there's a fire which plainly says, 'Why don't you let me toast you some muffins,'" added Hermia.
"Sweet brought me up some tea about six o'clock," said John; "but I daresay I can manage another cup."
"Of course you can, uncle," rejoined Hermia. "Why, I have known you drink four cups many a time, and then ask for more."
"That must have been when I was very thirsty indeed; but little girls should never tell tales out of school."
Presently Hermia was on her knees toasting a couple of muffins at the sitting-room35 fire, for at Nairn Cottage the kitchen fire was allowed to go out after the early two o'clock dinner, when the girl, who came to do the rough work in the morning, was dismissed for the day.
"I left your father at the office," remarked John to Clement. "He has been to London, and I fancy that he did not get back till the seven o'clock train."
"I wish he would not stay so late, night after night," answered Clement. "Have you not noticed how care-worn he has been looking of late?"
"I can't say that I have remarked much difference in him, but that may be because I see him every day."
Clement shook his head.
"He has certainly aged8 very much of late. I was quite pained the other day to see him so worn and anxious-looking. I wish he would take a couple of months' rest right away from business."
John smiled.
"I know him better than you do, Mr. Clement. He would be miserable36 away from the Bank. But when Mr. Avison returns there will be no necessity for him to work so hard; and you must talk to him seriously about his health."
When John had finished his modest cup of tea he took up the poker37 and gave four loud taps with it on the back of the grate. Presently there came four taps in response, and a few minutes later Mr. Kittaway, John's next door neighbor, came in, followed by a servant girl carrying his violoncello in its case.
Mr. Kittaway was a retired39 wine merchant. He was a little, high-dried, bald old gentleman, with gold-rimmed spectacles, and an enormously high and stiff white cravat40, above which his puckered41 face peered out as though he were gazing at one over a wall.
"What can have become of Frank?" queried42 John, presently. "It must be more than a week since he was here last. He's not ill, or I should have missed him from the office."
No one save Clement noticed the vivid blush that dyed Hermia's cheek. Fortunately the question was addressed to Miss Brancker.
"When he was here last he was all agog43 to join the New Spanish class at the Institute," responded the latter. "He has a great idea about reading 'Don Quixote' in the original."
"Frank is always agog after something new," said John, with a laugh, "which more often than not comes to nothing in the end. He's as changeable as the moon, as I've told him many a time. Still, he might have given us a look-in before now."
"If you were to walk as far as the 'Crown and Cushion'--not that it would be worth anyone's while to do so," remarked Mr. Kittaway, in his dryest manner--"I have no doubt you would find Master Frank at the present moment practising the spot-stroke, with the stump44 of a cigar between his teeth, and his hat very much at the back of his head."
It was known to all those present that there was no love lost between the ex-wine merchant and Frank Derison.
"There are four of us--just a comfortable quartete," resumed the little man--"which, in my opinion, is much preferable to a quintete; more especially when one of the five happens to keep execrable time."
This was another hit at the absent Frank.
"Come, come, friend Nathan," said John, slapping him lightly on the knee. "Frank's not quite so bad as you try to make out. He may be fond of a game of billiards--nowadays most young men seem to be--but where's the harm? I've often wished I could handle a cue; but I don't think I could if I were to try for a hundred years. And as for the bad time Frank keeps when he plays, I put that down to pure carelessness."
"There ought to be no carelessness where music is in question," interrupted the little man, hotly. "Music calls forth45, and will be content with nothing less than the highest faculties46 of a man's nature; and where those are not given ungrudgingly, the result is a farce47, sir--a wretched farce." He emphasized his last words with a vicious twang of one of the strings48 of his 'cello38.
John laughed, but said nothing. He was too accustomed to his friend's tirades49 to attempt any confutation of them.
And so the little concert began. Hermia sat down to the piano, John brought out his beloved flute, Clement screwed up the strings of his fiddle50, while Mr. Kittaway settled his spectacles and gave a preliminary scrape or two on his 'cello. Miss Brancker fixed51 herself in a corner near the fire with her knitting and a kitten on her lap.
Charlotte Brancker was two years younger than John, and was a feminine copy of him. She had the same homely features, somewhat softened52 in their outlines, but charged with goodness in one case as in the other. There was the same pleasant smile, the same ever-cheerful manner, the same thoughtfulness for the comfort of others. Two more thoroughly53 unselfish people than John Brancker and his sister it would have been hard to find.
Hermia Rivers, their orphan54 niece, had lived with them since she was three years old. She was now turned twenty, and was a very lovely girl. Her hair was the color of ripe corn in sunlight; her eyes were of the hue55 of violets when they first open their dewy lids to the morn; her face was instinct with thought and refinement56.
It is almost needless to say that Clement Hazeldine was very much in love with her, although he had grave reasons for fearing that her heart was already given to Frank Derison. That there was some secret understanding between the two, his eyes, rendered keen by love, had not failed to convince him; and a secret understanding between two young people can, as a rule, have but one termination. Greatly he feared the worst; but there was a stubbornness of disposition about him which would not allow him to give up while a grain of hope was left to sustain him.
Meanwhile, he found it impossible to keep away from Nairn Cottage. Two or three evenings a week found him there, and he was always made welcome. The ostensible57 object of his visits was to form one in the little musical gatherings58 which, every Monday and Thursday evenings, wooed "the heavenly maid" in Miss Brancker's sitting-room.
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1
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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2
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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3
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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5
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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6
whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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7
entrusting
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的现在分词 ) | |
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8
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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9
ledgers
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| n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 ) | |
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ledger
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| n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿 | |
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11
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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12
bullion
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| n.金条，银条 | |
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13
overtime
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| adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地 | |
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14
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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15
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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16
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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20
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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21
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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22
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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23
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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25
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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26
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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27
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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28
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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29
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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30
clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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31
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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32
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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33
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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34
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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35
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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36
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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37
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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38
cello
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| n.大提琴 | |
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39
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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40
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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41
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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43
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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44
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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45
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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46
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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47
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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48
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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49
tirades
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| 激烈的长篇指责或演说( tirade的名词复数 ) | |
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50
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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51
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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52
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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53
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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54
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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55
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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56
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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57
ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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58
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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