“If Faculty2 finds it out you’ll not only lose the animal, but get into trouble. And they’re bound to learn of it before long. Why, the ‘goody’ will see the thing when she makes the beds.”
“No, she won’t; I’ll find a way to fix that,” answered Trevor confidently.
“But how’ll you keep him alive?” asked Dick. “The poor little thing has got to eat.”
“Oh, I can bring him something from dining-hall.”
Dick shrugged3 his shoulders and gave up the argument. And having relieved his conscience by his protest, joined his roommate in teaching the puppy to sit on his hind4 legs and hold a piece of cracker5 on his nose: a feat6 which the animal could not for a long time see the philosophy of. When, however, he discovered that obedience7 invariably gave him possession of the fragment of biscuit to crumble8 to his heart’s content over the hearth9-rug, he began to understand the game, and to even show a certain pleasure[107] in it. After the work in the gymnasium that afternoon Trevor and Dick walked to the village and the former purchased—I regret to say on credit, thereby10 infringing11 one of the rules—a red leather collar and a steel chain. When Trevor left the dining-hall after supper his coat pockets bulged12 suspiciously, and later the puppy feasted regally on cold roast beef and graham bread, while the two boys watched every mouthful with delight. When bedtime came Trevor arranged a pair of old tennis trousers by the hearth, and placing the puppy thereon, assured him sternly that he was expected to remain there quietly until morning.
Perhaps Trevor’s commands were not altogether clear. That as may be, he had no sooner put out the light and snuggled himself into bed than there arose a sound of grief and dismay in the study, followed presently by tiny footfalls on the bedroom floor.
“Lie down!” commanded Trevor sternly.
The whining13 ceased for a minute, and a tail thumped14 the floor delightedly. And then, as no further recognition seemed forthcoming, the whining began again in increased volume and with added pathos16.
“Puppy, go lie down,” whispered Trevor, more mildly this time. Dick was laughing silently beyond in the darkness. The puppy again thumped the floor with his tail.
“Perhaps he’s cold,” suggested Dick.
“The poor little fellow wants to get up on the bed, I fancy,” answered Trevor. “I’ll spread my dressing-gown[108] for him at the foot.” This was done, and the disturbing element was hauled to the bed by the nape of his neck. But stay on the dressing-gown he would not, and Trevor finally fell asleep with the small, warm bundle of dog lying against his breast, and a tiny, bullet-shaped head resting peacefully on his neck.
The real troubles began next morning. When the two boys started for breakfast they locked the door carefully, and had reached the stairs, when, faint but unmistakable as to character, came a long howl of grief. Fearfully, Trevor hurried back. The puppy was sitting erect17 and tragic18 just inside the door. His delight at Trevor’s return was, however, short-lived, for he was ignominiously19 shut in the closet, and Trevor, with the key in his pocket, again set forth15. But he could find little enjoyment20 in breakfast, for all the while he was haunted by the fear that the “goody” would get into the room before he could return, hear the dog’s howls, and report the matter to Professor Tomkins, the resident instructor21. He hurried back to Masters with his meal but half eaten, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found the beds still unmade and the room still untidied. From the closet came eager, questioning sniffs22 and whines23 of impatience25. Trevor opened the door, tossed in a mutton chop, and quickly secured it again. And then the study door opened and the “goody” entered.
“Good-morning, Mr. Nesbitt.”
“Good-morning, Mrs. Pratt.”
[109]
Trevor seized a Latin book, subsided26 into a chair by the closet and tried to read. From behind the locked door came sounds of busy gnawings; once a diminutive27 growl28 was audible. But the “goody” was in the other room and so all was safe. Trevor discovered that he was holding the book upside down; he corrected the mistake and wondered why it was that the beds took so long to make this morning of all others. They were finally completed, however, and the crucial moment arrived. Armed with dust-cloth, the woman came out and slowly began to move about the study. Suddenly from behind the locked door came two distinct taps; it was only the puppy worrying the mutton bone, but the “goody” didn’t know that, and looked in alarm toward the closet.
“What was that?” she asked.
“What was what?” asked Trevor.
“That sound; them sounds—in there?”
“Pshaw, you’re dreaming; there—there’s no one in——”
Something bumped softly against the door; the woman glanced suspiciously from Trevor to the closet. Trevor looked carelessly out the window and began to whistle. A low whine24 issued from the prison. Trevor heard it, but apparently29 the “goody” didn’t; he whistled louder. The whining increased. Trevor began to sing.
Then began a most appalling30 series of bumps, growls31, knocks, whines, jars, gnawings, and similar disturbing[110] noises from the closet. With loudly thumping32 heart Trevor sang on, rapidly, loudly, unceasingly. The woman turned and viewed him in astonishment33 not unmixed with alarm. Trevor’s singing was more creditable from the point of vigor34 and whole-souledness than on the score of harmony or rhythm. His notes were nearly all flats, which, with the fact that he never for an instant varied35 the time, made even the most joyous36 of ballads37 lugubrious38 when performed by him. He had finished In the Gloaming, Way down upon the Suwanee River, and Rule, Britannia, and was now breathlessly, heroically thundering forth Hilltonians in tones that could be, and probably were, heard in the next dormitory:
“Hilltonians, Hilltonians, your crimson39 banner fling” (Bang! Bump! Gr-r-r-r!) “Unto the breeze, and ’neath its folds your anthem40 loudly sing!” (Whack! Bang! Bump!) “Hilltonians, Hilltonians, our loyalty41 we’ll prove Beneath the flag, the crimson flag, the bonny flag we love!” (Gr-r-r-r! Ao-o-oow! Ao-o-o-ow! Bang!)
And then, with her hands over her ears and her dust-cloth trailing in defeat, the “goody” fled from the room, and the day was won! Trevor sank back exhausted42. From the closet the strange sounds continued to issue. He sat up and stared fearfully at the closed door. What, he asked himself with sinking heart, what could they mean? He drew forth the key, crossed the room, unlocked the door, threw it open, and—
[111]
Out tumbled the puppy and—and—could it be? It could; it was!—one of Dick’s immaculate patent-leather pumps, torn and chewed into as sorry a looking object as he had ever seen!
At sight of Trevor the puppy dropped his prize, put his small head on one side, wagged his tail proudly, and gazed up at his master as though asking “How’s that for a good job well done?”
Trevor peered into the closet and groaned43. The floor was a mass of débris; shoes and garments from the hooks were writhed44 together madly; and everywhere was set the puppy’s mark of approval. Trevor gathered up the garments and returned them to their hooks. A cold, blunt nose thrust itself into the way. Trevor’s hand rose and fell smartly twice, and with a yelp45 the puppy retreated to the hearth-rug, where he turned and barked defiance46.
Trevor observed him wrathfully for an instant, but his attitude of insulted dignity and his ferocious47 challenge to combat were so ludicrous that the boy subsided amid the wreckage48 and laughed until the tears came. And the puppy, bounding joyfully49 upon him, instantly forgiving, gurgled his pleasure and licked his hands, shoes, and face with whole-souled impartiality50.
And upon this scene entered Dick!
Let us draw the curtain.
That night, long after Dick had dropped off to slumber51, he was awakened52 by Trevor’s urgent voice.
[112]
“Dick! Dick! Wake up!”
“Wha-what’s the matter?” cried Dick, starting suddenly from sleep, and sitting up in bed with confused visions of fire and flood.
“I’ve found a name for him,” answered Trevor triumphantly53.
“Name? What name? Who’s name?”
“The puppy’s. I’m going to call him Muggins!”
Dick snorted wrathfully and went back to sleep.
Trevor fondled the slumberous54 puppy. “Isn’t he an unfeeling brute55, Muggins?” he whispered. And Muggins thumped his tail affirmatively, sleepily.
The following night, when all was silent in the dormitory, a form bundled against the weather in a greatcoat, and followed by a second form, vastly smaller in outline and wearing only the coat that nature had provided him with, might have been seen—but were not—tiptoeing from study No. 16 and descending56 the creaking stairs. The door was locked, but the key was there, and in a moment the two forms had vanished into outer darkness and the portal had closed again.
As the discerning reader has no doubt already surmised57, the mysterious forms were those of Trevor and Muggins.
Trevor had concluded that Muggins’s health demanded more exercise than his puppyship was getting, and so on the preceding night and again to-night Muggins, at the end[113] of the steel chain, had been surreptitiously conveyed from the building for a stroll about the yard. It was bitterly cold and Trevor shivered as he ambled58 slowly toward the gymnasium followed by the dog; but since Muggins’s health demanded exercise Muggins should have it, though the thermometer stood at miles below zero, which luckily it didn’t to-night. Around the gymnasium plodded59 Trevor, slipping, sliding on the icy walks; around trotted60 Muggins, sniffing61, shivering in the nipping wind. Then down the path by Bradley to Turner, around the corner of Turner, and——
Alas62, tragedy was in the air that night!
Trevor paused, listening. Footsteps sounded loudly, frostily at a little distance, and in the darkness a dim form loomed63 up from the direction of the gate. It was but the work of an instant to slink into the recess64 of the building made by the protruding65 entrance, and to pull Muggins after him. The footsteps drew nearer. One of the professors returning late from the village, Trevor told himself. The form came abreast66 of him, a scant67 two yards distant, and was almost past his hiding-place when Muggins awoke to the demands of the occasion.
Muggins, despite his tender age, was valor68 to the tip of his wagging tail. He heard strange footsteps; he saw a strange form; he feared an attack on his master. But, what ho! was not he, Muggins, there? Certainly! And—
Away went the chain from Trevor’s numbed69 fingers;[114] away went Muggins, dashing to the fray70 like a knight71 of old!
“Bow! Bow-wow!” challenged Muggins.
Trevor heard an ejaculation of alarmed surprise, saw the form of the tall professor jump back, and then—then there was a crash, and Trevor, seizing the opportunity, was off like the wind, and had gained the doorway72 of Masters Hall ere the astonished professor had regained73 his feet. For Muggins in his excess of valor had got his small body between his adversary’s legs, and great and sudden was the fall. Trevor waited long at the entrance of Masters Hall, standing74 with door ajar and peering anxiously into the darkness; once even venturing upon a subdued75 whistle and a yearning76 “Muggins, Muggins!” But his appeals were vain, and after a while he crept dejectedly upstairs and back into his cold and Muggins-less bed, wondering, sorrowful, fearful of the morrow.
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1
smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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2
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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cracker
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| n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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7
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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crumble
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| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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10
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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11
infringing
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| v.违反（规章等）( infringe的现在分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等） | |
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bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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14
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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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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18
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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19
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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20
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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21
instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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22
sniffs
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的第三人称单数 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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23
whines
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| n.悲嗥声( whine的名词复数 )；哀鸣者v.哀号( whine的第三人称单数 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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24
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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25
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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26
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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27
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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28
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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29
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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30
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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31
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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32
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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33
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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34
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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35
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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36
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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37
ballads
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| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
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38
lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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39
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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40
anthem
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| n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌 | |
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41
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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42
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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43
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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44
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
yelp
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| vi.狗吠 | |
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46
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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47
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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48
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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49
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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50
impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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51
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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52
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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53
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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54
slumberous
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| a.昏昏欲睡的 | |
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55
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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56
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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57
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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58
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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59
plodded
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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61
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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62
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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63
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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64
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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65
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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66
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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67
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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68
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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69
numbed
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| v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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71
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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72
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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73
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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74
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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75
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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76
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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