CHAPTER XXXIV. SIX MONTHS AMONG THE MINES.

 Six months later among the hills in Gilpin County we find three old acquaintances. They are Ben Rawson, Ebenezer Jones, and Dean Dunham. Dean has grown taller and there is a healthy brown hue¹ on his cheeks. His eyes are bright, and his look is cheerful.

The three are sitting in front of a miner's cabin, resting after the fatigues² of the day.

"Have a pipe, Dean?" asks Rawson.

"No, Ben; you know I don't smoke."

"You're right, lad, no doubt, but I couldn't get along without it. Do you know, boys, it is just six months to-day since we came here, after our brief interview with Dean's friends. By the way, what are their names?"

"Peter Kirby and Dan—I don't know his last name."

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"I wonder what has become of them. It is easy to tell what will befall them at last."

"I hope I shall never set eyes on them again," said Dean, fervently³.

"Well, I won't just say that; I might like to meet them if they were about to receive their deserts."

"Do you know how we stand, Rawson?" asked Eben Jones, taking the pipe from his mouth.

"I was just figuring up, Eben, this afternoon, since you have made me treasurer⁴. There's a little over three thousand dollars in the common fund."

"A thousand dollars apiece."

"Precisely⁵. It isn't a bad showing, is it? What do you say to that, Dean? How old are you?"

"Sixteen, but I am nearer seventeen."

"There are not many boys of your age who are worth a thousand dollars."

"I owe it to your kindness, Ben—yours and Eben's."

"I don't admit that, Dean. You have worked hard for it."

"But then I am only a boy, and yet you admit me to an equal partnership⁶."

"And we're glad to do it, Dean," said Rawson, warmly. "Isn't that so, Eben?"

"You're talkin' for us both, Ben. The kid's been a great deal of company for us."

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"Besides, Dean, Eben and I have got ten thousand dollars between us in a bank in Denver, unless the bank's busted⁷, which I haven't heard of. I say, Eben, old chap, I feel rich!"

"I feel rich enough to go home," said Eben, after a thoughtful pause. "Would you mind if I did, Ben?"

"I should mind so much, Eben, that I should probably go along too."

"But that would be leaving Dean alone," objected Eben.

"Perhaps he would like to make a trip East also."

"Yes, I would," said Dean. "It's a long time since I've heard from my uncle and aunt. I think my last letter couldn't have reached them."

"There's one thing in the way," observed Rawson. "Our claims are valuable—more so than six months ago. If we leave 'em some one will take possession, and that'll be an end of our ownership."

"Sell 'em," said Eben, concisely⁸.

"That will take time."

"I'll stay till it's done. I'm not going to give 'em away."

"Trust a Connecticut Yankee for that," said Rawson, laughing. "Well, to-morrow, then, we'll let our neighbors know that our claims are for sale."

Dean and his two friends retired⁹ at an early hour.243 They usually became fatigued¹⁰ by the labors¹¹ of the day, and did not require to court slumber¹² long. They rose early, and took their breakfast at a restaurant near by. Before this was opened, they took turns at cooking breakfast themselves, but were glad to delegate that duty to some one else.

Dean, as the best penman, prepared the sign,

THESE CLAIMS FOR SALE.

 

rather fortunately, as Rawson was weak not only in writing but in spelling, and would have been very likely to write "Theas clames fer sail," without a thought that he had committed an error.

About nine o'clock on the second morning, a small man, dressed in a drab suit, walked leisurely¹³ up to Rawson, and remarked: "I understand that you wish to sell these claims."

"Exactly, if we can get a fair price."

"By we you mean——?"

"Myself, Mr. Jones, and the boy. We are partners. Where might you be from, friend?"

"I have an office in Denver. I am commissioned by a Philadelphia syndicate to buy some mining property, which will be worked with the help of improved machinery¹⁴ in a systematic¹⁵ manner."

"Then you will need more than we have to sell."

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"I have secured the property on each side of you," said the agent composedly.

"What figures are you prepared to offer?" asked Rawson, with a look of business. "I don't want to be extortionate, but the claims are good ones, and we don't want to sacrifice them."

Then ensued a few minutes of bargaining, in which Dean took no part. Eben, though usually the most silent of the three, now developed the qualities characteristic of the New England Yankee, and it was due to him that the property was sold for six thousand dollars.

"I might have got more if I'd stood out a little longer," he said, half regretfully.

"We've done pretty well, though," said Rawson, complacently¹⁶. "It's two thousand dollars apiece, say three, with what we've taken from it in the last six months. What do you say to that, lad? You'll go home with three thousand dollars."

"It doesn't seem possible, Ben. Why, Uncle Adin has been at work for forty years, and I don't believe the old place would fetch that."

"Money's easier to come at than in the old times. You'll astonish the old folks, lad."

"There'll be some others that'll be surprised," said Dean, smiling. "Squire¹⁷ Bates and Brandon among the rest."

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"It's better than going home like a tramp. It's strange how much more people think of you when you're worth a little property. And I don't know but they're right. To get money, I mean honestly, a man must have some brains, and he must be willing to work. How much money do you think I had when I arrived here?"

"I don't know."

"Eighteen dollars. It was grit¹⁸ or brains with me, I can tell you. Eben here wasn't much better off."

"Not so well. I only had nine dollars."

"And now we've got eight thousand apiece. That'll make us comfortable for a while, eh, Eben?"

"For life, Rawson. I shall never come back here, but settle down at home, where people will call me a rich man."

"I can't answer for myself. How is it with you, Dean?"

"I shall come back," said Dean, positively¹⁹. "There's very little chance for me in Waterford."

"Well, perhaps you are right. You'll have a fair start, and you're industrious²⁰ and enterprising."

They stopped in Denver on their way home, and called at the office of the agent through whom their claims had been sold.

"Gentlemen," said the agent, "may I venture to give you some advice?"

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"Certainly," said Rawson.

"The best thing you can do with a part of your money is to invest in real estate in this town."

Eben Jones shook his head.

"I'm going to buy a farm at home, and put the rest of the money in the savings²¹ bank," he said.

"How is it with you, Mr. Rawson?"

"No doubt your advice is good, but I want to let the folks at home see what I have brought in solid cash."

"And you?" continued the agent, turning to Dean.

"I will invest two thousand dollars in Denver lots," said Dean, promptly²², "and take the rest home as a present to my uncle and aunt."

"You won't regret it. Denver is growing rapidly. I predict that the lots will double in your hands in a year."

Dean took a walk round the embryo²³ city with the agent, and made a purchase of ten lots on Lawrence street, in accordance with his judgment²⁴.

"Now," said the agent, smiling, "I shall be sure to see you out here again."

1 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

3 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

8 concisely   

adv.简明地

参考例句：

• These equations are written more concisely as a single columnmatrix equation. 这些方程以单列矩阵方程表示会更简单。 来自辞典例句
• The fiber morphology can be concisely summarized. 可以对棉纤维的形态结构进行扼要地归纳。 来自辞典例句

9 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

10 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

11 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

12 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

13 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

14 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

15 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

16 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

18 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

19 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

20 industrious   

adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的

参考例句：

• If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
• She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。

21 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

22 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

23 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

24 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。