CHAPTER XXIX. BAD NEWS FROM HOME.

 Arriving in the city late in the afternoon, Tom went at once to see John Miles. When the latter caught sight of Tom, in his ragged¹ attire², he came to the natural conclusion that our hero had met with hard luck.

 

"Why, Tom, where did you spring from?" he exclaimed, grasping the hand of his young partner.

 

"I am just in from the mines."

 

"I suppose you are in want of money," said Miles, his voice betraying sympathy.

 

Tom laughed.

 

"How do you like my appearance, John?" he asked.

 

"Never mind that, Tom. I see you have had a rough time; but I have been earning money for you."[Pg 264]

 

"Did you send money regularly to father?"

 

"Yes; I have sent him three hundred dollars in all."

 

"That's good," said Tom, in a tone of satisfaction. "That has made him easy. I suppose that took up about all I was entitled to?"

 

"No; I have as much more to your credit. I am ready to pay it to you at once."

 

"I see, John, you think I have not been doing well."

 

"You don't look very prosperous, Tom, I must acknowledge."

 

"Well, John, appearances are deceitful. I have been wonderfully lucky."

 

"I am delighted to hear it, Tom," said Miles, cordially. "How much is it now?"

 

"What do you say to a thousand dollars?"

 

"Excellent."

 

"Two thousand?"

 

"You don't mean it!"

 

"I won't keep you in suspense³, John. I don't know exactly how much I've got, but it's over six thousand dollars!"[Pg 265]

 

John Miles stared at our hero in undisguised astonishment⁴.

 

"Are you sure you're quite right here?" he said, touching⁵ his forehead. "You haven't been sun-struck, have you?"

 

"No, John, it's all as I tell you. Let me explain how my luck came."

 

In a few sentences Tom made it clear to his partner that his luck was real.

 

"As to the three hundred dollars due me from you, John," concluded Tom, "I make you a present of it."

 

"But, Tom—" protested Miles.

 

"Let it be so, and for the future you shall pay me my share. Have you any letters for me?"

 

"I have three."

 

"Give them to me, quick. I am hungry for news from home."

 

Tom sat down on a keg, and fairly devoured⁶ the letters, two of which were from his father. One of these gave him much to think of. I will transcribe⁷ the passages which gave Tom most concern:—[Pg 266]

 

"Yesterday I paid Squire⁸ Hudson his regular semi-annual interest, amounting to sixty-six dollars. Thanks to your liberal remittances⁹, I had no difficulty in making the payment. Indeed, I had two hundred dollars left over. Imagine my dismay when the squire told me he had made up his mind to call in the mortgage, having another use for the money.

 

"'But I can't pay it up,' said I.

 

"'You ought to be able to obtain the money somewhere,' he returned.

 

"'You are the only capitalist with whom I am acquainted,' said I. 'Since I have paid you the interest promptly¹⁰, what more can you desire?'

 

"He insisted that he needed the money. I offered to pay him the two hundred dollars which he had advanced for your journey. He seemed surprised, but repeated that he must have the whole. The upshot of it was that he gave me a formal notice of three months, as stipulated¹¹ in the mortgage. At the end of that time, unless I am ready to pay the twenty-two hundred dollars, he will foreclose, and the old farm must be sold.[Pg 267] Of course it will be sold much below its real value. Probably the squire will get it for the amount of the mortgage, and we shall be thrown upon the world, without a home. It seems hard, Tom, and very selfish; but might makes right, and Squire Hudson has the power on his side."

 

In a postscript¹² Mark Nelson added, "I understand that Squire Hudson has a connection, his wife's brother, for whom he wants the farm. That explains his resolute¹³ refusal to give me time to redeem¹⁴ it. Of course it is too early to decide upon any plans. I must hire some tenement¹⁵ to move into when I have to leave here. It will be hard upon us all to give up the old farm. Walter, who has a taste for farming, and whom I look to be my successor, feels very sad. Don't let this news depress you too much, Tom. We shall not suffer. Thanks to you, I have some money ahead, and we shall not lack for comfort."

 

Tom looked up when he had finished reading the letter.

 

"John," he said, quickly, "when does the next steamer start for New York?"[Pg 268]

 

"Day after to-morrow."

 

"Where can I engage passage?"

 

"Are you going home?"

 

"Yes, John, it is absolutely necessary. Squire Hudson is about to foreclose the mortgage on my father's farm. I must be there to stop it."

 

"Have you money enough?"

 

"Three times over. He shall be defeated in his wicked purpose, or my name isn't Tom Nelson."

 

Tom spoke¹⁶ in a quick, indignant tone, and his voice had a manly¹⁷ ring.

 

"Wait, John, let me read you the letter."

 

"The man's a mean rascal¹⁸!" said Miles. "A rich man who will take advantage of a poor man's necessity to deprive him of his home deserves to be horsewhipped."

 

"I shan't attempt that," said Tom, smiling; "but I will disappoint him. He little thinks I have it in my power to defeat his plans."

 

That very evening Tom engaged passage to New York, and two days later he sailed out of the Golden Gate.[Pg 269]

 

"I don't know how long I shall be gone, John," he said. "You need send me no remittances, for I have money enough with me. You will hear from me as soon as I have reached home, and transacted¹⁹ my business with Squire Hudson."

 

"You will come out here again, Tom, won't you?"

 

"Yes, and before long. I have been so busily occupied making money that I have seen almost nothing of San Francisco."

 

Tom did not journey alone. Ferguson, having thriven beyond his expectations, decided²⁰ to sail to New York, and thence to Scotland, on a visit to his relatives, though he thought it probable he should come back within a year. Dick Russell also was now in a position to study law at home, and gave up the business of gold-mining forever.

 

"I owe all my present prosperity to you two," he said. "But for you I should have blown my brains out five months since."

 

"We owe our prosperity to you also," said[Pg 270] Tom. "You guided us to the mines from which we gathered a golden harvest."

 

"We have worked together, and been mutual²¹ helpers," said Ferguson. "God has favored us all, and to Him be the thanks!"

1 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

2 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

3 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

4 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。

5 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

6 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

7 transcribe   

v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录

参考例句：

• We need volunteers to transcribe this manuscript.我们需要自愿者来抄写这个文稿。
• I am able to take dictation in English and transcribe them rapidly into Chinese.我会英文记录，还能立即将其改写成中文。

8 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。

9 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

12 postscript   

n.附言，又及；(正文后的)补充说明

参考例句：

• There was the usual romantic postscript at the end of his letter.他的信末又是一贯的浪漫附言。
• She mentioned in a postscript to her letter that the parcel had arrived.她在信末附笔中说包裹已寄到。

13 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

14 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

15 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。

16 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。

17 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

18 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

19 transacted   

v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判

参考例句：

• We transacted business with the firm. 我们和这家公司交易。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Major Pendennis transacted his benevolence by deputy and by post. 潘登尼斯少校依靠代理人和邮局，实施着他的仁爱之心。 来自辞典例句

20 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

21 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。