"Bring me a plate of beefsteak, a cup of coffee, and some tea-biscuit," said Sam, with the air of a man of fortune.
"All right, sir," said the waiter.
"After all, it's pleasant living in New York," thought Sam, as he leaned back in his chair, and awaited in pleasant anticipation1 the fulfilment of his order. "It's different from livin' at the deacon's. Here a feller can be independent."
"As long as he has money," Sam should have added; but, like some business men, he was not aware of his present insolvency2. Ignorance is bliss3, sometimes; and it is doubtful whether our hero would have eaten his breakfast with as good a relish4 when it came, if he had known that he had not a cent in his pocket.
Sam was soon served, and he soon made way with the articles he had ordered. You can't get a very liberal supply of beefsteak for fifteen cents, which was what Sam was charged for his meat. He felt hungry still, after he had eaten what was set before him. So he took the bill of fare once more, and pored over its well-filled columns.
"They must have a tremendous big kitchen to cook so many things," he thought. "Why, there are as many as a hundred. Let me see—here's buckwheat cakes, ten cents. I guess I'll have some."
"Anything more, sir?" asked the waiter, approaching to clear away the dirty dishes.
"Buckwheat cakes, and another cup of coffee," ordered Sam.
"All right, sir."
"They treat me respectful, here," thought Sam. "What would the deacon say to hear me called sir? I like it. Folks have better manners in the city than in the country."
This was rather a hasty conclusion on the part of Sam, and it was not long before he had occasion enough to change his mind.
He ate the buckwheat cakes with a relish, and felt tolerably satisfied.
"Anything more, sir?" asked the waiter.
Sam was about to say no, when his eye rested on that portion of the bill devoted5 to pastry6, and he changed his mind.
"Bring me a piece of mince-pie," he said.
Sam was sensible that he was ordering breakfast beyond his means, but he vaguely7 resolved that he would content himself with a small dinner. He really could not resist the temptation of the pie.
At last it was eaten, and the waiter brought him a ticket, bearing the price of his breakfast, fifty cents. Now, for the first time, he felt in his vest-pocket for his money. He felt in vain. Still he did not suspect his loss.
"I thought I put it in my vest-pocket," he said to himself. "I guess I made a mistake, and put it in some other."
He felt in another pocket, and still another, till he had explored every pocket he possessed8, and still no money.
Sam turned pale, and his heart gave a sudden thump9, as the extent of his misfortune dawned upon him. It was not alone that he was without money in a strange city, but he had eaten rather a hearty10 breakfast, which he was unable to pay for. What would they think of him? What would they do to him? He saw it all now. That specious11 stranger, Clarence Brown, had robbed him in his sleep. That was why he had invited him to spend the night in his room without charge. That was why he had got up so early and stolen out without his knowledge, after he had purloined12 all his money.
Sam was not particularly bashful; but he certainly felt something like it, as he walked up to the cashier's desk. A man stood behind it, rather stout13, and on the whole not benevolent14 in his looks. There was no softness about his keen business face. Sam inferred with a sinking heart that he was not a man likely to sympathize with him in his misfortunes, or seem to give credence15 to them.
Sam stood at the counter waiting while the proprietor16 was making change for another customer. He was considering what he could best say to propitiate17 his creditor18.
"Now, then," said the man behind the counter, a little impatiently, for another had come up behind Sam, "where's your ticket?"
"Here, sir," said Sam, laying it on the counter.
"Fifty cents. Pay quick, and don't keep me waiting."
"I can't pay you now."
"Can't pay me now!" repeated the other, angrily; "what do you mean?"
"I've lost my money," said Sam, feeling more and more uncomfortable.
By this time the patience of the restaurant-keeper was quite gone.
"What business had you to come in here and order an expensive breakfast when you had no money?" he demanded, furiously.
"I thought I had some money," said Sam, fervently22 wishing himself back at the deacon's for the first time since his arrival in the city.
"How could you think you had some when you hadn't any?"
"I had some last night," said Sam, eagerly; "but I slept in Mr. Brown's room, and he must have robbed me in the night."
"That's a likely story!" sneered23 the proprietor. "What do you think of it, Mr. Jones?" he asked, turning to a customer, whom he knew by name.
"Of course it is," said the proprietor, angrily. "This boy's evidently a beat."
"A what?" inquired Sam, who had not been in the city long enough to understand the meaning of the term.
"A dead beat; but you don't play any of your games on me, young man. I've cut my eye-teeth, I have. You don't swindle me out of a fifty-cent breakfast quite so easily. Here, John, call a policeman."
"Oh, don't call a policeman!" exclaimed Sam, terror-stricken. "It's true, every word I've told you. I'm from the country. I only got to the city yesterday, and I've been robbed of all my money, over six dollars. I hope you'll believe me."
"I don't believe a word you say," said the restaurant-keeper, harshly. "You are trying to come it over me. I dare say you've been round the streets half your life."
"I think you are wrong, Mr. Chucks," said another customer, who was waiting to pay his bill. "He's got a country look about him. He don't look like one of the regular street boys. Better let him go. I wouldn't call a policeman."
"I ought to," grumbled26 the proprietor. "Fancy his impudence27 in ordering a fifty-cent breakfast, when he hadn't a cent to pay his bill."
"I wouldn't have come in, if I had known," said Sam.
"Don't tell me," said the man, sharply, "for I don't believe it. Do you think I can afford to give you breakfast for nothing?"
"I'll pay you as soon as I get some money," said Sam. "Only don't send me to prison."
"I won't give you in charge this time, though I ought to; but I'll give you something to settle your breakfast. Here, Peter, you waited on this young man, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"He hasn't paid for his breakfast, and pretends he hasn't got any money. Bounce him!"
If Sam was ignorant of the meaning of the word "bounce," he was soon enlightened. The waiter seized him by the collar, before he knew what was going to happen, pushed him to the door, and then, lifting his foot by a well-directed kick, landed him across the sidewalk into the street.
This proceeding28 was followed by derisive29 laughter from the other waiters who had gathered near the door, and it was echoed by two street urchins30 outside, who witnessed Sam's ignominious31 exit from the restaurant.
Sam staggered from the force of the bouncing, and felt disgraced and humiliated32 to think that the waiter who had been so respectful and attentive33 should have inflicted34 upon him such an indignity35, which he had no power to resent.
"I wish I was back at the deacon's," he thought bitterly.
"How do you feel?" asked one of the boys who had witnessed Sam's humiliation36, not sympathetically, but in a tone of mockery.
"He feels bad, Mickey," said the other. "He's heard bad news, and that's what made him in such a hurry."
Here both the boys laughed, and Sam retorted angrily, "I'll make you feel bad, if you aint careful."
"Hear him talk, Mickey,—aint he smart?"
"I'll make you both smart," said Sam, beginning to roll up his sleeves; for he was no coward, and the boys were only about his own size.
"He wants to bounce us, like he was bounced himself," said Pat Riley. "How did it feel, Johnny?"
Sam gave chase, but his tormentors were better acquainted with the city than he, and he did not succeed in catching38 them. Finally he gave it up, and, sitting down on a convenient door-step, gave himself up to melancholy39 reflections.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
insolvency
|
|
| n.无力偿付，破产 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
bliss
|
|
| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
relish
|
|
| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
pastry
|
|
| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
thump
|
|
| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
specious
|
|
| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
purloined
|
|
| v.偷窃( purloin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
credence
|
|
| n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
proprietor
|
|
| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
propitiate
|
|
| v.慰解，劝解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
creditor
|
|
| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
faltering
|
|
| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ominous
|
|
| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
scowl
|
|
| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
fervently
|
|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
impudence
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
derisive
|
|
| adj.嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
urchins
|
|
| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
ignominious
|
|
| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
humiliated
|
|
| 感到羞愧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
attentive
|
|
| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
indignity
|
|
| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
humiliation
|
|
| n.羞辱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
savagely
|
|
| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |