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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Adventures of a Telegraph Boy or 'Number 91' » CHAPTER IV. A STRANGE COMMISSION.
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CHAPTER IV. A STRANGE COMMISSION.
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 The life of a telegraph boy is full of variety and excitement. He never knows when he goes to the office in the morning on what errands he may be sent, or what duties he may be called upon to discharge. He may be sent to Brooklyn, or Jersey1 City, with a message—sometimes even farther away. He may be detained to supply the place of an absent office boy, or sent up town to go out and walk with a child. In the evening he may be directed to accompany a lady to the theater as escort. These are a few of the uses to which telegraph messenger boys are put.
Of course Paul had had his share of varied2 commissions. But the day after that on which our story opens, a new duty awaited him.
It was about five o’clock that the superintendent3 called “Number 91.”
“Yes, sir,” answered Paul, promptly4.
“You are to go up to No. ——, West Fifty First Street, to spend the night.”
Paul looked surprised.
“To spend the night?” he repeated.
“Yes, the head of the household has been called away for a day or two, and there is no man in the house. Mrs. Cunningham is timid, and has sent for a boy to protect the house against possible burglars.”
The superintendent smiled, and so did Paul.
“I guess I can do it,” he said.
[23]
“Very well, you will report at the house about seven o’clock.”
“Can I go home and tell grandfather? He might be alarmed if I didn’t come home.”
“Yes; I will give you an extra half hour for supper.”
At seven o’clock Paul rang the bell of a handsome brown stone mansion5 on West Fifty First Street.
The door was opened by a servant girl.
“I was sent for by Mrs. Cunningham,” said Paul.
“Yes, the missis is expecting you. Come right in!”
Paul observed, as he followed the girl upstairs into a sitting room on the second floor, that the house was very handsomely furnished—and came to the natural conclusion that the occupants were rich.
“Just take a seat, and I’ll tell the missis,” said the girl.
Paul sat down in a plush covered arm chair, and looked about him admiringly. “I wonder how it must seem to live in such a house as this,” he reflected. And then his thoughts went back to the miserable6 tenement7 house in which he and his grandfather lived, and he felt more disgusted with it than ever, after the sight of this splendor8.
His reflections were interrupted by the entrance of a pleasant faced lady.
“Are you the boy I sent for?” she asked, with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” answered Paul, respectfully, rising as he spoke9.
“I suppose you know why I want you,” proceeded the lady.
“Yes, ma’am; I was told there were only ladies in the house, and you wanted a man to sleep here.”
“I am afraid you can hardly be called a man,” said the lady with another smile. “Still you are not a woman or girl, and I shall feel safer for having you[24] here. I am afraid I am a sad coward. What is your name?”
“Paul—Paul Parton.”
“That is a nice name.”
“My husband has been called to Washington,” she added, after a pause, “and will be absent possibly ten nights. Knowing my timidity, he recommended my sending for a messenger boy. I may say, however, that I have some reason for alarm. Two houses in this block have been entered at night within a month. Besides, through a thieving servant, who was probably a confederate of thieves, it has become known that we keep some valuables in a safe in the library, and this may prove a temptation.”
At this moment an extremely pretty girl of fourteen entered the room, and looked inquiringly at Paul.
“Jennie,” said Mrs. Cunningham, “this is Paul Parton, who is to protect and defend us tonight, if necessary.”
Jennie regarded Paul with a smile.
“Won’t you be afraid?” she asked.
“No, miss,” answered Paul, who was instantly impressed in favor of the pretty girl whose acquaintance he was just making.
“I’m not easily frightened,” he answered.
“Then you’re different from mamma and me. We are regular scarecrows—no, that isn’t the word. I mean we are regular cowards. Still, with a brave and strong man in the house,” she added, with an arch smile, “we shall feel safe.”
“I hope you will be,” said Paul
“It is still early,” said Mrs. Cunningham. “Have you had your supper, Paul?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We shall not retire before ten—Jennie, you can entertain this young gentleman, if you like.”
[25]
“All right, mamma—if I can—that is, if he isn’t hard to entertain. Do you play dominoes, Paul?”
“Yes, miss.”
“O, don’t call me miss—I don’t mind your calling me Jennie.”
The two sat down to a game of dominoes, and were soon on the friendliest possible terms.
After a while, seeing a piano in the room, Paul asked the young lady if she played.
“Yes; would you like to hear me?”
“If you please.”
After three or four pieces, she asked—“Don’t you sing?”
“Not much,” answered Paul, bashfully.
“Sing me something, won’t you?”
Paul blushed, and tried to excuse himself.
“I don’t sing any but common songs,” he said.
“That’s what I want to hear.”
After a while Paul mustered10 courage enough to sing “Baby Mine,” and another song which he had heard at Harry11 Miner’s.
They were not classical, but the young lady seemed to enjoy them immensely. They were quite unlike what she had been accustomed to hear, and perhaps for that reason she enjoyed them the more.
“I think you sing splendidly,” she said.
Of course Paul blushed, and put in a modest disclaimer. Still he felt pleased, and decided12 that Jennie Cunningham was the nicest girl he had ever met.
“But what would she say,” he thought, “if she could see the miserable place I live in?” and the perspiration13 gathered on his face at the mere14 thought.
At ten o’clock Mrs. Cunningham suggested that it was time to go to bed.
“Paul, you will sleep in a little bedroom adjoining the library,” she said.
[26]
“All right, ma’am.”
“Come with me and I will show you your bedroom.”
It was a pleasant room, though small, and seemed to Paul the height of luxury.
“Shall I leave with you my husband’s revolver?” asked the lady.
“Yes, ma’am, I would like it.”
“Do you understand the use of revolvers?”
“Yes; I have practiced some with them in a shooting gallery.”
“I hope there will be no occasion to use it. I don’t think there will. But it is best to be prepared.”
Paul threw himself on the bed in his uniform in order to be better prepared to meet any midnight intruder.
“It won’t do to sleep too sound,” he thought, “or the house might be robbed without my knowing it.”
He was soon fast asleep. It might have been because he had the matter on his mind that about midnight he woke up. A faint light had been left burning in the chandelier in the library. Was it imagination on Paul’s part that he thought he heard a noise in the adjoining room? Instantly he was on the alert.
“It may be a burglar!” he thought, with a thrill of excitement.
He got up softly, reached for the revolver, and with a stealthy step advanced to the door that opened into the library.
What he saw was certainly startling.
A man, tall and broad shouldered, was on his knees before the safe, preparing to open it.
“What are you doing there?” demanded the telegraph boy, firmly.
 
THE INTERRUPTED BURGLAR.—See page 27.
The man sprang to his feet, and confronted Paul[27] standing15 with a revolver in his hand pointed16 in his direction.
“O, it’s a kid!” he said, contemptuously.
“What are you doing there?” repeated Paul.
“None of yer business! Go back to bed!”
“Leave this house or I fire!”
The man thought of springing upon the boy, but there was something in his firm tone that made him think it best to parley17. A revolver, even in a boy’s hand, might prove formidable.
“Go to bed, or I’ll kill you!” said the burglar, with an ugly frown.
“I will give you two minutes to leave this room and the house!” said Paul. “If you are here at the end of that time I fire!”
There was an expression of baffled rage on the face of the low browed ruffian as he stood bending forward, as if ready to spring upon the undaunted boy.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
2 varied giIw9     
adj.多样的,多变化的
参考例句:
  • The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
  • The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。
3 superintendent vsTwV     
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
参考例句:
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
4 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
5 mansion 8BYxn     
n.大厦,大楼;宅第
参考例句:
  • The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
  • The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。
6 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
7 tenement Egqzd5     
n.公寓;房屋
参考例句:
  • They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
  • She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里,她觉得很得意。
8 splendor hriy0     
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌
参考例句:
  • Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
  • All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。
9 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
10 mustered 3659918c9e43f26cfb450ce83b0cbb0b     
v.集合,召集,集结(尤指部队)( muster的过去式和过去分词 );(自他人处)搜集某事物;聚集;激发
参考例句:
  • We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
  • The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
12 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
13 perspiration c3UzD     
n.汗水;出汗
参考例句:
  • It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了,我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
  • The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。
14 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
15 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
16 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
17 parley H4wzT     
n.谈判
参考例句:
  • The governor was forced to parley with the rebels.州长被迫与反叛者谈判。
  • The general held a parley with the enemy about exchanging prisoners.将军与敌人谈判交换战俘事宜。


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