We had both taken a strong liking1 for Ned Britton, who had stood by us so faithfully at the island; so Mr. Perkins decided3 to make Ned the mate of the new ship, when she had been purchased. For this reason, and because the sailor wished to revisit some of his relatives in the East and make them happy by sharing with them his prize money, Ned also traveled on the same train with us.
“Britton’s judgment4 will be useful in helping5 us to pick out a ship,” said the old man. “I’m glad he’s going with us.”
Nux and Bryonia had promptly6 deserted7 the “Flipper” as soon as they found that Captain Gay had purchased her, and I think my hardest task was to leave the simple black men behind me. They declared that they belonged to “the firm” and must be given places on the new ship, and this both Uncle Naboth and I were anxious to do, as we knew we could never again find such loyal and unselfish servants. But it would be folly8 to take them east until all arrangements had been made. So I found them comfortable lodgings9, and supplied them with all the money they could possibly require until they were sent for. At the last moment they were at the station to see the train move away, and were so fearful of the iron monster that was to carry their friends on the journey that they cautioned me again and again to be very careful in my actions.
“’Fore all, Mars Sam,” said Nux, earnestly, “doan’ you go skeer dat injine on no ’count. W’en it’s skeert it smashes ev’ything into mush.”
“’Pears gentle ’nouf now, Sam,” added Bry; “but don’ you trust it, no how. ’Tain’t safe, like a great sail an’ a stiff breeze.”
“Right you are, lad,” cried Uncle Naboth, approvingly. “Injines is an invention of the devil, Bry, but good Christians10 can use ’em if they only watch out. An’ now, good-bye, an’ take care o’ yourselves till we get back or send for you.”
On account of our great wealth, Mr. Perkins had decided to take a tourist sleeping-car for the trip, rather than sit up in the seats of the common cars all night.
“Sleepin’ cars is a genuine luxury, Sam,” he said, “an’ only fit for the very rich, who’ve got so much money they won’t miss it, or the very poor, who’ve got so little there’s no use savin’ it. I guess we can afford the treat, and the bunks11 in this ’ere tourist car is jest as big as the ones in the high-priced coaches ahead. So as soon as we get clear of ’Frisco, let’s go to bed.”
“But it isn’t dark yet, Uncle,” I protested. “It won’t be bedtime for hours.”
“Sam,” replied the old man, earnestly, “do you mean to say you’re goin’ to pay for a bed and let it lay idle? That’s what I call rank extravagance! I’ve seen it done, on my travels, o’ course. I’ve known a man to pay three dollars for a bed, an’ then set up half the night in the smokin’ cars before he turns in. But do you ’spose the railroad company pays him back half the money? Never. They just laughs at him and keeps the whole three dollars! To pay for a thing, and use it, ain’t extravagance; but to buy a bed, and then set up half the night is. Why, it’s like payin’ for a table-day-haughty dinner an’ then skippin’ half the courses! Would a sensible man do that?”
“Not if he’s hungry, Uncle,” said I, laughing at this philosophy.
“If he ain’t hungry, he buys a sandwich, an’ not a table-day-haughty,” cried Uncle Naboth, triumphantly12.
Nevertheless, being fully2 conscious of my newly acquired wealth, I recklessly sat up until bedtime, while my thrifty13 Uncle occupied his “bunk” and snored peacefully. The journey was accomplished14 in safety, and from Boston we took the little railway to the seaport15 town of Batteraft.
During the last hours of the trip Uncle Naboth had become very thoughtful, and I frequently noticed him making laborious16 memoranda17 with his pencil on the backs of envelopes and scraps18 of paper which he took from his wallet. Finally I asked:
“What are you writing, Uncle?”
“I’m jest jotting19 down the things I mean to say to that old female shark at Batteraft,” was the reply. “I tell you, Sam, she’s goin’ to have the talkin’-to of her life, when I get at her; and she’ll deserve every word of it. I’ll let you pay her first, so’s the money account will be square; an’ then I’ll try to square the moral account.”
“Will she let you?” I enquired20 doubtfully, for I had a vivid remembrance of Mrs. Ranck’s dislike of any opposition21.
“She can’t help herself,” replied Uncle Naboth, seriously. “If you knew the things she up an’ said to me that day I tackled her before, Sam, an’ the harsh an’ impident tones she used to say ’em with, you’d realize how much my revenge means to me.”
“Why didn’t you resent it then, Uncle?”
“Why, she took me by surprise, an’ I didn’t have time to collect my parrergraphs, and that’s the reason. Also it’s the reason I’m figgerin’ out my speeches aforehand this time, so’s I won’t be backwards22 when the time comes. You can’t thrash the cantankerous23 old termagen’ like you would a man, but you can lash24 her with speeches that cuts like a two-edged sword. At sarcasm25 and ironical26 I’m quite a professor, Sam; but them talents would be wasted on Mrs. Ranck. With her I’ll open my vials o’ wrath27 an’ empty ’em to the dregs. I’ll wither28 her with scorn, an’—an’—an’ tell her just what I think o’ her,” he concluded, rather lamely29.
I sighed, for the mention of Mrs. Ranck always recalled to me the fate of my poor father. The landscape began to grow very familiar now, and presently the train swung into the little station where I had so often stood in my younger days to watch the passengers get on and off the cars.
Ned Britton at once walked on to the tavern30, but as the afternoon was only half gone Uncle Naboth and I decided to go on up to my father’s old home without delay and have our carefully planned interview with Mrs. Ranck. The bank-notes I was to pay to her lay crisply in my new pocket-book, and I was eager to be free of my debt to the cruel woman who had aspersed31 my dead father’s character and driven me from my old home.
Uncle Naboth walked very fast at first, but while we ascended32 the little hill his pace grew gradually slower, and as we reached the well-remembered bench beneath the trees, from whence our first view of the cottage was obtained, my uncle suddenly set himself down and wiped the perspiration33 from his forehead with the well-remembered crimson34 handkerchief.
“We’ll rest a minute, Sam, so’s I can get my breath back,” he gasped35. “I’ll need it all, presently, and hill-climbin’ ain’t my ’special accomplishment36.”
So I sat down beside him and waited patiently, eyeing the while rather sadly the old home where I had once been so happy.
It seemed not to have changed in any way since I left it. The blinds of my little room in the attic37 were closed, but those of the lower floor were thrown back, and a column of thin smoke ascended lazily from the chimney, showing that the place was still inhabited.
In spite of myself I shivered. The autumn air struck me as being chilly38 for the first time, and the declining sun moved slowly behind a cloud, throwing the same gloom over the landscape that was already in my heart.
“Jest a minute, Sam. Let’s see; the opening shot was this way: There’s folks, ma’am, that can be more heartless than the brute40 beasts, more slyer than a roarin’ tiger, more fiercer than a yellow fox, an’—”
“That isn’t right, Uncle Naboth,” I interrupted. “The fox is sly and the tiger—”
“I know, I know. Them speeches is gettin’ sorter mixed in my mind; but if that she-devil don’t quail41 when she hears ’em, my name ain’t Naboth Perkins! Perhaps I ought to have committed ’em more to memory—eh, Sam? What do you say to waitin’ till tomorrow?”
“No, Uncle. Let’s go to her now. You can reserve your vials of wrath, if you want to; but I shan’t sleep a wink42 unless I pay Mrs. Ranck that money.”
“All right,” said the old man, with assumed cheerfulness. “There’s no time like the present. ‘Never put off ’til tomorrer,’ you know. Come along, my lad!”
He sprang up and led the way with alacrity43 for a few steps, and then slackened his pace perceptibly.
“If I’m goin’ to forget all them speeches,” he whispered, in a voice that trembled slightly, “I might jest as well have saved my time a-composin’ of ’em. Drat the old she-pirate! If she wasn’t a woman, I’d pitch her into the sea.”
By this time I was myself too much agitated44 to pay attention to my uncle’s evident fright on the eve of battle. The house was very near now; a few steps further and we were standing45 upon the little porch.
“You knock, Uncle,” I said, in a whisper.
Uncle Naboth glanced at me reproachfully, and then raised his knuckles46. But before they touched the panel of the door he paused, drew out his handkerchief, and again wiped his brow.
I felt that my nerves would bear no further strain. With the desperation of despair or a sudden accession of courage—I never knew which—I rapped loudly upon the door.
A moment’s profound silence was followed by a peculiar47 sound. Thump48, thump, thump! echoed from the room inside, at regular intervals49, and then the door was suddenly opened and a man with a wooden leg stood before us. He was clothed in sailor fashion and a bushy beard ornamented50 his round, frank face.
For an instant we three stood regarding one another in mute wonder. The open door disclosed the long living-room, at the back end of which Mrs. Ranck stood by the kitchen table with a plate in one hand and a towel in the other, motionless as a marble statue and with a look of terror fixed51 upon her white face.
Singularly enough, I was the first to recover from my surprise.
“Why—Cap’n Steele, sir—what does this mean?” faltered53 Uncle Naboth. “I thought you was dead an’ gone, long ago, an’ safe in Davy Jones’s locker54!”
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收听单词发音
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1
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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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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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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memoranda
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| n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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jotting
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| n.简短的笔记，略记v.匆忙记下( jot的现在分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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cantankerous
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| adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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lamely
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| 一瘸一拐地，不完全地 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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aspersed
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| v.毁坏（名誉），中伤，诽谤( asperse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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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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46
knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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47
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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48
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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49
intervals
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| 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 | |
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50
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
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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52
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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53
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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54
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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