CHAPTER XXX FRANK AS PRIVATE SECRETARY

 The next day Frank transferred his residence to Madison Avenue. He was assigned to a pleasant room, decidedly superior, it need hardly be said, to his room at Clinton Place. It seemed agreeable to him once more to enjoy the comforts of a liberal home.

 

Frank had had some doubts as to how he would satisfy Mr. Percival in his capacity of private secretary.

 

He was determined¹ to do his best, but thought it possible that the old gentleman might require more than he could do well. He looked forward, therefore, with some apprehension² to his first morning's work.

 

Mr. Percival, though not engaged in active business, was a wealthy man, and his capital was invested in a great variety of enterprises. Naturally, therefore, he received a large number of business letters, which required to be answered.

 

The first day he dictated³ several replies, which Frank put upon paper. He wished, however, to put Frank's ability to a severe test.

 

"Here are two letters," he said, "which you may answer. I have noted⁴ on each instructions which you will follow. The wording of the letters I leave to you."

 

"I will try to satisfy you sir," said Frank.

 

Our hero was a good writer for his age. Moreover, he had been well trained at school and did not shrink from the task assigned him.

 

He read carefully the instruction of his employer, and composed the letters in strict accordance with them.

 

Mr. Percival awaited with some interest the result of his experiment. If Frank proved competent to the task assigned him, his own daily labor⁶ would be considerably⁷ abridged⁸.

 

"Here are the letters, sir," said our hero, passing the drafts to Mr. Percival.

 

The old gentleman examined them carefully. As he did so, his face expressed his satisfaction.

 

"Upon my word, Frank," he said, familiarly, "you have done your work exceedingly well. They are brief, concise⁹ and yet comprehensive. I feared that you would use too many words."

 

"I am glad you are pleased, sir. Dr. Brush trained us to write letters, and he cut down our essays when they were too diffuse¹⁰."

 

"Then I feel indebted to Dr. Brush for providing me with so competent a young secretary. You will be able to assist me even more than I anticipated. I shall, of course, read over your letters before they are sent, to make sure that you have fully⁵ comprehended and carried out my instructions, but I don't expect they will need much correction."

 

Frank was much gratified by these words. This was the only point on which he had felt at all doubtful as to his ability to please his employer.

 

Sometimes, when his eyes pained him more than usual, Mr. Percival also employed him to read to him from the daily papers, or from some book in which he was interested, but this did not occur regularly.

 

Every day, however, Frank was occupied with Freddie. The little boy knew his alphabet, but nothing more, so that his young teacher had to begin with him at the beginning of the primer.

 

He succeeded in interesting his little pupil, and did not protract¹¹ his term of study so as to weary him.

 

Finding that the little fellow was fond of hearing stories, he read to him every day a story or two from Hans Christian¹² Andersen, or from a collection of German fairy stories, and sometimes went out to walk with him.

 

Freddie was delighted with his teacher, and freely expressed his approval to his mother and grandfather.

 

"Really, Frank," said Mrs. Gordon, "I shall begin to be jealous of your hold upon Freddie. I am not sure but he likes your company better than mine."

 

"I don't think Freddie will prefer anyone to his mother," said Frank; "but I am glad he likes to be with me."

 

"You have certainly proved very successful as a private tutor, Frank," said Mrs. Gordon, "and my father tells me you succeeded equally well as a secretary."

 

"It is partly because you both treat me so indulgently," answered Frank, gracefully¹³.

 

This answer pleased Mr. Percival and Mrs. Gordon, who more than ever congratulated themselves upon the lucky chance that had thrown Frank in their way.

 

Assuredly he made himself very useful in the small household, contributing to the comfort and pleasure of Freddie, his mother and grandfather in nearly equal measure.

 

While Frank's monthly salary was of great value and importance to him, it was nothing to Mr. Percival in comparison with the pleasure and relief afforded by his presence in the house.

 

It must not be supposed, however, that Frank's time was wholly occupied by the duties of his two positions. Usually he had several hours daily at his disposal, and these he was allowed to spend as he pleased.

 

Part of this he occupied in visiting different localities of the city and points of interest in the neighborhood, and part in reading and study.

 

Mr. Percival had a large and well-selected library, which, to a boy of Frank's studious tastes, was a great attraction.

 

He entered upon a course of solid reading, embracing some of the standard histories, and devoted¹⁴ some hours every week to keeping up his acquaintance with the Greek and Latin authors which he had read at school.

 

In this way his time was well and usefully employed, and the weeks slipped by till almost before he was aware six months had passed.

 

One afternoon Frank walked down Broadway enjoying the bright sunshine. Just in front of the St. Nicholas Hotel he heard his name called and looking up he recognized with some surprise, Pliny Tarbox, his cousin from Newark.

 

Pliny asked many questions as to what Frank was doing and how much money he was making. Frank told him of his good fortune in obtaining the position he held with Mr. Percival and the two parted—Frank the much happier of the two.

 

Pliny urgently invited Frank to visit them but Frank would rather remain in New York.

 

"I hope I shall never think so much of money as Pliny and his father," thought Frank. "Money is a good thing to have but there are some things that are better."

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 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。

3 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

8 abridged   

削减的，删节的

参考例句：

• The rights of citizens must not be abridged without proper cause. 没有正当理由，不能擅自剥夺公民的权利。
• The play was abridged for TV. 剧本经过节略，以拍摄电视片。

9 concise   

adj.简洁的，简明的

参考例句：

• The explanation in this dictionary is concise and to the point.这部词典里的释义简明扼要。
• I gave a concise answer about this.我对于此事给了一个简要的答复。

10 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

11 protract   

v.延长，拖长

参考例句：

• The inspector informed us that he was to protract his stay for some days.督察通知我们他将在此多呆几天。
• Let's not protract the debate any further.我们不要再继续争论下去了。

12 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

13 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

14 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。