CHAPTER XVI. WOLVERTON'S BAFFLED SCHEME.

 Mrs. Burton was somewhat surprised, one evening, when told that Mr. Wolverton was at the door, and desired to speak with her. Since the time his demand for a second payment of the interest had been met by a production of the receipt, he had kept away from the ranch¹. It might have been the mortification² arising from baffled villainy, or, again, from the knowledge that no advantage could be gained from another interview. At all events, he remained away till the wheat was nearly harvested. Then he called, because he had a purpose to serve.

 

"Tell Mrs. Burton that I wish to see her on business," he said to the servant who answered his knock.

 

"You can show Mr. Wolverton in," said the widow.

 

Directly the guest was ushered³ into her presence.[Pg 138]

 

"I needn't ask if I see you well, Mrs. Burton," he said, suavely⁴. "Your appearance is a sufficient answer."

 

"Thank you," answered Mrs. Burton, coldly.

 

Aaron Wolverton noticed the coldness, but did not abate⁵ any of his suavity⁶. He only said to himself: "The time will come when you will feel forced to give me a better reception, my lady!"

 

"I have called on a little business," he resumed.

 

"Is it about the interest?" asked the widow.

 

"No; for the present I waive⁷ that. I have been made the victim of a base theft, and it may cost me a hundred and fifty dollars: but I will not speak of that now."

 

"What other business can you have with me?"

 

"I have come to make you an offer."

 

"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton, indignantly.

 

Aaron Wolverton chuckled⁸, thereby⁹ showing a row of defective¹⁰ and discolored teeth.

 

"You misunderstand me," he said. "I[Pg 139] come to make you an offer for your wheat crop, which I suppose is nearly all gathered in."

 

"Yes," answered the widow relieved. "Robert tells me that it will be all harvested within three days."

 

"Just so. Now, I am willing to save you a great deal of trouble by buying the entire crop at a fair valuation."

 

"In that case, Mr. Wolverton, you will allow me to send for Robert. He attends to the business of the ranch, and understands much more about it than I do."

 

"Wait a minute, Mrs. Burton. Robert is no doubt a smart boy, but you give him too much credit."

 

"I don't think I do. He has shown, since his father's death, a judgment¹¹ not often found in a boy of his age."

 

"She is infatuated about that boy!" thought Wolverton. "However, as I have a point to carry, I won't dispute with her."

 

"You may be right," he said, "but in this matter I venture to think that you and I can make a bargain without any outside help."[Pg 140]

 

"You can, at any rate, state your proposition, Mr. Wolverton."

 

"Have you any idea as to the amount of your wheat crop?"

 

"Robert tells me there will be not far from fourteen hundred bushels."

 

Wolverton's eyes showed his pleasure. If he made the bargain proposed, this would bring him an excellent profit. "Very good!" he said. "It will be a great help to you."

 

"Yes; I feel that we are fortunate, especially when I consider that the ranch has been carried on by a boy of sixteen."

 

"Well, Mrs. Burton, I am a man of few words. I will give you a dollar and a half a bushel for your wheat, and this will give you, on the basis of fourteen hundred bushels, twenty-one hundred dollars. You are a very fortunate woman."

 

"But, Mr. Wolverton, Robert tells me he expects to get at least two dollars a bushel."

 

It must be remembered that grain was then selling at "war prices."

 

"I don't know what the boy can be [Pg 141]thinking of," said Wolverton, contemptuously. "Two dollars a bushel! Why don't he say five dollars at once?"

 

"He gained his information from a St. Louis paper."

 

"My dear madam, the price here and the price in St. Louis are two entirely¹² different matters. You must be aware that it will cost a good deal to transport the wheat to St. Louis."

 

"Surely it cannot cost fifty cents a bushel?"

 

"No; but it is a great mistake to suppose that you can get two dollars a bushel in St. Louis."

 

"I must leave the matter to Robert to decide."

 

"Excuse my saying that this is very foolish. The boy has not a man's judgment."

 

"Nevertheless, I must consult him before deciding."

 

Mrs. Barton spoke¹³ so plainly that Wolverton said, sullenly¹⁴: "Do as you please, Mrs. Burton, but I would like to settle the matter to-night."[Pg 142]

 

Robert was sent for, and, being near the house, entered without delay.

 

Mr. Wolverton's proposition was made known to him.

 

"Mr. Wolverton," said Bob, regarding that gentleman with a dislike he did not attempt to conceal¹⁵, "You would make a very good bargain if we accepted your proposal."

 

"Not much," answered Wolverton, hastily. "Of course I should make a little something, but I am chiefly influenced in making the offer, by a desire to save your mother trouble."

 

"You would make seven hundred dollars at least, out of which you would only have to pay for transportation to St. Louis."

 

"That is a very ridiculous statement!" said Wolverton, sharply.

 

"Why so? The wheat will fetch two dollars a bushel in the market."

 

"Some one has been deceiving you."

 

"Shall I show you the paper in which I saw the quotations¹⁶?"

 

"No; it is erroneous. Besides, the expense[Pg 143] of carrying the grain to market will be very large."

 

"It won't be fifty cents a bushel."

 

"Young man, you are advising your mother against her best interests. Young people are apt to be headstrong. I should not expect to make much money out of the operation."

 

"Why, then, do you make the offer?"

 

"I have already told you that I wished to save your mother trouble."

 

"We are much obliged to you, but we decline your proposal."

 

"Then," said Wolverton, spitefully, "I shall have to hold you to the terms of the mortgage. I had intended to favor you, but after the tone you have taken with me, I shall not do so."

 

"To what terms do you refer, Mr. Wolverton?" asked the widow.

 

"I will tell you. I have the right at the end of six months to call for a payment of half the mortgage—fifteen hundred dollars. That will make, in addition to the interest then due, sixteen hundred and fifty dollars."[Pg 144]

 

"Can this be true?" asked Mrs. Burton, in dismay, turning to Robert.

 

"It is so specified¹⁸ in the mortgage," answered Wolverton, triumphantly¹⁹. "You can examine it for yourself. I have only to say, that, had you accepted my offer, I would have been content with, say, one quarter of the sum, knowing that it would be inconvenient²⁰ for you to pay half."

 

Bob, as well as his mother, was taken by surprise, but in no way disposed to yield.

 

"We should be no better off," he said. "We should lose at least five hundred dollars by accepting your offer, and that we cannot afford to do."

 

"You refuse, then," said Wolverton, angrily.

 

"Yes."

 

"Then all I have to say is that you will rue¹⁷ this day," and the agent got up hastily, but upon second thought sat down again.

 

"How do you expect to get your grain to market?" he asked.

 

"I shall take it myself."

 

"What do you mean?"[Pg 145]

 

"I shall store it on a boat I have purchased, and Clip and I will take it to St. Louis."

 

"You must be crack-brained!" ejaculated Wolverton. "I never heard of a more insane project."

 

"I hope to disappoint you, Mr. Wolverton. At any rate, my mind is made up."

 

Wolverton shuffled²¹ out of the room, in impotent rage.

 

"We have made him our enemy, Robert," said his mother, apprehensively²².

 

"He was our enemy before, mother. He evidently wants to ruin us."

 

As Wolverton went home, one thought was uppermost in his mind. "How could he prevent Bob from making the trip to St. Louis?"

 

1 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。

2 mortification   

n.耻辱，屈辱

参考例句：

• To my mortification, my manuscript was rejected. 使我感到失面子的是：我的稿件被退了回来。
• The chairman tried to disguise his mortification. 主席试图掩饰自己的窘迫。

3 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 suavely   

参考例句：

• He is suavely charming and all the ladies love him. 他温文尔雅，女士们都喜欢他。 来自互联网
• Jiro: (Suavely) What do you think? What do you feel I'm like right now? 大东﹕（耍帅）你认为呢﹖我现在给你的感觉如何﹖。 来自互联网

5 abate   

vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退

参考例句：

• We must abate the noise pollution in our city.我们必须消除我们城里的噪音污染。
• The doctor gave him some medicine to abate the powerful pain.医生给了他一些药，以减弱那剧烈的疼痛。

6 suavity   

n.温和；殷勤

参考例句：

• He's got a surface flow of suavity,but he's rough as a rasp underneath.他表面看来和和气气的，其实是个粗野狂暴的恶棍。
• But the well-bred,artificial smile,when he bent upon the guests,had its wonted steely suavity.但是他哈着腰向宾客招呼的那种彬彬有礼、故意装成的笑容里，却仍然具有它平时那种沉着的殷勤。

7 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

8 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

9 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

10 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 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。

14 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

15 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

16 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

18 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

19 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

20 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

21 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 apprehensively   

adv.担心地

参考例句：

• He glanced a trifle apprehensively towards the crowded ballroom. 他敏捷地朝挤满了人的舞厅瞟了一眼。 来自辞典例句
• Then it passed, leaving everything in a state of suspense, even the willow branches waiting apprehensively. 一阵这样的风过去，一切都不知怎好似的，连柳树都惊疑不定的等着点什么。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子