CHAPTER IV NANCY TRIVETT

 “Gloria,” he began directly, tugging¹ at her arm and glancing anxiously about, “Gloria, please take this money back.”

“Why! Tom!”

“I’ll tell you all about it when I get a chance.” He was pressing the bills into her surprised hand.

“I just couldn’t keep it. I—” he faltered² so miserably³ that Gloria almost laughed at his discomfiture⁴.

“Is it haunted, Tom?” she teased. “Or is it poisoned?”

“Oh, I got into a row—”

Gloria rippled⁵ a laugh that frightened off a little pee-wee. “What ever do you mean, Tom? You got into a—row!”

“Say, Glo,” the boy interrupted, finding her sweater pocket and hurriedly crushing into it the two bills, a two and a one, all folded up into a tiny square. “Listen. Old Nancy Trivett says she lost three dollars in our store this morning, and Sam tipped me off not to give this to Abe Nash—”

“Oh, I see,” said Gloria mercifully. “They are just mean enough to think a thing like that.” She drew her mouth into a line that bulged⁶ at the corners. “I don’t know which is the meanest, Abe or Nancy, but they’re a pretty mean pair. I just wonder, Tom, why such folks always love to suspect us. They can’t find enough of fault without making it up.” Indignation was sending the girl’s voice first up and then down until she seemed to be taking a breathing exercise. “I’d just like to fight it out with them for once. Why don’t you do it, Tom?” she asked, excitedly.

“On account of mother. She just hates rows and can’t even stand it when I scrap⁸ with the fellows,” said Tom. “But gosh! I was thunderstruck!”

“She didn’t say you took her mouldy old greenbacks!” exclaimed Gloria. “I’ll bet they were mouldy too, just from her squeezing them, hating to part with the precious horde⁹!”

They had walked along slowly but were now almost in the village. Persons were coming along, eagerly scanning such pieces of mail as make up the evening delivery; post card and advertisements composing the best part of it, judging from the stray bits of paper carelessly discarded and sent fluttering about the street.

Emerging from the River Road, Gloria and Tom faced Main Street.

“Gee whiz!” exclaimed Tom. “If there ain’t old Nance¹⁰! Just let me duck!” and before Gloria could answer, the boy turned a corner and disappeared. But Nancy Trivett came straight for Gloria—head on!

“Where’d that young rowdy go?” demanded the irate¹¹ woman, her voice as sharp as her unpleasant features.

Gloria did not deign¹² to answer her. She attempted to pass on with her head higher than felt comfortable.

“I saw him!” continued the woman. “And I’ll get him too. He needn’t think he’s goin’ to get away with my hard earned money—”

“Mrs. Trivett, what are you talking about?” asked Gloria angrily. “Do you mean to say you think Tom Whitely took your money?”

“Oh, no; of course he didn’t take it. He just found it—”

“He did not.” If Gloria shrieked¹³ this reply she had righteous indignation on her side. “Tom didn’t find a cent.”

“Abe Nash saw him have three dollars!”

The tirade¹⁴ had attracted so much attention that a small crowd was gathering¹⁵. Anything for excitement in Barbend, but a clash between Nancy Trivett and Gloria Doane was particularly promising¹⁶. Realizing her conspicuous¹⁷ position, but at the same time summoning her usual clearheaded courage to combat it, Gloria was secretly glad that Tommy escaped. He would never have been able to answer Nancy, and the crowd would be apt to jeer¹⁸ at a boy, at any boy against the spectacular Nancy. Just now she did look too funny! She wore the same hat she always appeared in, a black sailor, or one that had once been black, and this was festooned and decorated with feathers, flowers and ribbons, or bits of stuff that represented such decorations. Her dress was equally a mixture of useless odds¹⁹ and ends, all piled on, or plastered on at intervals²⁰ from the neck to the jagged hem⁷. It looked black but it should have been brown—that is the alpaca that composed the foundation for all the trimmings. But queerest of all was Nancy’s own personality. She had red hair that “changeth not,” and eyes of no less permanency. They were a sort of hazel, and her complexion²¹ was not bad at all where it got a chance to show itself, but the strong sun and the rough weather do things to the complexion that goes with sandy hair and hazel eyes, and they did it unmercifully to Nancy’s.

But her chiefest and most conspicuous feature was her hand bag. She carried it everywhere and never seemed to be without it. The bag was once brown leather but again time had collected its toll²², and the bag looked now like something the rummage²³ sale couldn’t get rid of. It was large enough to carry a half dozen of eggs which Nancy often traded with the dealers²⁴ for other commodities, and it was flat enough to go in her basket, and had a clasp! It was that clasp that fascinated Nancy.

All these details were as familiar to the Barbend folks as was Nancy herself, but while introducing her in her oddities, it is best to take a good look.

Gloria now confronted the woman with something of a scornful smile on her lips. She was so glad that Tommy did not have to answer that foolish accusation²⁵! Being a normal girl with a sense of justice ever ready to assert itself, she felt at first very much inclined to tell the old-young lady just what she thought of her, but the small crowd just emerging from the post office were too plainly eager for a lark²⁶. Gloria was not quite good natured enough to satisfy them.

All this time Nancy kept talking. What she said did not matter in the least, her voice was so strident it supplied what her words might have lacked in the way of force.

“Say, Mrs. Trivett,” said Gloria after a long wait filled with the other’s cackling, “when and where did you lose that money?”

“Haven’t I told you? I laid it right down on the basket of tomatoes—”

“Come on over to Sam’s,” suggested Gloria.

“It might be stuck around—”

“Haven’t I looked everywheres? Do you suppose I would go all day without that money that I had set aside for the fire insurance, if it was in Sam’s store?”

Nevertheless, she followed Gloria. Only a dim light fell from a center lamp around the dingy²⁷ place, but the baskets of vegetables were easily shifted. Gloria went to work with a will. Sam looked on indifferently, all he asked was that his stuff be handled carefully. But the money did not come to light.

“What did you carry it in?” asked Gloria, as the next step in her systematic²⁸ investigation²⁹.

“Why, in my bag, of course,” replied Nancy, indignant that such a question should be put to her.

“Let’s see it?” asked Gloria.

“Oh, see here!” and Nancy’s indignation mounted. “Do you suppose I’m such a fool—”

“Never mind about that, Nancy,” said Gloria evenly. “But just remember you have accused a boy of having that money. At least make sure you have searched thoroughly³⁰ for it.”

This argument was unanswerable, and Nancy opened the bag with the trick catch. She fumbled³¹ through a miscellaneous collection of articles and then looked up sharply.

“But just let me have a look,” asked Gloria.

Reluctantly the bag was handed over. Gloria simply dumped the articles out into an empty berry basket, and with the refuse out of the way proceeded to look into the corners of the old hand Satchel³².

“You don’t need to look—” interrupted the impatient woman. But Gloria kept right on looking.

Presently she felt a lump between the torn lining³³ and the leather covering, and before Mrs. Nancy Trivett could offer any more protests Gloria held out to her the two crumpled³⁴ bills.

“There you are,” said Gloria simply, turning away without so much as noticing the other’s gasping³⁵ astonishment³⁶. She left her to return the trash to her bag and also to “fight it out with Sam.”

Those faithful few who had “stuck around to see the finish” gloated over Gloria’s triumph, but she did not so much as deign to answer Fred Ayres’ question, who was really polite enough in putting it.

He just wanted to know where was Tommy Whitely.

The incident settled, Gloria had much more important matters to concern herself with. She might have a second letter from Aunt Harriet. The post office would close in five minutes and there was no time to lose in crossing the dusty street.

And there she found the second letter in her box. With it were cards and a letter from her dad. She had just time to put the Aunt Harriet letter in her blouse when Jane appeared with others to mail for Mrs. Mayhew.

The flame of indignation lighted in Gloria’s cheeks by Nancy Trivett, was now smoldering³⁷ to a shadow of anxiety. It was never easy to understand the doings of Aunt Harriet. Gloria was so abstracted on the way home that gentle Jane decided³⁸ she was sorry to leave Barbend. But the anxiety threatening came from a deeper source than mere³⁹ girlish sentiment.

1 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

2 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

3 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 discomfiture   

n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑

参考例句：

• I laughed my head off when I heard of his discomfiture. 听到别人说起他的狼狈相，我放声大笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Without experiencing discomfiture and setbacks,one can never find truth. 不经过失败和挫折，便找不到真理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 bulged   

凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物）

参考例句：

• His pockets bulged with apples and candy. 他的口袋鼓鼓地装满了苹果和糖。
• The oranges bulged his pocket. 桔子使得他的衣袋胀得鼓鼓的。

7 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

8 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

9 horde   

n.群众，一大群

参考例句：

• A horde of children ran over the office building.一大群孩子在办公大楼里到处奔跑。
• Two women were quarrelling on the street,surrounded by horde of people.有两个妇人在街上争吵，被一大群人围住了。

10 nance   

n.娘娘腔的男人，男同性恋者

参考例句：

• I think he's an awful nance.我觉得他这个人太娘娘腔了。
• He doesn't like to be called a nance.他不喜欢被叫做娘娘腔。

11 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

12 deign   

v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事)

参考例句：

• He doesn't deign to talk to unimportant people like me. 他不肯屈尊和像我这样不重要的人说话。
• I would not deign to comment on such behaviour. 这种行为不屑我置评。

13 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

14 tirade   

n.冗长的攻击性演说

参考例句：

• Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
• He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

17 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

18 jeer   

vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评

参考例句：

• Do not jeer at the mistakes or misfortunes of others.不要嘲笑别人的错误或不幸。
• The children liked to jeer at the awkward students.孩子们喜欢嘲笑笨拙的学生。

19 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？

20 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

21 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

22 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

23 rummage   

v./n.翻寻，仔细检查

参考例句：

• He had a good rummage inside the sofa.他把沙发内部彻底搜寻了一翻。
• The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her spectacles.老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。

24 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

25 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

26 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

27 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

28 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

29 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

30 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

31 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

32 satchel   

n.(皮或帆布的)书包

参考例句：

• The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门，把他的书包甩了进去。
• She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱，取出了她父亲的手套来。

33 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

34 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

35 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

36 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

37 smoldering   

v.用文火焖烧，熏烧，慢燃( smolder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mat was smoldering where the burning log had fallen. 燃烧的木棒落下的地方垫子慢慢燃烧起来。 来自辞典例句
• The wood was smoldering in the fireplace. 木柴在壁炉中闷烧。 来自辞典例句

38 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。

39 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。