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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Adrift in New York » CHAPTER XVI. DODGER BECOMES AMBITIOUS.
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CHAPTER XVI. DODGER BECOMES AMBITIOUS.
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 “Ah, there, Dodger1!”
 
Dodger, who had been busily and successfully selling evening papers in front of the Astor House, turned quickly as he heard his name called.
 
His glance rested on two men, dressed in soiled white hats and shabby suits, who were apparently2 holding each other up, having both been imbibing3.
 
He at once recognized Hooker and Briggs, for he had waited upon them too many times in Tim’s saloon not to recognize them.
 
“Well,” he said, cautiously, “what do you want?”
 
“Tim has sent us for you!” answered the two, in unison4.
 
“What does he want of me?”
 
“He wants you to come home. He says he can’t get along without you.”
 
“He will have to get along without me,” said the boy, independently. “Tell him I’m not goin’ back!”
 
“You’re wrong, Dodger,” said Hooker, shaking his head, solemnly. “Ain’t he your father?”
 
“No, he ain’t.”
 
“He says he is,” continued Hooker, looking puzzled.
 
“That don’t make it so.”
 
“He ought to know,” put in Briggs.
 
“Yes; he ought to know!” chimed in Hooker.
 
“No doubt he does, but he can’t make me believe he’s any relation of mine.”
 
“Just go and argy the point with him,” said Hooker, coaxingly5.
 
“It wouldn’t do no good.”
 
“Maybe it would. Just go back with us, that’s a good boy.”
 
“What makes you so anxious about it?” asked Dodger, suspiciously.
 
“Well,” said Hooker, coughing, “we’re Tim’s friends, don’t you know.”
 
“What’s he goin’ to give you if I go back with you?” asked the boy, shrewdly.
 
“A glass of whiskey!” replied Hooker and Briggs in unison.
 
“Is that all?”
 
“Maybe he’d make it two.”
 
“I won’t go back with you,” said Dodger, after a moment’s thought; “but I don’t want you to lose anything by me. Here’s a dime6 apiece, and you can go and get a drink somewhere else.”
 
“You’re a trump7, Dodger,” said Hooker, eagerly holding out his hand.
 
“I always liked you, Dodger,” said Briggs, with a similar motion.
 
“Now, don’t let Tim know you’ve seen me,” said the newsboy, warningly.
 
“We won’t.”
 
And the interesting pair ambled8 off in the direction of the Bowery.
 
“So Tim sent them fellers after me?” soliloqized Dodger. “I guess I’ll have to change my office, or maybe Tim himself will be droppin’ down on me some mornin’. It’ll be harder to get rid of him than of them chumps.”
 
So it happened that he used to take down his morning papers to the piers9 on the North River, and take his chance of selling them to passengers from Boston and others ports arriving by the Fall River boats, and others from different points.
 
The advantage of this was that he often got a chance to serve as guide to strangers visiting the city for the first time, or as porter, to carry their valise or other luggage.
 
Being a bright, wideawake boy, with a pleasant face and manner, he found his services considerably10 in demand; and on counting up his money at the end of the week, he found, much to his encouragement, that he had received on an average about a dollar and twenty-five cents per day.
 
“That’s better than sellin’ papers alone,” thought he. “Besides, Tim isn’t likely to come across me here. I wonder I didn’t think of settin’ up for myself before!”
 
In the evening he spent an hour, and sometimes more, pursuing his studies, under the direction of Florence. At first his attention was given chiefly to improving his reading and spelling, for Dodger was far from fluent in the first, while his style of spelling many words was strikingly original.
 
“Ain’t I stupid, Florence?” he asked one day, after spelling a word of three syllables11 with such ingenious incorrectness as to convulse his young teacher with merriment.
 
“Not at all, Dodger. You are making excellent progress; but sometimes you are so droll12 that I can’t help laughing.”
 
“I don’t mind that if you think I am really gettin’ on.”
 
“Undoubtedly you are!”
 
“I make a great many mistakes,” said Dodger, dubiously13.
 
“Yes, you do; but you must remember that you have taken lessons only a short time. Don’t you think you can read a good deal more easily than you did?”
 
“Yes; I don’t trip up half so often as I did. I’m afraid you’ll get tired of teachin’ me.”
 
“No fear of that, Dodger. As long as I see that you are improving, I shall feel encouraged to go on.”
 
“I wish I knew as much as your other scholar.”
 
“You will in time if you go on. You mustn’t get discouraged.”
 
“I won’t!” said Dodger, stoutly14. “If a little gal15 like her can learn, I’d ought to be ashamed if I don’t—a big boy of eighteen.”
 
“It isn’t the size of the boy that counts, Dodger.”
 
“I know that, but I ain’t goin’ to give in, and let a little gal get ahead of me!”
 
“Keep to that determination, Dodger, and you will succeed in time, never fear.”
 
On the whole, Florence enjoyed both her pupils. She had the faculty16 of teaching, and she became very much interested in both.
 
As for Dodger, she thought, rough diamond as he was, that she saw in him the making of a manly17 man, and she felt that it was a privilege to assist in the development of his intellectual nature.
 
Again, he had picked up a good deal of slang from the nature of his associates, and she set to work to improve his language, and teach him refinement18.
 
It was necessarily a slow process, but she began to find after a time that a gradual change was coming over him.
 
“I want you to grow up a gentleman, Dodger,” she said to him one day.
 
“I’m too rough for that, Florence. I’m only an ignorant street boy.”
 
“You are not going to be an ignorant street boy all your life. I don’t see why you should not grow up a polished gentleman.”
 
“I shall never be like that de Brabazon young man,” said he.
 
“No, Dodger; I don’t think you will,” said Florence, laughing. “I don’t want you to become effeminate nor a dude. I think I would like you less than I do now.”
 
“Do you like me, Florence?” asked Dodger, brightening up.
 
“To be sure I do. I hope you don’t doubt it.”
 
“Why, it don’t seem natural-like. You’re a fashionable young lady——”
 
“Not very fashionable, Dodger, just at present.”
 
“Well, a high-toned young lady—one of the tip-tops, and I am a rough Bowery boy.”
 
“You were once, but you are getting over that rapidly. Did you ever hear of Andy Johnson?”
 
“Who was he?”
 
“He became President of the United States. Well, at the age of twenty-one he could neither read nor write.”
 
“At twenty-one?” repeated Dodger. “Why, I’m only eighteen, and I do know something of readin’ and writin’.”
 
“To be sure! Well, Andy Johnson was taught to read and write by his wife. He kept on improving himself till, in course of time, he became a United States Senator, Vice-President, and afterward19, President. Now, I don’t expect you to equal him, but I see no reason why you should not become a well-educated man if you are content to work, and keep on working.”
 
“I will keep on, Florence,” said Dodger, earnestly.
 
“If I ever find my relations I don’t want them to be ashamed of me.”
 
It was not the first time he had referred to his uncertain origin.
 
“Won’t Tim Bolton tell you anything about your family?”
 
“No; I’ve asked him more’n once. He always says he’s my father, and that makes me mad.”
 
“It is strange,” said Florence, thoughtfully. “I had a young cousin stolen many years ago.”
 
“Was it the son of the old gentleman you lived with on Madison Avenue?”
 
“Yes; it was the son of Uncle John. It quite broke him down. After my cousin’s loss he felt that he had nothing to live for.”
 
“I wish I was your cousin, Florence,” said Dodger, thoughtfully.
 
“Well, then, I will adopt you as my cousin, or brother, whichever you prefer!”
 
“I would rather be your cousin.”
 
“Then cousin let it be! Now we are bound to each other by strong and near ties.”
 
“But when your uncle takes you back you’ll forget all about poor Dodger.”
 
“No, I won’t, Dodger. There’s my hand on it. Whatever comes, we are friends forever.”
 
“Then I’ll try not to disgrace you, Florence. I’ll learn as fast as I can, and see if I don’t grow up to be a gentleman.”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 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。
2 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
3 imbibing 1ad249b3b90d0413873a959aad2aa991     
v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 );喝;吸取;吸气
参考例句:
  • It was not long before the imbibing began to tell. 很快,喝酒喝得有效果了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • The soil expands upon imbibing water. 土壤会由于吸水而膨胀。 来自辞典例句
4 unison gKCzB     
n.步调一致,行动一致
参考例句:
  • The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
  • My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。
5 coaxingly 2424e5a5134f6694a518ab5be2fcb7d5     
adv. 以巧言诱哄,以甘言哄骗
参考例句:
6 dime SuQxv     
n.(指美国、加拿大的钱币)一角
参考例句:
  • A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
  • The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。
7 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
8 ambled 7a3e35ee6318b68bdb71eeb2b10b8a94     
v.(马)缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 );从容地走,漫步
参考例句:
  • We ambled down to the beach. 我们漫步向海滩走去。
  • The old man ambled home through the garden every evening. 那位老人每天晚上经过花园漫步回家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 piers 97df53049c0dee20e54484371e5e225c     
n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 );(常设有娱乐场所的)突堤;柱子;墙墩
参考例句:
  • Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
  • At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇,不论潮汐如何涨落,都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句
10 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
11 syllables d36567f1b826504dbd698bd28ac3e747     
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a word with two syllables 双音节单词
  • 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓,它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
12 droll J8Tye     
adj.古怪的,好笑的
参考例句:
  • The band have a droll sense of humour.这个乐队有一种滑稽古怪的幽默感。
  • He looked at her with a droll sort of awakening.他用一种古怪的如梦方醒的神情看着她.
13 dubiously dubiously     
adv.可疑地,怀疑地
参考例句:
  • "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去,撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句
14 stoutly Xhpz3l     
adv.牢固地,粗壮的
参考例句:
  • He stoutly denied his guilt.他断然否认自己有罪。
  • Burgess was taxed with this and stoutly denied it.伯杰斯为此受到了责难,但是他自己坚决否认有这回事。
15 gal 56Zy9     
n.姑娘,少女
参考例句:
  • We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
  • What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么?
16 faculty HhkzK     
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员
参考例句:
  • He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
  • He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。
17 manly fBexr     
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地
参考例句:
  • The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
  • He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务,并希望别人效之。
18 refinement kinyX     
n.文雅;高尚;精美;精制;精炼
参考例句:
  • Sally is a woman of great refinement and beauty. 莎莉是个温文尔雅又很漂亮的女士。
  • Good manners and correct speech are marks of refinement.彬彬有礼和谈吐得体是文雅的标志。
19 afterward fK6y3     
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。


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