CHAPTER XXV BACK TO THE CITY

 On the following day Nat arose at five o'clock, and put on an old suit of clothes. Slipping downstairs he hurried to the barn, where he fed the horses and then milked the cows. He was just finishing up when his uncle appeared.

 

"Well, I never!" ejaculated Abner Balberry. "Right back into harness ag'in, eh?"

 

"Yes, Uncle Abner; I thought I'd like a little taste of old times."

 

"You've done putty good to get through so quick, Nat. I wish Fred was such good help."

 

"Doesn't he help at all?"

 

"Not unless you drive him all the time. His mother gits after him, an' so do I, but it don't appear to do no good."

 

"He wants to go to the city and try his luck."

 

"Humph! He'd starve to death."

 

"Perhaps it might teach him a lesson."

 

"Well, he's got to do somethin' putty soon. I ain't goin' to support him if he won't work."

 

For the balance of the day Nat helped his uncle around the farm. It was rather hard work, but he did not complain, and Abner was greatly pleased.

 

"Nat, if you git tired o' the city, you come back here," said his uncle, on parting. "Remember, I'll make it right with you."

 

"I'll remember, Uncle Abner," responded Nat.

 

"Somehow, I guess I didn't use to understand you. You're a putty good boy after all."

 

"It's kind to say so."

 

"An' it wasn't right fer me to say you sot the barn afire," added Abner, earnestly.

 

"We'll let bygones be bygones," answered Nat, and then he shook hands with his uncle.

 

When Nat started back for New York, his Uncle Abner drove him to the railroad station at Brookville. Fred wanted to go for the ride, but his mother told him he must stay at the farm.

 

"You go and cut the wood," said she, sharply. "If you don't you'll get no supper to-night."

 

"I ain't goin' to cut no wood," growled² Fred.

 

"Yes, you are—and do it right now, too."

 

"Hang the wood," muttered Fred, savagely³. "I ain't going to stay on the farm. I'm going to New York, same as Nat."

 

At the depot⁴ Nat and his uncle parted on the best of terms.

 

"If you kin¹ git off at Christmas, come an' see us," said Abner Balberry. "We'll have a good fat turkey for dinner, with all the fixin's."

 

"Thank you very much," said Nat. "Perhaps I'll come—if I can get away."

 

The run to Cleveland was quickly made, and here our hero found that he would have an hour to wait before the arrival of the train for New York. As his dress-suit case had been checked, he felt at liberty to walk around, to see the sights.

 

"How different matters are from when I first struck this city," he thought, as he walked along one of the streets. "Then I was a real greeny, but I didn't know it."

 

Nat was returning to the railroad station when he suddenly heard his name called, and turning, found himself confronted by Paul Hampton.

 

"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Hampton?" he cried, and shook hands. "I am real glad to see you."

 

"And I am glad to see you," answered the young man. "But how comes it you are in Cleveland. I thought you were in New York."

 

"I've been back to the farm for a couple of days—on business and pleasure combined. Aren't you in Buffalo⁵ and Niagara Falls any more?"

 

"Oh, yes, a law case brought me here. How are you doing?"

 

"Very well indeed."

 

"I am glad to hear it."

 

"You were awfully⁶ good to give me that hundred dollars," continued Nat, earnestly, "I never expected it."

 

"I hope it did you lots of good, Nat."

 

"It did and it didn't."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"The money was stolen from me—or rather I was swindled out of it. That opened my eyes to the fact that I was not as smart as I had imagined myself to be." And then our hero related the experience he had had with Nick Smithers, alias⁷ Hamilton Dart⁸.

 

"That was too bad," said Paul Hampton. "I trust you locate this Smithers some day."

 

"So do I."

 

"What are you doing?"

 

"I am with a real estate broker⁹. I am learning shorthand and typewriting, and I am to become his private secretary."

 

"Then you are on the right road, and I congratulate you. The real estate business is an excellent one, especially in a large city like New York."

 

Paul Hampton walked to the depot with Nat and saw him on the cars. Soon our hero was off. The trip back to the metropolis¹⁰ was made without anything out of the ordinary happening.

 

"So you are back," said John Garwell, when our hero presented himself at the office. "I hope you enjoyed the trip."

 

"I did, very much, Mr. Garwell."

 

"How did your uncle treat you?"

 

"Finely, sir."

 

"Did you find any papers of value?" went on the real estate broker.

 

"I found half a dozen which I wish you would look over." And Nat brought forth¹¹ the documents.

 

"I am anxious to close that real estate deal," went on John Garwell. "Others are getting wind of it, including that fellow Shanley from Brooklyn. He is doing his best to make me lose on the deal."

 

"Is Rufus Cameron in with him?"

 

"I believe he is. Both of them are very bitter."

 

"I suppose they are bitter against me too," observed Nat soberly.

 

"It is more than likely. But that can't be helped, Nat. In business a man is bound to make more or less of enemies."

 

John Garwell was very busy, and said he would look over the documents the next day. But on the following morning he was called out of town, so the documents were not examined until some days later.

 

As soon as he returned to the office, Nat went to work with vigor¹² for over a week, to make up for the lost time. He had a great deal of writing on hand, and one evening he remained at the place until after nine o'clock.

 

As Nat had been indoors nearly all day, he resolved to walk home, just for the physical exercise and to get the fresh air. He started up Broadway, and was soon as far as Tenth Street. Here he attempted to cross the thoroughfare, but was stopped by a jam of cars and other vehicles.

 

"Let me alone!" he heard a boy not far off say. "Let me alone! I won't give you my money!"

 

"You've got to pay for the papers, country!" cried another boy. "Come, fork over the fifteen cents."

 

"It's all I've got."

 

"I don't care. Fork over, or I'll—I'll mash¹³ you!"

 

The voice of one of the boys sounded familiar, and stepping to a dark doorway¹⁴, from whence the voices proceeded, Nat was amazed to find Fred Guff, and a New York newsboy who was a stranger.

 

"Fred!"

 

"Why, if it ain't Nat!" cried the farm boy. "Where did you spring from?"

 

"I think I had better ask you that question."

 

"I want me money!" came from the newsboy.

 

"Help me, Nat. He wants to get my money from me. It's the last fifteen cents I've got!" pleaded Fred.

 

"What do you want of the money?" demanded Nat, of the newsboy.

 

"Oh, it ain't none o' your business."

 

"I tried to help him sell papers," said Fred. "But I couldn't sell those he gave me, and now he wants me to pay for them, anyway."

 

"Did you agree to pay for them?"

 

"I said I'd pay for them if I sold them."

 

"Then you don't get any money," said Nat, sharply, to the newsboy. "Now let this boy alone, do you hear?"

 

"Ah! wait till I catch him alone," muttered the newsboy, and ran off around the corner.

1 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

2 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

4 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

5 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

6 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

7 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

8 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

9 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

10 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

13 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

14 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。