“I don’t know,” answered Gerald sadly.
“If you will go home with me, I will give you a place in my factory.”
“I prefer to remain here for a time.”
“But how will you live?”
“I can hunt and fish, and as my wants are few I think I shall get along.”
[67]
“As your father and I were young men together, I should like to do something for you.”
“You can do something for me,” said Gerald significantly.
“What is it you refer to?”
“Keep the promise you made to my father fifteen years ago.”
Bradley Wentworth looked uneasy. It was clear that the boy thoroughly3 understood the compact.
“What do you mean, Gerald?” he asked.
“I mean that my father sacrificed his reputation to save yours. Through him you obtained your inheritance and are to-day a rich man. For this you solemnly agreed to give him twenty thousand dollars when you came into your uncle’s fortune.”
“You know better than that, Mr. Wentworth,” answered Gerald calmly.
“You are certainly very modest in your demands. Twenty thousand dollars, indeed!”
“It was not I who fixed6 upon that sum, but yourself. As my father’s sacrifice brought you over three hundred thousand dollars, it was a good bargain for you.”
[68]
“What have you to show in proof of this extraordinary claim of yours?” demanded Wentworth, waiting eagerly for the answer.
“Your confession7 over your own signature that you forged the check, a crime attributed to my father, and confessing that he bore the blame to screen you.”
“Where is this paper?” demanded Wentworth, edging, as if unconsciously, nearer the boy.
“It is safe,” answered Gerald, rising and facing his companion.
“Show it to me! I won’t believe in its existence unless you show it to me.”
“This is not the time to show it,” said Gerald.
“I differ with you. This is the precise time to show it if you have it, which I very much doubt.”
“I will show it to you in due time, Mr. Wentworth. This is not the right time, nor the right place.”
“Have you it about you?”
“I shall answer no more questions, Mr. Wentworth.”
Wentworth eyed Gerald, doubting whether he should not seize him then and there and wrest8 from him the paper if he proved to have it, but there was something in the resolute9 look of the[69] boy that daunted10 him, man though he was, and he decided11 that it would be better to have recourse to a little strategy. For this the boy would be less prepared than for open force.
“Look here, Gerald,” he said, moderating his tone and moving further away, as if all thoughts of violence had left him, “I will have a few plain words with you. If you have any paper compromising me in any way, I will make it worth your while to give it to me. I remember that I was in a little trouble, and being young made a mountain out of a molehill. Still I don’t care to have it come out now, when I am a man of repute, that I ever sowed wild oats like most young men. I will make you the same offer that I did your father. Give me the paper and I will give you a thousand dollars to start you in life. Think what such a sum will be to a boy like you.”
“I don’t think I care much for money, Mr. Wentworth,” responded Gerald. “But my father left me this claim upon you as a sacred trust. I feel that I owe it to his memory to collect it to the uttermost farthing.”
“You are about the most foolish boy I ever met,” he said. “You are almost a pauper13, yet you refuse a thousand dollars.”
[70]
“I shall never be a pauper while I have my health and strength, Mr. Wentworth.”
“You must think me a fool to surrender so large a sum as twenty thousand dollars on the demand of a half-grown boy like yourself!”
“No, Mr. Wentworth. I was only trying to find out whether you were a man of integrity!”
Bradley Wentworth regarded Gerald with a fixed and thoughtful glance. He had expected to twine16 the boy round his finger, but found that he was more resolute than he expected. He exhibited a force of character which his father had never possessed17.
Wentworth was not a patient man, and the boy’s perverseness18, as he called it, provoked him, and brought out his sterner and more disagreeable qualities.
“Boy,” he said harshly, “I have a piece of advice to give you.”
“What is it, sir?”
“Don’t make me your enemy! I came here intending to be your friend, and you decline my advances.”
[71]
“No, sir,” answered Gerald firmly. “I don’t consider that you act a friendly part when you decline to carry out a solemn compact made with my father.”
“It is a delusion of his and yours,” returned Wentworth, “I can only look upon your attitude as that of a blackmailer20.”
“No one has more contempt for a blackmailer than I,” said Gerald. “I am old enough to understand the meaning of the term. If a man owed you money, and you presented your claim, would you consider it blackmail19?”
“Certainly not.”
“Then I need not defend myself from your charge.”
“You and I take different views on this question, but it is of some importance to you not to offend me.”
“Why?” asked Gerald, looking straight into the eyes of his companion.
“Because I am rich and powerful.”
“And I am weak and poor?”
“Precisely.”
“What use do you propose to make of your power, Mr. Wentworth?”
[72]
“Listen, boy, I am capable of being a good friend——”
“As you were to my father,” suggested Gerald significantly.
“As I was to your father, only he did not appreciate it.”
“I don’t care to have such a friend.”
“But I have something to add. I can be a bitter enemy when I am badly treated.”
“I suppose that is meant as a threat, Mr. Wentworth,” said Gerald calmly.
“You can take it so.”
“Then I have my answer ready. I care neither for your friendship nor your enmity. I shall do what I consider right, and if my own conscience approves I shall seek no other approval.”
“You are very independent for a young boy, especially one in your circumstances,” sneered22 Wentworth.
“You may be right. I am independent, and I intend to remain so.”
“Wait till you get older, and have been buffeted23 by the world. You will understand then that you have made a serious mistake in repelling24 my offer of help.”
“Have you anything more to say to me, Mr. Wentworth?”
[73]
“No, unless to add that I generally get even with those who oppose me. Indeed, I have a great mind to chastise25 you here and now.”
Gerald rose from his seat and confronted the angry man, but without betraying any trace of excitement or fear.
“You are probably more than a match for me physically26, Mr. Wentworth,” he said, “but if you undertake anything of that kind you will meet with a determined27 resistance.”
And as Wentworth looked into the boy’s resolute face he quite understood that he spoke28 only the truth.
“No,” he said, after a brief pause, “I will bide29 my time. You may repent30 of your folly31 and decide to come to terms with me. If you don’t——”
He did not finish the sentence, for a man on horseback came galloping32 up to the cabin. He checked his horse, and said inquiringly, “Is this Mr. Bradley Wentworth?”
“I am he,” answered Wentworth, rising.
“Then here is a telegram for you. It came to Denver, and I have ridden seventy miles to bring it to you.”
Wentworth tore open the message. It contained these words:
[74]
“Come home at once. The men are on strike. I can do nothing without your authority.
“Morgan.”
“This is from my foreman. I am summoned home,” said Wentworth, looking up. “How soon can I leave here?”
In fifteen minutes Bradley Wentworth set out on his return. His mind was so much occupied with the serious news from home that he left without a word to Gerald, who stood watching the conveyance34 till it disappeared behind a bend in the cliff.
“Now I am indeed alone!” he reflected, as his eyes rested sadly on the poor cabin which he and his father had occupied for three years. “I am alone in the world, with no friend, but with one powerful enemy.”
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1
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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2
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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3
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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4
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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5
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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6
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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7
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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8
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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9
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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10
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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12
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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13
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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14
impugn
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| v.指责，对…表示怀疑 | |
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15
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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16
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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17
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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18
perverseness
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| n. 乖张, 倔强, 顽固 | |
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19
blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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20
blackmailer
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| 敲诈者，勒索者 | |
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21
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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22
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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24
repelling
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| v.击退( repel的现在分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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25
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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26
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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27
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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28
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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29
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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30
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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31
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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32
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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33
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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34
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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