CHAPTER II THE TELEGRAM

 Frank's heart gave a great bound at the suggestion of a telegram. A telegram could mean but one thing—that his mother had become suddenly worse.

 

He hurried to meet his stepbrother.

 

"Is that a telegram, Mark?" he asked, anxiously.

 

"Yes."

 

"Is it anything about mother? Tell me quick!"

 

"Read it for yourself, Frank."

 

Frank drew the telegram from the envelope, and read it hastily:

 

"My wife is very sick. I wish you and Frank to come home at once."

 

"When does the next train start, Herbert?" asked Frank, pale with apprehension¹.

 

"In an hour."

 

"I shall go by that train."

 

"I don't think I can get ready so soon," said Mark, deliberately².

 

"Then you can come by yourself," replied Frank, impetuously. "I beg your pardon, Mark," he added. "I cannot expect you to feel as I do. It is not your mother."

 

"It is my stepmother," said Mark.

 

"That is quite different. But I must not linger here. I will go at once to Dr. Brush, and tell him of my summons home. Good-bye, Herbert, till we meet again."

 

"I will go with you to the depot³, Frank," said his friend, sympathizingly. "Don't wait for me. Go ahead, and make your preparation for the journey. I will be at your room in a quarter of an hour."

 

"You won't go by the next train, Mark?" said Herbert.

 

"No. I don't care to rush about as Frank is doing."

 

"You would if it were your own mother who was so ill."

 

"I am not sure. It wouldn't do any good, would it?"

 

"You would naturally feel anxious," said Herbert.

 

"Oh, yes, I suppose so!" answered Mark, indifferently.

 

Mark Manning was slender and dark, with a soft voice and rather effeminate ways. He didn't care for the rough sports in which most boys delight; never played baseball or took part in athletic⁴ exercises, but liked to walk about, sprucely dressed, and had even been seen on the campus on a Saturday afternoon with his hands incased in kid gloves.

 

For this, however, he was so ridiculed⁵ and laughed at that he had to draw them off and replace them in his pocket.

 

As Frank and Herbert walked together to the railway station, the latter said:

 

"It seems to me, Frank, that the telegram should have been sent to you, rather than to Mark Manning. You are the one who is most interested in the contents."

 

"I thought of that, Herbert, but I was too much affected⁶ by the contents to speak of it. I am not surprised, however. It is like Mr. Manning. It jarred upon me to have him speak of mother as his wife. She is so, but I never could reconcile myself to the fact."

 

"Do you remember your father—your own father, Frank?"

 

"You need not have said 'your own father.' I don't recognize Mr. Manning as a father, at all. Yes, I remember him. I was eight years old when he died. He was a fine-looking man, always kind—a man to be loved and respected. There was not a particle of similarity between him and Mr. Manning. He was strong and manly⁷."

 

"How did it happen that he died so young?"

 

"He was the victim of a railway accident. He had gone to New York on business, and was expected back on a certain day. The train on which he was a passenger collided with a freight train, and my poor father was among the passengers who were killed. The news was almost too much for my poor mother, although she had not yet become an invalid⁸. It brought on a fit of sickness lasting⁹ for three months. She has never been altogether well since."

 

"After all, Frank, the gifts of fortune, or rather Providence¹⁰, are not so unequally distributed as at first appears. You are rich, but fatherless. I am poor enough but my father and mother are both spared to me."

 

"I would gladly accept poverty if my father could be restored to life, and my mother be spared to me for twenty years to come."

 

"I am sure you would, Frank," said Herbert. "Money is valuable, but there are some things far more so."

 

They had reached the station by this time, and it was nearly the time for the train to start. Frank bought his ticket, and the two friends shook hands and bade each other good-bye.

 

In an hour Frank was walking up the long avenue leading to the front door of the mansion¹¹.

 

The door was opened by his stepfather.

 

"How is mother?" asked Frank, anxiously.

 

"I am grieved to say that she is very sick," said Mr. Manning, in a soft voice. "She had a copious¹² hemorrhage this morning, which has weakened her very much."

 

"Is she in danger?" asked Frank, anxiously.

 

"I fear she is," said Mr. Manning.

 

"I suppose I can see her?"

 

"Yes; but it will be better not to make her talk much."

 

"I will be careful, sir."

 

Frank waited no longer, but hurried to his mother's chamber¹³. As he entered, and his glance fell on the bed and its occupant, he was shocked by the pale and ghastly appearance of the mother whom he so dearly loved. The thought came to him at once:

 

"She cannot live."

 

He found it difficult to repress a rising sob¹⁴, but he did so for his mother's sake. He thought that it might affect her injuriously if he should display emotion.

 

His mother smiled faintly as he approached the bed.

 

"Mother," said Frank, kneeling by the bedside, "are you very weak?"

 

"Yes, Frank," she answered, almost in a whisper. "I think I am going to leave you."

 

"Oh, don't say that, mother!" burst forth¹⁵ in anguish¹⁶ from Frank's lips. "Try to live for my sake."

 

"I should like to live, my dear boy," whispered his mother; "but if it is God's will that I should die, I must be reconciled. I leave you in his care."

 

Here Mr. Manning entered the room.

 

"You will be kind to my boy?" said the dying mother.

 

"Can you doubt it, my dear?" replied her husband, in the soft tones Frank so much disliked. "I will care for him as if he were my own."

 

"Thank you. Then I shall die easy."

 

"Don't speak any more, mother. It will tire you, and perhaps bring on another hemorrhage."

 

"Frank is right, my dear. You had better not exert yourself any more at present."

 

"Didn't Mark come with you?" asked Mr. Manning of Frank.

 

"No, sir."

 

"I am surprised that he should not have done so. I sent for him as well as you."

 

"I believe he is coming by the next train," said Frank, indifferently. "He thought he could not get ready in time for my train."

 

"He should not have left you to come at such a time."

 

"I didn't wish him to inconvenience himself, Mr. Manning. If it had been his mother, it would have been different."

 

Mr. Manning did not reply. He understood very well that there was no love lost between Mark and his stepson.

1 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

2 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

3 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。

4 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

5 ridiculed   

v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Biosphere 2 was ultimately ridiculed as a research debade, as exfravagant pseudoscience. 生物圈2号最终被讥讽为科研上的大失败，代价是昂贵的伪科学。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She ridiculed his insatiable greed. 她嘲笑他的贪得无厌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 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。

8 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

10 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

11 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

12 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

13 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

14 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

15 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

16 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。