“Here is a letter for you, my daughter,” he said quietly, “and you may read it now.”
The young girl colored up to the roots of her hair as she opened the letter and hastily read it. Then she handed it to her father to read and she knew from the expression of his face 202that its contents were anything but pleasing to him. When he had finished it he said to her sternly: “I am surprised indeed, Laura, that you should discuss family secrets which you do not yourself comprehend, with a boy who is a complete stranger to us all, and I am grieved to learn that you went down to the hospital to visit him without saying anything about it to me or to your aunt. How did you ever come to mention the name of Mr. Dexter to this boy and how did he ever learn anything about this dark bearded man with the scar? Years ago, as you and Harry2 know perfectly3 well, you were both forbidden to go near the Dexter house or ask any questions concerning him or his family. I had excellent reasons for not discussing with you matters which you are still too young to understand. Now tell me how you came to seek information from this young rascal4 with whom you are carrying on a secret correspondence.”
Laura, who had listened to her father’s words with downcast eyes, bit her lips angrily when she heard Bruce called “a young rascal.” She did not wish to tell her father the secret which she felt belonged by right not to her but to Bruce, and yet she knew that she must make some sort of reply, so she answered after a moment’s hesitation5: “He knew Mr. Dexter because he was sent up there on an errand that day that he found Harry with his sprained6 ankle and brought him home. So we got to talking about him and I told him that Harry and I had been forbidden to go near the house.”
Then Laura began to cry.—Page 203.
203Then Laura began to cry and her father, having peremptorily8 ordered her not to reply to Bruce’s letter, started for his office, stopping a moment to tell Mr. Reed what had happened, and to bid him put a stop at once to the intimacy9 with the young fireman who had, as he imagined, transgressed10 the law of hospitality by writing letters to the young girl.
It was a dreary11 day for the brother and sister when they learned from the lips of the tutor that their father had forbidden them to have anything further to do with their new friend whom they both liked so much. Harry was particularly displeased12 because he declared that it was all Laura’s fault for sneaking13 off by herself to visit him and then getting him to write letters to her, which she should have known was altogether improper14. Laura on her part declared that if Harry had not been so hateful she would never have thought of doing anything to spite him and ended the discussion by declaring angrily, that she thought boys a 204nuisance and she was never going to have anything more to do with any of them so long as she lived. That afternoon Kitty Harriott came to see her, and on learning the dreadful news, proceeded to console her as well as she could, assuring her friend that it would all come out right after all just as it did in the story books of which they were so fond.
During the first few days of his confinement15 in the hospital, Bruce found that the time hung very heavy on his hands, that his wounds were painful, his spirits low, and if it had not been for the occasional visits of his friends from the quarters, it is possible that he would have come to the conclusion that after all a fireman’s life was not a happy one. He was rather surprised that the Van Kuren children neither came to see him again nor wrote to him, but the truth was that Harry and Laura who were, in spite of their many faults, tactful children and thoughtful of the feelings of others, had decided16 that it would be best to keep their friend in ignorance of their father’s commands. “Because,” they argued, “he has a hard enough time of it now, lying there all day in the hospital, and if he learns that our father has put a stop to our friendship with him, it may make him 205worse, and it will certainly not make him any happier than he is.”
Bruce, of course, knew nothing about this, but imagined that the children would come to see him or write him again at the first opportunity. As he grew better he found himself taking an interest in the events of the ward17 in which he lay, and it was not long before he had made the acquaintance of a few of the patients who were well enough to walk about and gossip with the occupants of the different beds. Most of the people in the casualty ward were working men who had met with accidents, and he noticed to his surprise that some of them seemed in no hurry to get well, and always limped in the most grievous fashion when any of the doctors were about.
It was Skinny the Swiper who explained this phenomenon to him by remarking that these invalids18 lived better in the hospital than they did at home and at much less expense, and were therefore perfectly willing to stay there all winter and board at the expense of the city without doing any hard work.
There were other men, however, who took their confinement much to heart and had no anxiety save to get out again and go to work for their wives and families. Bruce noticed, 206also, that the most intelligent men about him always yielded to the wishes of the physicians, took the medicines that were given them, and reposed19 faith in the wisdom of the medical practitioners20, while the more ignorant ones did not hesitate to affirm that the doctors did not know their business, and that they themselves were capable of determining what medicine they should take and how their wounds should be treated. Having very little to do but lie on his back, and notice what went on about him, the boy acquired no small knowledge of human life and nature by his observations in the hospital ward.
As to Skinny the Swiper, he proved an uncomplaining patient and, although rather taciturn from force of habit, was at times very entertaining in his accounts of life in what he called “de Fort’ ward” where he lived, and his comments on the people about him.
It was Skinny who awakened21 a burst of laughter one morning by suddenly calling out to one of the patients who had no desire to leave the hospital and return to his work, “Cheese it, Welch, you’re limpin’ on de wrong leg this morning! De doctor’ll drop to yer.” And it was Skinny who learned to imitate the voices of the other men and would often break 207the silence of the early night with his monkey-like drollery22. He regarded Bruce as his preserver, and although he said but little in token of his gratitude23, the other soon began to feel that he could rely upon the tough little news boy to render him any service that he might ask of him. And as day succeeded day, he carefully studied the character of his new friend, in order to determine whether it would be safe to trust him with the secret which as yet he had shared with no one but Laura. Then he remembered his promise to the young girl and determined24 that no matter what might happen he would say nothing without first obtaining her permission.
At last the day came when the house surgeon, pausing in front of the boys’ beds, remarked: “Well, you two young men seem to be doing quite nicely, so I think you can get ready to leave here at the end of the week.” By this time both boys had progressed so far that they were able to walk about the ward and eat their meals in the dining room instead of having them brought to their bedside. They were not strong by any means, but it was no longer necessary for them to remain in the hospital and their beds were needed for other patients. Bruce was delighted at the prospect25 of going 208and instantly wrote to Chief Trask to tell him the news. But Skinny heard the doctor’s words with passive indifference26 and did not seem to care much whether he went or stayed.
“Where are you going to when you leave here?” said Bruce to his companion as he folded up his letter and addressed the envelope.
“Dunno,” was the laconic27 reply.
Bruce paused in his work and looked at the other with surprise. “Do you mean to tell me that you haven’t any place to go to after you leave here?” he demanded.
“No place in partick’lar,” answered Skinny. “Mebbe I’ll go down to der Newsboy’s Home an’ brace28 de boss for a week’s lodgins, an’ a couple of dimes29 fer ter buy extrys wid.”
The boy announced his intentions in a matter-of-fact way that showed plainly what his manner of life had been, but Bruce was amazed to think that anyone could leave a sick bed and go out without friends to face the world as coolly and calmly as if he were going to a comfortable home. All this time the boys had been sitting in extension chairs beside their beds and when Bruce had sealed his letter he went out to the closet in which his clothes and a few 209things that Chief Trask had sent him were kept, took from an inside vest pocket his pocket-book and found that it contained just eight dollars and forty-four cents. Taking exactly half of his fortune, he went back to where Skinny was seated and placed it in his lap.
“There,” he remarked, “that’s just half my pile, Skinny, and perhaps the time will come when I shall want you to divide your pile with me.”
Skinny looked at the money in his lap and then picked it up, carefully counted it, and rung one of the silver dollars with his teeth as if in doubt of its being genuine. Then he fixed30 his keen little blue eyes on Bruce and seemed to be trying to find some ulterior motive31 for his generosity32. It was seldom, indeed, that anyone had reposed confidence in Skinny to the extent of lending him nearly five dollars, and he could not understand why anyone should do such a thing unless he had some object to gain. But his scrutiny33 of the boy’s clear, honest face failed to reveal to him any secret or sinister34 design, and so, after a moment’s hesitation, he said cautiously “Is dis on de level?”
“That’s all right,” remarked Bruce, who had winced35 perceptibly under the boy’s squirrel like gaze, “You’re welcome to that as long as you choose to keep it.”
210“Say, boss,” continued Skinny after another pause, during which he carefully thumbed over his suddenly acquired wealth, “dat’s de white ting ter do, and I’ll hump meself when I gets well to pay it off.”
Bruce had winced under the boy’s sharp look because he felt that he suspected him of some ulterior motive, and he knew that he had an ulterior motive, which was to place Skinny under still further obligations to him in order that he might be depended upon to aid him in his search for the man who had once known his father. Never since the morning when the newsboy recognized Laura Van Kuren had Bruce referred in any way to the mysterious scarred and bearded stranger by whom the boy had been employed. He did not wish to exhibit any interest in him. The time would come for that, he said to himself, when he had left the hospital, and it was with this object in view that he had devoted36 a great deal of his time during his convalescence37 to cultivating an intimacy with Skinny and deepening in the heart of that young vagabond the feelings of gratitude and regard which he already felt for the gallant38 young fire laddie who had carried him from the burning building.
211It was Saturday morning when the boys said good-bye to Miss Ingraham and their fellow patients in the casualty ward, and went out once more into the open street. Together they trudged39 along Fifteenth Street to Broadway where Bruce took a car for the quarters, not feeling strong enough to walk any further, and Skinny kept on toward Third Avenue, intending to go down to the Newsboys’ Home. Just before they parted, Skinny surprised his friend by saying in a careless way, “Boss, you reck’lect that party I was speakin’ of as sent me on de errands? Well, I kin7 fin’ him any time yer want him. Dat’s all.” Then he nodded his head and slouched across the street, a grotesque40, ragged41 figure, while Bruce climbed into the horse-car and wondered how on earth the boy could ever have discovered that he felt any interest whatever in the man of whom they had spoken but once. But Bruce did not know how contact with the rough side of city life sharpens the senses of the young, nor did he know that, during those long days in the hospital ward, he had been very closely watched and studied by the little vagabond beside him.
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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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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peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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transgressed
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| v.超越( transgress的过去式和过去分词 )；越过；违反；违背 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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practitioners
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| n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师） | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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drollery
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| n.开玩笑，说笑话；滑稽可笑的图画（或故事、小戏等） | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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dimes
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| n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 ) | |
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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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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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