CHAPTER II — JOHNNY NOLAN

 After Dick had finished polishing Mr. Greyson's boots he was fortunate enough to secure three other customers, two of them reporters in the Tribune establishment, which occupies the corner of Spruce Street and Printing House Square.

 

When Dick had got through with his last customer the City Hall clock indicated eight o'clock. He had been up an hour, and hard at work, and naturally began to think of breakfast. He went up to the head of Spruce Street, and turned into Nassau. Two blocks further, and he reached Ann Street. On this street was a small, cheap restaurant, where for five cents Dick could get a cup of coffee, and for ten cents more, a plate of beefsteak with a plate of bread thrown in. These Dick ordered, and sat down at a table.

 

It was a small apartment with a few plain tables unprovided with cloths, for the class of customers who patronized it were not very particular. Our hero's breakfast was soon before him. Neither the coffee nor the steak were as good as can be bought at Delmonico's; but then it is very doubtful whether, in the present state of his wardrobe, Dick would have been received at that aristocratic restaurant, even if his means had admitted of paying the high prices there charged.

 

Dick had scarcely been served when he espied¹ a boy about his own size standing² at the door, looking wistfully into the restaurant. This was Johnny Nolan, a boy of fourteen, who was engaged in the same profession as Ragged³ Dick. His wardrobe was in very much the same condition as Dick's.

 

"Had your breakfast, Johnny?" inquired Dick, cutting off a piece of steak.

 

"No."

 

"Come in, then. Here's room for you."

 

"I aint got no money," said Johnny, looking a little enviously⁴ at his more fortunate friend.

 

"Haven't you had any shines?"

 

"Yes, I had one, but I shan't get any pay till to-morrow."

 

"Are you hungry?"

 

"Try me, and see."

 

"Come in. I'll stand treat this morning."

 

Johnny Nolan was nowise slow to accept this invitation, and was soon seated beside Dick.

 

"What'll you have, Johnny?"

 

"Same as you."

 

"Cup o' coffee and beefsteak," ordered Dick.

 

These were promptly⁵ brought, and Johnny attacked them vigorously.

 

Now, in the boot-blacking business, as well as in higher avocations⁶, the same rule prevails, that energy and industry are rewarded, and indolence suffers. Dick was energetic and on the alert for business, but Johnny the reverse. The consequence was that Dick earned probably three times as much as the other.

 

"How do you like it?" asked Dick, surveying Johnny's attacks upon the steak with evident complacency.

 

"It's hunky."

 

I don't believe "hunky" is to be found in either Webster's or Worcester's big dictionary; but boys will readily understand what it means.

 

"Do you come here often?" asked Johnny.

 

"Most every day. You'd better come too."

 

"I can't afford it."

 

"Well, you'd ought to, then," said Dick. "What do you do I'd like to know?"

 

"I don't get near as much as you, Dick."

 

"Well you might if you tried. I keep my eyes open,—that's the way I get jobs. You're lazy, that's what's the matter."

 

Johnny did not see fit to reply to this charge. Probably he felt the justice of it, and preferred to proceed with the breakfast, which he enjoyed the more as it cost him nothing.

 

Breakfast over, Dick walked up to the desk, and settled the bill. Then, followed by Johnny, he went out into the street.

 

"Where are you going, Johnny?"

 

"Up to Mr. Taylor's, on Spruce Street, to see if he don't want a shine."

 

"Do you work for him reg'lar?"

 

"Yes. Him and his partner wants a shine most every day. Where are you goin'?"

 

"Down front of the Astor House. I guess I'll find some customers there."

 

At this moment Johnny started, and, dodging⁷ into an entry way, hid behind the door, considerably⁸ to Dick's surprise.

 

"What's the matter now?" asked our hero.

 

"Has he gone?" asked Johnny, his voice betraying anxiety.

 

"Who gone, I'd like to know?"

 

"That man in the brown coat."

 

"What of him. You aint scared of him, are you?"

 

"Yes, he got me a place once."

 

"Where?"

 

"Ever so far off."

 

"What if he did?"

 

"I ran away."

 

"Didn't you like it?"

 

"No, I had to get up too early. It was on a farm, and I had to get up at five to take care of the cows. I like New York best."

 

"Didn't they give you enough to eat?"

 

"Oh, yes, plenty."

 

"And you had a good bed?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Then you'd better have stayed. You don't get either of them here. Where'd you sleep last night?"

 

"Up an alley⁹ in an old wagon¹⁰."

 

"You had a better bed than that in the country, didn't you?"

 

"Yes, it was as soft as—as cotton."

 

Johnny had once slept on a bale of cotton, the recollection supplying him with a comparison.

 

"Why didn't you stay?"

 

"I felt lonely," said Johnny.

 

Johnny could not exactly explain his feelings, but it is often the case that the young vagabond of the streets, though his food is uncertain, and his bed may be any old wagon or barrel that he is lucky enough to find unoccupied when night sets in, gets so attached to his precarious¹¹ but independent mode of life, that he feels discontented in any other. He is accustomed to the noise and bustle¹² and ever-varied life of the streets, and in the quiet scenes of the country misses the excitement in the midst of which he has always dwelt.

 

Johnny had but one tie to bind¹³ him to the city. He had a father living, but he might as well have been without one. Mr. Nolan was a confirmed drunkard, and spent the greater part of his wages for liquor. His potations made him ugly, and inflamed¹⁴ a temper never very sweet, working him up sometimes to such a pitch of rage that Johnny's life was in danger. Some months before, he had thrown a flat-iron at his son's head with such terrific force that unless Johnny had dodged¹⁵ he would not have lived long enough to obtain a place in our story. He fled the house, and from that time had not dared to re-enter it. Somebody had given him a brush and box of blacking, and he had set up in business on his own account. But he had not energy enough to succeed, as has already been stated, and I am afraid the poor boy had met with many hardships, and suffered more than once from cold and hunger. Dick had befriended him more than once, and often given him a breakfast or dinner, as the case might be.

 

"How'd you get away?" asked Dick, with some curiosity. "Did you walk?"

 

"No, I rode on the cars."

 

"Where'd you get your money? I hope you didn't steal it."

 

"I didn't have none."

 

"What did you do, then?"

 

"I got up about three o'clock, and walked to Albany."

 

"Where's that?" asked Dick, whose ideas on the subject of geography were rather vague.

 

"Up the river."

 

"How far?"

 

"About a thousand miles," said Johnny, whose conceptions of distance were equally vague.

 

"Go ahead. What did you do then?"

 

"I hid on top of a freight car, and came all the way without their seeing me.* That man in the brown coat was the man that got me the place, and I'm afraid he'd want to send me back."

 

* A fact.

 

"Well," said Dick, reflectively, "I dunno as I'd like to live in the country. I couldn't go to Tony Pastor's or the Old Bowery. There wouldn't be no place to spend my evenings. But I say, it's tough in winter, Johnny, 'specially¹⁶ when your overcoat's at the tailor's, an' likely to stay there."

 

"That's so, Dick. But I must be goin', or Mr. Taylor'll get somebody else to shine his boots."

 

Johnny walked back to Nassau Street, while Dick kept on his way to Broadway.

 

"That boy," soliloquized Dick, as Johnny took his departure, "aint got no ambition. I'll bet he won't get five shines to-day. I'm glad I aint like him. I couldn't go to the theatre, nor buy no cigars, nor get half as much as I wanted to eat.—Shine yer boots, sir?"

 

Dick always had an eye to business, and this remark was addressed to a young man, dressed in a stylish¹⁷ manner, who was swinging a jaunty¹⁸ cane¹⁹.

 

"I've had my boots blacked once already this morning, but this confounded mud has spoiled the shine."

 

"I'll make 'em all right, sir, in a minute."

 

"Go ahead, then."

 

The boots were soon polished in Dick's best style, which proved very satisfactory, our hero being a proficient²⁰ in the art.

 

"I haven't got any change," said the young man, fumbling²¹ in his pocket, "but here's a bill you may run somewhere and get changed. I'll pay you five cents extra for your trouble."

 

He handed Dick a two-dollar bill, which our hero took into a store close by.

 

"Will you please change that, sir?" said Dick, walking up to the counter.

 

The salesman to whom he proffered²² it took the bill, and, slightly glancing at it, exclaimed angrily, "Be off, you young vagabond, or I'll have you arrested."

 

"What's the row?"

 

"You've offered me a counterfeit²³ bill."

 

"I didn't know it," said Dick.

 

"Don't tell me. Be off, or I'll have you arrested."

1 espied   

v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• One day a youth espied her as he was hunting.She saw him and recognized him as her own son, mow grown a young man. 一日，她被一个正在行猎的小伙子看见了，她认出来这个猎手原来是自己的儿子，现在已长成为一个翩翩的少年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In a little while he espied the two giants. 一会儿就看见了那两个巨人。 来自辞典例句

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

4 enviously   

adv.满怀嫉妒地

参考例句：

• Yet again, they were looking for their way home blindly, enviously. 然而，它们又一次盲目地、忌妒地寻找着归途。 来自辞典例句
• Tanya thought enviously, he must go a long way south. 坦妮亚歆羡不置，心里在想，他准是去那遥远的南方的。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 avocations   

n.业余爱好，嗜好( avocation的名词复数 )；职业

参考例句：

• Most seem to come from technical avocations, like engineering, computers and sciences. 绝大多数人原有技术方面的爱好，比如工程、计算机和科学。 来自互联网
• In terms of avocations, there is hardly anything in common between Jenny and her younger sister. 就业余爱好而言，珍妮和她妹妹几乎没什么共同之处。 来自互联网

7 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

10 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

11 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

12 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

13 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

14 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

17 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

18 jaunty   

adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意

参考例句：

• She cocked her hat at a jaunty angle.她把帽子歪戴成俏皮的样子。
• The happy boy walked with jaunty steps.这个快乐的孩子以轻快活泼的步子走着。

19 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。

20 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

21 fumbling   

n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理

参考例句：

• If he actually managed to the ball instead of fumbling it with an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。
• If he actually managed to secure the ball instead of fumbling it awkwardly an off-balance shot. 如果他实际上设法拿好球而不是fumbling它。50-50提议有时。他从off-balance射击笨拙地和迅速地会开始他的岗位移动，经常这样结束。

22 proffered   

v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She proffered her cheek to kiss. 她伸过自己的面颊让人亲吻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes. 他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。 来自辞典例句

23 counterfeit   

vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的

参考例句：

• It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
• The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远，实际是最近的一幅赝品。