CHAPTER XXVI. AN IMPORTANT COMMISSION.

 A week later Mark received the follow letter:

 

"Mark Mason: Please call at my office as soon as convenient.

 

"D. Gilbert."

 

"This letter is from Maud Gilbert's father," said Mark, addressing his mother. "I wonder what he wants."

 

"Nothing disagreeable, I am sure. Of course you will go."

 

"I will call to-morrow morning."

 

Mr. Gilbert was a commission merchant, with an office in the lower part of the city, west of Broadway. Mark obtained leave of absence for an hour agreeing to pay the price usually charged to customers.

 

He had seen Mr. Gilbert, a stout¹, portly man of fifty, during his call at the house in Forty-Fifth Street. Therefore when he was admitted to Mr. Gilbert's office, he addressed him not as a stranger but as an old acquaintance.

 

"I received your note, Mr. Gilbert, and have called according to your request."

 

"That is right, Mark. Sit down till I have finished looking over my letters. You will find the morning Herald² on the table near you."

 

In ten minutes the merchant had finished with his letters, and whirled round in his chair.

 

"I believe you are a telegraph boy," he said.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"What pay do you receive?"

 

"I don't average over six dollars a week."

 

"How old are you?"

 

"Sixteen."

 

"My daughter thinks you are unusually bright and intelligent."

 

"I am very much obliged to Miss Maud for her good opinion," said Mark, his face flushing with gratification.

 

"How can you get along on six dollars a week? You have a mother partially³ dependent upon you, I believe."

 

"I have lately had a present of a thousand dollars from Mr. Luther Rockwell, the banker. I was in his office when a dynamite⁴ crank threatened to blow us all up."

 

"I heartily⁵ congratulate you, Mark. You deserved the gift for your coolness and courage, but it isn't every rich man who would make so generous an acknowledgment for your services."

 

"That's true, sir. Mr. Rockwell has been very kind."

 

"How do you like the position of telegraph boy?"

 

"I would like to give it up. It doesn't lead to anything. But I don't want to throw myself out of work. Six dollars a week is a small income, but it is better than nothing."

 

"I approve your prudence⁶, but I think other and better employment can be obtained for you. Maud tells me that you were sent not long since to Cleveland with some valuable jewelry⁷."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"You succeeded in your mission?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Did you meet with any adventures while you were gone?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Tell me briefly⁸ what they were."

 

Mark did so.

 

"Don't think I am influenced by curiosity," said Mr. Gilbert. "The fact is, I have a still longer journey for you if you don't object, and I wished to assure myself that you were adequate to undertake it. It may take six weeks, or it may take two months. I should advise you to give up your position as messenger, and I will guarantee you an equally good place when you return."

 

"Thank you, sir. In that case I won't hesitate to give it up."

 

"Your week closes to-morrow, I suppose."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Then give notice at once."

 

"Where are you going to send me, sir?" asked Mark, with pardonable curiosity.

 

"To California."

 

Mark looked amazed. He knew that California was even further away than Liverpool, and having the love of travel and adventure natural to boys of his age he felt that he should thoroughly⁹ enjoy the trip.

 

"I should like very much to go," he said promptly¹⁰.

 

"Now I must tell you why I send you. A cousin of mine has just died in California, leaving a young son of ten years of age. He wrote me a letter from his death-bed commending the boy to my care. I will gladly undertake the charge of the boy, as I had a strong regard for his father, who, by the way had died poor.

 

"But a difficulty presented itself. The boy could not come East by himself, and there seemed no one to bring him. Of course I can't leave my business, and there is no one else in my family who can be sent. Under these circumstances Maud has recommended me to send you."

 

"I shall be glad to go, sir."

 

"You are a rather young guardian¹¹ for a young boy, but I think you possess the necessary qualification. Your experience as a telegraph boy has made you sharp and self-reliant, and altogether I think you will acquit¹² yourself to my satisfaction."

 

"I will try to, sir."

 

"I need no assurance of that."

 

"How am I to go?"

 

"By the union and Central Pacific Road from Omaha. I will supply you with a through ticket."

 

"Shall you wish me to return immediately?"

 

"No; you can stay in California two or three weeks and get acquainted with the boy. I have never seen him, but I think you won't find him troublesome. Are you fond of children?"

 

"Very, sir."

 

"The poor boy will need a kind friend, having lost his father so recently. And now, there is one thing more to be spoken of—your compensation."

 

"I shall be satisfied with whatever you think right."

 

"Then we will fix that after your return. But you will need to leave some money with your mother to pay expenses while you are away."

 

"I can draw from Mr. Rockwell."

 

"No; if you have money in his hands let it remain. I will advance you a hundred dollars to leave with your mother. I may as well do that now. On Saturday evening, when you are released from your present position, call at the house and receive your ticket and final instructions."

 

"Thank you, sir."

 

Mr. Gilbert rang a little bell, and a boy appeared.

 

"Go to the bank and get this check cashed," said the merchant.

 

In a few minutes he returned with a roll of bills.

 

"Count them over and see if they are right, Mark."

 

"Yes, sir; they are correct."

 

"Very good! Remember that they are for your mother. Tell her also that if you remain longer than I anticipate, and she gets short of money, she can call at my office and I will supply her with more."

 

Mark left the office in a state of joyful¹³ excitement.

 

He was to make a long journey across the continent. He would see many states and cities, and become acquainted with places which he now knew only by hearsay¹⁴. And after he returned his prospects¹⁵ would be brighter, for Mr. Gilbert had promised to find him a position at least equal to the one he resigned.

 

In the afternoon as Mark was returning from an errand in West Fiftieth Street, he saw Edgar Talbot in the neighborhood of Bryant Park.

 

"Hallo!" said Edgar condescendingly. "Are you on an errand?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Ho, ho! how you will look in a telegraph boy's uniform when you are a young man of twenty-five."

 

"What makes you think I am going to be a telegraph boy so long?"

 

"Because you are not fit for any other business."

 

Mark smiled.

 

"I am sorry for that," he said, "for as it happens I have tendered my resignation."

 

"You don't mean that you are going to leave the messenger service?"

 

"Yes."

 

"But how are you going to live? It won't be any use to ask father for money."

 

"I presume not."

 

"Perhaps," suggested Edgar hopefully, "you have been discharged."

 

"I discharged myself."

 

"Have you got another position?"

 

"I am going to travel for a while."

 

Edgar Talbot was more and more perplexed¹⁶. In fact he had always found Mark a perplexing problem.

 

"How can you travel without money?"

 

"Give it up. I don't propose to."

 

"Have you got any money?"

 

Mark happened to have with him the roll of bills given him for his mother. He drew it out.

 

"Do you mean to say that is yours? How much is there?"

 

"A hundred dollars."

 

"I don't believe it is yours."

 

"It isn't. It belongs to my mother."

 

"But father said she was very poor."

 

"At any rate this money belongs to her."

 

"Where are you going to travel?"

 

"Out West."

 

This was all the information Mark would give. Edgar reported the conversation to his father, who was also perplexed.

 

"Mark Mason is a strange boy," he said. "I don't understand him."

 

2 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

5 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

6 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

7 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

10 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

11 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

12 acquit   

vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出

参考例句：

• That fact decided the judge to acquit him.那个事实使法官判他无罪。
• They always acquit themselves of their duty very well.他们总是很好地履行自己的职责。

13 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

14 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。

15 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

16 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。