CHAPTER 8. GRIT PUTS HIS MONEY AWAY.

 "You seem to be in good spirits, Grit¹," said his mother, as our hero opened the outside door and entered the room where she sat sewing.

 

"Yes, mother, I have reason to be. Is—is Mr. Brandon home?"

 

"Yes; he is up-stairs lying down," answered Mrs. Brandon, with a sigh.

 

[Pg 54]

 

Grit rose and closed the door.

 

"I don't want him to hear what I'm going to tell you," he said. "Mother, I have been very lucky to-day."

 

"I suppose Mr. Jackson was liberal."

 

"I should say he was. Guess how much money I have in this wallet, mother."

 

"Five dollars."

 

"Multiply that by twelve."

 

"You don't mean to say that he gave you sixty dollars?" inquired his mother quickly.

 

"Yes, I do. See here," and Grit displayed the roll of bills.

 

"You are, indeed, in luck, Grit. How much good this money will do us. But I forgot," she added, her expression changing to one of anxious solicitude².

 

"What did you forget, mother?"

 

"That your father—that Mr. Brandon had returned."

 

"What difference will that make, mother? I suppose, of course, it will increase our expenses."

 

"If that were all, Grit."

 

"What is it, then, you fear, mother?"

 

"That he will take this money away from you."

 

[Pg 55]

 

"I should like to see him try it," exclaimed Grit, compressing his lips.

 

"He will try it, Grit. He said only an hour ago that you would have to account to him for your daily earnings³."

 

"Doesn't he mean to do any work himself?"

 

"I fear not. You know what sort of a man he is, Grit. He probably means to live on what we can earn, and spend his time and what money he can get hold of at the tavern⁴."

 

"And he calls himself a man!" said Grit disdainfully.

 

"I am afraid our quiet, happy life is at an end, Grit," sighed his mother.

 

Grit did not answer for a moment, but he looked stern and determined⁵. Finally, he answered:

 

"I don't want to make any disturbance⁶, mother, or to act improperly⁷, but I feel sure that we ought not to submit to such treatment."

 

"What can we do, Grit?"

 

"If Mr. Brandon cares to stay here we will provide him a home, give him his board, but, as to supplying him with money, we ought not to do it."

 

[Pg 56]

 

"I agree with you, Grit, but I don't see how we can help it. Mr. Brandon is a man, and you are only a boy. I don't want you to quarrel with him."

 

"I won't if I can help it. By the way, mother, I don't think it will be prudent⁸ to leave all this money in the house."

 

"What can we do with it?"

 

"I will put it out of my hands. Perhaps I had better not tell you what I am going to do with it, for Mr. Brandon might ask you, and it is better that you should be able to tell him that you don't know."

 

"You are right, Grit."

 

"I will attend to that matter at once, mother. I will be back in half or three-quarters of an hour," and the young boatman hurried from the house.

 

He bent⁹ his steps to the house of his particular friend, Fred Lawrence, the son of a lawyer in the village. Mr. Lawrence was rated as wealthy by the people in the village, and lived in a house quite as good as Mr. Courtney's, but his son Fred was a very different style of boy. He had no purse-pride, and it never occurred to him that Grit was unfit to[Pg 57] associate with, simply because he was poor, and had to earn a living for himself and his mother by ferrying passengers across the Kennebec. In fact, he regarded Grit as his most intimate friend, and spent as much time in his company as their differing engagements would allow.

 

Phil Courtney, though he condescended¹⁰ to Grit, regarded Fred as his social equal, and wished to be intimate with him; but Fred did not fancy Phil, and the latter saw, with no little annoyance¹¹, that the young boatman's company was preferred to his. It displayed shocking bad taste on the part of Fred, but he did not venture to express himself to the lawyer's son as he would not scruple¹² to do to the young ferryman.

 

Naturally, when Grit felt the need of advice, he thought of his most intimate friend, and sought the lawyer's house.

 

He met Fred on the way.

 

"Hello, Grit!" said Fred cordially. "Where are you going?"

 

"I was going to your house."

 

"Then turn round, and we will go there."

 

"I can talk with you in the street. I want your advice and help."

 

[Pg 58]

 

"My advice is probably very valuable," said Fred, smiling, "considering my age and experience. However, my help you can rely upon, if I can give it."

 

"Did you hear that Mr. Brandon had got home?" asked Grit abruptly¹³.

 

"Your stepfather?"

 

"Yes; I am sorry to say that there is that tie between us. I presume you know where he has spent the last five years?"

 

"Yes," answered Fred.

 

"Of course, I am glad for his sake that he is free; but I am afraid he is going to give us trouble."

 

"How does he appear?"

 

"I have not seen him yet."

 

"How's that?"

 

"He only arrived to-day, and I was absent when he reached home."

 

"Does he mean to live here?"

 

"I am afraid so; and, what is more, I am afraid he means that mother and I shall pay his expenses. He has already told mother that he shall require me to account to him for my daily earnings."

 

"That will be hard on you."

 

[Pg 59]

 

"Yes; I need all I can make to pay our daily expenses, and I don't feel like letting mother suffer for the necessaries of life in order to supply Mr. Brandon with money for drink."

 

"You are right there, Grit. I sympathize with you; but how can I help it?"

 

"That is what I am coming to. I want to deposit my money with you—that is, what I don't need to use."

 

"I suppose you haven't much. It might not be well to trust me too far," said Fred, smiling.

 

"I have sixty dollars here, which I would like to put in your hands—that is, all but two dollars."

 

"Sixty dollars! Where on earth did you get so much money, Grit?" asked his friend, opening his eyes wide in astonishment¹⁴.

 

Grit told the story briefly¹⁵, and received the warm congratulations of his friend.

 

"You deserve it all, Grit," he said, "for your brave deed."

 

"Don't flatter me, Fred, or I may put on airs like Phil Courtney. But, to come back to business—will you do me this favor?"

 

"Of course, I will. Father has a safe in his[Pg 60] office, and I will put the money in there. Whenever you want any of it, you have only to ask me."

 

"Thank you. That will suit me. I shan't break in upon it unless I am obliged to, as I would like to have it in reserve to fall back upon."

 

"Come and take supper with us, Grit, won't you?" asked Fred cordially.

 

"Thank you, Fred; not to-night. I haven't seen Mr. Brandon yet, and I may as well get over the first interview as soon as possible. We shall have to come to an understanding, and it is better not to delay it."

 

"Good night, then; I shall see you to-morrow, for I am going to Portville, and I shall go over in your boat."

 

"Then we can have a chat together. Good night."

 

Meanwhile, Mr. Brandon, having slept off his debauch¹⁶, had come down-stairs.

 

"Where's the cub¹⁷?" he asked.

 

"I wish you wouldn't call him by that name," said his wife. "He wouldn't like it."

 

"I shall call him what I please. Hasn't he been in?"

 

[Pg 61]

 

"Yes, Grit has been in."

 

"Grit?"

 

"That's a nickname the boys have given him, and as everybody calls him so, I have got into that way."

 

"Oh, well, call him what you like. Has he been in?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Where is he now?"

 

"He went out for a short time. I expect him in every minute."

 

"Did he leave his day's earnings with you?"

 

"No," answered Mrs. Brandon, with a troubled look. "He has the best right to that himself."

 

"Has he, hey? We'll see about that. I, as his stepfather and legal guardian¹⁸, shall have something to say to that."

 

Mrs. Brandon was not called upon to reply, for the door opened just then, and the young boatman stood in the presence of his worthy¹⁹ stepfather.

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 solicitude   

n.焦虑

参考例句：

• Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
• He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

7 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

8 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 condescended   

屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲

参考例句：

• We had to wait almost an hour before he condescended to see us. 我们等了几乎一小时他才屈尊大驾来见我们。
• The king condescended to take advice from his servants. 国王屈驾向仆人征求意见。

11 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

12 scruple   

n./v.顾忌，迟疑

参考例句：

• It'seemed to her now that she could marry him without the remnant of a scruple.她觉得现在她可以跟他成婚而不需要有任何顾忌。
• He makes no scruple to tell a lie.他说起谎来无所顾忌。

13 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

14 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

16 debauch   

v.使堕落，放纵

参考例句：

• He debauched many innocent girls.他诱使许多清白的女子堕落了。
• A scoffer，a debauched person,and,in brief，a man of Belial.一个玩世不恭的人，一个生活放荡的家伙，总而言之，是个恶棍。

17 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

18 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

19 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。