Chapter 8

      ``Take a seat, Frank,'' said Mr. Wharton, pointingto a luxurious<sup>1</sup> armchair on one side of the cheerfulgrate fire; ``I will take the other, and you shall tellme all about yourself.''

　　``Thank you, sir,'' said our hero.

　　His confidence was won by Mr. Wharton's kindtone, and he briefly² recounted his story.

　　At the conclusion, Mr. Wharton said:

　　``How old are you, Frank ?''

　　``Fourteen, sir.''

　　``You are a brave boy, and a good boy, and youdeserve success.''

　　``Thank you, sir.''

　　``But I am bound to say that you have a hard taskbefore you.''

　　``I know it, sir.''

　　``Why not let your sister go to the poorhouse for afew years, till you are older, and better able toprovide for her?''

　　``I should be ashamed to do it, sir,'' he said. ``Ipromised my mother to take care of Grace, and Iwill.''

　　``How much do you earn as a cash-boy?''

　　``Three dollars a week.''

　　``Only three dollars a week! Why, that won't payyour own expenses!'' said the old gentleman in surprise.

　　``Yes, sir, it does. I pay fifty cents a week for myroom, and my meals don't cost me much.''

　　``But you will want clothes.''

　　``I have enough for the present, and I am layingup fifty cents a week to buy more when I need them.''

　　``You can't buy many for twenty-six dollars ayear. But that doesn't allow anything for yoursister's expenses.''

　　``That is what puzzles me, sir,'' said Frank, fixinga troubled glance upon the fire. ``I shall have towork in the evenings for Grace.''

　　``What can you do?''

　　``I could copy, but I suppose there isn't muchchance of getting copying to do.''

　　``Then you have a good handwriting?''

　　``Pretty fair, sir.''

　　``Let me see a specimen³. There are pen and inkon the table, and here is a sheet of paper.''

　　Frank seated himself at the table, and wrote hisname on the paper.

　　``Very good,'' said his host, approvingly. ``Yourhand is good enough for a copyist, but you are correctin supposing that work of that kind is hardto get. Are you a good reader?''

　　``Do you mean in reading aloud, sir?''

　　``Yes.''

　　``I will try, if you wish.''

　　``Take a book from the table--any book--and letme hear you read.''

　　Frank opened the first book that came to hand--one of Irving's and read in a clear, unembarrassedvoice about half a page.

　　``Very good indeed!'' said Mr. Wharton. ``Youhave been well taught. Where did you attendschool?''

　　``Only in the town school, sir.''

　　``You have, at any rate, made good use of youradvantages.''

　　``But will it do me any good, sir?'' asked Frank.

　　``People are not paid for reading, are they?''

　　``Not in general, but we will suppose the case ofa person whose eyes are weak, and likely to be badlyaffected by evening use. Then suppose such a personcould secure the services of a good, clear, distinctreader, don't you think he would be willing topay something?''

　　``I suppose so. Do you know of any such person?''

　　asked Frank.

　　``I am describing myself, Frank. A year since Istrained my eyes very severely⁴, and have never daredto use them much since by gaslight. Mrs. Bradley,my housekeeper⁵, has read to me some, but she hasother duties, and I don't think she enjoys it verymuch. Now, why shouldn't I get you to read to mein the evening when you are not otherwise employed?''

　　``I wish you would, Mr. Wharton,'' said Frank,eagerly. ``I would do my best.''

　　``I have no doubt of that, but there is anotherquestion--perhaps you might ask a higher salarythan I could afford to pay.''

　　``Would a dollar a week be too much?'' askedFrank.

　　``I don't think I could complain of that,'' said Mr.

　　Wharton, gravely. ``Very well, I will engage you asmy reader.''

　　``Thank you, sir.''

　　``But about the pay; I have made up my mind topay you five dollars a week.''

　　``Five dollars a week!'' Frank repeated. ``It ismuch more than my services will be worth sir.''

　　``Let me judge of that, Frank.''

　　``I don't know how to thank you, sir,'' said Frank,gratefully. ``I never expected to be so rich. I shallhave no trouble in paying for Grace's board andclothes now. When do you want me to begin reading to you?''

　　``You may as well begin to-night--that is, unlessyou have some other engagement.''

　　``Oh, no, sir, I have nothing else to do.''

　　``Take the Evening Post, then, and read me theleading editorial. Afterward⁶, I will tell you what toread.''

　　Frank had been reading about half an hour, whena knock was heard at the door.

　　``Come in,'' said Mr. Wharton.

　　Mrs. Bradley entered, with a soft, quiet step.

　　``I thought, sir,'' she began, ``you might like meto read to you, as usual.''

　　``Thank you, Mrs. Bradley, but I am going torelieve you of that portion of your labors⁷. My youngfriend here is to come every evening and read tome.''

　　``Indeed!'' ejaculated the housekeeper in a tone ofchilly displeasure, and a sharp glance at Frank,which indicated no great amount of cordiality.

　　``Then, as I am intruding⁸, I will take my leave.''

　　There was something in her tone that made Frankfeel uncomfortable.

1 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

2 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

3 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

6 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

7 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

8 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》