"I'm very sorry, indeed, this came out now. It seems unfeeling to talk about it while that poor old man's body is above ground, and then the amount of the fortune he possessed1 may be grossly exaggerated."
This was Mrs. Pell's summary of the matter, delivered several times during that afternoon. The girls took the thing very quietly.
"I am so glad on Syd's account," Eva said though more than once. "He has always worked so hard for us."
Jess seemed dazed by the possibility of the new order of things, while Roy was disinclined to talk about it at all. Rex, however, made up for the apparent apathy2 of the others.
At lunch he wanted to know when they were going to move.
"Of course we don't want to go on staying in a bandbox of a place like this, when mother is a millionaire," he said.
"Only half a one," Jess corrected him with a smile.
"Well, no matter about that. I've been figuring up on the income that we could get without touching3 the principal, and I make it $25,000 a year."
"Oh, Reggie, Reggie, I am afraid you are incorrigible," groaned4 his mother.
"Why, I don't see anything out of the way in doing a little calculating here in the privacy of our home. I don't go up and proclaim it from the housetops."
"But you may be reckoning without your host, my dear brub," interposed Jess. "What if Mr. Tyler had only a thousand in bank instead of five hundred thousand?"
"Yes; we can't know anything certain till Syd comes home to-night," added Roy.
"I can't wait for that," muttered Rex, under his breath.
He subsided5 for the rest of his meal, however, but as soon as he had finished went up to his room and proceeded to go through all the pockets of his different suits.
"Short by a quarter," he murmured as he finally sat down on the edge of the bed and jingled6 the small change he had collected, "I'll have to go to mother after all."
He glanced up at a time-table stuck in the mirror, hurriedly changed his knockabout suit for his best one, and then rushed down to the dining room where Mrs. Pell was helping7 Eva shell peas for dinner.
He went straight up to her and put his arm affectionately about her neck.
"Moms," he said in his winning way, "I want to run up to the city for this afternoon. I'm a quarter short to buy my ticket. Won't you please let me have it? I can pay you back out of my allowance."
"What do you want to go to the city for, Rex?"
"Oh, I can't stay here in uncertainty8. I want to see Syd to know for sure about things. Besides, it will keep me from shocking you here if I go."
"But Sydney is sure to be very busy. You will bother him by going to the office."
"No, I won't. He never lets me bother him. Besides, I only want to see him for a minute. You know I haven't been in town since school closed. The train goes in twenty minutes, and I'll come back with Syd. Please, moms."
"All right, Rex, you may go, but remember I trust you not to annoy Sydney. You will find my purse in my top bureau drawer, left hand corner."
"You are the best mother a boy ever had." With a hasty kiss Rex was off, secured his quarter, and then with a wave of his hand toward the family, struck out across the pasture for the path that led up over the hill in a short cut to the station.
There was nobody so easy to get along with as Rex-- as long as you allowed him to have his own way.
"That is a crazy notion of his, wanting to go in to town just because he can't wait till Syd comes out," remarked Roy when he heard of it. At the same time he felt a sensation of relief to think that his impulsive9 brother was out of Marley and away from the temptation to disquiet10 the family by telling his fellow townsmen what he meant to do with their money when they came into it.
Rex meanwhile was enjoying himself hugely. He saw nobody he knew at this unusual hour of going to town, but he lay back in his seat while the breeze, created by the swift motion of the cars, rushed refreshingly11 past him, and built air castles of the most luxurious12 description.
"It must be so," he told himself, whenever the doubts suggested by Jess arose in his mind to trouble him. "Dr. Martin congratulated Roy. Everybody has known that Mr. Tyler had lots of money somewhere."
When the train reached Philadelphia, Rex hurried off to the law office where Syd had his desk. It was some distance from the station, but having spent all his money for his excursion ticket, he had none left for car fare.
"This will be the last time I'll be so short," he mused13, a smile which he could not repress playing about the corners of his mouth.
Buoyed14 up by this reflection he did not so much mind the distance, nor the heat, which he found much more oppressive here in the city than it was in Marley. He reached Syd's place at last only to find that his brother was out and that the boy was not just sure when he would be back.
"But he'll be here before he goes to the train, won't he?" asked Rex.
"Oh yes, sure," was the reply. "His satchel15 is here with the books he always takes."
"I'll come back again then." Rex went out, thinking that now there was no danger of his ever having to step into the shoes of this office boy. Syd had remarked once or twice that he thought he could get him a position in a law office when he was through school.
Rex wandered along the street aimlessly for a while. If it hadn't been midsummer he might have gone over to Spruce and Walnut16 and called on some of his friends, but they were either at their summer homes in Marley or off traveling.
He was therefore reduced to walking to kill time, choosing the shady side and watching for any incident of city life that might divert his mind. He came to a bicycle emporium presently and stood for some time in front of it, trying to decide which wheel he should select when he came to purchase as he hoped to do very shortly now.
"That's the dandy kind," remarked a voice over his shoulder. "The Wizard motor. You can ride over all sorts of roads with it."
Rex turned and saw a fellow about a year older than himself. He had a red face and wore an outing shirt that was not as fresh as it might have been.
Rex, who was rather fastidious as to his friends, simply said "Yes," and moved on.
The fellow noticed the look which accompanied the word.
"The dude!" he muttered. "Thinks he's too good to talk with the likes o' me. I'll get even with him."
He waited an instant and then followed Rex at a distance. Presently something that he espied17 ahead caused him to scan the sidewalk and the street next it closely.
Then he stepped out into the roadway and picked up a piece of coal that had dropped from a passing cart. He quickened his steps and nearly caught up with Rex just as the latter was passing a Chinese laundry.
"Run for your life! Runaway18 team behind you!" he exclaimed suddenly, darting19 forward and calling out the words almost in Rex's ear. At the same instant he flung the piece of coal he had picked up straight into the window of the Chinese laundry.
There was a crash of glass and Rex, connecting the sound with the warning he had received, immediately took to his heels.
"There he goes!" called out the red faced youth to the Chinaman who promptly20 appeared in the door of his shop.
The Celestial's almond eyes caught sight of Rex's fleeing figure. It was enough. He dropped his iron and rushed after Rex, the conscienceless hoodlum joining in the chase.
Rex, hearing no further sound to tell him that a dangerous runaway was close upon him, had just decided21 to slacken his pace and turn around to investigate, when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder.
"Me got you," crowed a wheezy voice in his ear. "Now for pleecy man."
Rex was horrified22 to find himself in the grasp of a Chinese laundryman.
"Let go of me! What do you want?" he cried, struggling to get free.
"You breakee glass. You go to jailee. Here pleecyman now."
True enough, among the crowd that had hastily collected, was a blue-coated officer.
"Make him let me go," exclaimed Rex, appealing to the representative of the law. "I didn't do anything to him."
"Yes, he did," called out a bystander, whose sympathies had been awakened23 for the much suffering heathen. "I saw him running for all he was worth. That's pretty strong evidence, isn't it?"
The policeman appeared to think so, for he came up and caught Rex by the arm.
收听单词发音 |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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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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jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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8
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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disquiet
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| n.担心，焦虑 | |
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refreshingly
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| adv.清爽地，有精神地 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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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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buoyed
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| v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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satchel
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| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
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walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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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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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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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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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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