CHAPTER IX. — SAM TAKES FRENCH LEAVE.

 If Sam had been brought up to entertain strict ideas on the subject of taking the property of others, and appropriating it to his own use, the temporary possession of the deacon's money would not have exposed him to temptation. But his conscience had never been awakened¹ to the iniquity² of theft. So when it occurred to him that he had in his possession money enough to gratify his secret desire, and carry him to New York, there to enter upon a brilliant career, it did not occur to him that it would be morally wrong to do so. He did realize the danger of detection, however, and balanced in his mind whether the risk was worth incurring³. He decided⁴ that it was.

 

"The deacon don't know I've got the money," he reflected. "He won't find out for a good while; when he does I shall be in New York, where he won't think of going to find me."

 

This was the way Sam reasoned, and from his point of view the scheme looked very plausible⁵. Sam had a shrewd idea that his services were not sufficiently⁶ valuable to the deacon to induce him to make any extraordinary efforts for his capture. So, on the whole, he made up his mind to run away.

 

"Shall I go now, or wait till mornin'?" thought Sam.

 

He looked out of his window. There was no moon, and the night was therefore dark. It would not be very agreeable to roam about in the darkness. Besides, he was liable to lose his way. Again, he felt sleepy, and the bed looked very inviting⁷.

 

"I'll wait till mornin'," thought Sam. "I'll start about four, and go over to Wendell, and take the train for New York. I'll be awful hungry when I get there. I wish I could wait till after breakfast; but it won't do."

 

Sam was not usually awake at four. Indeed he generally depended on being waked up by the deacon knocking on his door. But when boys or men have some pleasure in view it is apt to act upon the mind even when wrapped in slumber⁸, and produce wakefulness. So Sam woke up about quarter of four. His plan flashed upon him, and he jumped out of bed. He dressed quickly, and, taking his shoes in his hand so that he might make no noise, he crept downstairs, and unlocked the front door, and then, after shutting it behind him, sat down on the front door-stone and put on his shoes.

 

"I guess they didn't hear me," he said to himself. "Now I'll be going."

 

The sun had not risen, but it was light with the gray light which precedes dawn. There was every promise of a fine day, and this helped to raise Sam's spirits.

 

"What'll the deacon say when he comes to wake me up?" thought our hero, though I am almost ashamed to give Sam such a name, for I am afraid he is acting⁹ in a manner very unlike the well-behaved heroes of most juvenile¹⁰ stories, my own among the number. However, since I have chosen to write about a "young outlaw," I must describe him as he is, and warn my boy readers that I by no means recommend them to pattern after him.

 

Before accompanying Sam on his travels, let us see how the deacon was affected¹¹ by his flight.

 

At five o'clock he went up to Sam's door and knocked.

 

There was no answer.

 

The deacon knocked louder.

 

Still there was no answer.

 

"How sound the boy sleeps!" muttered the old man, and he applied¹² his knuckles¹³ vigorously to the door. Still without effect. Thereupon he tried the door, and found that it was unlocked. He opened it, and walked to the bed, not doubting that he would see Sam fast asleep. But a surprise awaited him. The bed was empty, though it had evidently been occupied during the night.

 

"Bless my soul! the boy's up," ejaculated the deacon.

 

A wild idea came to him that Sam had voluntarily got up at this early hour, and gone to work, but he dismissed it at once as absurd. He knew Sam far too well for that.

 

Why, then, had he got up? Perhaps he was unwell, and could not sleep. Not dreaming of his running away, this seemed to the deacon the most plausible way of accounting¹⁴ for Sam's disappearance¹⁵, but he decided to go down and communicate the news to his wife.

 

"Why were you gone so long, deacon?" asked Mrs. Hopkins. "Couldn't you wake him up?"

 

"He wasn't there."

 

"Wasn't where?"

 

"In bed."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I mean that Sam's got up already. I couldn't find him."

 

"Couldn't find him?"

 

"No, Martha."

 

"Had the bed been slept in?"

 

"Of course. I s'pose he was sick, and couldn't sleep, so he went downstairs."

 

"Perhaps he's gone down to the pantry," said Mrs. Hopkins, suspiciously. "I'll go down and see."

 

She went downstairs, followed by the deacon. She instituted an examination, but found Sam guiltless of a fresh attempt upon the provision department. She went to the front door, and found it unlocked.

 

"He's gone out," she said.

 

"So he has, but I guess he'll be back to breakfast," said the deacon.

 

"I don't," said the lady.

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because I think he's run away."

 

"Run away!" exclaimed the deacon. "Why, I never had a boy run away from me."

 

"Well, you have now."

 

"Where would he go? He aint no home. He wouldn't go to the poorhouse."

 

"Of course not. I never heard of anybody that had a comfortable home running away to the poorhouse."

 

"But why should he run away?" argued the deacon.

 

"Boys often run away," said his wife, sententiously.

 

"He had no cause."

 

"Yes, he had. You made him work, and he's lazy, and don't like work. I'm not surprised at all."

 

"I s'pose I'd better go after him," said the deacon.

 

"Don't you stir a step to go, deacon. He aint worth going after. I'm glad we've got rid of him."

 

"Well, he didn't do much work," admitted the deacon.

 

"While he ate enough for two boys. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say."

 

"I don't know how he's goin' to get along. He didn't have no money."

 

"I don't care how he gets along, as long as he don't come back. There's plenty of better boys you can get."

 

Sam would not have felt flattered, if he had heard this final verdict upon his merits. It must be confessed, however, that it was well deserved.

 

A few days afterwards, the deacon obtained the services of another boy, whom he found more satisfactory than the runaway¹⁶, and Sam was no longer missed. It was not till the tenth day that he learned of the theft. While riding on that day, he met Mr. Comstock, who had confided¹⁷ to Sam the money-letter.

 

"Good-morning, Deacon Hopkins," said he, stopping his horse.

 

"Good-morning," said the deacon.

 

"I suppose your boy handed you a letter from me."

 

"I haven't received any letter," said the deacon, surprised.

 

"It was early last week that I met a boy who said he lived with you. As I was in a hurry, I gave him a letter containing ten dollars, which I asked him to give to you."

 

"What day was it?" asked the deacon, eagerly.

 

"Monday. Do you mean to say he didn't give it to you?"

 

"No; he ran away the next morning, and I haven't seen him since."

 

"Then he ran away with the money—the young thief! I told him there was money in it."

 

"Bless my soul! I didn't think Sam was so bad," ejaculated the deacon.

 

"Didn't you go after him?"

 

"No; he wasn't very good to work, and I thought I'd let him run. Ef I'd knowed about the money, I'd have gone after him."

 

"It isn't too late, now."

 

"I'll ask my wife what I'd better do."

 

The deacon conferred with his wife, who was greatly incensed¹⁸ against Sam, and would have advised pursuit, but they had no clue to his present whereabouts.

 

"He'll come back some time, deacon," said she. "When he does, have him took up."

 

But years passed, and Sam did not come back, nor did the deacon set eyes on him for four years, and then under the circumstances recorded in the first chapter.

1 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 iniquity   

n.邪恶；不公正

参考例句：

• Research has revealed that he is a monster of iniquity.调查结果显示他是一个不法之徒。
• The iniquity of the transaction aroused general indignation.这笔交易的不公引起了普遍的愤怒。

3 incurring   

遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。
• He spoke to the Don directly, taking a chance on incurring Michael's ill will. 他直接向老头子谈自己的意见，这显然要冒引起迈克尔反感的风险。 来自教父部分

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

6 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

7 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

8 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

15 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

16 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

17 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。