CHAPTER XXXVII. DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.

 In accordance with Jim Scott's wish, and also because he desired to have a better idea of Simeon Fox, Paul took a walk one morning out to the Blackstone mine.

All seemed activity, and, under the personal direction of Mr. Fox, the work was proceeding¹ well.

 

Paul approached the old man, and said, politely: "I believe I am speaking to Mr. Fox."

After a few minutes spent in looking about him, Paul approached the old man, and said, politely:

"I believe I am speaking to Mr. Fox?"

"Yes, that's my name," said the other, fixing his small, round eyes searchingly on our young hero.

"You are manager of the Blackstone mine?"

"Yes; but I have no work to give out," answered the old man, brusquely—"got all I want."

Paul smiled.

"I think you make a mistake," he replied. "I am not looking for work."

"Then if you have no business with me, I can't stand here wasting my time."

"I have business with you, Mr. Fox. In fact, I have come to Custer City on purpose to see you."

[Pg 254]"I can't waste my time with boys," said Simeon Fox, rudely.

"I come from Chicago," said Paul, composedly.

The old man looked at him sharply.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Paul Palmer."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Then you'd better wait till you grow a little older before you take up the time of a business man."

"I come from Mr. Bradford," continued Paul.

"Eh?" ejaculated Simeon Fox, astonished.

"Mr. Bradford, who owns one-half of the Blackstone mine, has sent me out here to look after his interests."

"Then Mr. Bradford must be a fool to employ a whipper-snapper like you."

"That remains² to be seen. At any rate, I have come out here with full powers to act for him in any way I see fit."

"Do you expect me to believe all that, youngster?" demanded Fox, surveying our hero disdainfully.

"Please read that," said Paul, drawing out a paper which conferred upon him the power he claimed.

"Well," answered Simeon Fox, "it strikes me there must be a great scarcity³ of business men in[Pg 255] Chicago, when my partner is obliged to send out a half-grown boy like you."

"That doesn't alter the fact that I represent Mr. Bradford, does it?"

"No," answered the old man, slowly.

He was thinking to himself:

"It will be easy to hoodwink this boy. He is inexperienced, and will swallow all I say."

"Well," he said, aloud, with a change of manner, "that's my partner's affair, not mine. Now, young man, what have you to say to me?"

"How is the mine doing, Mr. Fox?"

Simeon Fox screwed up his face into a doleful expression, and shook his head.

"Badly," he answered.

"Doesn't it come up to your expectations?"

"No. You can tell Mr. Bradford that we were badly taken in when we bought it."

"You paid ten thousand dollars, Mr. Bradford tells me."

"Yes; and half the money is thrown away."

"You don't consider it worth what was paid, then?"

Simeon Fox shook his head.

"We shall never get our money back."

"Will you give five thousand dollars for Mr. Bradford's share in the mine?"

[Pg 256]"Young man, do you take me for a fool?" demanded Fox, with seeming indignation.

"Quite the contrary, Mr. Fox," answered Paul, smiling.

"Then why do you ask me such ridiculous questions?"

"I was merely trying to get your idea of the value of the mine."

"Well, now you know it."

"You think it is not worth ten thousand dollars?"

"No!" answered Mr. Fox, with emphasis.

"Then," continued Paul, "you will have no hesitation⁴ in accepting the offer I am about to make you."

"An offer?—you make me?" said the old man, suspiciously.

"Yes, sir. I offer you, in Mr. Bradford's name, five thousand dollars for your half of the mine."

"You offer me—five thousand dollars!" ejaculated Fox, staring at Paul in surprise and consternation⁵.

"Exactly so."

"When I tell you it is too much?"

"Yes, I am offering you a good bargain."

"Do you mean to throw away Mr. Bradford's money?" gasped⁶ Fox.

"No; but if Mr. Bradford finds fault with me, I will stand the blame."

[Pg 257]"I don't understand this," said Mr. Fox, nervously⁷. "You are joking with me."

"I may joke sometimes, Mr. Fox, but I would not be so disrespectful as to joke with you in a matter of this kind."

"Why do you offer me five thousand dollars when I say the property—the whole property—is not worth that?" demanded Fox, irritably⁸.

"I don't understand you, Mr. Fox. You admit that I offer you a good price, and yet you make objection to accepting it."

"What would Mr. Bradford do with the mine if he bought it? He isn't coming out here," said Fox, eying Paul searchingly.

"I should select a man to superintend it."

"You!" repeated Fox, contemptuously. "What do you know about mines?"

"I should try to learn something," answered Paul, good-naturedly.

"I never in all my life heard of such a ridiculous thing as intrusting such important business to a beardless boy. Why, you haven't even a mustache."

"I hope to have one in due time," said Paul, laughing.

"Well, I can't waste any more time with you," said Fox, crustily, and he turned away.

[Pg 258]"Stay a moment, Mr. Fox," said Paul. "I have made you a serious offer. Do you accept it or not?"

"No!" shouted Fox, angrily.

"Then all I can say is, you have refused a good offer."

"A good offer!" shouted Fox. "Why, the mine is worth——"

Then he stopped short in confusion, for he was about to commit himself badly.

Paul finished out his sentence for him.

"The mine is worth a good deal more than I have offered. That is quite true, Mr. Fox."

"I didn't say anything of the kind," snarled⁹ Fox.

"No, but you were going to. And now, Mr. Fox, as I see I can't do any business with you, I may as well tell you that I have sold out Mr. Bradford's share of the mine for a satisfactory price, and shall not have any further occasion to take up your time with business."

"You have sold Mr. Bradford's share?" ejaculated Fox, in dismay.

"Yes."

"To whom?"

"To Jim Scott."

"Jim Scott! I won't agree to it," returned Fox, in intense disgust, for he knew that he could not cheat his new partner.

[Pg 259]"Your permission was not needed," said Paul. "Either of you had a perfect right to dispose of his share of the property to any one he pleased."

"Why didn't you offer it to me?" asked Fox, looking deeply disappointed.

"To be plain with you, Mr. Fox, because it has been your policy to depreciate¹⁰ the property. You wouldn't have paid five thousand dollars, while Scott has paid me more than twice as much."

"I must see him," muttered Simeon Fox; and he went back to the hotel, looking as if he had just been invited to his own funeral.

Two days afterward¹¹ Jim Scott drew Paul aside.

"Paul," he said, "I have just sold my share of the mine to Simeon Fox."

"I hope you didn't lose anything by the trade."

"I guess not," chuckled¹² Jim. "I made the old sinner pay sixteen thousand dollars."

"You don't say so!"

"He fought hard, but he had to pay it. And now do you know what I am going to do?"

"No."

"I have made four thousand dollars by the trade. I am going to give you half of it."

"Oh, Mr. Scott—Jim, I mean!"

"Yes, Paul. You helped me make the money, and half of it is fairly yours."

[Pg 260]Two thousand dollars! Paul was not sure whether he was awake or dreaming, but there flashed upon him all the advantage he would derive¹³ from so large a sum of money, and that he could emancipate¹⁴ his mother at once from the slavery of the needle, and he clasped Jim's hand in fervent¹⁵ gratitude¹⁶.

1 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

4 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

5 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

6 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

8 irritably   

ad.易生气地

参考例句：

• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。
• On this account the silence was irritably broken by a reproof. 为了这件事，他妻子大声斥责，令人恼火地打破了宁静。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 snarled   

v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说

参考例句：

• The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
• As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时，它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 depreciate   

v.降价，贬值，折旧

参考例句：

• The computer value will depreciate by $ 500 in the first year.在头一年里这台电脑会贬值500美元。
• If you neglect this property,it will depreciate.如果你忽视这份资产，它无形中就贬值了。

11 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

12 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

13 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

14 emancipate   

v.解放，解除

参考例句：

• This new machine will emancipate us from the hard work.这部新机器将把我们从繁重劳动中解放出来。
• To emancipate all mankind,we will balk at no sacrifice,even that of our lives.为了全人类的解放,即使牺牲生命也在所不惜。

15 fervent   

adj.热的，热烈的，热情的

参考例句：

• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
• Austria was among the most fervent supporters of adolf hitler.奥地利是阿道夫希特勒最狂热的支持者之一。

16 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。