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首页 » 儿童英文小说 » Andy Gordon The Fortunes of A Young Janitor » CHAPTER XVI. EXCITEMENT IN THE VILLAGE.
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CHAPTER XVI. EXCITEMENT IN THE VILLAGE.
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 For the remainder of the night, Andy, as the saying is, slept with one eye open. The burglar had enough to think of, and it seemed very unlikely that he would make another attempt to enter the house. Still, Andy thought it best to watch him.
Through the window he could see Hogan dipping his face again and again in the trough. This continued for perhaps half an hour. Then he slowly left the yard, but not without shaking his fist at the house which contained the young hero who had balked1 him in his unlawful{101} designs. To be brief, for the remainder of the night the house had rest.
Early in the morning the two sisters came downstairs. Andy, who had dressed himself, to be prepared for an emergency, was lying on the sofa, sleeping peacefully.
“Poor boy!” murmured Susan. “What a terrible night he must have passed!”
“And all in our defense2, too. I never dreamed that he was so brave.”
“It’s a mercy the burglar didn’t carry him off.”
“It was the money he wanted, sister.”
“But he might have killed Andy.”
“That is true. It seems to me, sister, we ought to pay him handsomely for what he has done.”
“I am quite of your opinion, Sister Sally. How much do you think we ought to give him?”
“I wouldn’t do what he did for fifty dollars.”
“Shall it be fifty dollars, then?”
“If you are willing.”
“I am quite willing. Do you dare to go up with me into the chamber3 overhead?”
“I don’t know. It makes me tremble to think of it.”
Finally the two sisters mustered4 the necessary{102} courage and cautiously crept upstairs, and paused before the door, which was locked upon the outside.
“Suppose the wicked man is inside?” suggested Susan, trembling.
“Oh, there is no fear! He wouldn’t care to stay after he found the money gone.”
With some apprehension5, they opened the door. When they saw the wreck6 of glass and wood upon the carpet, they raised their hands in dismay.
“What a terrible fight poor Andy must have had!” said Susan.
“He has done better than a man,” exclaimed Sally, enthusiastically.
I am inclined to think that Miss Sally was right, and that many men would have displayed less boldness and shrewdness than our young hero.
“Why, here is the teakettle!” said Sally. “How in the world did it come here?”
“And here is the tin dipper. Well, Andy will tell us when he wakes up. We must give him a good breakfast. He deserves it, after all he has done.”
At eight o’clock, Andy sat down to a nice breakfast. It seemed that neither of the two ladies could express sufficient gratitude7, or induce him to eat enough.{103}
“But for you, Andy, we might have been murdered in our beds.”
“I don’t think so,” answered Andy, modestly; “but I think you would have lost your money.”
“That we should! Now tell us all about it.”
So Andy told the story, amid exclamations8 of wonder and admiration9 from the two sisters.
“How in the world could the man know we had so much money in the house?” said Susan, in wonder.
“He seemed to know just how much there was,” said Andy. “He mentioned the amount. I think he must have overheard one of you speaking of it.”
“I didn’t really suppose there was any burglar about,” said Sally. “How lucky it was that we engaged you to come and stay here!”
Andy was modest, but he could not, with truth, disclaim10 this praise. He knew very well that he had been instrumental, under Providence11, in saving the old ladies from being robbed.
“I don’t know whether you would be willing to stay here to-night, Andy, after the experience you had last night,” said Sally.
“Oh, yes!”{104}
“And you are not afraid?”
“I don’t think the man will come again,” said Andy, laughing. “I don’t believe he liked the reception I gave him. He knows how it feels to get into hot water.”
It is needless to say that the news of the midnight attack upon the house of the Peabody sisters spread like wildfire through the village.
Probably not less than a hundred persons called to see the demolished12 window, and Andy had to tell the story over and over till he was weary of it.
Among those who were interested was Herbert Ross. He suspected, and rightly, that it was the same man who had stopped at his father’s gate, and nearly strangled his dog Prince.
He felt that if this was so, a part of the public interest would center upon him, and accordingly, forgetting his recent difficulty with Andy, he cross-questioned our hero as to the appearance of the burglar.
“Did he have black hair?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And a face that had not been shaved for a week?”
“Yes; as well as I could see in the dim light.”{105}
“And wasn’t very tall?”
“No; he was rather short and thickset, with a ragged13 suit of clothes.”
“It’s the very man that called at our house!” exclaimed Herbert, in excitement.
Of course, he was questioned, and gave an account of the call of Hogan, in which he appeared to considerably14 greater advantage than he had actually done.
“He was very impudent,” said Herbert, boastfully; “but I gave him to understand that I would have him arrested if he didn’t leave pretty quick.”
“Did that frighten him?” asked a neighbor, with a queer smile.
“Oh, yes,” said Herbert. “He saw that he had hold of the wrong customer, and tramped off in a different direction.”
“What would you have done if you had been in Andy’s place last night?”
“I wouldn’t have let him in.”
“But do you think you could have driven him off?”
“Certainly,” answered Herbert, confidently. “Andy did very well,” he added, condescendingly; “but I should have succeeded as well in keeping the rascal15 out of the house.”
“Why don’t you offer to stay at the house to-night? No doubt, Andy will be glad to rest?”{106}
“I don’t let myself out for any such purpose,” said Herbert, hastily. “He is a poor boy, and needs the money. You wouldn’t expect a gentleman’s son to engage in any such business?”
“Andy is a gentleman’s son. If ever there was a gentleman, Mr. Gordon was one.”
“No doubt he was a very worthy16 man,” said Herbert, patronizingly; “but that isn’t what I mean.”
Herbert succeeded in his wish to draw attention to himself, and told the story of his encounter with the tramp and burglar many times—adding a little every time—till, by dint17 of repetitions, he persuaded himself that he had acted a very heroic part, and was entitled to share the honors of the day with Andy.
Unlike our hero, he was perfectly18 willing to tell the story over and over as many times as he could obtain a fresh auditor19.
On Monday morning, Andy’s guard was over; but there was still a service which the old ladies desired of him.
The money was to be deposited in the Cranston Bank, located six miles away. There was no railroad connecting the two places, and the road was a lonely one, extending part of the way through the woods.
On previous occasions, the ladies had themselves{107} gone to the bank, when they had occasion to deposit money, but the recent attempt at burglary had so terrified them that they felt afraid to venture.
In their emergency, they thought of Andy, and asked him if he would be willing to drive over and carry the money with him.
“Oh, yes!” answered Andy, who was fond of driving. “I couldn’t go till I had attended to my duties at the academy, but I should be through by nine o’clock.”
“That would be early enough. But you would lose school.”
“Only for half a day, and Dr. Euclid would excuse me.”
So it was arranged that Andy was to carry the five hundred dollars to the Cranston Bank.

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1 balked 9feaf3d3453e7f0c289e129e4bd6925d     
v.畏缩不前,犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 );(指马)不肯跑
参考例句:
  • He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
2 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
3 chamber wnky9     
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所
参考例句:
  • For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说,牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
  • The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。
4 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》
5 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。
6 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
7 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
8 exclamations aea591b1607dd0b11f1dd659bad7d827     
n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 );感叹;感叹语;感叹词
参考例句:
  • The visitors broke into exclamations of wonder when they saw the magnificent Great Wall. 看到雄伟的长城,游客们惊叹不已。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • After the will has been read out, angry exclamations aroused. 遗嘱宣读完之后,激起一片愤怒的喊声。 来自辞典例句
9 admiration afpyA     
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕
参考例句:
  • He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
  • We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。
10 disclaim suLxK     
v.放弃权利,拒绝承认
参考例句:
  • Scientists quickly disclaim the possibility.科学家们立刻否认了这种可能性。
  • The manufacturers disclaim all responsibility for damage caused by misuse.使用不当而造成的损坏,生产厂家不负任何责任。
11 providence 8tdyh     
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝
参考例句:
  • It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
  • To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事,是违背上帝的意志的。
12 demolished 3baad413d6d10093a39e09955dfbdfcb     
v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 );推翻;拆毁(尤指大建筑物);吃光
参考例句:
  • The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
  • They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来,为了不让拆除他们的房子,他们一直在进行最后的努力。
13 ragged KC0y8     
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的
参考例句:
  • A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
  • Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。
14 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。
15 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。
16 worthy vftwB     
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。
17 dint plVza     
n.由于,靠;凹坑
参考例句:
  • He succeeded by dint of hard work.他靠苦干获得成功。
  • He reached the top by dint of great effort.他费了很大的劲终于爬到了顶。
18 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
19 auditor My5ziV     
n.审计员,旁听着
参考例句:
  • The auditor was required to produce his working papers.那个审计员被要求提供其工作底稿。
  • The auditor examines the accounts of all county officers and departments.审计员查对所有县官员及各部门的帐目。


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