So Julius, as he took his last walk through the streets with which he had for years been familiar, felt sorry that he was to leave them the next day, perhaps, for many years. It is true he hoped to do better at the West, but all his present associations were with Broadway, Chatham Street, and the Bowery, and City Hall Park, and his new life would seem strange at first.
But when all preparations had been made and he found himself seated in the cars, dressed in a new suit, with thirty other boys, under the general charge of Mr. O’Connor, the superintendent3 of the Newsboys’ Lodging4 House, he forgot the city, and was exhilarated by the rapid motion of the cars, and the varied5 panorama6 through which he was swiftly passing.
“That’s so, Julius. I never rid in the cars before.”
“Didn’t you?” said Julius, with complacent8 superiority. “I have.”
“Where’d you go?”
“Well, I went to Newark, and one summer I went to Long Branch—that’s a big watering place, you know. Both places are in New Jersey9. I stayed a week at Long Branch.”
“Did you put up at one of the big hotels?”
“Yes, I put up at the Continental10 Hotel.”
“You’re gassin’!”
“No, I ain’t.”
“How much did you pay?”
“I forgot to ask for the bill,” said Julius.
“Where’d you sleep?”
“Oh, I slept in a bathing house, on the beach. It belonged to the hotel.”
“How’d you like it?”
“Pretty good, only the tide came up so high that it poured into the bathing house, and gave me a wetting.”
“Did you get anything to do?”
“I made a few stamps by blackin’ boots, but the black-boots in the hotel said he’d bounce me for interferin’ with his business. So I thought I’d come back to the city. I didn’t mind much, for there wasn’t much goin’ on in the daytime.”
“Do you know how long we’ll be travelin’?”
“Mr. O’Connor told me it would take us two days and nights, and perhaps more. He says it’s more’n a thousand miles.”
“Suppose’n we don’t like it, and want to come back?”
“We can’t do it without money.”
“I haven’t got but a dollar.”
“I have got forty dollars,” said Julius, complacently11.
“Where’d you get such a pile?” asked Teddy, who regarded forty dollars as quite a fortune.
“Speculatin’ in real estate,” answered Julius, who did not care to mention exactly how he came by the money.
“I don’t believe you’ve got so much,” said Teddy, who was under the impression that he was being sold.
“I’ll show you part of it,” said Julius.
He drew out a pocketbook, and displayed five one-dollar bills, and a small amount of fractional currency.
“That’s only five dollars.”
“Mr. O’Connor’s got the rest. He’s goin’ to give it to the man that I’m to live with to take care of for me. I’d rather he’d keep it. I might lose it, or spend it foolish.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I jist wish I had half as much.”
“Do you remember Jim Driscoll, that used to sell papers on Nassau Street?”
“Yes, I knew him; where is he?”
“He went West about two years ago. He’s doin’ well. Got fifty dollars in the savings12 bank, and a good home besides.”
“Who told you?”
“Mr. O’Connor. He had a letter from him.”
“Jim can’t write, nor read either. When he was sellin’ papers in Nassau Street, he used to ask what was the news. Sometimes I told him wrong. Once I told him the President was dead, and he didn’t know no better than to believe it. He sold his papers fast, but the last chap got mad and booted him.”
“Well, Jim can write now. He’s been to school since he was out there.”
“He can do more’n I can. I can read easy readin’, but I can’t write no more’n a lamp-post.”
“Nor I,” said Julius, “but I mean to learn. I can’t read much, either.”
“I say, Julius; won’t it seem odd if we made money, and come to New York and put up at a big hotel, and get our boots blacked, just like the customers we used to have?”
“That’s what I mean to do, Teddy. I’ve got tired of knockin’ round the streets, as I have ever since I was knee high to a toad13.”
“So have I, Julius. But I expect we’ll have to work hard.”
“I always did have to work. I’ll be willin’ to work when I’ve got a good home, and feel that I’m gettin’ along.”
The time had come to both of these homeless boys when they had become tired of their vagrant14 life and Arab-like condition. They had a vague idea of what is meant by respectability, and they began to appreciate its value. They could see that the street life they had been leading must soon terminate, and that it was time to form plans for the future. In a few years they would be men, and lay aside the street employments by which they had gained a scanty15 and miserable16 living. When that time came, would they take a respectable place in the ranks of workingmen, or become social outlaws17 like Jack18 Morgan and his confederate, Marlowe? Such thoughts had come frequently to Julius of late, and his present state of mind was one of the most encouraging signs of his future good conduct. He was dissatisfied with his past life, and anxious to enter upon a better.
The thirty boys were not all in one car. Mr. O’Connor and the greater part of them were in the car behind. Julius and the others could find no room there, and had come into this car.
After his conversation with Teddy, Julius began to look out of the window. Inexperienced as a traveler, and knowing very little of the country, he saw much that excited his interest, as they sped onward19 at the rate of thirty miles an hour. He also, with his usual habit of observation, regarded his fellow-passengers with interest. Directly in front of him sat a stout20 man, plainly dressed, who had become sleepy, and occasionally indulged in a nod, his newspaper having fallen from his hands upon the floor. He was probably more used to traveling than our hero and cared less for the scenery. Julius gave him a casual look, but without much interest, till at a way station a flashily dressed young man entered, and, looking carefully about him, selected the seat beside the stout man though he had his choice of several. Julius started when he saw him, and looked puzzled. He was sure he had seen him before, at Jack Morgan’s room, but there was something unfamiliar21 in his appearance. Jack’s friend had black hair. This man’s hair was red. A closer look, however, explained this discrepancy22. Underneath23 the edge of the red he caught sight of a few black hairs, which were not entirely24 concealed25. It was clear that he wore a red wig26.
“It is Ned Sanders,” said Julius to himself, “and he’s got a red wig on. What’s he up to, I wonder? I’ll watch him.”
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收听单词发音
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1
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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3
superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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4
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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5
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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7
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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8
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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9
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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12
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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13
toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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14
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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15
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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16
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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18
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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19
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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22
discrepancy
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| n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾 | |
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23
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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24
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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25
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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