Like all small-minded men, like all tyrants and oppressors, Captain Fishley was a revengeful person. He would wait till he caught me napping, and then spring some trap upon me. He would delay his vengeance3 till some circumstances conspired4 against me, and then come down upon me with the whole weight of his malignity5. I determined6 to keep a [45]sharp lookout7 upon all his movements, and especially to avoid all cause of offence myself. I meant to keep myself as straight as I possibly could.
I had time only to run my course through my mind before the supper-bell was rung at the back door by Mrs. Fishley. Should I go in to supper as usual, and meet the whole family, including Ham? I answered this question in the affirmative, deciding that I would not sulk, or make any unnecessary trouble to any one. I went in, and took my seat as usual at the table, by the side of Flora. It was a very solemn occasion, for hardly a word was spoken during the meal. If I had been ugly, I might have congratulated myself upon the sensation I had produced.
The head of the family sweetened his tea twice, and upset the milk-pitcher upon the table-cloth, which, under ordinary circumstances, would have brought forth8 some sharp criticisms from his wife; but Mrs. Fishley neglected to express her disapprobation of her spouse's carelessness, even in the mildest terms. All these things assured me that our host and hostess were busy thinking of the great event [46]of the afternoon. The captain looked morose9 and savage10, and Mrs. Fishley looked as though a new burden, or a new grief, had been added to her heavy load of worldly cares.
I half suspected that Captain Fishley was not entirely11 satisfied with the conduct of either his wife or his son. It was even possible that he had spoken to them in disapprobation of their course; but I had no means of knowing. It seemed to me that otherwise father, mother, and son would have joined in a general jaw12 at me, as they had often done before. Whatever good or evil had been wrought13 by my vigorous action, my appetite was not impaired14. I ate a hearty15 supper, and then went into the store for the mail-bag, which was to be carried down to Riverport.
"Are you going after the mail, Buck16?" asked Captain Fishley, in an ugly, taunting17 tone, which assured me that he had not recovered from the shock.
"Yes, sir."
"O, you are! I didn't know but you would give up work altogether," sneered18 he, apparently19 disappointed to find me no longer a rebel.[47]
"I told you I should do my work just as I always did. All I want is fair treatment for my sister and myself," I replied in the least offensive tones I could command.
"I expect my brother, Squire20 Fishley, will come up to-night," added the captain, more mildly. "You will go to the hotel in Riverport for him, and bring him up. Take a lantern with you; it will be dark to-night."
Squire Fishley had been a state senator, and the captain regarded him as one of the greatest men in Wisconsin. I was rather pleased to have his company home on the lonely ride from Riverport, and I confess that I was somewhat proud of making the acquaintance of the distinguished21 gentleman.
"Don't be in a hurry, Buck," said Ham Fishley, as I picked up the mail-bag.
I stopped and looked at him, for his tones were more conciliatory than I had heard him use within my remembrance. I actually flattered myself that I had conquered a peace.
"I want to ride with you as far as Crofton's," he added. "I have been very busy getting ready, and [48]haven't had time to black my boots yet. It's a pretty stylish22 party I'm going to, and I want to look as scrumptious as any of them. Will you black them for me? I'll be much obliged to you if you will."
"Certainly I will, Ham, when you ask me in that way, and glad to do it for you," I replied, without hesitating an instant.
I took the boots and went to work upon them. There was an unmistakable smile of triumph on his face as I did so; but I was perfectly23 satisfied that the triumph was mine, not his. Doubtless those civil, polite words were an invention of the enemy, to win my compliance24; and Ham, forgetting that I had not rebelled against the work, but only the tyrannical style of his order, was weak enough to believe that he had conquered me. I made up my mind to review the circumstances, and explain my position to him, on the way to Crofton's.
"Hasn't that letter come yet, Captain Fishley?" asked an ancient maiden25 lady, who entered the store while I was polishing Ham's boots.
"I haven't seen anything of it yet, Miss Larrabee," replied the postmaster.[49]
"Dear me! What shall I do!" exclaimed the venerable spinster. "My brother, down in Ohio, promised to send me forty dollars; and I want the money awfully26. I was going down to see Jim's folks, but I can't go, nor nothin', till that money comes. I hain't got nothin' to pay for goin' with, you see."
"I'm very sorry, Miss Larrabee. Perhaps the letter will come in to-night's mail," added the captain.
"But the mail don't git in till nine or ten o'clock, and that's after bedtime. Ethan writ27 me the money would be here by to-day, at the furthest. You don't suppose it's got lost—do you?"
"I think not. We've never lost anything in our office, leastwise not since I've been postmaster," answered Captain Fishley, who seemed to attribute the fact to his own superior management.
"It may come up to-night, as you say, and I will be down again in the morning to see about it," replied Miss Larrabee, as she left the store, hopeful that the money would arrive in season to enable her to depart the next day on her journey.
I finished blacking Ham's boots, and he put them [50]on. He was going to a party at Crofton's, and had already dressed himself as sprucely as the resources of Torrentville would permit. He was seventeen years old, and somewhat inclined to be "fast." He was rather a good-looking fellow—an exceedingly good-looking fellow in his own estimation. Being an only son, his father and mother were disposed to spoil him, though not even Ham wholly escaped the sharp points and obliquities of his mother's temper. His father gave him what he believed to be a liberal allowance of spending money; but on this subject there was a disagreement between Ham and the "old man."
The young man always wanted more money, and the old man thought he had enough. Ham was pleasantly inclined towards some of the young ladies, and some of the young ladies were pleasantly inclined towards him. Ham liked to take them out to ride, especially Squire Crofton's youngest daughter, in the stable-keeper's new buggy; but his father thought the light wagon28, used as a pleasure vehicle by the family, was good enough even for Elsie Crofton. I had heard some sharp disputes between them on this subject.[51]
There was to be a party that evening at Crofton's. Ham was invited of course; I was not. Ham was considered a young man. I was deemed a boy, not competent to go to parties yet. As long as Flora could not go, I was content to stay at home with her.
I placed the mail-bag in the wagon, Ham took his seat by my side, and I drove off. As the reader already knows my position in regard to my tyrants, I need not repeat what passed between Ham and me. I told him I had made up my mind to do all the work I had been in the habit of doing, without grumbling29, until October, but that I would not be treated like a dog any longer; I would take to the woods and live like a bear before I would stand it. My remarks were evidently very distasteful to my companion. He did not say much, and I was sorry to see that he was nursing his wrath30 against me. He regarded me as a being vastly inferior to himself, and the decided31 stand I had taken filled him with the same kind of indignation which a brutal32 teamster feels towards his contrary horse.
"Hold on a minute, Buck; I want to get a drink [52]of water," said Ham, as we approached a spring by the roadside, half a mile before we reached Crofton's.
I drew up the black horse, and he jumped out of the wagon. He did not drink more than a swallow; and I did not think he was very thirsty.
"Go ahead!" said he, leaping into the rear of the wagon, behind the seat, where I had thrown the mail-bag.
He sat down on the end-board of the wagon, and though I thought it a little strange that he should take such an uncomfortable seat, especially when he had on his best clothes, I did not suspect any mischief33. The first thing I knew after I had started the horse, the mail-bag came down upon my head with a force which made me see more stars than ever before twinkled in the firmament34 of my imagination. At the next instant, Ham seized me by the collar of my coat with both hands, in such a way that I could not easily move.
"Now, Buck Bradford, we'll settle this business. I'm going to know who's master, you or I," cried Ham.
"All right, Ham; you shall know in about two [53]minutes and a half," I replied, choking with wrath, as I hauled in the horse.
Then commenced a struggle which it is impossible to describe. I do not myself know what I did, only that I thrashed, squirmed, and twisted till I found myself behind the seat with my antagonist35; but he held on to my coat-collar as though his salvation36 depended upon the tenacity37 of his grip. Finally I doubled myself up, and came out of my coat. In the twinkling of an eye, I sprang upon him, and tumbled him out of the wagon, into the dirt of the road. Though he was a year older and two inches taller than I was, while he had been clerking it in the store, I had been nursing my muscles with the shovel38 and the hoe, the pitchfork and the axe39; and I was the stronger and tougher of the two. I could do more, and bear more, than he. A fight depends as much upon the ability to endure injury as it does to inflict40 it.
The rough usage I had given Ham was very disheartening to him; while I, with the exception of being a little shaky about the head from the blow of the mail-bag, was as fresh as ever.[54]
"Have you found out who's master yet, Ham?" I demanded, edging up to him.
He looked sheepish, and retreated a pace at every step I advanced. At this point, however, the black horse started, and I was obliged to abandon the field for a moment to attend to him, for the reins41 had fallen under his feet. I turned the horse around, and then I saw that my cowardly assailant had armed himself with a club.
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1
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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2
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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3
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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4
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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7
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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8
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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10
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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11
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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13
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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14
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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16
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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17
taunting
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| 嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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18
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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24
compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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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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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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28
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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29
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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30
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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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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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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33
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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34
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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36
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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37
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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40
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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41
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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