He turned suddenly, his eyes flashing fiercely, intent upon discovering who had committed this outrage3, for he had no doubt that it was intentional4.
He looked in all directions, but saw no one except a mild old gentleman in spectacles, who appeared to have some difficulty in making his way through the obstructed5 street.
Phil did not need to be told that it was not the old gentleman who had taken such an unwarrantable liberty with him. So he looked farther, but his ears gave him the first clew.
He heard a chuckling6 laugh, which seemed to proceed from behind the stone wall that ran along the roadside.
“I will see who it is,” he decided7, and plunging8 through the snow he surmounted9 the wall, in time to see a boy of about his own age running away across the fields as fast as the deep snow would allow.
Jonas Webb, his step-brother, his freckled11 face showing a degree of dismay, for he had not calculated on discovery, ran the faster, but while fear winged his steps, anger proved the more effectual spur, and Phil overtook him after a brief run, from the effects of which both boys panted.
“What made you throw that snow-ball?” demanded Phil angrily, as he seized Jonas by the collar and shook him.
“You let me alone!” said Jonas, struggling ineffectually in his grasp.
“Answer me! What made you throw that snowball?” demanded Phil, in a tone that showed he did not intend to be trifled with.
“Because I chose to,” answered Jonas, his spite getting the better of his prudence12. “Did it hurt you?” he continued, his eyes gleaming with malice13.
“I should think it might. It was about as hard as a cannon-ball,” returned Phil grimly. “Is that all you've got to say about it?”
“Very well! I don't like your idea of fun. Perhaps you won't like mine,” said Phil, as he forcibly drew Jonas back till he lay upon the snow, and then kneeling by his side, rubbed his face briskly with snow.
“I am going to wash your face,” said Phil, continuing the operation vigorously.
“I say, you quit that! I'll tell my mother,” ejaculated Jonas, struggling furiously.
“If you do, tell her why I did it,” said Phil.
Jonas shrieked and struggled, but in vain. Phil gave his face an effectual scrubbing, and did not desist until he thought he had avenged16 the bad treatment he had suffered.
“There, get up!” said he at length.
“You'll suffer for this!” he shouted.
“You won't make me!” said Phil contemptuously.
“You're the meanest boy in the village.”
“I am willing to leave that to the opinion of all who know me.”
“I'll tell my mother!”
“Go home and tell her!”
Jonas started for home, and Phil did not attempt to stop him.
“I suppose I shall be in hot water for this; but I can't help it. Mrs. Brent always stands up for her precious son, who is as like her as can be. Well, it won't make matters much worse than they have been.”
Phil concluded not to go home at once, but to allow a little time for the storm to spend its force after Jonas had told his story. So he delayed half an hour and then walked slowly up to the side door. He opened the door, brushed off the snow from his boots with the broom that stood behind the door, and opening the inner door, stepped into the kitchen.
No one was there, as Phil's first glance satisfied him, and he was disposed to hope that Mrs. Brent—he never called her mother—was out, but a thin, acid, measured voice from the sitting-room18 adjoining soon satisfied him that there was to be no reprieve19.
“Philip Brent, come here!”
Phil entered the sitting-room.
In a rocking-chair by the fire sat a thin woman, with a sharp visage, cold eyes and firmly compressed lips, to whom no child would voluntarily draw near.
On a sofa lay outstretched the hulking form of Jonas, with whom he had had his little difficulty.
“I am here, Mrs. Brent,” said Philip manfully.
“Philip Brent,” said Mrs. Brent acidly, “are you not ashamed to look me in the face?”
“You see on the sofa the victim of your brutality21,” continued Mrs. Brent, pointing to the recumbent figure of her son Jonas.
Philip could not help smiling, for to him it seemed ridiculous.
“You laugh,” said his step-mother sharply. “I am not surprised at it. You delight in your brutality.”
“I see you confess it.”
“No, Mrs. Brent, I do not confess it. The brutality you speak of was all on the side of Jonas.”
“It's the case of the wolf and the lamb over again.”
“I don't think Jonas has represented the matter to you as it happened,” said Phil. “Did he tell you that he flung a snow-ball at my head as hard as a lump of ice?”
“He said he threw a little snow at you playfully and you sprang upon him like a tiger.”
“There's a little mistake in that,” said Phil. “The snow-ball was hard enough to stun26 me if it had hit me a little higher. I wouldn't be hit like that again for ten dollars.”
“That ain't so! Don't believe him, mother!” said Jonas from the sofa.
“And what did you do?” demanded Mrs. Brent with a frown.
“I laid him down on the snow and washed his face with soft snow.”
“You might have given him his death of cold,” said Mrs. Brent, with evident hostility27. “I am not sure but the poor boy will have pneumonia28 now, in consequence of your brutal22 treatment.”
“And you have nothing to say as to his attack upon me?” said Phil indignantly.
“I have no doubt you have very much exaggerated it.”
“Yes, he has,” chimed in Jonas from the sofa.
Phil regarded his step-brother with scorn.
“Can't you tell the truth now and then, Jonas?” he asked contemptuously.
“You shall not insult my boy in my presence!” said Mrs. Brent, with a little spot of color mantling29 her high cheek-bones. “Philip Brent, I have too long endured your insolence30. You think because I am a woman you can be insolent31 with impunity32, but you will find yourself mistaken. It is time that you understood something that may lead you to lower your tone. Learn, then, that you have not a cent of your own. You are wholly dependent upon my bounty33.”
“What! Did my father leave you all his money?” asked Philip.
“He was NOT your father!” answered Mrs. Brent coldly.
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收听单词发音
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1
plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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plod
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| v.沉重缓慢地走，孜孜地工作 | |
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3
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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intentional
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| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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6
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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8
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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9
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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10
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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13
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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14
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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15
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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17
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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18
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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reprieve
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| n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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23
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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24
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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25
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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26
stun
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| vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹 | |
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27
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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28
pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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29
mantling
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| 覆巾 | |
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30
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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31
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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32
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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