He was sitting in his study at Carsonville, and with him was his son. Bully2 Carson’s face was decorated with a large black eye, over which he wore an eye patch.
He was clad in a loud checked suit, flaming-red necktie, and green waistcoat. From one corner of his mouth drooped3 a negligent4 cigarette. His face looked pasty and unwholesome, and reflected the same hard, unscrupulous look that shone in his father’s eyes.
“Son, here’s where we even up with them Merriwells for good and all.”
Colonel Carson tugged5 at his goatee again, and glanced down at Merry’s telegram of acceptance. He used the Clippers as a means to win money by gambling6. And when he did gamble, it was usually a sure thing. This he proceeded to prove in his next words.
“Bully, I’m going to clean up a lot on this here Fardale game,” he stated reflectively. “I got word to-night that Southpaw Diggs will come.”
[220]
“Whew!” Bully peered at his father in admiration7. “Pop, you’re a slick one! Ain’t you afraid they’ll recognize him?”
“Not at Fardale. He’ll take a fictitious8 name and shave off his mustache. I’m going to pay him well for it. Also, I’ve got a semipro catcher to take the place of Squint9 Fletcher, whom some of the town boys trounced. Squint was always insolent10, anyhow.”
“Yes,” said Bully, with a scowl11. “He didn’t have no respect for me at all. Then you’ve got two other fellers from that outlaw12 league, ain’t you?”
“For first and third,” replied his father. “Our own second baseman is excellent, and with Southpaw Diggs we’ll have a walk-away, son.”
Bully nodded. Diggs was a famous professional pitcher13. In his good days he was one of the best in the country, but he had been let out by the last team he had been with for drunkenness.
“Sure Diggs won’t get boozed up, pop?”
“Quite sure. He has agreed to let me bet half the amount I am to pay him on our team. He’s also agreed not to touch a drop meantime, and, as he needs the money, we can depend on him fully14.”
Carson, junior, looked down at the floor, then lifted his one good eye suddenly.
“Pop, I want some money,” he blurted15 out. “I[221] want to get down some bets on this game for myself, and I’m busted16.”
“Nothing doing,” and his father’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll make a clean-up for the family, son.”
“Aw, loosen up!” exclaimed Bully disgustedly. “You durned old tightwad, you got more dollars in the bank than I have cents! Why, you own the bank, yet you won’t come over with a hundred!”
“I should say not!” cried Colonel Carson, horrified17 at the mere18 idea. “Ain’t I brought you up all your life? Ain’t I paid for them clothes you got on?”
“Well, you needn’t holler so about it,” retorted his son. “I want some coin, hear that? I’m tired o’ lollin’ around without any money to go on, and I’m goin’ to have some.”
Bully grunted20 with contempt. He had the same keen love for dollars that his father had, but he did not possess the elder Carson’s aptitude21 to pick up cents. However, he fully intended to get hold of some money to bet on the Fardale game.
There was no doubt that the Clippers would win, none at all. With Diggs on the mound22 the academy team would be helpless, to say nothing of the other professionals who would masquerade as amateurs for the occasion. It was a “raw deal,” but Colonel Carson was famed in sporting[222] circles for his ability to put raw deals over successfully.
“This is the surest kind of a good thing,” he mused23 reflectively. “If Diggs shows up in good shape, Bully, I’ll get down about a thousand that we shut them out without a run.”
“You’d better go easy on them fancy bets,” growled24 Bully. “That Merriwell kid is liable to connect with a streak26 of luck and jab out a homer, like he done against Franklin. You thought that was a sure thing, too.”
Colonel Carson winced27. Merriwell’s homer on that occasion had cost him more money than he liked to think about.
“You may be right, Bully,” he said slowly. “But he would be helpless before Southpaw Diggs.”
Colonel Carson began to pull at his goatee once more, frowning at the floor. He knew that Merriwell’s success was not so much due to good luck as it was to pluck, skill, and honesty. He could not blind himself to this, but the knowledge only swerved29 his mind toward vindictiveness31.
“No,” he replied slowly, “it isn’t all luck, son. Just the same, I’ve no fears that he’ll be able to buck32 Diggs. There’s no harm in making sure against all chance, however. If we could get him out of the way, Randall would pitch. That’d cinch the whole thing.”
[223]
“Shut up!” snapped his father violently. “I’ve had enough of your insolence34! We’ll fix that kid this time, and no mistake.”
“You will, you mean. Count me out right here, pop! I’ve had all I want o’ that kid, and if there’s any ‘fixing’ to do, I ain’t goin’ to mix in it. No, I’m cured, I am, and I reckon I’ll stay cured quite a spell.”
He felt his injured eye tenderly. His father continued to pull at his goatee, and suddenly he nodded in decision and rose.
Going to a cabinet that stood against the wall, he opened a small drawer and extracted a tiny folded paper. With this in his hand, he returned to Bully.
“All right, son, we’ll let your goody-goody Cousin Bob Randall handle this for us. You go over to Fardale to-morrow and see him. Give him this”—and he held up the folded paper—“and tell him to get Merriwell to drink it any time in the forenoon next Saturday. It’s a powder, and all Randall will have to do is to shake it into a glass of water. It’ll fix him.”
“No, you don’t, pop,” he cried, with something like fear, “I ain’t goin’ to mix up in no poisoning——”
[224]
“Shut up, you fool!” snarled37 his father, glancing around. “This ain’t poison, but a powder that’ll send him off into a sound sleep for a while. It won’t hurt him in any fashion, but it’ll put him out o’ the game for sure.”
“But what about Randall?” Bully queried38 weakly. “You tried to get him to throw the game with Franklin, and he got sore. He ain’t the kind to do this, pop.”
“Oh, I sized him up pretty well,” chuckled39 the elder Carson wickedly. “Now listen, Bully: You work this right, and I’ll give you ten per cent of all I win on the game, see? This part of it depends on you, and you can do it fine.
“Go to Fardale and get hold of Randall. Talk to him slow and easy, and get him madder and madder. He’ll be sore about not getting elected captain, anyhow. Work on that string. Play him good and strong, and get him to promise that he’ll give the stuff to Merriwell. Then we’ve got him. He’s one o’ them fellers who’ll stick to a promise, no matter what comes. But you’ll have to handle it right.”
His eyes shone with vindictive30 cunning. He had tried to injure Merriwell, but vainly. Therefore, it was quite natural that he should bear bitter hatred40 toward the fellow he had tried to injure.
[225]
He saw that by working through Randall he would be freed of all personal responsibility, and this thought cheered on his little soul. He was willing enough to do anything for which another could be made to suffer, and this sort of chicanery41 was precisely42 what he could do well.
None the less, he did not forget that he wanted money. He saw that his father’s scheme depended upon him, and grinned evilly.
“Now, come across, pop!”
“Hey?” Colonel Carson glared. “What do you mean?”
“Come across, I said!” Bully lolled back negligently43 in his chair, and eyed his father coolly. “I ain’t workin’ for my health.”
“Confound your insolence!” sputtered44 the other angrily. “You’re working for me! I’ll give you no money to squander45, you reprobate46!”
“Nothin’ doing, then, old tightwad,” and Bully made as if to hand back the folded paper. He carelessly took his cigarette from his mouth and exhaled47 a cloud of vile-smelling smoke.
“Why—do you mean—do you refuse to go to Fardale?” Colonel Carson was almost speechless with rage.
“Surest thing you know!”
Colonel Carson reached into his pocket and drew out two five-dollar bills.
“Here’s ten dollars—take it or leave it. Go to[226] Fardale and stay over Saturday. Use this as expense money.”
Bully sniffed, and his father exploded:
“You’ll do what I say! Take this expense money and work this business, and you get ten per cent of the winnings. Refuse, and you can go to the dickens for all o’ me! I’ll not have a worthless thing like you loafin’ around here any longer, understand?”
It was the first time Bully had ever seen his father aroused against him, and he was cowed. Reaching out, he took the money and put it in his pocket with the paper.
“All right,” he said, “I’ll do it.” But to himself he muttered sullenly48: “And I’ll have a wad to bet on that game—somehow!”
“Ah, I thought you’d come around, son!”
And once more Colonel Carson complacently49 tugged at his goatee.
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收听单词发音
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1
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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3
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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7
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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8
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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9
squint
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| v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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10
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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12
outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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13
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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14
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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15
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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19
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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20
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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21
aptitude
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| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
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mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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23
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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24
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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25
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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26
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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27
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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29
swerved
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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vindictiveness
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| 恶毒；怀恨在心 | |
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32
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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33
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；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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34
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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36
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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37
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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38
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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39
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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41
chicanery
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| n.欺诈，欺骗 | |
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42
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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43
negligently
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44
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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45
squander
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| v.浪费，挥霍 | |
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46
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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47
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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48
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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49
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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