The owner, Paul Nichols, was a man advanced in years, living quite alone, and himself providing for his simple wants. Robert was right in calling him a miser2, but he had not always deserved the name. The time was when he had been happily married to a good wife, and was blessed with two young children. But they were all taken from him in one week by an epidemic3, and his life was made solitary4 and cheerless. This bereavement5 completely revolutionized his life. Up to this time he had been a good and respected citizen, with an interest in public affairs. Now he became morose6 and misanthropic7, and his heart, bereaved8 of its legitimate9 objects of affection, henceforth was fixed10 upon gold, which he began to love with a passionate11 energy. He repulsed12 the advances of neighbors, and became what Robert called him—a miser.
How much he was worth, no one knew. The town assessors sought in vain for stocks and bonds. He did not appear to possess any. Probably popular opinion was correct in asserting that he secreted13 his money in one or many out-of-the-way places, which, from time to time, he was wont14 to visit and gloat over his treasures. There was reason also to believe that it was mostly in gold, for he had a habit of asking specie payments from those indebted to him, or, if he could not obtain specie, he used to go to a neighboring town with his bank notes and get the change effected.
Such was the man about whom Robert's unknown passenger exhibited so much curiosity, and whom it seemed that he was intending to visit.
"I wonder whether the old man is at home!" he said to himself, as he entered the front yard through a gateway15, from which the gate had long since disappeared. "He don't keep things looking very neat and trim, that's a fact," he continued, noticing the rank weeds and indiscriminate litter which filled the yard. "Just give me this place, and his money to keep it, and I'd make a change in the looks of things pretty quick."
He stepped up to the front door, and, lifting the old-fashioned knocker, sounded a loud summons.
"He'll hear that, if he isn't very deaf," he thought.
But the summons appeared to be without effect. At all events, he was left standing16 on the doorstone, and no one came to bid him enter.
"He can't be at home, or else he won't come," thought the visitor. "I'll try him again," and another knock, still louder than before, sounded through the farmhouse.
But still no one came to the door. The fact was, that the old farmer had gone away early, with a load of hay, which he had sold; to a stable-keeper living some five miles distant.
"I'll reconnoiter a little," said the stranger.
He stepped to the front window, and looked in. All that met his gaze was a bare, dismantled17 room.
"Not very cheerful, that's a fact," commented the outsider. "Well, he don't appear to be here; I'll go round to the back part of the house."
He went round to the back door, where he thought it best, in the first place, to knock. No answer coming, he peered through the window, but saw no one.
"The coast is clear," he concluded. "So much the better, if I can get in."
The door proved to be locked, but the windows were easily raised. Through one of these he clambered into the kitchen, which was the only room occupied by the old farmer, with the exception of a room above, which he used as a bedchamber. Here he cooked and ate his meals, and here he spent his solitary evenings.
Jumping over the window sill, the visitor found himself in this room. He looked around him, with some curiosity.
"It is eighteen years since I was last in this room," he said. "Time hasn't improved it, nor me, either, very likely," he added, with a short laugh. "I've roamed pretty much all over the world in that time, and I've come back as poor as I went away. What's that copy I used to write?—'A rolling stone gathers no moss18.' Well, I'm the rolling stone. In all that time my Uncle Paul has been moored19 fast to his hearthstone, and been piling up gold, which he don't seem to have much use for. As far as I know, I'm his nearest relation, there's no reason why he shouldn't launch out a little for the benefit of the family."
It will be gathered from the foregoing soliloquy that the newcomer was a nephew of Paul Nichols. After a not very creditable youth, he had gone to sea, and for eighteen years this was his first reappearance in his native town.
He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being at home.
"I wonder what the old man will say when he sees me," he soliloquized. "Ten to one he won't know me. When we saw each other last I was a smooth-faced youth. Now I've got hair enough on my face, and the years have made, their mark upon me, I suspect. Where is he, I wonder, and how long have I got to wait for him? While I'm waiting, I'll take the liberty of looking in the closet, and seeing if he hasn't something to refresh the inner man. I didn't make much of a breakfast, and something hearty21 wouldn't come amiss."
He rose from his chair, and opened the closet door. A small collection of crockery was visible, most of it cracked, but there was nothing eatable to be seen, except half a loaf of bread. This was from the baker22, for the old man, after ineffectual efforts to make his own bread, had been compelled to abandon the attempt, and patronize the baker.
"Nothing but a half loaf, and that's dry enough," muttered the stranger. "That isn't very tempting23. I can't say much for my uncle's fare, unless he has got something more attractive somewhere."
But, search as carefully as he might, nothing better could be found, and his appetite was not sufficiently24 great to encourage an attack upon the stale loaf. He sat down, rather discontented, and resumed the current of his reflections.
"My uncle must be more of a miser than I thought, if he stints25 himself to such fare as this. It's rather a bad lookout26 for me. He won't be very apt to look with favor on my application for a small loan from his treasure. What's that the boy said? He don't trust any banks, but keeps his money concealed27 in the earth. By Jove! It would be a stroke of luck if I could stumble on one of his hiding places! If I could do that while he was away, I would forego the pleasure of seeing him, and make off with what I could find. I'll look about me, and see if I can't find some of his hidden hoards28."
No sooner did the thought occur to him than he acted upon it.
"Let me see," he reflected, "where is he most likely to hide his treasure? Old stockings are the favorites with old maids and widows, but I don't believe Uncle Paul has got any without holes in them. He's more likely to hide his gold under the hearth20. That's a good idea, I'll try the hearth first."
He kneeled down, and began to examine the bricks, critically, with a view of ascertaining29 whether any bore the marks of having been removed recently, for he judged correctly that a miser would wish, from time to time, to unearth30 his treasure for the pleasure of looking at it. But there was no indication of disturbance31. The hearth bore a uniform appearance, and did not seem to have been tampered32 with.
"That isn't the right spot," reflected the visitor. "Perhaps there's a plank33 in the floor that raises, or, still more likely, the gold is buried in the cellar. I've a great mind to go down there."
He lit a candle, and went cautiously down the rickety staircase. But he had hardly reached the bottom of the stairs, when he caught the sound of a wagon34 entering the yard.
"That must be my uncle," he said. "I'd better go up, and not let him catch me down here."
On seeing a tall, bearded stranger, whom he did not recognize, standing before him in his own kitchen, with a lighted candle in his hand, Paul Nichols uttered a shrill36 cry of alarm, and ejaculated:
"Thieves! Murder! Robbers!" in a quavering voice.
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1
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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5
bereavement
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| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
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morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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misanthropic
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| adj.厌恶人类的，憎恶（或蔑视）世人的；愤世嫉俗 | |
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8
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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14
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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stints
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| n.定额工作( stint的名词复数 )；定量；限额；慷慨地做某事 | |
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lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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28
hoards
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| n.（钱财、食物或其他珍贵物品的）储藏，积存( hoard的名词复数 )v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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unearth
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| v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出 | |
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31
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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32
tampered
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| v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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33
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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34
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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35
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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