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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Adventures of a Telegraph Boy or 'Number 91' » CHAPTER XIII. JAMES BARCLAY AT HOME.
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CHAPTER XIII. JAMES BARCLAY AT HOME.
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 James Barclay’s disappointment was intense when he discovered that his father had eluded1 him. He was almost penniless, and had nothing of sufficient value to pawn2. Had he raised the sum which he had expected from old Jerry, it is doubtful whether he would have returned to his family in Jersey3 City. As it was, he had no other resource.
His wife, who took in washing to do at home, was hard at work ironing when the door opened and her husband entered. A frown was on his face, and he was evidently in ill temper.
A cat, the family pet, being in his way, he kicked her brutally4, and the poor animal, moaning piteously, fled in wild dismay.
“Get out of the way, you beast!” he said, angrily.
“Don’t kick poor Topsy!” pleaded his wife. “I am afraid you have hurt the poor little thing.”
“Keep her out of my way, then,” growled5 Barclay. “I hate cats. You must be a fool to keep one.”
“The children love poor Topsy, James,” said his wife.
“I suppose you’d keep a snake for them, if they liked it.”
“A kitten is very different from a snake.”
“I shall kill it some time if it gets in my way. Have you got anything to eat in the house?”
Mrs. Barclay paused in her work long enough to[77] get some bread and meat from the pantry, which she set before her husband.
“Where are the children?” he asked, after a while.
“They have gone to school.”
“They ought to be earning something at their age,” growled Barclay.
“They are very young yet, James. You wouldn’t have me take them from school?”
“School won’t do ’em much good.”
“You wouldn’t have them grow up ignorant, surely?”
“They have got to earn something. I can’t support them in idleness.”
As it was some years since he had contributed a cent to their support, his wife didn’t quite appreciate his complaint, but she knew too much of her husband’s temper to argue with him.
“Jimmy sells papers when he gets home from school,” she said.
“How much does he earn that way?”
“Sometimes from fifteen to twenty cents.”
“He’ll need to earn more, I can tell you that. I’m very poor, Ellen, and cursed unfortunate, too. I haven’t money enough to buy a ten cent cigar.”
“I will try to support the children if you will take care of yourself, James.”
Any man with a spark of true manhood in him would have been shamed by such a proposition, but James Barclay was a thoroughly6 selfish man. It seemed to him that his wife ought to support him, too.
“Have you got a dollar about you, Ellen?” he asked.
“Ye-es,” she answered, hesitatingly, “but I must buy some bread and groceries this evening, or the children won’t have their supper.”
“Seems to me you care more about the children[78] than you do about your husband. A pretty wife you are!”
“I don’t deserve that, James. Of course you are welcome to your share of the supper.”
“Thank you! So you want to treat me as a child.”
The man was utterly7 unreasonable8, and his wife can hardly be blamed if there rose in her mind a regret that he had not stayed away longer, and left her and the children in peace.
“I thought you expected to have some money today, James,” she said.
“Yes, but I didn’t get it. Just my cursed luck!” he answered, bitterly. “My own father turns his back on me, and won’t give me a cent, though he has money in plenty.”
“Your father?” said his wife in surprise. “Is he—have you seen him?”
“Yes, I saw him yesterday, and told him I would call today for fifty dollars. I went, and found the old scoundrel had disappeared.”
“Is it right to call your father by such a name? He may not have had the money.”
“You don’t know my father. He’s a miser9, and always has been. He lives in a wretched hole, not so good as this place, while he has thousands of dollars invested, or hidden somewhere. He thinks he’s got rid of me, but” (here an oath escaped his lips) “he will find he’s mistaken.”
All this was new to Mrs. Barclay, who had heard very little of her husband’s family.
“Perhaps if you find him you could induce him to come and live with us,” she said. “He might take an interest in the children and do something for them.”
“More likely he would want to live off us. However, if I could once get him here, I’d manage to get my hand into his purse. It’s a good idea.”
[79]
“Does he live alone? He must be an old man.”
“He’s all bent10 and shriveled up; he’s got a telegraph boy living with him, he told me. I hate telegraph boys—I met one the other night—an impudent11 young rascal12! I’d like to meet him again. I’d wring13 the kid’s neck for him.”
“Where did you meet him, James?”
James Barclay eyed his wife suspiciously. He did not care to tell her under what circumstances he met Paul Parton.
“Never you mind, old woman!” he said. “It’s no concern of yours.”
“If you don’t want to tell me, I don’t care to know, James,” she answered, meekly14.
“Well, I don’t want to tell you. But about the old man’s coming here, it’s a good idea of yours. I will send off the telegraph boy, for he might be dangerous. Ten to one he’s trying to get the old man to leave him his property. I wish I knew where he is.”
“Haven’t you got any clew?”
“No, he’s hid somewhere. He won’t come out of his hole for fear of meeting me.”
“If you could meet this telegraph boy, you might learn through him where your father is.”
“Unfortunately, Mrs. B., I don’t know the telegraph boy—never met him—shouldn’t know him from Adam.”
“I suppose he has a number.”
“That’s so, old woman!” exclaimed Barclay, slapping his knee with emphasis. “I think I know where I can find out his number, and then it’ll be easy to find him. He can’t hide from me, for he has to be on duty every day. But I shall want money—just give me that dollar!”
“I can’t, James; the poor children would have to go without their supper.”
[80]
“Look here, Mrs. B., I want you to understand that you’ve got to obey your husband. I’ll give you back the money as soon as I can, but I need it to track my father. Let me once get hold of him, and it’ll be all right. I will soon have plenty of money.”
“But I can’t spare the money, James. The children must have their supper.”
“I’m tired of your talk,” he rejoined, roughly. “If you refuse me the money, I’ll raise it in some other way.”
He glared round the room, and his eyes rested on a dress that his wife had just ironed.
“I can raise something on that,” he said, seizing the dress, and preparing to carry it away.
“Stop, James, for pity’s sake!” cried his wife, terrified. “That dress belongs to one of my customers. It would be stealing to take it!”
“She’s probably got plenty of others; she can spare it,” he said.
His wife hastened to him and tried to wrench15 the dress from his grasp, but holding it in one hand beyond her reach, he gripped her arm with the other so hard that she uttered a cry of pain.
At this moment the door was pushed open, and a new character appeared upon the scene in the person of a stalwart policeman.
“What’s all this?” he demanded, in a tone of authority. “Release that woman, or I’ll take you in.”

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1 eluded 8afea5b7a29fab905a2d34ae6f94a05f     
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到
参考例句:
  • The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
2 pawn 8ixyq     
n.典当,抵押,小人物,走卒;v.典当,抵押
参考例句:
  • He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
  • It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。
3 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。
4 brutally jSRya     
adv.残忍地,野蛮地,冷酷无情地
参考例句:
  • The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
  • A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。
5 growled 65a0c9cac661e85023a63631d6dab8a3     
v.(动物)发狺狺声, (雷)作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 );低声咆哮着说
参考例句:
  • \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道:“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
7 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
8 unreasonable tjLwm     
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的
参考例句:
  • I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
  • They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。
9 miser p19yi     
n.守财奴,吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly)
参考例句:
  • The miser doesn't like to part with his money.守财奴舍不得花他的钱。
  • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
10 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
11 impudent X4Eyf     
adj.鲁莽的,卑鄙的,厚颜无耻的
参考例句:
  • She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
  • The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。
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 wring 4oOys     
n.扭绞;v.拧,绞出,扭
参考例句:
  • My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿,我不得不拧干它们。
  • I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩,我就拧断你的脖子。
14 meekly meekly     
adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地
参考例句:
  • He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时,他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 wrench FMvzF     
v.猛拧;挣脱;使扭伤;n.扳手;痛苦,难受
参考例句:
  • He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
  • It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。


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