CHAPTER 4. A BOY IN THE WATER.

 Mr. Jackson was a slender, dark-complexioned man of forty, or thereabouts. He was fashionably dressed, and had the air of one who lives in a city. He had an affable manner, and seemed inclined to be social.

 

"Is this your business, ferrying passengers across the river?" he asked of Grit¹.

 

"Yes, sir," answered the young boatman.

 

"Does it pay?" was the next inquiry—an important one in the eyes of a city man.

 

"Yes, sir; I make more in this way than I could in any other."

 

"How much, for instance?"

 

"From five to seven dollars. Once—it was Fourth of July week—I made nearly ten dollars."

 

"That is a great deal more than I made at your age," said Mr. Jackson.

 

"You look as if you made more now," said Grit, smiling.

 

[Pg 29]

 

"Yes," said the passenger, with an answering smile. "I am afraid I couldn't get along on that sum now."

 

"Do you live in the city?" asked Grit, with a sudden impulse.

 

"Yes, I live in what I regard as the city. I mean New York."

 

"It must be a fine place," said the young boatman thoughtfully.

 

"Yes, it is a fine place, if you have money enough to live handsomely. Did you ever hear of Wall Street?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"I am a Wall Street broker². I commenced as a boy in a broker's office. I don't think I was any better off than you at your age—certainly I did not earn so much money."

 

"But you didn't have a mother to take care of, did you, sir?"

 

"No; do you?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"You are a good boy to work for your mother. My poor boy has no mother;" and the gentleman looked sad. "What is your name?"

 

"Grit."

 

[Pg 30]

 

"Is that your real name?"

 

"No, sir, but everybody calls me so."

 

"For a good reason, probably. Willie, do you like to ride in the boat?"

 

"Yes, papa," answered the little boy, his bright eyes and eager manner showing that he spoke³ the truth.

 

"Grit," said Mr. Jackson, "I see we are nearly across the river. Unless you are due there at a specified⁴ time, you may stay out, and we will row here and there, prolonging our trip. Of course, I will increase your pay."

 

"I shall be very willing, sir," said Grit. "My boat is my own, and my time also, and I have no fixed⁵ hours for starting from either side."

 

"Good! Then we can continue our conversation. Is there a good hotel in Chester?"

 

"Quite a good one, sir. They keep summer boarders."

 

"That was the point I wished to inquire about. Willie and I have been staying with friends in Portville, but they are expecting other visitors, and I have a fancy for staying a while on your side of the river—that is, if you live in Chester."

 

[Pg 31]

 

"Yes, sir; our cottage is on yonder bluff⁶—Pine Point, it is called."

 

"Then I think I will call at the hotel, and see whether I can obtain satisfactory accommodations."

 

"Are you taking a vacation?" asked Grit, with curiosity.

 

"Yes; the summer is a dull time in Wall Street, and my partner attends to everything. By and by I shall return, and give him a chance to go away."

 

"Do people make a great deal of money in Wall Street?" asked Grit.

 

"Sometimes, and sometimes they lose a great deal. I have known a man who kept his span of horses one summer reduced to accept a small clerkship the next. If a broker does not speculate, he is not so liable to such changes of fortune. What is your real name, since Grit is only a nickname?"

 

"My real name is Harry⁷ Morris."

 

"Have you any brothers or sisters?"

 

"No, sir; I am an only child."

 

"Were you born here?"

 

"No, sir; I was born in Boston."

 

"Have you formed any plans for the future?[Pg 32] You won't be a boatman all your life, I presume?"

 

"I hope not, sir. It will do well enough for the present, and I am glad to have such a chance of earning a living for my mother and myself; but when I grow up I should like to go to the city, and get into business there."

 

"All the country boys are anxious to seek their fortune in the city. In many cases they would do better to stay at home."

 

"Were you born in the city, sir?" asked Grit shrewdly.

 

"No; I was born in the country."

 

"But you didn't stay there."

 

"No; you have got me there. I suppose it was better for me to go to the city, and perhaps it may be for you; but there is no hurry. You wouldn't have a chance to earn six dollars a week in the city, as you say you do here. Besides, it would cost much more for you and your mother to live."

 

"I suppose so, sir. I am contented⁸ to remain where I am at present."

 

"Is your father dead?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"It is a great loss. Then your mother is a widow?"

 

[Pg 33]

 

"I wish she were," said Grit hastily.

 

"But she must be, if your father is dead," said Mr. Jackson.

 

"No, sir; she married again."

 

"Oh, there is a stepfather, then? Don't you and he get along well together?"

 

"There has been no chance to quarrel for nearly five years."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because he has been in prison."

 

"Excuse me if I have forced upon you a disagreeable topic," said the passenger, in a tone of sympathy. "His term of confinement⁹ will expire, and then he can return to you."

 

"That is just what troubles me, sir," said Grit bluntly. "We are expecting him in a day or two, and then our quiet life will be at an end."

 

"Will he make things disagreeable for you?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"At least, you will not have to work so hard."

 

"Yes, sir. I shall have to work harder, for I shall have to support him, too."

 

"Won't he be willing to work?"

 

[Pg 34]

 

"No, sir, he is very lazy, and if he can live without work, he will."

 

"That is certainly unfortunate."

 

"It is worse than having no father at all," said Grit bluntly. "I don't care to have him remain in prison, if he will only keep away from us, but I should be glad if I could never set eyes upon him again."

 

"Well, my boy, you must bear the trial as well as you can. We all have our trials, and yours comes in the shape of a disagreeable stepfather——"

 

He did not finish the sentence, for there was a startling interruption.

 

Mr. Jackson and Grit had been so much engaged in their conversation that they had not watched the little boy. Willie had amused himself in bending over the side of the boat, and dipping his little fingers in the rippling¹⁰ water. With childish imprudence he leaned too far, and fell head first into the swift stream.

 

A splash told the startled father what had happened.

 

"Good Heaven!" he exclaimed, "my boy is overboard, and I cannot swim."

 

[Pg 35]

 

He had scarcely got the words out of his mouth than Grit was in the water, swimming for the spot where the boy went down, now a rod or two distant, for the boat had been borne onward¹¹ by the impulse of the oars¹².

 

The young boatman was an expert swimmer. It would naturally have been expected, since so much of his time had been spent on the river. He had often engaged in swimming-matches with his boy companions, and there was no one who could surpass him in speed or endurance.

 

He struck out boldly, and, as Willie rose to the surface for the second time, he seized him by the arm, and, turning, struck out for the boat. The little boy struggled, and this made his task more difficulty but Grit was strong and wary¹³, and, holding Willie in a strong grasp, he soon gained the boat.

 

Mr. Jackson leaned over, and drew the boy, dripping, into its safe refuge.

 

"Climb in, too, Grit!" he said.

 

"No, I shall upset it. If you will row to the shore, I will swim there."

 

"Very well."

 

Mr. Jackson was not wholly a stranger to[Pg 36] the use of oars, and the shore was very near. In three minutes the boat touched the bank, and almost at the same time Grit clambered on shore.

 

"You have saved my boy's life," said Mr. Jackson, his voice betraying the strong emotion he felt. "I shall not forget it."

 

"Willie is cold!" said the little boy.

 

"Our house is close by," said Grit. "Let us take him there at once, and mother will take care of him, and dry his clothes."

 

The suggestion was adopted, and Mr. Jackson and his two young companions were soon standing¹⁴ at the door of the plain cottage on the bluff.

 

When his mother admitted them, Grit noticed that she looked disturbed, and he seized the first chance to ask her if anything were the matter.

 

"Your stepfather has come!" she answered.

1 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。

2 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。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 bluff   

v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗

参考例句：

• His threats are merely bluff.他的威胁仅仅是虚张声势。
• John is a deep card.No one can bluff him easily.约翰是个机灵鬼。谁也不容易欺骗他。

7 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

8 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

9 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

10 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

11 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

12 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。