CHAPTER XXVI NEW TROUBLES

 On the following day Randy noticed that Peter Polk seemed unusually sour and thoughtful.

 

"Something has gone wrong with him, that is certain," thought our hero. "I wonder what it can be?"

 

He did his best to keep out of the way of the purser and succeeded until nightfall. But then, when he was carrying an extra heavy trunk, Peter Polk got in his way and made him stumble and drop the piece of baggage. The trunk was split open at one end and some of the contents fell on the deck. It was a lady's trunk, filled with feminine wearing apparel, and a good many passengers laughed.

 

"What do you mean by running into me, you blockhead!" cried the purser, in a loud voice. "Why don't you look where you are going!"

 

"It was not my fault," answered Randy, warmly, not liking¹ the man's manner of address. "You made me drop that trunk."

 

"I did not. It was your own clumsiness."

 

"No, sir," said our hero, firmly; and a crowd began to collect.

 

"Don't dare to contradict me!" fumed² the purser. "It was your fault, and the damage shall come out of your wages."

 

"Mr. Polk, it was not my fault and I shall not stand for the damage done."

 

"Ha! you defy me, eh, you cub³! Go on about your work and I'll settle with you later."

 

"What is the trouble here?" asked Captain Hadley, coming up through the crowd.

 

"The blockhead of a boy dropped that trunk and broke it open."

 

"He ran into me and made me drop it," retorted our hero. He felt just reckless enough to stand up for his rights, be the consequences what they might.

 

"Put the trunk to one side, along with the other baggage," said the captain. "We have no time to waste on this just now. Get that other baggage ashore⁴."

 

"My trunk!" shrieked⁵ the maiden⁶ lady, rushing forward. "Oh, who broke my trunk?"

 

"It was an accident, madam."

 

"And all my dresses spilt out, too! I shall sue the steamboat company for damages."

 

"We will settle with you, madam. I am sorry it happened," went on the captain, soothingly⁷.

 

"It was a mean thing to do," said the maiden lady and began to weep. "Two of those dresses are brand-new."

 

"I guess they are not injured much."

 

Randy and the others had gone to work again. Our hero's thoughts were busy.

 

"I believe Polk ran into me on purpose," he whispered to Jones.

 

"Maybe he wants to get you discharged," answered the other deckhand.

 

"I don't see why."

 

"He's down on you because of that Clare affair."

 

"Do you think so?"

 

"Sure. He hated it worse than poison, for the captain now knows just how meanly he acted towards the widow."

 

The damaged trunk was passed over to a man on the dock and after some excited talk the maiden lady accepted ten dollars, with which to have the box repaired and her things put in proper order. It was more than was actually coming to her and she went off secretly pleased.

 

In the meantime one of the passengers, an elderly man who traveled on the line a great deal, went to Captain Hadley.

 

"What is it, Mr. DeLong?" asked the master of the vessel⁸, kindly⁹.

 

"I wish to speak to you about that trunk that was broken open."

 

"What of it?"

 

"I saw the accident. I was standing¹⁰ quite near at the time."

 

"Well?"

 

"I take an interest in that young deckhand of yours—he has done me several small favors from time to time. It was not his fault that the trunk was smashed, and I wanted you to know it."

 

"How did it happen?"

 

"Your purser got in the way and made the boy stumble. To me it looked as if the purser did it on purpose."

 

"This is interesting, Mr. DeLong. But I don't see why the purser should do such a thing."

 

"Neither do I, excepting he may have a grudge¹¹ against the boy."

 

"Humph!" The captain grew thoughtful. "I will investigate this."

 

"Do so, and believe me, the boy is not to blame," said the elderly passenger, and withdrew.

 

As soon as the end of the trip came, and the work on deck was finished, Randy was called to the captain's office.

 

"Now what have you to say about that smashed trunk, Thompson?"

 

"I am not to blame, Captain Hadley," answered our hero, and told exactly how the incident had occurred.

 

"Do you mean to say Mr. Polk tripped you up?"

 

"He ran into me and made me drop the trunk. If I hadn't dropped the trunk I would have fallen down with the box on the top of me, and gotten hurt."

 

"This is a strange statement, Thompson. Why should Mr. Polk run into you?"

 

"He hates me, because through me your family learned how he had treated Mrs. Clare when he helped to settle her husband's affairs."

 

This threw a new light on the matter and the captain nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

 

"I did not think this of Mr. Polk."

 

"I think he hopes I'll lose my job," went on our hero. "He continually calls me a blockhead, just to get me mad. I think he'd like to see me lose my temper and pitch into him, and then he could get me my walking papers."

 

"I think I will have to put the damage to the trunk down to the regular expense account," said the captain at last. "In the future be more careful, and keep out of Mr. Polk's way."

 

"I will certainly be careful, and I'll watch him, too," answered Randy.

 

Evidently Peter Polk was surprised to see our hero go to his work whistling after his interview with the captain. He went to the master of the vessel himself a little later.

 

"Is that boy going to pay for the trunk?" he asked, sourly.

 

"No, you can put it down to the regular expense account," answered Captain Hadley.

 

"Humph! It was his fault."

 

"He says not."

 

"Did he blame it on me?"

 

"He did."

 

"It was his own fault."

 

"We won't argue the matter, Mr. Polk. Put it down to the regular expenses and let it go at that," and Captain Hadley turned again to the magazine he had been reading.

 

"Sticking up for the boy," muttered the purser, as he walked away. "Well, I'll get that cub yet, see if I don't!"

 

A day passed and Randy stuck closely to his duties. He saw but little of Peter Polk and gave the purser a wide berth¹². The purser watched the youth narrowly, but said nothing.

 

"He has got it in for you," said Jones to Randy. "Take my advice and keep your eyes open."

 

"I am watching him."

 

"He is a man I shouldn't trust nohow. He has got a bad pair of eyes. I don't see how Mr. Shalley trusts him with all the boat's money matters."

 

"Neither do I," answered our hero.

 

"He could walk off with thousands of dollars if he wanted to," said Jones, and there the talk was dropped.

1 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

2 fumed   

愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• He fumed with rage because she did not appear. 因为她没出现，所以他大发雷霆。
• He fumed and fretted and did not know what was the matter. 他烦躁，气恼，不知是怎么回事。

3 cub   

n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人

参考例句：

• The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
• The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。

4 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

5 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

7 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

9 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

10 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。

11 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

12 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。