CHAPTER XII TONY STARTS OUT ONCE MORE

After Rudolph’s seizure¹ Ben discovered the bags of gold in the hands of the tramp.

Give me my money!” he shrieked².

It’s safe, Ben,” said one of the captors. “But who would have supposed you had so much money?”

“It isn’t much,” faltered³ the old man.

The bags are pretty heavy,” was the significant rejoinder. “Will you take two hundred dollars apiece for them?”

“No,” said the old man, embarrassed.

Then there is considerable after all. But never mind. Take better care of them hereafter.”

Ben stooped to pick up the bags. He had got hold of them when the tramp aimed a kick at him which completely upset him.

Even though he fell, however, he did not lose his grip of the bags, but clung to them while crying with pain.

Take that, you old fool!” muttered the tramp. “It’s the first installment⁴ of the debt I owe you.”

“Take him away, take him away! He will murder me!” exclaimed old Ben, in terror.

Come along. You’ve done mischief⁵ enough,” said his captors, sternly, forcing the tramp along.

I’ll do more yet,” muttered Rudolph.

He turned to Tony, who stood at a little distance.

I’ve got a score to settle with you, young traitor⁶.”

“I’m sorry for you, Rudolph,” said Tony; “but you’ve brought it on yourself.”

“Bah! you hypocrite!” retorted the tramp. “I don’t want any of your sorrow. It won’t save you when the day of reckoning comes.”

He was not allowed to say more, but was hurried away to the village lockup for detention⁷.

Dr. Compton was among the party who had been summoned by Tony. He lingered behind, and took Ben apart.

Mr. Hayden,” he said, “I want to give you a piece of advice.”

“What is it?” asked the old man.

Don’t keep this gold in your house. It isn’t safe.”

“Who do you think will take it?” asked Ben.

None of those here this morning, unless this tramp should escape from custody⁸.”

“If he don’t, what danger is there?”

“It will get about that you have money secreted⁹ here, and I venture to say it will be stolen before three months are over.”

“It will kill me,” said Ben piteously.

Then put it out of reach of danger.”

“Where?”

“I am going over to the county town, where there is a bank. Deposit it there, and whenever you want any go and get it.”

“But banks break sometimes,” said Ben, in alarm.

This is an old established institution. You need not be afraid of it.”

“But I can’t see the money—I can’t count it.”

“You can see the deposit record in a book. Even if that doesn’t suit you as well, you can sleep comfortably, knowing that you are not liable to be attacked and murdered by burglars.”

The old man vacillated, but finally yielded to the force of the doctor’s reasoning. A day or two later he rode over to the neighboring town, and saw his precious gold deposited in the vaults¹⁰ of the bank.

We are anticipating, however.

When the confusion incident to the arrest was over, Tony came forward.

“Mr. Hayden,” he said, “you are so much better that I think you can spare me now.”

“But suppose Rudolph comes back.”

“I don’t think he can. He will be put in prison.”

“I suppose he will. What a bold, bad man.”

“Yes, he is a bad man, but I’m sorry for him.”

“How did you come to be with him?”

“I don’t know, I have been with him as long as I can remember. You used to know him, didn’t you?”

“A little,” said the old man hastily.

Where was it?”

“In England—long ago.”

“In England. Was he born in England?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I am English, too?”

“I think so; yes, I think so,” answered Ben cautiously.

Have you any idea who I am—who were my parents?”

“Don’t trouble me now,” said Ben peevishly¹¹. “I am not well. My head is confused. Some day I will think it over and tell you what I know.”

“But if I am not here?”

“I will write it down, and give it to the doctor.”

“That will do,” said Tony. “I know he will keep it for me. Now, good-by.”

“Are you going?”

“Yes, I have my own way to make in the world. I can’t live on you any longer.”

“To be sure not,” said Ben. “I am too poor to feed two persons, and you have a very large appetite.”

“Yes,” said Tony, laughing, “I believe I have a healthy appetite. I’m growing, you know.”

“It must be that. What is your name?”

“That is more than I know. I have always been called Tony, or Tony the Tramp. Rudolph’s last name is Rugg, and he pretends that I am his son.”

“You are not his son. He never had any son.”

“I am glad to hear that. I shan’t have to say now that my father is in jail. Good-by, Mr. Hayden.”

“Good-by,” said Ben, following the boy thoughtfully with his eyes, till he had disappeared.

With a light heart, and a pocket still lighter¹², Tony walked on for several miles. Then he stopped at a country grocery store, and bought five cents’ worth of crackers¹³. These he ate with a good appetite, slaking¹⁴ his thirst at a wayside spring.

He was lying carelessly on the greensward when a tin peddler’s cart drove slowly along the road.

Hello, there!” said the peddler.

Hello!” said Tony.

Do you want a lift?”

“Yes,” said Tony, with alacrity¹⁵.

Then get up here. There’s room enough for both of us. You can hold the reins¹⁶ when I stop anywhere.”

“It’s a bargain,” said Tony.

Are you travelin’ for pleasure?”

“On business,” said Tony.

What is your business?”

“I want to find work,” said Tony.

You’re a good, stout¹⁷ youngster. You’d ought to get something to do.”

“So I think,” said Tony.

Got any folks?”

“If you mean wife and children, I haven’t,” answered our hero, with a smile.

Ho, ho!” laughed the peddler. “I guess not. I mean father or mother, uncles or aunts, and such like.”

“No, I am alone in the world.”

“Sho! you don’t say so. Well, that’s a pity. Why, I’ve got forty-’leven cousins and a mother-in-law to boot. I’ll sell her cheap.”

“Never mind!” said Tony.

“I’ll tell you what,” said the peddler, “I feel interested in you. I’ll take you round with me for a day or two, and maybe I can get you a place. What do you say?”

“Yes, and thank you,” said Tony.

Then it’s settled. Gee¹⁸ up, Dobbin!”

1 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

2 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

4 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

5 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

6 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

9 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 peevishly   

adv．暴躁地

参考例句：

• Paul looked through his green glasses peevishly when the other speaker brought down the house with applause. 当另一个演说者赢得了满座喝彩声时，保罗心里又嫉妒又气恼。
• "I've been sick, I told you," he said, peevishly, almost resenting her excessive pity. “我生了一场病，我告诉过你了，"他没好气地说，对她的过分怜悯几乎产生了怨恨。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

13 crackers   

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

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 slaking   

n.熟化v.满足( slake的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The surface of the concrete floor was coated by a white layer of slaking-lime. “混凝土”地面涂有白色饰面，饰面是以石灰浆涂刷而成。 来自互联网
• Slaking thirst and helping produce saliva, the sweet-and-sour prune makes a good companion on your journey. 青津梅，止渴生津，旅途好伙伴。 来自互联网

15 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

16 reins   

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

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

18 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！