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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Adrift in New York » CHAPTER XIII. TIM BOLTON’S SALOON.
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CHAPTER XIII. TIM BOLTON’S SALOON.
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 Not far from Houston Street, on the west side of the Bowery, is an underground saloon, with whose proprietor1 we are already acquainted.
 
It was kept by Tim Bolton, whose peculiar2 tastes and shady characteristics well fitted him for such a business.
 
It was early evening, and the gas jets lighted up a characteristic scene.
 
On the sanded floor were set several tables, around which were seated a motley company, all of them with glasses of beer or whiskey before them.
 
Tim, with a white apron3 on, was moving about behind the bar, ministering to the wants of his patrons. There was a scowl4 upon his face, for he was not fond of work, and he missed Dodger5’s assistance.
 
The boy understood the business of mixing drinks as well as he, and often officiated for hours at a time, thus giving his guardian6 and reputed father a chance to leave the place and meet outside engagements.
 
A tall, erect7 gentleman entered the saloon, and walked up to the bar.
 
“Good-evening, colonel,” said Tim.
 
“Good-evening, sir,” said the newcomer, with a stately inclination8 of the head.
 
He was really a colonel, having served in the Civil War at the head of a Georgia regiment9.
 
He had all the stately courtesy of a Southern gentleman, though not above the weakness of a frequent indulgence in the strongest fluids dispensed10 by Tim Bolton.
 
“What’ll you have, colonel?”
 
“Whiskey straight, sir. It’s the only drink fit for a gentleman. Will you join me, Mr. Bolton?”
 
“Of course, I will,” said Tim, as, pouring out a glass for himself, he handed the bottle to the colonel.
 
“Your health, sir,” said the colonel, bowing.
 
“Same to you, colonel,” responded Tim, with a nod.
 
“Where’s the boy?”
 
Col. Martin had always taken considerable notice of Dodger, being naturally fond of boys, and having once had a son of his own, who was killed in a railroad accident when about Dodger’s age.
 
“Danged if I know!” answered Tim, crossly.
 
“He hasn’t left you, has he?”
 
“Yes; he’s cleared out, the ungrateful young imp11! I’d like to lay my hands on the young rascal12.”
 
“Was he your son?”
 
“He was my—stepson,” answered Tim, hesitating.
 
“I see, you married his mother.”
 
“Yes,” said Tim, considering the explanation satisfactory, and resolved to adopt it. “I’ve always treated him as if he was my own flesh and blood, and I’ve raised him from a young kid. Now he’s gone and left me.”
 
“Can you think of any reason for his leaving you?”
 
“Not one. I always treated him well. He’s been a great expense to me, and now he’s got old enough to help me he must clear out. He’s the most ungrateful cub13 I ever seen.”
 
“I am sorry he has gone—I used to like to have him serve me.”
 
“And now what’s the consequence? Here I am tied down to the bar day and night.”
 
“Can’t you get some one in his place?”
 
“Yes, but I’d likely be robbed; I had a bartender once who robbed me of two or three dollars a day.”
 
“But you trusted the boy?”
 
“Yes, Dodger wouldn’t steal—I can say that much for him.”
 
“There’s one thing I noticed about the boy,” said the colonel, reflectively. “He wouldn’t drink. More than once I have asked him to drink with me, but he would always say, ‘Thank you, colonel, but I don’t like whiskey.’ I never asked him to take anything else, for whiskey’s the only drink fit for a gentleman. Do you expect to get the boy back?”
 
“If I could only get out for a day I’d hunt him up; but I’m tied down here.”
 
“I seed him yesterday, Tim,” said a red-nosed man who had just entered the saloon, in company with a friend of the same general appearance. Both wore silk hats, dented14 and soiled with stains of dirt, coats long since superannuated15, and wore the general look of barroom loafers.
 
They seldom had any money, but lay in wait for any liberal stranger, in the hope of securing a free drink.
 
“Where did you see him, Hooker?” asked Tim Bolton, with sudden interest.
 
“Selling papers down by the Astor House.”
 
“Think of that, colonel!” said Tim, disgusted. “Becomin’ a common newsboy, when he might be in a genteel employment! Did you speak to him, Hooker?”
 
“Yes, I asked him if he had left you.”
 
“What did he say?”
 
“That he had left you for good—that he was going to grow up respectable!”
 
“Think of that!” said Tim, with renewed disgust. “Did he say where he lived?”
 
“No.”
 
“Did he ask after me?”
 
“No, except he said that you were no relation of his. He said he expected you stole him when he was a kid, and he hoped some time to find his relations.”
 
Tim Bolton’s face changed color, and he was evidently disturbed. Could the boy have heard anything? he wondered, for his suspicions were very near the truth.
 
“It’s all nonsense!” he said, roughly. “Next time you see him, Hooker, foller him home, and find out where he lives.”
 
“All right, Tim. It ought to be worth something,” he insinuated16, with a husky cough.
 
“That’s so. What’ll you take?”
 
“Whiskey,” answered Hooker, with a look of pleased anticipation17.
 
“You’re a gentleman, Tim,” he said, as he gulped18 down the contents of a glass without winking19.
 
Briggs, his dilapidated companion, had been looking on in thirsty envy.
 
“I’ll help Hooker to look for Dodger,” he said.
 
“Very well, Briggs.”
 
“Couldn’t you stand a glass for me, too, Tim?” asked Briggs, eagerly.
 
“No,” answered Bolton, irritably20. “I’ve been at enough expense for that young rascal already.”
 
But the colonel noticed the pathetic look of disappointment on the face of Briggs, and he was stirred to compassion21.
 
“Drink with me, sir,” he said, turning to the overjoyed Briggs.
 
“Thank you, colonel. You’re a gentleman!”
 
“Two glasses, Tim.”
 
So the colonel drained a second glass, and Briggs, pouring out with trembling fingers as much as he dared, followed suit.
 
When the last drop was drunk, he breathed a deep sigh of measureless enjoyment22.
 
“If either of you bring that boy in here,” said Tim, “I’ll stand a couple of glasses for both.”
 
“We’re your men, Tim,” said Hooker. “Ain’t we, Briggs?”
 
“That’s so, Hooker. Shake!”
 
And the poor victims of drink shook hands energetically. Long since they had sunk their manhood in the intoxicating23 cup, and henceforth lived only to gratify their unnatural24 craving25 for what would sooner or later bring them to a drunkard’s grave.
 
As they left the saloon, the colonel turned to Tim, and said:
 
“I like whiskey, sir; but I’ll be hanged if I can respect such men as those.”
 
“They’re bums26, colonel, that’s what they are!”
 
“How do they live?”
 
“Don’t know. They’re in here about every day.”
 
“If it’s drink that’s brought them where they are, I’m half inclined to give it up; but, after all, it isn’t necessary to make a beast of yourself. I always drink like a gentleman, sir.”
 
“So you do, colonel.”
 
At that moment a poor woman, in a faded calico dress with a thin shawl over her shoulders, descended27 the steps that led into the saloon, and walked up to the bar.
 
“Has my husband been here to-night?” she asked.
 
Tim Bolton frowned.
 
“Who’s your husband?” he asked, roughly.
 
“Wilson.”
 
“No, Bill Wilson hasn’t been here to-night. Even if he had you have no business to come after him. I don’t want any sniveling women here.”
 
“I couldn’t help it, Mr. Bolton,” said the woman, putting her apron to her eyes. “If Bill comes in, won’t you tell him to come home? The baby’s dead, and we haven’t a cent in the house!”
 
Even Tim was moved by this.
 
“I’ll tell him,” he said. “Take a drink yourself; you don’t look strong. It shan’t cost you a cent.”
 
“No,” said the woman, “not a drop! It has ruined my happiness, and broken up our home! Not a drop!”
 
“Here, my good lady,” said the colonel, with chivalrous28 deference29, “you have no money. Take this,” and he handed the astonished woman a five-dollar bill.
 
“Heaven bless you, sir!” she exclaimed, fervently30.
 
“Allow me to see you to the street,” and the gallant31 Southern gentleman escorted her up to the sidewalk.
 
“I’d like to horsewhip that woman’s husband. Don’t you sell him another drop!” he said, when he returned.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 proprietor zR2x5     
n.所有人;业主;经营者
参考例句:
  • The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
  • The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。
2 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
3 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
4 scowl HDNyX     
vi.(at)生气地皱眉,沉下脸,怒视;n.怒容
参考例句:
  • I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
  • The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色,清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。
5 dodger Ku9z0c     
n.躲避者;躲闪者;广告单
参考例句:
  • They are tax dodgers who hide their interest earnings.他们是隐瞒利息收入的逃税者。
  • Make sure she pays her share she's a bit of a dodger.她自己的一份一定要她付清--她可是有点能赖就赖。
6 guardian 8ekxv     
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
参考例句:
  • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
  • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
7 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的
参考例句:
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头,把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
8 inclination Gkwyj     
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好
参考例句:
  • She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
  • I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。
9 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
10 dispensed 859813db740b2251d6defd6f68ac937a     
v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 );施与;配(药)
参考例句:
  • Not a single one of these conditions can be dispensed with. 这些条件缺一不可。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • They dispensed new clothes to the children in the orphanage. 他们把新衣服发给孤儿院的小孩们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
11 imp Qy3yY     
n.顽童
参考例句:
  • What a little imp you are!你这个淘气包!
  • There's a little imp always running with him.他总有一个小鬼跟着。
12 rascal mAIzd     
n.流氓;不诚实的人
参考例句:
  • If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做,我就认为他是个恶棍。
  • The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。
13 cub ny5xt     
n.幼兽,年轻无经验的人
参考例句:
  • The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
  • The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。
14 dented dented     
v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 );损害;伤害;挫伤(信心、名誉等)
参考例句:
  • The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
  • I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 superannuated YhOzQq     
adj.老朽的,退休的;v.因落后于时代而废除,勒令退学
参考例句:
  • Are you still riding that superannuated old bike?你还骑那辆老掉牙的自行车吗?
  • No one supports these superannuated policies.没人支持这些过时的政策。
16 insinuated fb2be88f6607d5f4855260a7ebafb1e3     
v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入
参考例句:
  • The article insinuated that he was having an affair with his friend's wife. 文章含沙射影地点出他和朋友的妻子有染。
  • She cleverly insinuated herself into his family. 她巧妙地混进了他的家庭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 anticipation iMTyh     
n.预期,预料,期望
参考例句:
  • We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着,期待她的到来。
  • The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安,像是感到了地震即将发生。
18 gulped 4873fe497201edc23bc8dcb50aa6eb2c     
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住
参考例句:
  • He gulped down the rest of his tea and went out. 他把剩下的茶一饮而尽便出去了。
  • She gulped nervously, as if the question bothered her. 她紧张地咽了一下,似乎那问题把她难住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 winking b599b2f7a74d5974507152324c7b8979     
n.瞬眼,目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮
参考例句:
  • Anyone can do it; it's as easy as winking. 这谁都办得到,简直易如反掌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The stars were winking in the clear sky. 星星在明亮的天空中闪烁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 irritably e3uxw     
ad.易生气地
参考例句:
  • He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了,暴躁地斥责孩子们。
  • On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事,他妻子大声斥责,令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
21 compassion 3q2zZ     
n.同情,怜悯
参考例句:
  • He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
  • Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。
22 enjoyment opaxV     
n.乐趣;享有;享用
参考例句:
  • Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同,我们这次访问更加愉快了。
  • After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话,这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。
23 intoxicating sqHzLB     
a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的
参考例句:
  • Power can be intoxicating. 权力能让人得意忘形。
  • On summer evenings the flowers gave forth an almost intoxicating scent. 夏日的傍晚,鲜花散发出醉人的芳香。
24 unnatural 5f2zAc     
adj.不自然的;反常的
参考例句:
  • Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗?
  • She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。
25 craving zvlz3e     
n.渴望,热望
参考例句:
  • a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
  • She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐,以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。
26 bums bums     
n. 游荡者,流浪汉,懒鬼,闹饮,屁股 adj. 没有价值的,不灵光的,不合理的 vt. 令人失望,乞讨 vi. 混日子,以乞讨为生
参考例句:
  • The other guys are considered'sick" or "bums". 其他的人则被看成是“病态”或“废物”。
  • You'll never amount to anything, you good-for-nothing bums! 这班没出息的东西,一辈子也不会成器。
27 descended guQzoy     
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
参考例句:
  • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
  • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
28 chivalrous 0Xsz7     
adj.武士精神的;对女人彬彬有礼的
参考例句:
  • Men are so little chivalrous now.现在的男人几乎没有什么骑士风度了。
  • Toward women he was nobly restrained and chivalrous.对于妇女,他表现得高尚拘谨,尊敬三分。
29 deference mmKzz     
n.尊重,顺从;敬意
参考例句:
  • Do you treat your parents and teachers with deference?你对父母师长尊敬吗?
  • The major defect of their work was deference to authority.他们的主要缺陷是趋从权威。
30 fervently 8tmzPw     
adv.热烈地,热情地,强烈地
参考例句:
  • "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦,我真高兴!”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊,我亲爱的,亲爱的,你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
31 gallant 66Myb     
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的
参考例句:
  • Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
  • These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。


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