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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Adventures of a Telegraph Boy or 'Number 91' » CHAPTER XXXIII. A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
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CHAPTER XXXIII. A STARTLING DISCOVERY.
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 Paul proved a satisfactory driver, and the old lady’s fears were soon dissipated.
“You drive better than Frost Mercer,” she said in a tone of satisfaction.
“I am glad to hear you say so, Mrs. Granville,” said Paul, well pleased.
“Frost nearly upset me one day. I don’t think he is generally intemperate1, but I suspect he had been drinking something that day.”
“He doesn’t seem to like me,” Paul ventured to say.
“What makes you think so?”
Hereupon Paul related his reception when he went to the barn to harness the horses.
Mrs. Granville listened thoughtfully.
“He should not have acted so,” she said; “I presume he didn’t like the idea of being superseded2.”
“Has he been with you a long time?”
“He and his mother have been in my service for a long time. I think Mrs. Mercer is of a jealous disposition3. She never wishes me to have any one here, but she is very faithful and loyal.”
“I wonder if that is the case,” thought Paul. The housekeeper4 did not seem to him like one who would be unselfishly devoted5 to the service of any one.
Several days passed. Every day Mrs. Granville rode out, sometimes in the forenoon, sometimes in[180] the afternoon, and the effect was perceptible in her improved health and spirits.
“It is fortunate for me that you came here,” she said one day. “Before you came I rode out only once or twice a week. It seems to do me great good to drive every day.”
“Why did you not go out every day, Mrs. Granville?” asked Paul.
“Frost did not seem to like the trouble of going out with me,” she answered. “He often sent word that he was at work, and could not go conveniently.”
Paul wondered whether he was engaged smoking in the barn. In his guess he came near the truth.
“Besides,” added the old lady, “I did not like to ride out with him as well as with you.”
Paul thanked her for the compliment.
“I like to talk with you, but Frost was not very social, and we had very little conversation.”
One afternoon Mrs. Granville asked Paul to drive round to the grocery store. She wished to get a supply of a particular kind of cheese which she had neglected to order through the housekeeper.
It so happened that there were several customers ahead of her, and she had to wait her turn. These were being supplied with various articles, and the old lady could not help overhearing what passed between them and the storekeeper. One thing in especial attracted her attention—the prices that were charged. They were in every instance below those charged on the bills handed in to her by Mrs. Mercer. Mrs. Granville made careful note of these prices, and on the way home broached6 the matter to Paul.
“What does it mean, Paul, do you think?” she asked.
Paul’s wits had been sharpened by his city experience, and he rapidly penetrated7 the secret.
[181]
“You always buy through Mrs. Mercer, do you not?” he asked.
“Yes; but what of that?”
“If I answer it may prejudice you against the housekeeper, and perhaps unjustly.”
“Still it is only right that you should tell me.”
“Can Mrs. Mercer buy wherever she pleases?”
“Yes; I leave the choice of the place to her.”
“Is there another grocer in the village?”
“Yes; there are two.”
“Then I think she charges this grocer a commission for carrying your trade to him, and he makes up for it by charging you a higher price.”
“Is that often done?” asked Mrs. Granville, surprised.
“Yes, I feel sure of it. I remember one evening in the city listening to a conversation between two coachmen employed in private families. They were boasting of the amount of their commissions obtained from blacksmiths, dealers8 in hay and oats, and so on.”
“But that is dishonest,” said the old lady, indignantly.
“They don’t look upon it in that way,” answered Paul.
“And do you agree with them?” asked the old lady, half suspiciously.
“No, I don’t,” answered Paul, promptly9. “I think they ought to be satisfied with their wages.”
“You are right. As for Mrs. Mercer and Frost, they are paid more than most employers would pay, for I am rich, and, thank Heaven, not mean.”
“Don’t condemn10 them without feeling certain,” said Paul; “I may be wrong in their case.”
“I won’t feel satisfied until I have ferreted the matter out,” said Mrs. Granville. She was very good and liberal, but any attempt at imposition made her very angry.
[182]
“How will you find out?”
“You will see.”
The old lady relapsed into silence, and was evidently busy with her thoughts. When she reached home, she called Paul’s services into requisition.
“Paul,” she said, “open the drawer of my bureau—the upper drawer—and take out a file of bills you will find in the left hand corner.”
Paul did so.
“They are Mr. Talbot’s bills.”
Mr. Talbot was the grocer whose store she had left.
“Now we will compare the bills with the prices I heard being charged to the customers who were being waited on in the store.”
This she did with Paul’s help.
The result was that she found herself charged two cents a pound extra on sugar, five cents on butter, three cents on cheese, five cents each on tea and coffee, and so on. Besides she found that excessive quantities of each had been bought, more than three persons could possibly have consumed. What became of the surplus, unless it was thrown away, she could not possibly divine. Of course the housekeeper’s commission increased with increased sales. The real explanation, however, was that Mrs. Mercer had a widowed sister living in the next town. She often called on Mrs. Mercer, and never went away without a liberal supply of groceries, taken from the private stores of Mrs. Granville.
This the old lady did not learn till afterwards.
If Mrs. Mercer had known in what way her mistress and Paul were engaged, she would have quaked with apprehension11, but of this she had no suspicions.
The next afternoon Mrs. Granville drove over once more to Mr. Talbot’s store, and asked for a private interview with him.
[183]
“Certainly, ma’am,” said the unsuspecting grocer, obsequiously12.
“Why is it, Mr. Talbot,” asked the old lady, coming straight to the point, “that you charge me higher prices than you do to your other customers?”
“What makes you think I do?” stammered13 the grocer.
“I’ll tell you. Yesterday I was present when some of your customers were buying butter, sugar, and other articles. I noted14 the prices, and then went home and examined my bills. I find you charge me from two to five cents a pound more than to others. Tell me frankly15 why this is, and I may overlook it.”
“I don’t make any more profit out of you than out of them,” said the grocer.
“But how is this—you charge me more?”
“The extra charge does not go into my pocket.”
“I suspected as much. Into whose then?”
“If I must tell you, it is Mrs. Mercer’s. It is the only condition on which she gives me your trade.”
“Thank you; it is right that I should know.”
“Shall you speak to Mrs. Mercer about this when you get home?” asked Paul, as they were driving homeward.
“Not immediately. I want to observe her a little more. It is a shock to find that one to whom I have been kind for so many years has deceived me so basely.”
Meanwhile Mrs. Mercer, who was becoming more and more jealous of Paul, was arranging a scheme to injure him with Mrs. Granville.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 intemperate ibDzU     
adj.无节制的,放纵的
参考例句:
  • Many people felt threatened by Arther's forceful,sometimes intemperate style.很多人都觉得阿瑟的强硬的、有时过激的作风咄咄逼人。
  • The style was hurried,the tone intemperate.匆促的笔调,放纵的语气。
2 superseded 382fa69b4a5ff1a290d502df1ee98010     
[医]被代替的,废弃的
参考例句:
  • The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
  • The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。
3 disposition GljzO     
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署
参考例句:
  • He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
  • He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。
4 housekeeper 6q2zxl     
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
参考例句:
  • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
  • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
5 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
6 broached 6e5998583239ddcf6fbeee2824e41081     
v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体
参考例句:
  • She broached the subject of a picnic to her mother. 她向母亲提起野餐的问题。 来自辞典例句
  • He broached the subject to the stranger. 他对陌生人提起那话题。 来自辞典例句
7 penetrated 61c8e5905df30b8828694a7dc4c3a3e0     
adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
  • They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。
8 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
9 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。
10 condemn zpxzp     
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑
参考例句:
  • Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他,而有些人谴责他。
  • We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。
11 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
12 obsequiously 09ac939bd60863e6d9b9fc527330e0fb     
参考例句:
  • You must guard against those who fawn upon you and bow obsequiously before you! 对阿谀奉承、点头哈腰的人要格外警惕! 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • When everyone saw the mayor, they all bowed obsequiously – he was the only exception. 所有人见到市长都点头哈腰,只有他是个例外。 来自互联网
13 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠,结结巴巴地说,“你是什么意思?” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
14 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
15 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。


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