CHAPTER VII. JOHN FINDS ANOTHER HENRY.

A SHORT time after the death of Henry, as John was walking along the wharf¹, he saw a ragged² boy, apparently³ twelve years of age, leaning idly on a pile of boards. He was thin, and looked sad. John remembered his own feelings when he was left a fatherless boy, and he felt his heart drawn⁴ to him. Going to him, he asked if he had no work to do.

‘No,’ replied the lad, ‘I wish I had; I would do anything.’

‘What does your father do for a living?’ John asked.

‘I have no father nor mother,’ said the lad; ‘I just stay wherever people will let me.’

‘Would you like to work for me on board the schooner⁵ yonder?’

[38]His face glowed with pleasure, and he exclaimed, ‘Wouldn’t I!’

‘What is your name?’

‘Harry⁶, sir.’

This settled the matter in John’s mind. ‘I will take him,’ he thought, ‘in dear Henry’s place; and, if he be worthy⁷, will be a brother to him, and mother will teach him to love God.’

The bargain was soon made, for the poor orphan⁸ had no one to care where he went; so, carrying his little bundle on his arm, he followed his new friend to the schooner, with a heart as light as a feather. He was a smart boy, and soon became useful. John took much pains to teach him to read and to instruct him in religion; for Harry did not know any more of God, or the blessed Saviour⁹, than do the poor heathen who have never heard His name. Mrs Leddam[39] made him clothes, and treated him with the affection of a mother. All this kindness was so new and precious to Harry, who had been only used to hard words and cross looks, that his young heart opened to receive it with gratitude¹⁰ and joy, just as you may have seen a flower, almost withered¹¹ by the drought, revive beneath a gentle shower, and send out fresh sweetness again. In the course of a few months no one would have known the happy looking Harry to be the ragged and sickly boy that John had met on the wharf. Harry had an Irish heart, and he repaid John’s kindness with warm affection. He was afraid of Antonio’s black eyes at first, but he soon learned to love the kind Spaniard. Thus they were a happy little party on board the ‘Sally,’ because they all loved God and each other.

It was a fine day in June that John[40] went with Antonio and Harry to visit his brother’s grave. His mother wished to go with them, but John persuaded her not to do so, fearing that it would renew her sorrow. They found the place without difficulty. The oak trees were green and beautiful, and the mound¹² of earth where Henry lay was already covered with rich verdure, and adorned¹³ with wild violets, white and blue, lifting their modest heads among the tall grass. The water rippled¹⁴ softly near the churchyard, and all looked so calm and lovely, that John could scarcely believe that this was the very spot where he had struggled so hard for life, and where, amid the roaring of the waters, poor Henry had sunk in death.

He could not help shedding tears as he stood by the grave; but when he remembered what the Bible says, he was comforted, and said, ‘Henry will rise again.’

[41]‘Will he?’ said Harry, who was standing¹⁵ by his side.

‘Yes, the word of God says that we shall all rise from our graves at the last day;’ then, taking from his pocket his Bible, they seated themselves beneath a tree, while John read 1 Cor. xv. 52: ‘For the trumpet¹⁷ shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Then he turned to the first Epistle to the Thessalonians: ‘For the Lord himself shall descend¹⁸ from heaven, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump¹⁶ of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.’

Harry listened with attention till John ceased reading, then he asked him, ‘Did that little boy love God?’

‘Yes, he prayed to God every day, and was so mild and humble¹⁹, that we all thought him a child of Jesus. Oh! what[42] a comfort it is when we look at his grave, to think that he will rise from it a glorious body, like our Saviour’s; for the Bible tells us that “He shall change our vile²⁰ body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.”’

Kneeling by the grave, they prayed that they might be faithful servants of Christ, and rest in peace at last. Then, unmooring their little vessel²¹, they unfurled the sails, the breeze wafting²² them swiftly to the town.

When they knelt in family worship that night, John and his mother wept as they thought of the dear one who was sleeping in the lonely churchyard; but they did not weep as those who had no hope. As for Harry, he prayed earnestly that God would give him a new heart, that he might be His child; and he thanked His heavenly Father for placing him with kind and good people.

1 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。

2 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 schooner   

n.纵帆船

参考例句：

• The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。
• The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

6 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

7 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

8 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

9 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

10 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。

11 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

12 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

13 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

14 rippled   

使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The lake rippled gently. 湖面轻轻地泛起涟漪。
• The wind rippled the surface of the cornfield. 微风吹过麦田，泛起一片麦浪。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

17 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

18 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

19 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

20 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

21 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

22 wafting   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• But that gentle fragrance was clearly wafting from the window. 但那股淡淡的香气，却分明是从母亲的窗户溢出的。 来自互联网
• The picture-like XueGuo, wafting dense flavor of Japan, gives us a kind of artistic enjoyment. 画一般的雪国，飘溢着浓郁的日本风情，给人以美的享受。 来自互联网