chapter 12

The relation of Keturah Smiley to the events in Lucius Brown’s office was fairly simple; at least, she and[134] Mr. Brown seemed to find it so. They met later in the day. Miss Smiley was unaccompanied.

“Now about this money,” she said, in her most decided¹ tones. “Most of it must go to Hosea Hand. It will be the sum Dick Hand withheld² from him, with interest at 6 per cent. for more’n a quarter of a century. If Hosea knows where it came from he won’t take it,” she told Mr. Brown with a grin. “Fix it up. Left him by a cousin several thousand dollars removed.

“I’ll take the $1,000 for the option on my land and run the risk Dick Hand’ll exercise it. He hasn’t enough money left for that. How much do you want?”

Mr. Brown, without affecting embarrassment³, named a fee.

“Too little,” Keturah commented. “I have, besides the money for the option, $5,000 for the leases, the money I lent that old fox. That’s $6,000. I figure it’ll take $12,000 to set Hosea right. That leaves $2,000. Take it. You deserve all of it. I’m not saying you don’t deserve more. It’s worth that to me to take the hair and some of the hide off that man.”

“About the patents, Miss Smiley?” Lucius Brown suggested.

“I’m not forgetting them,” answered Keturah. “But they didn’t cost me anything and I don’t want anything for them. I once fed and housed a crazy inventor—that is, he was crazy some ways but his inventions seem to be all right. He left ’em to me for[135] his keep and out of gratitude⁴, maybe. Anyway, I’ve had ’em, along with other odds⁵ and ends, these many years. I saw enough to convince me that they were worth something; so did you. Just how much I don’t know; I was never one to monkey with those things. But it won’t hurt Richard Hand to part with a few thousands for them. They’re all in good shape and order. If he goes ahead and makes a mint o’ money with them I’ll be sorry!”

“He hasn’t the necessary capital,” said Brown.

“And he can’t get it,” finished Miss Smiley. “And he has no more nerve than a hen crossing the road. It takes a young man to do those things. Some day that boy of his might make something out of them—if he’s got any stuff in him besides the Hand meanness!” she concluded, thoughtfully.

“I don’t know why I’m so generous with Dick Hand,” she continued, after a moment. “Twelve thousand dollars of this money represents an accumulated sum unrighteously withheld from his brother. Two thousand dollars represents your fee. That’s fourteen thousand—and for it he is getting patents that may be worth ten times that. But we had to give him something,” she said, half humorously. “I wish I had a little less conscience so’s to use him as he’s used others!”

A knock sounded on the door. Mr. Brown called out, “Come in,” and Mermaid⁶ entered. She wore a dark green tailored suit, and her skirts had lengthened⁷. Her[136] abundant coppery red hair had been “put up,” and she looked an astonishingly mature young lady. The three freckles⁸ remained in place and the dimples had deepened.

“Aunt Keturah,” she said, using a new form of address, “time to go home! Dickie Hand is outside waiting for me. Have you heard the news? His father told Dickie and his mother that he’d broken a tooth and lost all his money. Must have been his wisdom tooth,” surmised⁹ the girl as Miss Smiley rose to go with her.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

4 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

7 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

8 freckles   

n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时，脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》