I
T was Saturday morning and a great hammering was going on in the Hennesy yard. Whenever the hammering ceased for a moment, a boyish whistle took its place. It was a cheerful whistle and an infectious one. The minister in his study was working up his sermon for Sunday morning. It was called "The Simple Life," but it was growing all too complex and knotty2, and the minister leaned back in his chair with relaxed muscles and contemplated4 his work with a troubled air. The whistle burst into song and floated in through the window with the sunshine:
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"Ev'ry Sunday, down to her home we go,—
All the girls and all the boys they love her so:
Always jolly,—heart that is true, I know,—
She's the sunshine of Paradise Al-ley."
The minister sat straight again and dipped his pen in the ink. Life was so simple after all. "Love ye one another and keep my commandments." The sermon smoothed itself out and flowed evenly along to the tune5 of "Paradise Alley6."
Miss Billy was on the side of the house stirring the virgin7 soil with an axe3 preparatory to putting in her pansies. Theodore came jauntily8 out of the door, his hat and shoes well brushed and shaking out a clean handkerchief.
"Well!" exclaimed Miss Billy reproachfully, "I thought you were going to help me to-day."
"Would that I could!" said Theodore, waving the handkerchief gracefully9 at her. "But Mistress Billy, gaze upon my shoes."
"I see they are your patent leathers. I-46- should think you would wear your others Saturday."
"That's the beginning of the story," said Theodore, lowering his voice confidentially10. "These are my all,—and hush11, Billy,—these are busted12. I've got exactly nineteen cents in the world, but I've recorded a vow13 to buy my own clothes and schoolbooks, hereafter. I'll not ask father for another cent of money. Therefore I go hence to seek a job."
"Well, go on then, and good luck to you," said Miss Billy, taking up the axe again. "But this soil—" and she made a savage14 chop at the ground with each word, "—is—just—all—stones—and—clay."
"When Maguire's little lad had the fever so bad
That no one would dare to go near him,
At least I can comfort and cheer him.'"
Miss Billy's face brightened, and throwing-47- down the axe she went to the fence and stood looking over at the panorama17 which unfolded itself.
The Hennesy house, in years past, had evidently done duty as a store. It was a dilapidated old brick building, set crookedly18 on its lot, with two disproportionately large front windows in the lower half, and a big deep-set front door. Above the second story the house terminated abruptly19 in a flat tin roof without ornamentation of any kind. In the rear of the lot there were a barn, a wagon20 shed, and a chicken house, all shedding various coats and colours of whitewash21, and all in the last stages of disrepair. Scattered22 promiscuously23 about the yard were broken wagon wheels, wood-racks, chickens, pine wood, and old tin cans,—while a lame24 horse, a boy, a leaning pump, a dilapidated clothes-reel and two wobbly puppies further graced the scene. Grass, flower or shrub25 there was none,—but there was mud,—plenty of it; mud wet and mud dried. And the deep ruts in the ground, together with the-48- broken wheels lying around, and the strong barny smell pervading26 the place, gave testimony27 that Mr. Hennesy followed "teaming" for a living.
"What are you making?" she asked pleasantly.
John Thomas Hennesy looked up. As to turned up nose and freckles29, he much resembled Marie Jean, but his mouth was firmer. He gave Miss Billy a long penetrating30 stare, and the colour did not begin to creep into his cheeks until after he had dropped his head.
"Goodness!" thought Miss Billy, "he's older than I thought. He must be at least fifteen." Then she went on aloud, "I wonder if it is a white bulldog with a black spot on its back?"
"Yes,—that's her," answered the boy, looking up with quick interest.
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"Then she's been calling on me a week steadily32, for bones," declared Miss Billy gaily33. "I'm so glad to know her."
John Thomas took up his hammer again and began to search irresolutely34 through his nail box at his side, but Miss Billy stood her ground with her arms behind her and her chin resting on the top of the fence.
"He's wishing I would go," she thought, "but I am not going. I shall stand right here until I get courage enough to ask him to come over and help me with the pansy bed. But it's awkward,—awfully awkward. I can't think of a thing to say."
"I liked your dog the moment I saw her," she went on: "I owned one like her three years ago."
John Thomas, having found his nail, hesitated no longer, but began to drive it into the frame with ringing strokes. Miss Billy waited until the hammering subsided35.
"A friend of father's gave her to me when she was a little bow-legged puppy. She was-50- a beautiful dog, white, with nice burnt sienna spots, and a lovely disposition36. I named her Serena on account of that disposition. But she had the funniest looking tail, with three queer kind of corkscrews in it." (Miss Billy illustrated37 with a whirl of her forefinger38 that was entirely39 lost upon John Thomas.)
"But I didn't care,—I loved Serena, if her tail did go in a corkscrew. But one summer my cousin, who was studying medicine, came to visit us, and Serena's tail seemed to bother him an awful lot. He kept making remarks about it all the time, and said it had been broken and ought to come off. So at last I consented."
John Thomas had picked out another nail, but now for the first time began to display interest in the story, and looked up from his work as Miss Billy went on:
"We gave her chloroform: I held the sponge myself while my cousin performed the operation. It didn't hurt her at all, and she really seemed handsomer without the tail, but-51- a sorry sequel followed. I went to Philadelphia soon after, and while I was there my uncle took me to a dog show. I never before saw so many beautiful dogs and among them was one almost exactly like my Serena, and with three twists in her tail."
"'You have a dog just like mine,' I said to the man who owned her.
"'Has your dog a tail like this?' he asked.
"I told him 'yes,' and was just going on to explain to him how I had had it operated upon when he interrupted me. 'Then it was a good breed,' he said. 'That tail is the mark of a fine dog. Each curl in the tail adds fifteen dollars to the value of the animal.'"
Miss Billy's eyes looked solemnly down into John Thomas's widely distended40 orbs41: "Think of it!" she said: "Forty-five dollars cut off at one fell swoop42! I can assure you my cousin has never heard the last of it."
"Where's the dog now?"
"Dead. Run over by a street car. I-52- cried for months. I don't expect to ever own another like Serena."
John Thomas drew a long breath, and turning to his box began a search for a leather hinge.
Miss Billy felt herself distinctly dismissed, but she still held on to the fence.
"I want to ask you,—" she began again,—"what I can do about a flower bed that's just all stones. I'm trying to dig it, you know."
"Take the stones out," said John Thomas laconically43.
"But there wouldn't be anything left! It's all stones!"
"Maybe it's just a fillin', an' there's good dirt underneath," suggested the boy.
"Won't you please step over and look at it?" entreated44 Miss Billy: so John Thomas, with open reluctance45, laid down his hammer and nails, and climbed as awkwardly as possible over the fence.
"If it's fillin' it goes awful deep," he-53- decided46, after a quarter of an hour of hard work. "Nothin' can't grow in here."
"But I must have some flowers!" wailed47 Miss Billy, in despair. "Why, that was one reason that I wanted to come and live on Cherry Street,—because there was a big yard here, you know."
John Thomas was regarding the rocky flower bed musingly48. "I'll tell you what I can do," he said at last. "There's more than a foot of this out already,—an' I'll go down to where my father has got some teams hauling dirt from a cellar they're digging, an' I'll bring you a load, if you'd like it. It's good black dirt."
"John Thomas Hennesy!" exclaimed Miss Billy, clasping her hands in ecstasy49: "A load,—a whole load,—of black dirt?"
"Why sure," said John Thomas, reddening with pleasure. "They're just dumping it into an old quarry50."
"A whole load of black dirt!" said Miss Billy, musingly. "I'll have pansies, and-54- sweet-peas, and geraniums, and I'll sow grass seed on the bad places in the yard. John Thomas Hennesy, you're a prize!"
That evening, as the Lee family assembled around the tea-table, the minister said cheerily, "I had a peculiar51 thing to be thankful for to-day. It was the song and whistle of a light-hearted boy. It helped me with my sermon."
"I have to be thankful for a daughter who took the cake baking off my hands and helped me with the mending," said Mrs. Lee, smiling over at Beatrice.
"And I," wound up Theodore proudly, "for getting a steady Saturday job, taking care of Brown's soda53 fountain, at a dollar a day!"
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1
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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8
jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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12
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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13
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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14
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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15
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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16
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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crookedly
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| adv. 弯曲地，不诚实地 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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21
whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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promiscuously
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| adv.杂乱地，混杂地 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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27
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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28
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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29
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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30
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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36
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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38
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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42
swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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43
laconically
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| adv.简短地，简洁地 | |
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44
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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46
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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47
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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50
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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51
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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52
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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53
soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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