CHAPTER XXXVIII. WHAT BOB BROUGHT HOME.

 After disposing of his cargo¹, Bob was puzzled to know what to do with the ferry-boat. Finally he had an offer of one hundred dollars, from a speculative² Yankee who had drifted out to St. Louis, and gladly accepted it. This sum paid all expenses, including his and Clip's return fare, and left him with a handsome sum to his credit, viz.:

 

1,400 bushels wheat, at $2.25,   $3,150

Reward, 1,000

———

$4,150

This sum, with the exception of one hundred and fifty dollars, by advice of Mr. Pearson, he deposited in a St. Louis bank, and then started for home.

 

He could not make the whole passage by steamer, but went part way by railroad, and then engaged a carriage to a point four miles[Pg 319] from home. Thence he and Clip walked. He wanted to surprise not only his mother, but Wolverton. He knew now that Brown and Minton had only been agents of his more crafty³ enemy, Brown having made a written confession⁴, not so much out of friendship to Bob as out of spite against Wolverton, whom he held responsible for getting him into this scrape.

 

With soiled shoes and clothes covered with dust, Bob and Clip entered the village, and purposely walked by Wolverton's office.

 

The latter, spying them through the window, smiled maliciously⁵, and hurried out to meet them.

 

"Aha, my young friends," he said, with a pleased glance at their soiled clothes, "so you have returned?"

 

"Yes, sir," answered Bob, soberly.

 

"And what luck did you have, may I ask?"

 

"We had good luck at first, but at Rocky Creek⁶ two rascals⁷ entrapped⁸ us, and stole our boat and cargo."

 

Wolverton laughed outright⁹. So it was true, after all.[Pg 320]

 

"Excuse my smiling," he said; "but you seem to have come out at the little end of the horn."

 

"It does seem so, sir."

 

"You remember what I told you before you started?"

 

"What was that?"

 

"That you were too young for such an expedition. It would have been much better for you to accept my offer."

 

"It seems so," answered Bob again.

 

"Seems so! Of course it would have been. But the trouble was, you were so puffed¹⁰ up by your own self-conceit that you thought you knew best."

 

"I plead guilty to that, sir; I did think so," answered Bob, candidly¹¹.

 

"I am glad you admit it. So you had to walk back?"

 

"You can judge for yourself, Mr. Wolverton."

 

"Well, you certainly do look like two tramps. The next time you may feel like following my advice."

 

"I may," answered Bob.[Pg 321]

 

It did occur to Mr. Wolverton that Bob's answers were rather unusual, and his manner rather queer; quite unlike his usual tone and manner. But this he readily accounted for. The boy's pride had been humbled¹². He knew now that he was in Wolverton's power, and he had the sense to be humble¹³, in the hope of making better terms.

 

"But it won't do," said the agent to himself. "He will find that I will have what is mine, and he cannot soften¹⁴ my heart by any appeal to my pity."

 

"It appears to me you are in rather a scrape," he said, after a pause.

 

"How is that."

 

"Why, a part of your mortgage comes due in a short time. I hope you don't expect me to wait."

 

"No doubt you will be considerate, Mr. Wolverton, remembering what luck we have had."

 

"No, I won't!" snarled¹⁵ Wolverton. "Don't flatter yourself so far. I am not responsible for your misfortune, or folly¹⁶, as I call it."

 

"Still, Mr. Wolverton—"[Pg 322]

 

"Oh, it's no use to talk!" continued the agent, raising his hand impatiently. "You have been a fool, and you must suffer the penalty of your folly."

 

"Has Sam got back, Mr. Wolverton?" asked Bob, changing the subject, rather to Mr. Wolverton's surprise.

 

"No; have you seen him?" asked the agent, eagerly.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Where?" asked Wolverton, quickly.

 

"The fact is, we discovered him on our boat soon after we started."

 

"You did!" ejaculated the agent, his eyes almost starting out of his head. "Why didn't you send him back?"

 

"Because he said you didn't treat him well, and begged to stay."

 

"Young man, do you know I could have you arrested for abducting¹⁷ my nephew?" demanded Wolverton, angrily.

 

"Was it my fault that he hid himself on my boat?"

 

"Where is he now?" asked Wolverton, abruptly¹⁸.[Pg 323]

 

"He left the boat at a point on the way."

 

"Where was it?"

 

"You must excuse my answering that question. Sam wouldn't like it."

 

"What difference does that make?"

 

"Sam is my friend. I think, however, you will soon know, as he means to come back."

 

Wolverton smiled triumphantly¹⁹.

 

"I shall be glad to see him," he said, significantly. Bob knew what that meant.

 

"You must excuse me now, Mr. Wolverton," said Bob. "I must hurry home, as mother will be anxious to see me."

 

"Tell her I shall call very soon—on business."

 

"I will."

 

When they were out of hearing the boys laughed in amusement. They had a surprise in store for Wolverton.

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

3 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

4 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

5 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 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。

7 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

8 entrapped   

v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was entrapped into undertaking the work. 他受骗而担任那工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt he had been entrapped into marrying her. 他觉得和她结婚是上了当。 来自辞典例句

9 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

10 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 candidly   

adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地

参考例句：

• He has stopped taking heroin now,but admits candidly that he will always be a drug addict.他眼下已经不再吸食海洛因了,不过他坦言自己永远都是个瘾君子。
• Candidly,David,I think you're being unreasonable.大卫，说实话我认为你不讲道理。

12 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

13 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

14 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

15 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 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。

17 abducting   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的现在分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• She was charged with abducting a six-month-old child. 她被控诱拐一个6个月大的孩子。
• At the same time, the rate of abducting foreigners is going down. 同时，发生在外国人身上的绑架案正在下降。

18 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

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。