The sun cast a broad column of quivering gold across the river at the foot of our street, just as I reached the doorstep of the Nutter1 House. Kitty Collins, with her dress tucked about her so that she looked as if she had on a pair of calico trousers, was washing off the sidewalk.
"Arrah you bad boy!" cried Kitty, leaning on the mop handle. "The Capen has jist been askin' for you. He's gone up town, now. It's a nate thing you done with my clothes-line, and, it's me you may thank for gettin' it out of the way before the Capen come down."
The kind creature had hauled in the rope, and my escapade had not been discovered by the family; but I knew very well that the burning of the stage-coach, and the arrest of the boys concerned in the mischief2, were sure to reach my grandfathers ears sooner or later.
"Well, Thomas," said the old gentleman, an hour or so afterwards, beaming upon me benevolently3 across the breakfast table, "you didn't wait to be called this morning."
"No, sir," I replied, growing very warm, "I took a little run up town to see what was going on."
I didn't say anything about the little run I took home again! "They had quite a time on the Square last night," remarked Captain Nutter, looking up from the Rivermouth Barnacle, which was always placed beside his coffee-cup at breakfast.
I felt that my hair was preparing to stand on end.
"Quite a time," continued my grandfather. "Some boys broke into Ezra Wingate's barn and carried off the old stagecoach4. The young rascals5! I do believe they'd burn up the whole town if they had their way."
With this he resumed the paper. After a long silence he exclaimed, "Hullo!" upon which I nearly fell off the chair.
"'Miscreants6 unknown,'" read my grandfather, following the paragraph with his forefinger7; "'escaped from the bridewell, leaving no clew to their identity, except the letter H, cut on one of the benches.' 'Five dollars reward offered for the apprehension8 of the perpetrators.' Sho! I hope Wingate will catch them."
I don't see how I continued to live, for on hearing this the breath went entirely9 out of my body. I beat a retreat from the room as soon as I could, and flew to the stable with a misty10 intention of mounting Gypsy and escaping from the place. I was pondering what steps to take, when Jack11 Harris and Charley Marden entered the yard.
"Been here?" I cried, "I should hope not!"
"The whole thing's out, you know," said Harris, pulling Gypsy's forelock over her eyes and blowing playfully into her nostrils15.
"Yes, I do, and we are to pay Wingate three dollars apiece. He'll make rather a good spec out of it."
"But how did he discover that we were the--the miscreants?" I asked, quoting mechanically from the Rivermouth Bamacle.
"Why, he saw us take the old ark, confound him! He's been trying to sell it any time these ten years. Now he has sold it to us. When he found that we had slipped out of the Meat Market, he went right off and wrote the advertisement offering five dollars reward; though he knew well enough who had taken the coach, for he came round to my father's house before the paper was printed to talk the matter over. Wasn't the governor mad, though! But it's all settled, I tell you. We're to pay Wingate fifteen dollars for the old go-cart, which he wanted to sell the other day for seventy-five cents, and couldn't. It's a downright swindle. But the funny part of it is to come."
"O, there's a funny part to it, is there?" I remarked bitterly.
"Yes. The moment Bill Conway saw the advertisement, he knew it was Harry17 Blake who cut that letter H on the bench; so off he rushes up to Wingate--kind of him, wasn't it?--and claims the reward. 'Too late, young man,' says old Wingate, 'the culprits has been discovered.' You see Sly-boots hadn't any intention of paying that five dollars."
Jack Harris's statement lifted a weight from my bosom18. The article in the Rivermouth Barnacle had placed the affair before me in a new light. I had thoughtlessly committed a grave offence. Though the property in question was valueless, we were clearly wrong in destroying it. At the same time Mr. Wingate had tacitly sanctioned the act by not preventing it when he might easily have done so. He had allowed his property to be destroyed in order that he might realize a large profit.
Without waiting to hear more, I went straight to Captain Nutter, and, laying my remaining three dollars on his knee, confessed my share in the previous night's transaction.
The Captain heard me through in profound silence, pocketed the bank-notes, and walked off without speaking a word. He had punished me in his own whimsical fashion at the breakfast table, for, at the very moment he was harrowing up my soul by reading the extracts from the Rivermouth Barnacle, he not only knew all about the bonfire, but had paid Ezra Wingate his three dollars. Such was the duplicity of that aged20 impostor.
I think Captain Nutter was justified21 in retaining my pocketmoney, as additional punishment, though the possession of it later in the day would have got me out of a difficult position, as the reader will see further on. I returned with a light heart and a large piece of punk to my friends in the stable-yard, where we celebrated22 the termination of our trouble by setting off two packs of fire-crackers23 in an empty wine-cask. They made a prodigious24 racket, but failed somehow to fully14 express my feelings. The little brass25 pistol in my bedroom suddenly occurred to me. It had been loaded I don't know how many months, long before I left New Orleans, and now was the time, if ever, to fire it off. Muskets26, blunderbusses, and pistols were banging away lively all over town, and the smell of gunpowder27, floating on the air, set me wild to add something respectable to the universal din19.
When the pistol was produced, Jack Harris examined the rusty28 cap and prophesied29 that it would not explode.
"Never mind," said I, "let's try it."
I had fired the pistol once, secretly, in New Orleans, and, remembering the noise it gave birth to on that occasion, I shut both eyes tight as I pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked on the cap with a dull, dead sound. Then Harris tried it; then Charley Marden; then I took it again, and after three or four trials was on the point of giving it up as a bad job, when the obstinate30 thing went off with a tremendous explosion, nearly jerking my arm from the socket31. The smoke cleared away, and there I stood with the stock of the pistol clutched convulsively in my hand--the barrel, lock, trigger, and ramrod having vanished into thin air.
"Are you hurt?" cried the boys, in one breath.
When I realized the nature of the calamity34, my grief was excessive. I can't imagine what led me to do so ridiculous a thing, but I gravely buried the remains35 of my beloved pistol in our back garden, and erected36 over the mound37 a slate38 tablet to the effect that "Mr. Barker formerly39 of new Orleans, was killed accidentally on the Fourth of July, 18-- in the 2nd year of his Age." Binny Wallace, arriving on the spot just after the disaster, and Charley Marden (who enjoyed the obsequies immensely), acted with me as chief mourners. I, for my part, was a very sincere one.
As I turned away in a disconsolate40 mood from the garden, Charley Marden remarked that he shouldn't be surprised if the pistol-butt41 took root and grew into a mahogany-tree or something. He said he once planted an old musket-stock, and shortly afterwards a lot of shoots sprung up! Jack Harris laughed; but neither I nor Binny Wallace saw Charley's wicked joke.
We were now joined by Pepper Whitcomb, Fred Langdon, and several other desperate characters, on their way to the Square, which was always a busy place when public festivities were going on. Feeling that I was still in disgrace with the Captain, I thought it politic42 to ask his consent before accompanying the boys.
He gave it with some hesitation43, advising me to be careful not to get in front of the firearms. Once he put his fingers mechanically into his vest-pocket and half drew forth44 some dollar bills, then slowly thrust them back again as his sense of justice overcame his genial45 disposition46. I guess it cut the old gentleman to the heart to be obliged to keep me out of my pocket-money. I know it did me. However, as I was passing through the hall, Miss Abigail, with a very severe cast of countenance47, slipped a brand-new quarter into my hand. We had silver currency in those days, thank Heaven!
Great were the bustle48 and confusion on the Square. By the way, I don't know why they called this large open space a square, unless because it was an oval--an oval formed by the confluence49 of half a dozen streets, now thronged50 by crowds of smartly dressed towns-people and country folks; for Rivermouth on the Fourth was the centre of attraction to the inhabitants of the neighboring villages.
On one side of the Square were twenty or thirty booths arranged in a semi-circle, gay with little flags and seductive with lemonade, ginger-beer, and seedcakes. Here and there were tables at which could be purchased the smaller sort of fireworks, such as pin-wheels, serpents, double-headers, and punk warranted not to go out. Many of the adjacent houses made a pretty display of bunting, and across each of the streets opening on the Square was an arch of spruce and evergreen51, blossoming all over with patriotic52 mottoes and paper roses.
It was a noisy, merry, bewildering scene as we came upon the ground. The incessant53 rattle54 of small arms, the booming of the twelve-pounder firing on the Mill Dam, and the silvery clangor of the church-bells ringing simultaneously--not to mention an ambitious brass-band that was blowing itself to pieces on a balcony--were enough to drive one distracted. We amused ourselves for an hour or two, darting55 in and out among the crowd and setting off our crackers. At one o'clock the Hon. Hezekiah Elkins mounted a platform in the middle of the Square and delivered an oration56, to which his "feller-citizens" didn't pay much attention, having all they could do to dodge57 the squibs that were set loose upon them by mischievous58 boys stationed on the surrounding housetops.
Our little party which had picked up recruits here and there, not being swayed by eloquence59, withdrew to a booth on the outskirts60 of the crowd, where we regaled ourselves with root beer at two cents a glass. I recollect61 being much struck by the placard surmounting62 this tent:
ROOT BEER
SOLD HERE
It seemed to me the perfection of pith and poetry. What could be more terse63? Not a word to spare, and yet everything fully expressed. Rhyme and rhythm faultless. It was a delightful64 poet who made those verses. As for the beer itself--that, I think, must have been made from the root of all evil! A single glass of it insured an uninterrupted pain for twenty-four hours.
The influence of my liberality working on Charley Marden--for it was I who paid for the beer--he presently invited us all to take an ice-cream with him at Pettingil's saloon. Pettingil was the Delmonico of Rivermouth. He furnished ices and confectionery for aristocratic balls and parties, and didn't disdain65 to officiate as leader of the orchestra at the same; for Pettingil played on the violin, as Pepper Whitcomb described it, "like Old Scratch."
Pettingil's confectionery store was on the corner of Willow66 and High Streets. The saloon, separated from the shop by a flight of three steps leading to a door hung with faded red drapery, had about it an air of mystery and seclusion67 quite delightful. Four windows, also draped, faced the side-street, affording an unobstructed view of Marm Hatch's back yard, where a number of inexplicable68 garments on a clothes-line were always to be seen careering in the wind.
There was a lull69 just then in the ice-cream business, it being dinner-time, and we found the saloon unoccupied. When we had seated ourselves around the largest marble-topped table, Charley Marden in a manly70 voice ordered twelve sixpenny icecreams, "strawberry and verneller mixed."
It was a magnificent sight, those twelve chilly71 glasses entering the room on a waiter, the red and white custard rising from each glass like a church-steeple, and the spoon-handle shooting up from the apex72 like a spire73. I doubt if a person of the nicest palate could have distinguished74, with his eyes shut, which was the vanilla75 and which the strawberry; but if I could at this moment obtain a cream tasting as that did, I would give five dollars for a very small quantity.
We fell to with a will, and so evenly balanced were our capabilities76 that we finished our creams together, the spoons clinking in the glasses like one spoon.
"Let's have some more!" cried Charley Marden, with the air of Aladdin ordering up a fresh hogshead of pearls and rubies77. "Tom Bailey, tell Pettingil to send in another round."
Could I credit my ears? I looked at him to see if he were in earnest. He meant it. In a moment more I was leaning over the counter giving directions for a second supply. Thinking it would make no difference to such a gorgeous young sybarite as Marden, I took the liberty of ordering ninepenny creams this time.
On returning to the saloon, what was my horror at finding it empty!
There were the twelve cloudy glasses, standing78 in a circle on the sticky marble slab79, and not a boy to be seen. A pair of hands letting go their hold on the window-sill outside explained matters. I had been made a victim.
I couldn't stay and face Pettingil, whose peppery temper was well known among the boys. I hadn't a cent in the world to appease80 him. What should I do? I heard the clink of approaching glasses--the ninepenny creams. I rushed to the nearest window. It was only five feet to the ground. I threw myself out as if I had been an old hat.
Landing on my feet, I fled breathlessly down High Street, through Willow, and was turning into Brierwood Place when the sound of several voices, calling to me in distress81, stopped my progress.
"Look out, you fool! The mine! The mine!" yelled the warning voices.
Several men and boys were standing at the head of the street, making insane gestures to me to avoid something. But I saw no mine, only in the middle of the road in front of me was a common flour-barrel, which, as I gazed at it, suddenly rose into the air with a terrific explosion. I felt myself thrown violently off my feet. I remember nothing else, excepting that, as I went up, I caught a momentary82 glimpse of Ezra Wingate leering through is shop window like an avenging83 spirit.
The mine that had wrought84 me woe85 was not properly a mine at all, but merely a few ounces of powder placed under an empty keg or barrel and fired with a slow-match. Boys who didn't happen to have pistols or cannon86 generally burnt their powder in this fashion.
For an account of what followed I am indebted to hearsay87, for I was insensible when the people picked me up and carried me home on a shutter88 borrowed from the proprietor89 of Pettingil's saloon. I was supposed to be killed, but happily (happily for me at least) I was merely stunned90. I lay in a semi-unconscious state until eight o'clock that night, when I attempted to speak. Miss Abigail, who watched by the bedside, put her ear down to my lips and was saluted91 with these remarkable92 words: "Strawberry and verneller mixed!"
"Mercy on us! What is the boy saying?" cried Miss Abigail.
"ROOTBEERSOLDHERE!"
This inscription93 is copied from a triangular-shaped piece of slate, still preserved in the garret of the Nutter House, together with the pistol butt itself, which was subsequently dug up for a postmortem examination.
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1
nutter
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| n.疯子 | |
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mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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benevolently
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| adv.仁慈地，行善地 | |
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stagecoach
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| n.公共马车 | |
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rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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miscreants
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| n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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9
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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blithe
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| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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crackers
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| adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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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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slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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confluence
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| n.汇合，聚集 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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evergreen
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| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
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52
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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53
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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54
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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58
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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surmounting
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| 战胜( surmount的现在分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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vanilla
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| n.香子兰，香草 | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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rubies
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| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
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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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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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