Meanwhile, fortune had improved with Mr. Davis, the superintendent4 of the factory. He had lost largely by speculation5, but had blundered at last into the purchase of a stock in which some interested parties had effected a corner. It went up rapidly, and on the morning when we introduce him again to the reader he was in high good spirits, having just received intelligence from his broker6 that he had cleared seven thousand dollars by selling at the top of the market.
"Another cup of coffee, Mrs. Davis," he said, passing his cup across the table.
Seeing that his father appeared in good humor, Halbert ventured to prefer a request, which, however, he had little hope of having granted.
"Yes," said his father; "I saw him on it yesterday."
"It's a regular beauty—I wish I had one."
"How much did it cost?"
"Two hundred dollars."
"That is rather a high price."
"But it will increase in value every year. I wish you would buy me one, father."
"Do you mean it?" asked Halbert, in the utmost astonishment9.
"Certainly I do. I can afford you a pony as well as Mr. Paine can afford to buy William one."
"Thank you!" said Halbert, his selfish nature more nearly affected10 by gratitude11 than ever before. "You are very kind. When will you see about it?"
"I am busy. You may go yourself and ask Mr. Paine where he got William's pony, and if he knows of any other equally good."
"That I will," said Halbert, leaving the table in haste.
"Halbert, you have eaten scarcely anything," said his mother.
"I am not hungry," said the excited boy, seizing his hat, and dashing off in the direction of Mr. Paine's office.
"By the way, Mrs. Davis," said the husband, "I think you mentioned last week that the parlor12 needed a new carpet."
"So it does. The old one is looking very shabby."
"How much will a new one cost?"
"I can get a nice Brussels for a hundred dollars."
"Well, you may order one."
It was the wife's turn to be astonished, for on broaching13 the subject the week previous, her husband had given her a lecture on extravagance, and absolutely refused to consider her request. This was before the tidings of his good fortune. She was not slow to accept the present concession14, and assumed an unusually affectionate manner, in the excess of her delight.
Meanwhile, Halbert, in opening the front door, came in collision with a boy taller and stouter15 than himself, brown and sunburned. But, changed as he was, he was not slow in recognizing his old enemy, Robert Rushton.
"What, are you back again?" he said, ungraciously.
"So it appears. Is your father at home?"
"Yes; but he is at breakfast. I don't think you can see him."
"I'll make the attempt, at any rate," said Robert.
"Where have you been all this time?" asked Halbert, more from curiosity than interest.
"I went to Calcutta."
"Common sailor, I suppose," said Halbert, contemptuously.
"No, I was a passenger."
"Where did you get your money to pay the passage?"
"I'm sorry that I can't stop to gratify your curiosity just at present, but I have important business with your father."
"Am I?"
"I wouldn't advise you to put on so many airs, just because you've been to Calcutta."
"I never thought of putting on any. I see you haven't changed much since I went away. You have the same agreeable, gentlemanly manners."
"Not at all. You may be one, but you don't show it."
"I have a great mind to put you out of the yard."
Robert glanced at Halbert's figure, slight compared with his own, and laughed.
"I think you would find it a difficult undertaking," he said.
"I have got something better to do than to stand here listening to your impudence21. I won't soil my fingers by touching22 you."
"That's a sensible conclusion. Good-morning."
Halbert did not deign23 to respond, but walked off, holding his nose very high in the air. Then, as he thought of the pony, he quickened his pace, and bent24 his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
"A young man to see you, Mr. Davis," said Bridget, entering the breakfast-room.
"Who is it?"
"That boy home again!" exclaimed the superintendent, in displeased26 surprise. "Well, you may ask him into the next room."
"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," said Robert, as the superintendent entered.
"Good-morning. When did you get home?" was the cold reply.
"Last evening."
"Where have you been?"
"To Calcutta."
"On a fool's errand."
"I felt it my duty to search for my father."
"I could have told you beforehand you would not succeed. Did you go as a sailor?"
"No."
"Where did you raise money to pay your expenses?"
"I found friends who helped me."
"It is a poor policy for a boy to live on charity."
"I never intend to do it," said Robert, firmly. "But I would rather do it than live on money that did not belong to me."
"What do you mean by that, sir?" said the superintendent, suspiciously.
"It was a general remark," said Robert.
"May I ask what is your motive27 in calling upon me?" asked Mr. Davis. "I suppose you have some object."
"I have, and I think you can guess it."
"Then I will not put you to that trouble. You remember, before I sailed for Calcutta, I called here and asked you to restore the sum of five thousand dollars deposited with you by my father?"
"I remember it, and at the time I stigmatized29 the claim as a fraudulent one. No such sum was ever deposited with me by your father."
"How can you say that, when my father expressly stated it in the letter, written by him, from the boat in which he was drifting about on the ocean?"
"I have no proof that the letter was genuine, and even if it were, I deny the claim. I am not responsible for money I never received."
"I understand you then refuse to pay the money?"
"You would have understood it long ago, if you had not been uncommonly30 thick-headed," sneered the superintendent. "Let this be the end of it. When you present my note of acknowledgment for the amount, I will pay it and not before."
"That is all I ask," said Robert.
"What?" demanded the superintendent.
"I mean that this assurance is all I want. The note shall be presented to you in the course of the day."
"What do you mean?" asked Davis, startled.
"I mean this, Mr. Davis: that I found my father in Calcutta. He came home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and well. He has with him your note for five thousand dollars, and will present it in person."
"You are deceiving me!" exclaimed Davis, in consternation31.
"You will soon learn whether I am deceiving you or not," said Robert. "I will now bid you good-morning. My father will call upon you in the course of the day."
He rose to go, leaving the superintendent thunderstruck at the intelligence of Captain Rushton's return. The five thousand dollars, with arrears32 of interest, would take the greater part of the money whose sudden acquisition had so elated him. While he was considering the situation, his wife entered.
"I think, Mr. Davis," she said, "I will go to New York to-day to buy carpeting, if you can spare the money."
"Why, then, did you tell me fifteen minutes since that I might buy one? What do you mean by such trifling34, Mr. Davis?" said his wife, her eyes flashing.
"I mean what I say. I've changed my mind. I can't afford to buy a new carpet."
There was a stormy scene between man and wife, which may be passed over in silence. It ended with a fit of hysterics on the part of Mrs. Davis, while her husband put on his hat and walked gloomily over to the factory. Here he soon received a call from Halbert, who informed him, with great elation35, that Mr. Paine knew of a desirable pony which could be had on the same terms as his son's.
"I've changed my mind," said his father. "A pony will cost too much money."
All Halbert's entreaties36 were unavailing, and he finally left his father's presence in a very unfilial frame of mind.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
eked
|
|
| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的过去式和过去分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
earnings
|
|
| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
superintendent
|
|
| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
speculation
|
|
| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
broker
|
|
| n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
pony
|
|
| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
broaching
|
|
| n.拉削；推削；铰孔；扩孔v.谈起( broach的现在分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
concession
|
|
| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
stouter
|
|
| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
blustered
|
|
| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
impudence
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
deign
|
|
| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
displeased
|
|
| a.不快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
haughtily
|
|
| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
stigmatized
|
|
| v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
uncommonly
|
|
| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
consternation
|
|
| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
arrears
|
|
| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
trifling
|
|
| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
elation
|
|
| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
entreaties
|
|
| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |