Has won the bravest battle.”
G
OOD-BYE, Miss Billy."
"Good-bye, Beatitude. You're a dear to help me off in this way. I won't forget it in a hurry."
"All rightie. See that you don't."
"And Bea, don't vex1 your soul over that mending basket. It's only one stitch in nine that saves time, you know."
"I won't, but you'd better make haste; you'll miss the boat."
"A miss wouldn't be as good as a mile then, would it? Good-bye, again. Yes, mother, I have a handkerchief. Also a corkscrew for the olives. Also my rubbers. Good-bye, everybody."
-111-
Miss Billy was going to a picnic, and in her usual way. The whole house had been in an uproar2 since six o'clock. There had been a hurried dressing3, a hurried breakfast, and a hurried packing of lunch; and it was not until the blue linen4 suit disappeared around the corner that a lull5 fell over the home, and the household paused to take breath.
There were still the remains6 of the preparations for lunch to be cleared away, the study to be made clean, and the disorder7 which was left in Miss Billy's wake to be remedied. Her sister's work added to her own took Beatrice longer than usual, and it was ten o'clock before she came languidly into the garden with the mending basket under her arm. She tumbled out a large bundle of ragged8 stockings, and set to work.
It was hot and deserted9 on Cherry Street. Even in the shade, where Beatrice sat, the air was sultry and close, and the garden seat warm to the touch. The children seemed to have melted away from sidewalk and gutter10. The-112- absence of Miss Billy and Theodore had left the place unnaturally11 dull and forlorn, and the incessant12 tick-tick of the little creatures in the grass was the only sound that broke the stillness.
Beatrice's thoughts flew with her needle. Last year at this time the whole family were at Gordon's Lake for the season. And it had been such a gay summer. A summer of boating and dancing; of driving and golfing, of pretty clothes, and new friends and good times. A summer of long, jolly, merry days, and of long, cool, restful nights. A summer that seemed made for the merriment that only ended when the last good-byes were said.
And now everybody else was going away; the Seabrookes, and the Van Courtlands and even the Blanchards; and they were to be left at home. It was all right for the rest of the family; Theodore hated "resorts," and Miss Billy never seemed to care for anything so long as she had her beloved books and flowers and children. "But I care," thought Bea-113-trice bitterly, "more than I ever thought I should care for anything."
It was easy enough to be good when one was happy, when good friends and pleasant times and pretty clothes were one's birthright; but when poverty and hard work was one's portion, when one's clothes were shabby and when one lived on Cherry Street——! A hot tear baptised Theodore's gay striped sock, and Beatrice, forgetful of her age and dignity, put her head down on the garden seat, and like little Cinderella, "let the tears have their way."
The stout13, rosy14-faced man who came up the front walk and rang the door bell did not look like a fairy godmother, but the most beneficent fairies go about disguised. Beatrice was so busy wiping her eyes that she did not notice his arrival, and as she went bravely back to work she little guessed the surprise that was in store for her. Not even the glad note in her mother's voice when she called her into the house made her suspicious.
-114-
The rosy-faced man was leaning up against the door of the study, smiling benignantly at Mr. and Mrs. Lee. He beamed even more delightedly as Beatrice entered.
Mrs. Lee scarcely waited for their greeting. Her eyes shone as she put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, and her voice was very happy as she said:
"Guess, dearie, what Mr. Van Courtland has come for. He wants you to go abroad next week."
The self-possessed16 Beatrice lost her dignity. She grew rosy with delight and gasped17 speechlessly for a moment before she ejaculated brokenly:
"Me? To go abroad? Oh, mother!"
"It will not be a very long trip," explained Mr. Van Courtland. "We did not intend to start until later, but that bugbear 'business' stands like a fence between me and the rest of the world. Be thankful, Lee, that you are not-115- a banker. Mrs. Van Courtland and I shall sail on the 16th, land seven days later, and go immediately to Cologne for Margaret. We hope to be in Germany long enough for the Rhine trip, but shall probably sail for home immediately afterwards. We planned to borrow Miss Billy to take with us, but Mrs. Van Courtland says that the sea breezes will be just the thing for Beatrice's pale cheeks. She ought to see you this minute, young lady. You're anything but pale and wan15 now."
Beatrice did not even notice the compliment. Her brain was moving faster than Mr. Van Courtland's words. Europe, sea breezes, the Rhine! To leave the heat and dust of the city, the shabbiness and noise of Cherry Street, for the enchanting19 country across the sea. It seemed like a glorious dream of white-capped waves and cool breezes, from which one must wake up to the swarming20 Canarys and the loud-voiced Hennesys on Cherry Street.
"And if she goes, she goes as our guest. Mrs. Van Courtland dreads21 the trip, and I-116- confess a lingering longing22 for a young piece of humanity when I am aboard ship. As for our own Margie,—why she will jump out of her beloved Germany with joy when she sees a glimpse of her home friend. We will consider it a great favour if you'll lend us your girl for a while."
The matter was hurriedly decided. Mrs. Lee looked over at her husband with a quick glance that showed how much motherly love and anxiety for her daughter was at stake. The minister answered with a nod and a smile that seemed to say, "We must manage it."
Mr. Van Courtland departed satisfied, and Beatrice returned to the garden seat to dreamily wind the darning cotton into a snarl23, and whisper joyfully24 to herself, "I am going abroad."
There was a family council after supper that night. Beatrice had rather dreaded25 to tell Miss Billy the glorious news, feeling that the trip was originally planned for the younger-117- sister, but Miss Billy sternly frowned upon her sister's reticence26.
"The idea!" she said scornfully, "of thinking that I should be so mean and small about a thing like this. You would have been delighted if this trip had come to me,"—Beatrice made a small mental reservation—"and it belongs to you anyway. You need it more than I do."
If she felt any disappointment she failed to show it either in action or word, but went on making extravagant27 plans, and most elaborate suggestions for the trip. She offered to lend Beatrice anything and everything she possessed, from her cut glass vase to her ice cream freezer, and the last thing the elder sister heard that night was a recipe for sea sickness and an idea for making over a travelling suit out of Miss Billy's brown gown.
It was daybreak when Beatrice awoke. The house was very still and quiet, and the light morning breeze blew aside the white curtains at the windows. Beatrice raised herself on-118- one elbow and looked out at the little glimpse of water visible between the high roofs. The sun was rising, away out on the breast of the lake, and each little ruffled28 wave was touched with a crest29 of gold.
Beatrice was not often affected30 by her surroundings, but just now, in the light of her new happiness, the day seemed symbolic31 of her life, and the sun that gilded32 the grey waves like the pleasant plan that had made her sombre life glad. Yesterday's grief seemed very far away, and to-day's joy was very near and dear. She clasped her hands, and whispered earnestly: "Help me to deserve it, Lord." The sounds of the two whispered voices which came from the next room did not disturb her, and she lay dreamily happy in her own thoughts, until the sound of her own name aroused her. It was her father's voice that said:
"Well, Beatrice needs it. We must manage it some way."
The girl turned her head, and listened intently as he continued:
-119-
"How much money is it going to cost us?"
"I wish a hundred dollars came as easily to me now as it did six months ago."
"I don't see how we can do it for any less," said Mrs. Lee. "Bea's wardrobe is scanty34, and she will require more clothes than she needs when she is at home. Beside, she will have to have money for incidentals. Mr. Van Courtland is very generous, but we don't want to impose on him, or embarrass Beatrice."
"Oh, no, she can't get along with any less. Still, it will be a little hard to spare just now. I feel our poverty most when it touches the children."
"It is a good deal, but I think it's worth the sacrifice. Beatrice has looked white and worn lately, and we can't afford to let her be sick."
"I hadn't noticed it," said Mr. Lee anxiously. "Do you think she's not well?"
"It's heart sickness as much as anything else. Bea has never seemed happy since we-120- moved onto Cherry Street. She misses the old home and the old friends. She was not so easily reconciled as Wilhelmina and Theodore."
"Then I think more than ever that we must manage it. I shall not regret the effort if she comes back physically35 improved. After that I'll trust the mental and moral indisposition to take care of themselves. Bea is not naturally pessimistic."
"But I don't see exactly how we are to arrange it. We are living so near to our income just now; and I don't know how to economise more closely than I have been doing."
Mr. Lee made a suggestion that Beatrice did not hear, to which his wife replied decidedly:
"No, dear man, you can't get along without that. A minister can't afford to go shabby. We'll find some other way of saving. I can let Maggie go home for a month or two. Beatrice's going away will make the family-121- smaller, and I'm sure Wilhelmina and I could do the housework."
"No indeed." The minister's voice was most emphatic36. "That would be extravagant economy. You would be sick in a month. I can spare the money, I'm sure, but I shall have to give up a cherished plan to do it. I hoped to be able to rent a horse and buggy for you two days a week this summer. You don't get enough of out of doors, and it tires you so to walk."
There was a glad little note in Mrs. Lee's reply that went straight to Bea's heart.
"Oh, if that is all!" she exclaimed. "Why John, I'd rather never drive again than to have Beatrice miss this opportunity. It will mean so much to her. Beside, dear, do you think I would enjoy driving around in state while my husband was shabby?"
"No, it doesn't sound like you," said Mr. Lee. "Still, I would like to do it for you," he added wistfully.
"Well, dear, don't say a word to spoil Bea-122-trice's pleasure. She seemed so glad to go! And I think we all would be willing to sacrifice ourselves a little for her sake."
The conversation ended there. The father and mother went back to sleep, and the eavesdropper37 returned to her pillow with wet eyes. Her soul, as well as her body, was wide awake, and perhaps for the first time in her life, Beatrice realised the beauty and divineness of self sacrifice. In the light of the whispered conversation the melancholy38 of the day before seemed petty and unworthy, and the girl who sternly choked back the tears of disappointment was not the girl who had wept in the garden. Nobody ever knew of the struggle which took place in the little white bed, nor was any the wiser for the puddle39 of tears that made a miniature lake in the pillow; but Beatrice was victor in the battle with herself.
As the clock struck five, a slim little figure in white crept silently out of bed, and tiptoed over to the desk, that Miss Billy should not be wakened. A stranger would not have appre-123-ciated the depth of the struggle; but to Beatrice it was the tragedy of a lifetime, and there was real heroism40 in the letter which read:
"Dear, Dear Mr. Van Courtland:
"I hope you won't think I am silly to change my mind so suddenly, after all the arrangements were made yesterday, but I have decided that I must not go. I know that you won't misunderstand my motive41, because you know how much I long to go, and how grateful I am to you both for inviting42 me.
"Father and mother both are willing that I should go, but I know that my trip would mean a big sacrifice on their part, which I am not willing to accept. You and Mrs. Van Courtland have always been so kind to me that I am sure you will understand what I mean, and help me to do what is right.
"I can never tell you how grateful I am to both of you.
"Lovingly yours,
"Beatrice Lee."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
vex
|
|
| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
uproar
|
|
| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
linen
|
|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lull
|
|
| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
gutter
|
|
| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
unnaturally
|
|
| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
incessant
|
|
| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
wan
|
|
| (wide area network)广域网 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
enchanting
|
|
| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
swarming
|
|
| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
dreads
|
|
| n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
joyfully
|
|
| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
reticence
|
|
| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
extravagant
|
|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
symbolic
|
|
| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
tenor
|
|
| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
scanty
|
|
| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
physically
|
|
| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
eavesdropper
|
|
| 偷听者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
puddle
|
|
| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
heroism
|
|
| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
inviting
|
|
| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |