It so happened that he found only a boy in the Colonel’s office, a very dark little specimen19 of the negro race, who was brushing and dusting away in a manner that said very plainly, “I’s behin’ time dis mornin’,” which, by the way, was the rule and not the exception in the life of lazy little John Thomas.
“What time does Colonel Hamilton usually come in? asked Harry, when he saw that the boy was by far too busy to pay any attention to him.
“‘Long any minit; dat’s how I’s so flustered,” he replied, breathlessly, and with that sort of haste which invariably makes waste, he succeeded in upsetting all the contents of a generous scrap-basket exactly in the middle of the office floor. “Glory me!” was his one inelegant exclamation20, and, dropping on to his knees, he began punching the accumulation of trash back into the basket, but with an energy that landed half of it upon the floor again.
“Look here, I’ll tend to that,” laughed Harry. “You see to your other work.” John Thomas looked up surprised, but seeing the offer was made in good faith, took Harry at his word, and flew to the office washstand, which was sadly in need of attention.
Just at this point there was a step in the hall, and glancing up from his homely21, self-appointed task, Harry’s eyes met those of Colonel Hamilton, while the color flushed over his face.
“Well, my young friend,” said the Colonel, evidently much amused, “who set you at that work?”
“I was waiting for you, sir,” said Harry, putting the basket at one side, “and as your boy seemed to have been delayed, I was trying to lend a hand.”
“Very kind of you, sir; and as John has a way of being delayed every morning, he would no doubt like to make a permanent engagement with you.”
“I had rather you would do that, sir,” was on Harry’s lips, but he feared it might sound familiar; but Colonel Hamilton seemed to read his thoughts.
“Possibly you came to see about making an engagement with me,” he said, kindly22, looking for the moment most intently at Harry in a way that showed he was mentally taking his measure. Meanwhile he had hung up his coat and hat, and dropped into a high-backed, uncomfortable and unpainted wooden chair, very different from the upholstered, revolving23 contrivances that we find in offices nowadays.
“Yes, sir,” said Harry, in answer to the Colonel’s question, and still standing17; “I heard that you wanted a clerk, and I should be very grateful if you would let me see if I could fill the place.”
“What is your name?”
“Harry Starlight Avery, if you wish it in full, sir.”
“Will you be seated, Mr. Avery?” said the Colonel, with his habitual24 kindly courtesy; whereupon John Thomas flourished a bedraggled feather brush over a dusty chair—the same one upon which Hazel had sat during her recent important interview—and placed it near the Colonel’s, with all the importance of a drum-major on parade.
“I have heard the name of Starlight before,” Colonel Hamilton said thoughtfully, “but where I cannot remember.” Then, and as though he had no time to devote to mere25 rumination26 at that hour of the morning, he asked, “Are you a native of New York, Mr. Avery?”
“No, sir; my home is in New London.”
“Then you are a long ways from it now” (for distances were distances in those days); “how does that happen?”
“I enlisted28 on a privateer,” Harry answered, coloring slightly.
“So that is how,” and the Colonel gave him the benefit of another scrutinizing29 look.
“Have you ever had a position in a lawyer’s office?”
“No, sir; I am sorry to say I haven’t; but it’s just the sort of position I have always wanted. Of course you would have to tell me just about everything at the start, but not more than once, I hope, sir.”
This is the right sort of spirit, thought the Colonel, beginning to run through some papers on a letter-file, for, as usual, he had a very busy day before him.
“How long ago did you enlist27 on the privateer?” making a little memorandum30 of some other matters on a sheet of paper as he spoke31.
“Nearly two years ago.”
“How long were you aboard of her?”
“Only a month, sir.”
“And where were you the remainder of the time?”
“On the ‘Jersey,’ sir.”
There was no dividing of attention now, and the Colonel laid aside the quill32 pen he had just filled with ink.
“Do you mean to say you were a prisoner aboard of her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“For nearly two years?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That is enough for me. Any poor fellow that has braved the horrors of that den15 for even a month ought to have the best sort of a chance. I will engage you on the spot, Mr. Avery. If you have been a ‘Jersey’ prisoner, that is enough for me. I am willing to try a ‘green hand,’ who has had to endure that experience.”
“You are very kind, Colonel Hamilton,” and Harry’s grateful appreciation33 showed plainly in his face.
“Could you stay to-day,” asked the Colonel, “and let me set you right to work at some copying? I think we can come to a satisfactory arrangement about terms when I am not so hurried.”
Of course Harry stayed—stayed through one of the busiest and happiest days of his life; and not until twilight34 had long settled down on the river did he step aboard of the “Gretchen” and set sail for the old Van Vleet Farm.
When the wind is right in your favor, and you have little to do but mind your helm, you have a fine chance for a quiet think—that is, if you are any sort of a sailor; and Harry improved the opportunity and thought hard—thought of all that the day’s good fortune might mean to him: of ability to pay his own way for the first time in his life; of a little money to be sent off now and then to the younger brothers in New London, and then, in a vague sort of a way, of a home of his own some day. Meantime all the while there would be the constant daily companionship with Colonel Hamilton himself, who seemed to him (as indeed to many another, and in the face, too, of his extreme youthfulness) at once the noblest, the kindest, and by far the greatest man he had ever met. What a pity, he thought, that he should have sided against Aunt Frances!
But of one thing Harry felt sure, which was that he had certainly “taken to” Colonel Alexander Hamilton; and there was another thing just as sure which he did not know about, and that was that the Colonel had decidedly “taken to” Harry.
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1
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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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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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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pebbly
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| 多卵石的，有卵石花纹的 | |
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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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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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rumination
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| n.反刍，沉思 | |
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enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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memorandum
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| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
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31
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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33
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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