It was in one of the builders’ offices that I met my father and Mr. Harlan, and while we were talking a man came in and touched his cap to us, saying:
“May I speak to Captain Steele?”
23
He was about thirty years of age, somewhat thin and lank5 in appearance, and would have been considered tall had he stood erect6 instead of stooping at the shoulders. His face was fine and sensitive in expression and his eyes were large and gray but dreamy rather than alert. Gray eyes are usually shrewd; I do not remember ever before seeing so abstracted and visionary a look except in brown or black ones. The man’s hair was thick and long and of a light brown—nearly “sandy”—color. He dressed well but carelessly, and was evidently nervous and in a state of suppressed excitement when he accosted7 us. I noticed that his hands were large and toil-worn, and he clasped and unclasped them constantly as he looked from one to another of our group.
“I am Captain Steele,” said my father.
“Then, sir, I desire to ask a favor,” was the reply.
“State it, my man.”
“I want you to take me and my automobile8 with you on your voyage to Los Angeles.”
Mr. Harlan laughed, and I could not repress a smile myself.
“Then I’m not the Captain Steele you want,” said my father. “This is the one you must deal with,” pointing his finger in my direction.
The stranger turned, but to my satisfaction seemed in no way surprised or embarrassed by being confronted with a boy.
24
“It will be a great favor, sir,” he continued, earnestly. “I beg you will grant my request.”
“An automobile!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, sir.”
“Your request is unusual,” I said, in order to decline gracefully9, for something about the fellow was strangely appealing. “We are not a passenger ship, but a slow freighter, and we are bound for a long voyage around the Horn.”
“Time does not greatly matter,” he murmured. “Only one thing really matters at all.”
“And that?”
“The expense.”
“Permit me to explain,” he went on, still gazing at me alone with his beseeching11 eyes. “I have invented an automobile—not strictly12 an automobile, it is true; but for want of a better name I will call it that. I have been years experimenting and building it, for it is all the work of my own hands and the child of my exclusive brain. It is now just finished—complete in every part—but I find that I have exhausted13 nearly every available dollar of my money. In other words, sir, my machine has bankrupted me.”
25
“That is an old story, sir.”
“You doubt it?”
“No; I mean that it is quite natural.”
“Perhaps,” he replied. “You see I had not thought of money; merely of success. But now that at last I have succeeded, I find that I have need of money. My only relative is a rich uncle living at Pasadena, California, who is so eccentric in his disposition16 that were I to appeal to him for money he would promptly17 refuse.”
“Most rich men have that same eccentricity,” I observed.
“But he is quite a genius commercially, and if he saw my machine I am confident he would freely furnish the money I require to erect a manufactory and promote its sale. I assure you, gentlemen,” looking vaguely18 around, “that my machine is remarkable19, and an original invention.”
We nodded. There was no object in disputing such a modest statement.
26
“So I wish to get myself and my automobile to Los Angeles, and at the least possible expense. The railroads demand a large sum for freight and fare, and I have not so much money to pay. By accident I learned that your ship is going to the very port I long to reach, and so I hastened to appeal to you to take me. I have only two hundred dollars in my possession—the last, I grieve to say, of my ample inheritance. If you will carry us for that sum to your destination, I shall indeed be grateful for the kindness.”
Really, I began to feel sorry for the poor fellow.
“But,” said I, “I cannot possibly take you. We sail this afternoon and the hatches are all closed and battened down for the voyage.”
“I do not wish the machine put in the hold,” he answered, with strange eagerness. “All I ask is a spot in which to place it on the deck—anywhere that will be out of your way. I will make it secure, myself, and take every care of it, so that it will cause you no trouble at all.”
“I’m afraid you could not get it to the ship in time.”
27
“It is already loaded upon a flat-boat, which will take it to the Gladys H. in an hour, once I have your permission.”
I looked at him in astonishment20.
“Not that, sir; I am not impertinent, believe me. But I enquired22 about Captain Steele and was told that he is a good man and kind. So, that I might lose no time if I obtained your consent, I had the machine loaded on the flat-boat.”
“May I decide as I please in this matter?”
“Of course, Sam,” he replied. “It is your affair, not mine.”
I looked at the stranger again. He was actually trembling with anxious uncertainty25.
“Very well,” I announced, “I will take you.”
“For the two hundred dollars?”
“No; I’ll carry you for nothing. You may need that extra money at your journey’s end.”
28
He took out his handkerchief and wiped his brow, upon which beads26 of perspiration27 were standing28.
“Thank you, sir,” he said, simply.
“But I must warn you of one thing. The bark is not in what we call A-1 condition. If she happens to go to the bottom instead of San Pedro I won’t be responsible for your precious machine.”
“Very well, sir. I will take as many chances as you do.”
“May I ask your name?”
“Moit, sir; Duncan Moit.”
“Scotch?”
“All right; make haste and get your traps aboard as soon as possible.”
“I will. Thank you, Captain Steele.”
He put on his cap and walked hurriedly away, and when he had gone both Mr. Harlan and my father rallied me on account of my queer “passenger.”
“He looks to me like a crank, Sam,” said the agent. “But it’s your fireworks, not mine.”
29
“Whatever induced you to take him?” Captain Steele enquired, wonderingly.
“The bare fact that he was so anxious to go,” I replied. “He may be a crank on the automobile question, and certainly it is laughable to think of shipping30 a machine to Los Angeles on a freighter, around the Horn; but the poor fellow seemed to be a gentleman, and he’s hard up. It appeared to me no more than a Christian31 act to help him out of his trouble.”
“You may be helping32 him into trouble, if that confounded cargo33 of yours takes a notion to shift,” observed my father, with a shake of his grizzled head.
“But it’s not going to shift, sir,” I declared, firmly. “I’m looking for good luck on this voyage, and the chances are I’ll find it.”
The agent slapped me on the shoulder approvingly.
“That’s the way to talk!” he cried. “I’m morally certain, Sam, that you’ll land that cargo at San Pedro in safety. I’m banking34 on you, anyhow, young man.”
30
I thanked him for his confidence, and having bade a last good-bye to my father and my employer I walked away with good courage and made toward my boat, which was waiting for me.
Uncle Naboth’s other name was Mr. Perkins, and he was an important member of the firm of “Steele, Perkins & Steele,” being my dead mother’s only brother and my own staunch friend. I had thought my uncle in New York until now, and had written him a letter of farewell to his address in that city that very morning.
“What’s this foolishness I hear, Sam?” he demanded, when I had shaken his hand warmly.
“I’m off on a trip around the Horn,” said I, “to carry a cargo of building steel to the Pacific coast in that crippled old bark, yonder.”
His sharp eye followed mine and rested on the ship.
“Anything in it, my lad?”
31
“Not much except adventure, Uncle. But it will keep me from growing musty until Spring comes and the Seagull is ready for launching. I’m dead tired of loafing around.”
“So’m I, Sam!”
“You?”
“Tired as blazes. New York’s a frost, Sam. Nothin’ doin’ there that’s worth mentionin’. All smug-faced men an’ painted-faced women. No sassiety, more policemen than there is sailors, hair-cuts thirty-five cents an’ two five-cent drinks fer a quarter. I feel like Alladin an’ the Forty Thieves—me bein’ Alladin.”
“But, Uncle, it wasn’t Aladdin that the Forty——”
I laughed; but there was no use in being surprised at anything Uncle Naboth did.
“I’ve got a whole empty cabin—second mate’s.”
“All right. When do we sail?”
“Three o’clock, Uncle Naboth—sharp.”
“Very good.”
32
He turned and ambled42 away toward the town, and, rather thoughtfully, I entered my boat and was rowed out to the Gladys H.
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收听单词发音
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1
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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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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7
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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8
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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9
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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10
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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12
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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14
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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15
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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16
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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17
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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18
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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19
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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21
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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22
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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23
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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24
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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25
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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26
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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27
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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28
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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29
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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30
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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31
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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32
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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33
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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34
banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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35
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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36
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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38
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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39
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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40
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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41
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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42
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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