CHAPTER XVII WHAT THE LETTER CONTAINED

 Leaving the squire¹ in the sitting room, Herbert went in quest of his mother.

“Squire Leech² is here,” he said.

“What shall we say to him?” asked his mother, soberly.

“Wait a minute and I will tell you,” said Herbert, his face brightening.

“I've had a stroke of luck, mother. I've been engaged to work afternoons, at five dollars a week.”

“Who has engaged to pay you such high wages?” asked Mrs. Carter, astonished.

“A young man staying at the hotel, whose eyes are weak. I am to read to him, and do whatever else he requires. I got the chance through the landlord.”

“You are certainly fortunate,” said his mother, gratified.

“Now, what I am going to propose to the squire is to wait two or three weeks for the balance of the interest till I can make it up out of my wages.”

“If he weren't so anxious to get possession of the place he would; but I am afraid on that account he will refuse But we ought to go in.”

Mrs. Carter removed the apron³ which she had worn about her work, and entered the sitting room, followed by Herbert.

“I hope you will excuse my keeping you waiting, Squire Leech,” she said.

“Certainly, ma'am, though I am rather in a hurry.”

“I suppose you have come about the interest?”

“It is due to-day, as, of course, you know.”

“Yes.”

“I suppose you have it ready,” said the squire, eyeing her shrewdly.

“I can pay you fifteen dollars of it,” said the widow, nervously⁴.

Squire Leech felt exultant⁵, but he only frowned.

“It amounts to twenty-two dollars and a half,” he said, sharply.

“I know that, and I shall be able to pay the remainder if you will be kind enough to wait two or three weeks.”

Not knowing anything of Herbert's good fortune, Squire Leech utterly⁷ disbelieved this. He knew no source from which the widow could get the money.

“It is easy enough to make promises,” he said, with a sneer⁸, “but that doesn't satisfy me. I want my money.”

Now Herbert felt it time for him to take part in the conversation.

“My mother can keep her promise,” he said.

“Can she? Perhaps you will explain where you expect to get the money.”

“From my wages,” answered Herbert, proudly.

“I wasn't aware that you received any,” sneered⁹ the squire.

“I have just made an engagement to work for five dollars a week,” said our hero, enjoying the squire's look of surprise.

“Indeed! Who pays you that?”

“A gentleman boarding at the hotel has engaged me to read to him as his eyes are weak.”

“A fool and his money are soon parted,” said Squire Leech. “You may retain the position a week.”

“I hope to keep it. I feel sure that I shall.”

“I don't,” said the squire, emphatically.

“Then are you willing to wait—say two weeks—for the rest of the interest?”

“No, I am not, and you ought to have known I shouldn't be. There is a way of arranging the whole matter.”

“By selling the place, you mean?”

“Yes; I mean just that. It is folly¹⁰ for you to think of keeping the property with such a heavy mortgage upon it on which you are unable to pay the interest. I have offered you a fair price for it.”

“You offered four hundred dollars less than it cost.”

“That is nonsense! It never cost fifteen hundred dollars.”

“I have my husband's word for it,” said the widow.

“Then, he made some mistake, you may be sure.”

“I am sure father was right,” said Herbert. “Besides, we have his bills to prove it.”

“That's neither here nor there,” said Squire Leech, impatiently. “Even if it cost ten thousand dollars, it's only worth eleven hundred now; that is to say, three hundred and fifty dollars over and above the mortgage.”

“You are hard upon me, Squire Leech,” said Mrs. Carter, despondently¹¹.

“You are a woman, ma'am, and women never understand business. I make allowance for you; but your son ought to know better than to encourage you.”

“I want my mother to be treated fairly and justly.”

“Do you mean to imply that I would treat her otherwise, young man?” demanded the squire, angrily. “I advise you not to make an enemy of me.”

Herbert looked sober. The squire might not be right but certainly he had the power to carry his point and that power he was certain to exercise.

“Will you give my mother and myself a little time to consult what is to be done?” he asked.

“Yes,” said the squire, feeling that he had carried his point. “I might refuse, of course, but I wish to be easy with you and therefore I will give you till half past twelve. I will be back at that time.”

He took his cane¹² and left the house.

His reference to the post office reminded Herbert of the letter he had in his pocket for his mother.

“Here's a letter for you, mother,” he said.

“A letter! Who can it be from?”

“It's postmarked at Randolph,” said Herbert.

“Perhaps it's from Aunt Nancy,” suggested the widow. “I don't know anyone else in Randolph that would be likely to write to me.”

She opened the envelope and uttered a cry of surprise as two bills dropped out and fluttered to the floor.

Herbert picked them up eagerly and cried: “Why, mother, they are ten-dollar bills. Twenty dollars in all!”

“Twenty dollars!” repeated Mrs. Carter, in amazement¹³.

“Hurrah! now we can pay the interest!” exclaimed Herbert. “Won't the squire be mad!” and he laughed joyously¹⁴. “Read the letter aloud, mother.”

Mrs. Carter read as follows:

“MY DEAR NIECE: I have thought of you often, and wish we were not so far distant from each other. I should enjoy seeing you and that good son of yours often. I am afraid you have had a hard time getting along. My wants are few and I have more than enough to supply them. I inclose twenty dollars in this letter. I shall not need them, for an old woman like me can live on very little.

“I wish you would write to me sometimes or ask Herbert to. I feel lonely and it would be a great favor to me. If it were not so far, I would ask you and Herbert to come over and spend a day or two with me. Perhaps you can manage to do it some time. Only don't delay too long, for I am getting old and can't expect to live much longer,

“Your affectionate aunt,

“NANCY CARTER.”

 

“How good of Aunt Nancy! If her brother had possessed¹⁵ her kind heart, we should be better off to-day.”

“It came just in the nick of time, mother. How lucky!”

“Say, rather, how providential, my son. We owe to the kindness of God. He will not see us want.”

“Of course you are right, mother; but the squire won't regard it in the same light. He will be terribly disappointed, for he thinks he has got us in his power.”

“I am thankful that this is to be our home for six months more.”

“Longer than that, mother. I am earning something now, and I will save up money to pay our next interest.”

“Squire Leech is coming back,” said Mrs. Carter.

“See how briskly he walks!” said Herbert. “I don't think he'll be so cheerful when he leaves the house.”

“I don't think we ought to exult⁶, Herbert.”

“I can't help it, mother and I'm not ashamed of it, either. You are carrying benevolence¹⁶ too far.”

Here the squire's knock was heard, and Herbert went to admit him.

1 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。

2 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

3 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

4 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

5 exultant   

adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的

参考例句：

• The exultant crowds were dancing in the streets.欢欣的人群在大街上跳起了舞。
• He was exultant that she was still so much in his power.他仍然能轻而易举地摆布她，对此他欣喜若狂。

6 exult   

v.狂喜，欢腾；欢欣鼓舞

参考例句：

• Few people would not exult at the abolition of slavery.奴隶制被废除了，人们无不为之欢乐鼓舞。
• Let's exult with the children at the drawing near of Children's Day.六一儿童节到了，让我们陪着小朋友们一起欢腾。

7 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

8 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

9 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

10 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

11 despondently   

adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地

参考例句：

• It had come to that, he reflected despondently. 事情已经到了这个地步了，他沉思着，感到心灰意懒。 来自辞典例句
• He shook his head despondently. 他沮丧地摇摇头。 来自辞典例句

12 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

13 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

14 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分

15 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

16 benevolence   

n.慈悲，捐助

参考例句：

• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
• He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。