Twice a week Tom wrote, and his letters were cheerful and reassuring4.
"Don't trouble yourself about me, dear mother"—he wrote from Cincinnati. "I am making friends, and learning how to travel. I feel years older, and rely much more on myself than when, an inexperienced boy, I bade you good-by. I am a thousand miles from you, and the longest and most difficult part of the journey lies before me; but with health and[168] strength, and prudence5, I hope to arrive in good condition at my destination. As to health I never felt better in my life, and I have taken lessons in prudence and caution which will be of essential service to me. I have found that a boy who goes out into the world to seek his fortune cannot trust everybody he falls in with. He will find foes6 as well as friends, and he will need to be on his guard.
"I start to-morrow for St. Joseph, in Missouri, going by way of St. Louis. Mr. Donald Ferguson, a middle-aged7 Scotchman, is my companion. A younger and livelier companion might prove more agreeable, but perhaps not so safe. Mr. Ferguson is old enough to be my father, and I shall be guided by his judgment8 where my own is at fault. He is very frugal9, as I believe his countrymen generally are, and that, of course, just suits me. I don't know how long I shall be in reaching St. Joseph, but I shall write you once or twice on the way. Give my love to father, Sarah, Walter, and Harry10, and keep a great deal for yourself.
"Your loving son,
"Tom."
[169]
"Tom is growing manly11, Mary," said Mark Nelson to his wife. "It's doing him good to see a little of the world."
"I suppose it is, Mark," said his wife; "but the more I think of it the more I feel that he is very young to undertake such a long journey alone."
"He is young, but it will make a man of him."
"He must be having a tip-top time," said Walter; "I wish I were with him."
"You are only a child, you know," said Sarah, in an elder-sister tone.
"What do you call yourself?" retorted Walter. "You are only two years older than I am."
"Girls always know more than boys of the same age," said Sarah condescendingly. "Besides, I haven't said anything about going out to California."
"No, I should think not. A girl that's afraid of a mouse had better stay at home."
Walter referred to an incident of the day[170] previous, when the sudden appearance of a mouse threw Sarah into a panic.
"Are there any mouses in California?" asked little Harry, with interest.
"If there are I could carry a cat with me," returned Sarah good-humoredly.
Mark Nelson, though he felt Tom was a boy to be trusted, did ask himself occasionally whether he had been wise in permitting him to leave home under the circumstances. Suppose he continued in health, there were doubts of his success. His golden dreams might not be realized. The two hundred dollars which he had raised for Tom might be lost, and bring in no return; and this would prove a serious loss to Mark, hampered13 as he was already by a heavy mortgage on his farm. Would Squire14 Hudson be forbearing, if ill-luck came? This was a question he could not answer. He only knew that such was not the squire's reputation.
"Well, Mr. Nelson, what do you hear from Tom," asked the squire, one day about this time. "How far is he on his way?"
"We received a letter from Cincinnati[171] yesterday. He then was about starting for St. Joseph."
"Does he seem to enjoy the journey?"
"He writes in excellent spirits. He says he has met with good friends."
"Indeed! How does his money hold out?"
"He does not speak of that."
"Oh, well, I dare say he is getting along well;" and the squire walked on.
"Does he feel interested in Tom, or not?" queried15 Mark Nelson, as he looked thoughtfully after the squire, as he walked on with stately steps, leaning slightly on his gold-headed cane16. He might have been enlightened on this point, if he could have heard a conversation, later in the day, between Squire Hudson and his son Sinclair.
"I saw Mark Nelson this morning," he observed at the supper table.
"Has he heard from Tom?"
"Yes; his son wrote him from Cincinnati."
"I wish I could go to Cincinnati," grumbled17 Sinclair; "I think I have a better right to see the world than Tom Nelson."
"All in good time, my son. Tom is not traveling for pleasure."[172]
"Still, he is getting the pleasure."
"He will have to work hard when he reaches California. Probably he won't have a cent left when he gets there."
"What will he do then?"
"He must earn money."
"Do you think he will do well, father?"
"He may, and then again he may not," answered the squire judicially18.
"If he don't, how is he going to pay you back the money you lent him?"
"I always thought your father was foolish to lend his money to a boy like that," said Mrs. Hudson querulously.
"Women know nothing about business," said the squire, with an air of superior wisdom.
"Sometimes men don't know much," retorted his wife.
"If you refer to me, Mrs. Hudson," said her husband, "you need have no anxiety. I did not lend the money to the boy, but to his father."
"That isn't much better. Everybody knows that Mark Nelson has all that he can do to get along. His wife hasn't had a new dress for years."[173]
The squire's face grew hard and stern. He had never loved his wife, and never forgiven Mrs. Nelson, whom he had loved as much as he was capable of doing, for refusing his hand.
"She has made her bed and she must lie upon it," he said curtly19. "She might have known that Mark Nelson would never be able to provide for her."
"Perhaps she never had any other offer," said Mrs. Hudson, who was ignorant of a certain passage of her husband's life.
"Probably she did, for she was a very pretty girl."
"Then she's faded," said Mrs. Hudson, tossing her head.
Squire Hudson did not reply; but as his eyes rested on the sharp, querulous face of his helpmate, and he compared it mentally with the pleasant face of Mrs. Nelson, he said to himself that, faded or not, the latter was still better looking than his wife had been in the days of her youth. Of course it would not do to say so, for Mrs. Hudson was not amiable20.
"Mark Nelson has given me security," said[174] the squire, returning to the point under discussion. "I hold a mortgage on his farm for the whole amount he owes me."
"Do you think you shall have to foreclose, father?" asked Sinclair.
"If Tom does not succeed in California, I probably shall," said the squire.
"Do you think he will succeed?"
"He may be able to make a living, but I don't think he will be able to help his father any."
"Then why did you lend him the money?"
"He wanted to go, and was willing to take the risk. I lent the money as a business operation."
"Suppose Mr. Nelson loses his farm, what will he do?" inquired Sinclair.
"I really don't know," answered the squire, shrugging his shoulders. "That is no concern of mine."
"Tom wouldn't put on so many airs if his father had to go to the poorhouse," said Sinclair.
"Does he put on airs?"
"He seems to think he is as good as I am," said Squire Hudson's heir.[175]
"He is no fool," said the squire, who did not allow prejudice to carry him so far as his wife and son. "He is a boy of very fair abilities; but I apprehend22 he will find it harder to make his fortune than he anticipated. However, time will show."
"Most likely he'll come home in rags, and grow up a day-laborer," said Sinclair complacently23. "When I'm a rich man I'll give him work. He won't feel like putting on airs, then."
"What a good heart Sinclair has!" said Mrs. Hudson admiringly.
Squire Hudson said nothing. Possibly the goodness of his son's heart was not so manifest to him.
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1
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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4
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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6
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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7
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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8
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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9
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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10
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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12
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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13
hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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15
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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16
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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17
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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judicially
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| 依法判决地，公平地 | |
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19
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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21
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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22
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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