CHAPTER XV. BOB BUYS THE FERRY-BOAT.

 "Good!" said Mr. Slocum. "I like your pluck. Well, there's the boat. You can have it if you want it—for a fair price, of course."

 

"What do you call a fair price?" asked Bob.

 

"I don't mind sayin' that I bought it second-hand¹ myself, and I've got good value out of it. I might sell it for—a hundred and twenty-five dollars."

 

Bob shook his head.

 

"That may be cheap," he answered; "but I can't afford to pay so much money."

 

"You can sell it at St. Louis when you're through usin' it."

 

"I should have to take my risk of it."

 

"You seem to be pretty good on a trade, for a boy. I reckon you'll sell it."[Pg 129]

 

"Do you want all the money down. Mr. Slocum?"

 

"Well, I might wait for half of it, ef I think it's safe. What's your security?"

 

"We—that is, mother and I—own the ranch² bordering on the other side of the creek³. The wheat crop we are harvesting will probably amount to fourteen hundred bushels. I understand it is selling for two dollars a bushel or thereabouts." (This was soon after the war, when high prices prevailed for nearly all articles, including farm products.)

 

"I reckon you're safe, then," said Mr. Slocum. "Now we'll see if we can agree upon a price."

 

I will not follow Bob and Mr. Slocum in the bargaining that succeeded. The latter was the sharper of the two, but Bob felt obliged to reduce the price as much as possible, in view of the heavy mortgage upon the ranch.

 

"I shall never breathe easy till that mortgage is paid, mother," he said. "Mr. Wolverton is about the last man I like to owe. His attempt to collect the interest twice shows[Pg 130] that he is unscrupulous. Besides, he has a grudge⁴ against me, and it would give him pleasure, I feel sure, to injure me."

 

"I am afraid you are right, Robert," answered his mother. "We must do our best, and Heaven will help us."

 

Finally Mr. Slocum agreed to accept seventy-five dollars cash down, or eighty dollars, half in cash, and the remainder payable⁵ after Bob's river trip was over and the crop disposed of.

 

"I wouldn't make such terms to any one else," said the boat-owner, "but I've been a boy myself, and I had a hard row to hoe, you bet. You seem like a smart lad, and I'm favorin' you all I can."

 

"Thank you, Mr. Slocum. I consider your price very fair, and you may depend upon my carrying out my agreement. Now, if you will come up to the house, I will offer you some dinner, and pay you the money."

 

Bob Buys the Ferry-boat

Bob Buys the Ferry-boat.

 

Ichabod Slocum readily accepted the invitation, and the three went up to the house together.

 

When Bob told his mother of the bargain he had made, she was somewhat startled. She[Pg 131] felt that he did not realize how great an enterprise he had embarked⁶ in.

 

"You forget, Robert, that you are only a boy," she said.

 

"No, mother, I don't forget it. But I have to take a man's part, now that father is dead."

 

"St. Louis is a long distance away, and you have no experience in business."

 

"On the other hand, mother, if we sell here, we must make a great sacrifice—twenty-five cents a bushel at least, and that on fourteen hundred bushels would amount to three hundred and fifty dollars. Now Clip and I can navigate⁷ the boat to St. Louis and return for less than quarter of that sum."

 

"The boy speaks sense, ma'am," said Ichabod Slocum. "He's only a kid, but he's a smart one. He's good at a bargain, too. He made me take fifty dollars less for the boat than I meant to. You can trust him better than a good many men."

 

"I am glad you have so favorable an opinion of Robert, Mr. Slocum," said Mrs. Burton. "I suppose I must yield to his desire."[Pg 132]

 

"Then I may go, mother?"

 

"Yes, Robert; you have my consent."

 

"Then the next thing is to pay Mr. Slocum for his boat."

 

This matter was speedily arranged.

 

"I wish, Mr. Slocum," said Bob, "that you were going to St. Louis. I would be very glad to give you free passage."

 

"Thank you, lad, but I must turn my steps in a different direction."

 

"Shall I have any difficulty in managing the boat on our course down the river?"

 

"No, you will drift with the current. It is easy enough to go down stream. The trouble is to get back. But for that, I wouldn't have sold you the boat. At night you tie up anywhere it is convenient, and start again the next morning."

 

"That seems easy enough. Do you know how far it is to St. Louis, Mr. Slocum?"

 

"There you have me, lad. I ain't much on reckonin' distances."

 

"I have heard your father say, Robert, that it is about three hundred miles from here to[Pg 133] the city. I don't like to have you go so far from me."

 

"I've got Clip to take care of me, mother," said Bob, humorously.

 

"I'll take care of Massa Bob, missis," said Clip, earnestly.

 

"I suppose I ought to feel satisfied with that assurance," said Mrs. Burton, smiling, "but I have never been accustomed to think of Clip as a guardian⁸."

 

"I'll guardian, him, missis," promised Clip, amid general laughter.

 

After dinner, in company with Mr. Slocum, Bob and Clip went on board the ferry-boat, and made a thorough examination of the craft, with special reference to the use for which it was intended.

 

"You expect to harvest fourteen hundred bushels?" inquired Mr. Slocum.

 

"Yes; somewhere about that amount."

 

"Then you may need to make two or three extra bins⁹."

 

"That will be a simple matter," said Bob.

 

"The roof over the boat will keep the wheat dry and in good condition. When you get to[Pg 134] the city you can sell it all to one party, and superintend the removal yourself. You can hire all the help you need there."

 

Bob was more and more pleased with his purchase.

 

"It is just what I wanted," he said, enthusiastically. "The expenses will be almost nothing. We can take a supply of provisions with us, enough to keep us during the trip, and when the business is concluded we can return on some river steamer. We'll have a fine time, Clip."

 

"Golly! Massa Bob, dat's so."

 

"You will need to tie the boat," continued Ichabod Slocum, "or it may float off during the night, and that would upset all your plans. Have you a stout¹⁰ rope on the place?"

 

"I think not. I shall have to buy one at the store, or else cross the river."

 

"Then you had better attend to that at once. The boat may become dislodged at any moment."

 

After Mr. Slocum's departure, Bob lost no time in attending to this important matter. He procured¹¹ a heavy rope, of sufficient[Pg 135] strength, and proceeded to secure the boat to a tree on the bank.

 

"How soon will we start, Massa Bob?" asked Clip, who was anxious for the excursion to commence. He looked upon it somewhat in the light of an extended picnic, and it may be added that Bob also, apart from any consideration of business, anticipated considerable enjoyment¹² from the trip down the river.

 

"Don't tell anybody what we are going to do with the boat, Clip," said Bob. "It will be a fortnight before we start, and I don't care to have much said about the matter beforehand."

 

Clip promised implicit¹³ obedience¹⁴, but it was not altogether certain that he would be able to keep strictly¹⁵ to his word, for keeping a secret was not an easy thing for him to do.

 

Of course it leaked out that Bob had bought a ferry-boat. Among others Mr. Wolverton heard it, but he did not dream of the use to which Bob intended to put it. He spoke¹⁶ of it as a boy's folly¹⁷, and instanced it as an illustration of the boy's unfitness for the charge of the ranch. It was generally supposed that Bob had bought it on speculation¹⁸, hoping to[Pg 136] make a good profit on the sale, and Bob suffered this idea to remain uncontradicted.

 

Meanwhile he pushed forward as rapidly as possible the harvest of the wheat, being anxious to get it to market.

 

When this work was nearly finished Mr. Wolverton thought it time to make a proposal to Mrs. Burton, which, if accepted, would bring him a handsome profit.

1 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

5 payable   

adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的

参考例句：

• This check is payable on demand.这是一张见票即付的支票。
• No tax is payable on these earnings.这些收入不须交税。

6 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

7 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

8 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

9 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

11 procured   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》

12 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

13 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

14 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

15 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

16 spoke   

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。

17 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

18 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。