“I won’t believe it,” said Hector, to himself.
“I won’t so wrong my dear father’s memory at the bidding of this man, whose interest it is to trump1 up this story, since he and his son become the owners of a great estate in my place.”
Just then Guy advanced toward Hector with a malicious2 smile upon his face. He knew very well what a blow poor Hector had received, for he was in his father’s confidence, and he was mean enough, and malicious enough, to rejoice at it.
“What’s the matter with you, Hector?” he asked, with a grin. “You look as if you had lost your last friend.”
“Do you know what your father has been saying to me?” he asked.
“Well, I can guess,” answered Guy. “Ho! ho! It’s a great joke that you have all the time fancied yourself the heir of Castle Roscoe, when you have no claim to it at all. I am the heir!” he added, drawing himself up proudly; “and you are a poor dependent, and a nobody. It’s funny!”
“Perhaps you won’t think it so funny after this!” said Hector, coolly, exasperated4 beyond endurance. As he spoke5 he drew off, and in an instant Guy measured his length upon the greensward.
Guy rose, his face livid with passion, in a frame of mind far from funny. He clinched6 his fists and looked at Hector as if he wished to annihilate7 him. “You’ll pay for this,” he screamed. “You’ll repent8 it, bitterly, you poor, nameless dependent, low-born, very likely—”
“Hold, there!” said Hector, advancing resolutely10, and sternly facing the angry boy. “Be careful what you say. If this story of your father’s is true, which I don’t believe, you might have the decency11 to let me alone, even if you don’t sympathize with me. If you dare to say or hint anything against my birth, I’ll treat you worse than I have yet.”
“I am ready to suffer now, if you are able to make me,” said Hector. “Come on, and we’ll settle it now.”
But Guy had no desire for the contest to which he was invited. He had a wholesome13 fear of Hector’s strong, muscular arms, aided, as they were, by some knowledge of boxing. Hector had never taken regular lessons, but a private tutor, whom his father had employed, a graduate of Yale, had instructed him in the rudiments14 of the “manly art of self-defense,” and Hector was very well able to take care of himself against any boy of his own size and strength. In size, Guy was his equal, but in strength he was quite inferior. This Guy knew full well, and, angry as he was, he by no means lost sight of prudence15.
“I don’t choose to dirty my hands with you,” he said. “I shall tell my father, and it would serve you right if he sent you adrift.”
In Hector’s present mood, he would not, perhaps, have cared much if this threat had been carried into execution, but he was not altogether reckless, and he felt that it was best to remain under Mr. Roscoe’s protection until he had had time to investigate the remarkable16 story which he suspected his reputed uncle had trumped17 up to serve his own interests.
“Tell your father, if you like,” said Hector, quietly. “I don’t know whether he will sustain you or not in your insults, but if he does, then I shall have two opponents instead of one.”
“Does that mean that you will attack my father?” demanded Guy, hoping for an affirmative answer, as it would help him to prejudice his father against our hero.
“No,” answered Hector, smiling, “I don’t apprehend18 there will be any necessity, for he won’t insult me as you have done.”
Guy lost no time in seeking his father, and laying the matter before him, inveighing19 against Hector with great bitterness.
“So he knocked you down, did he, Guy?” asked Allan Roscoe, thoughtfully.
“Yes; he took me unawares, or he couldn’t have done it,” answered Guy, a little ashamed at the avowal20.
“What did you do?”
“I—I told him he should suffer for it.”
“Why did he attack you?”
“It was on account of something I said.”
“What was it?”
Guy reluctantly answered this question, and with correctness.
“It was your fault for speaking to him when he was feeling sore at making a painful discovery.”
“No; but still, I think it, was natural, under the circumstances. You should have kept out of his way, and let him alone.”
“Won’t you punish him for attacking me?” demanded Guy, indignantly.
“I will speak to him on the subject,” said Allan Roscoe; “and will tell him my opinion of his act.”
“Then shan’t I be revenged upon him?” asked Guy, disappointed.
“Listen, Guy,” said his father. “Is it no punishment that the boy is stripped of all his possessions, while you step into his place? Henceforth he will be dependent upon me, and later, upon you. He has been hurled23 down from his proud place as owner of Castle Roscoe, and I have taken his place, as you will hereafter do.”
“Yes,” said Guy, gleefully; “it will be a proud day when I become master of the estate.”
“You seem to forget, Guy, that you do not succeed till I am dead!”
“Yes, I suppose so,” answered Guy, slowly.
“It almost seems as if you were in a hurry for me to die.”
“I didn’t mean that, but it’s natural to suppose that I shall live longer than you do, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” returned Allan Roscoe, shortly.
“Of course that’s what I mean.”
“Then, since you are so much better off than Hector, you had better be more considerate, and leave him to get over his disappointment as well as he can.”
“Shall I send in Hector to see you?” asked Guy, as he at length turned to leave the room.
“Yes.”
“You’re to go in to my father,” said Guy, reappearing on the lawn; “he’s going to give it to you.”
Hector anticipated some such summons, and he had remained in the same spot, too proud to have it supposed that he shrank from the interview.
“I hear you wish to see me, Mr. Roscoe,” he said, manfully.
“Yes, Hector; Guy has come to me with complaints of you.”
“If he says I knocked him down for insulting me, he has told you the truth,” said Hector, sturdily.
“That was the substance of what he said, though he did not admit the insult.”
“But for that I should not have attacked him.”
“I do not care to interfere25 in boys’ quarrels, except in extreme cases,” said Mr. Roscoe. “I am afraid Guy was aggravating26, and you were unnecessarily violent.”
“It doesn’t seem to me so,” said Hector.
“So I regard it. I have warned him not to add by taunts27 to the poignancy28 of your disappointment. I request you to remember that Guy is my son, and that I am disposed to follow my brother’s directions, and provide for and educate you.”
Hector bowed and retired29. He went out with a more favorable opinion of Allan Roscoe, who had treated the difficulty in a reasonable manner.
Allan Roscoe looked after him as he went out.
“I hate that boy,” he said, to himself; “I temporize30 from motives31 of policy, but I mean to tame his haughty32 spirit yet.”
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1
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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6
clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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7
annihilate
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| v.使无效；毁灭；取消 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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9
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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11
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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12
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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14
rudiments
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| n.基础知识，入门 | |
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15
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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16
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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17
trumped
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| v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造 | |
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18
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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19
inveighing
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| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的现在分词 ) | |
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20
avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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21
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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24
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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25
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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26
aggravating
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| adj.恼人的，讨厌的 | |
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27
taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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28
poignancy
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| n.辛酸事，尖锐 | |
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29
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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30
temporize
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| v.顺应时势；拖延 | |
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31
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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32
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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