The little girl's scream brought Mrs. Waters to the door at the head of the stairs.
"What are you howling at?" she demanded, roughly.
"I just saw a big rat," said Rose. "Do let me come up; I'm afraid he'll bite me."
"Most likely he will," said Mrs. Waters. "But I can't let you come up. You've acted too bad. Next time you'll find it best to behave. And, mind you don't yell again! If you do, I'll come down and give you something to yell for."
Saying this, she slammed the door, and returned to her work, leaving Rose in a very unhappy state of mind. She sat in momentary4 expectation of the reappearance of the rat, thinking it very likely it would bite her, as Mrs. Waters had told her. She began to cry quietly, not daring to scream, lest Mrs. Waters should carry out her threat and give her a whipping.
At the end of an hour—it seemed more like a day to Rose—Mrs. Waters came to the door, and said, "You can come up now, if you can make up your mind to behave yourself."
Rose needed no second invitation. She ran upstairs hastily, under the impression that the rat might pursue her, and breathed a sigh of relief when she was fairly out of danger.
Fanny was sitting at the table, eating a piece of apple-pie.
"Did the rats bite you?" she asked, laughing maliciously5.
"No," answered Rose.
"I wish they had. It would have been such fun to hear you holler."
"You're a mean girl," said Rose, indignantly.
"Hoity-toity! What's all this?" demanded Mrs. Waters. "Have you begun to call Fanny names already?"
"She said she wished the rats had bitten me," said Rose.
"Well, so do I. It would have been a good lesson to you. Now, miss, I've got one word to say. If you abuse and quarrel with Fanny, I'll just put you down cellar again, and this time I'll keep you there all night. Do you hear?"
"Yes," said Rose, shuddering6. She privately7 made up her mind that she should die if this threat were carried out, and the very thought of it made her turn pale.
"Don't you want some pie, Rose?" asked Fanny, with her mouth full.
"Yes," said Rose, "I should like some."
"Well, you can't have any," said Fanny, maliciously. "Can she, ma?"
"Of course not. She don't deserve any," said the mother. "Pie is too good for wicked girls. Here, you Rose, here's something for you to do, to keep you out of mischief8. Sit down to the table here, and shell these beans. Don't you want to help, Fanny?"
"No, I don't," said Fanny, decidedly. "She can do 'em alone."
A tin-pan half full of bean-pods was placed on the table, and Rose was ordered to be "spry," and not to waste her time. Fanny, having finished her pie, began to tease the cat, which employment she found much more satisfactory than helping9 Rose.
That night Mrs. Waters presented her bill to Mr. Martin for a week's board in advance for himself and Rose. The fact that he had apparently10 given up working made her a little doubtful whether he would prove good pay. She determined11 to ask payment in advance, and thus guard against all risk of loss.
"Mr. Martin," she said, "here's my bill for your board, and the little girl's. I'm rather short of money, and have got some bills to pay, and I should feel particularly obliged if you could pay me now."
Mr. Martin took the bill, and looked at it.
"It's seven dollars," said Mrs. Waters. "I can't afford to take any less. Beef's two cents a pound higher, and potatoes is rising every day. You can't say it's unreasonable12."
"It's all right, Mrs. Waters," said Martin, slipping it into his vest-pocket. "It's all right. I'll attend to it in a day or two."
"Can't you pay me to-day?" persisted the landlady13. "I've got my rent to pay to-morrow, and it'll take all I can get to pay it."
"Can you change a fifty-dollar bill?" asked Martin.
"I can get it changed."
"I guess I'll get it changed myself," said Martin. "I'm goin' out on business."
"I don't believe he's got so much money," thought Mrs. Waters, suspiciously, and it is needless to say that she was quite right in her suspicions. The exact amount of Mr. Martin's cash in hand was a dollar and thirty-seven cents, and his entire wardrobe and the sum of his earthly possessions would not probably have brought over fifteen dollars.
Strong as Mrs. Waters' suspicions were, however, she could not very well press the matter then. She resolved to wait till Mr. Martin returned, and then renew the subject. She would be guided in her action by what happened then.
Martin, meanwhile, began to consider that possibly he had made a mistake in kidnapping Rose. The necessary outlay14 for her board and clothes would be a serious drain upon him, especially as for years he had barely earned enough to pay his own personal expenses. On the whole, he thought he might as well restore her to her brother; but he would take care that the newsboy paid for the concession15. He thought he might by good management get twenty dollars out of him, or, if he had not so much, part down, and the rest in a week or fortnight. He resolved to see Rough and Ready about it the very next morning.
There are some who say that money earned is enjoyed the most. James Martin did not believe this. Earning money was very disagreeable to him, and he considered any other mode of getting it preferable.
He was lounging along the street, with his hands in his pockets, meditating16 as above, when a little girl came up to him, and, holding out her hand, whined17 out, "Won't you give me a few pennies for my poor sick mother?"
Suddenly a brilliant idea came to Mr. Martin. He determined to question the little girl.
"How long have you been out beggin'?" he asked.
"Ever since morning."
"How much money have you made?"
The little girl hesitated.
"Come, little girl, if you'll tell me true, I'll give you five cents."
She drew from her pocket a miscellaneous collection of pennies and silver pieces, which Martin counted, and found to amount to sixty-eight cents.
"Sometimes more," she answered.
"Pretty good business, isn't it? How long's your mother been sick?"
"Most a year," said the little girl, hesitating.
"What's the matter with her?"
"I don't know. She can't set up," said the girl, again hesitating, for she was a professional mendicant20, and the sick mother was a sham21, being represented in reality by a lazy, able-bodied woman, who spent most of the charitable contributions collected by her daughter on drink.
"Oh, yes, I understand," said Martin, with a wink22. "Good-by, little gal. Give my love to your poor sick mother, and tell her I'd come round and inquire after her health if I had time."
As he said this he turned to go away.
"You promised me five cents," said the little girl, running after him.
"Did I? Well, you'll have to wait till next time, unless you can change a fifty-dollar bill."
"I aint got money enough."
"Then you must wait till you see me again."
Mr. Martin's questions had not been without an object. The idea which had occurred to him was this. Why might he not make Rose, in like manner, a source of income? Perhaps he might in that way more than pay expenses, and then he would still be able to keep her, and so continue to spite Rough and Ready, which would be very agreeable to his feelings.
"I'll send her out to-morrow morning," he said to himself. "If she's smart, she can make a dollar a day, and that'll help along considerable. I'll be her poor sick mother. It'll save my workin' so hard, and injurin' my health in my old age."
The more Mr. Martin thought of this plan, the better he liked it, and the more he wondered that he had never before thought of making Rose a source of income.
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1
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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2
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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3
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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4
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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5
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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6
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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7
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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8
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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9
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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10
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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11
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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12
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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13
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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14
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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15
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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16
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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17
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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18
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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19
gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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20
mendicant
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| n.乞丐；adj.行乞的 | |
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21
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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22
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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