CHAPTER XXXVI TOM AND THE ROBBERS.

 OM HAD an easy way of adapting himself to the company he was in. Moreover, being a boy, he was regarded with less distrust than if he had been older. He sat down with the robbers and took part in their conversation, carefully abstaining¹, however, from disclosing the mission he had revealed to the captain. He had the luck to please his entertainers, if we may give them that name.

 

After supper the men lit their pipes, and lay down lazily under the trees.

 

“I’ve got an extra pipe, my lad, if you’d like to smoke,” said Alonzo, who ranked next to the captain. He was, in fact, the lieutenant² of the band.

 

“Thank you,” said Tom, “but I don’t smoke.”

 

“I smoked before I was of your age, boy.”

 

“Do you think it did you any good?”

 

“I can’t say it did, but it’s a comfort, and a merry life is my motto, even if it’s a shorter one.”

 

“I may smoke sometime,” said Tom, “but I don’t believe it does a boy any good.”

 

“You’re right there, most likely. What brought you out here?”

 

“I was going to the mines.”

 

“To make your fortune?”

 

“Partly, but it was partly the love of adventure.”

 

“You’ve had your adventure,” said Alonzo, smiling grimly.

 

“Yes,” said Tom, “and a pretty expensive one. I should have done better to stay in the city.”

 

“Were you long there?”

 

“Yes, I was a clerk in a store.”

 

“I’ll tell you what you’d better do, my lad,” said Alonzo, taking his pipe from his mouth.

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Join our band.”

 

“And become a——”

 

“Robber, bandit, or whatever you choose to call it.”

 

Tom laughed.

 

“I don’t think my friends would approve of it,” he said. “Shall I write to them and ask?”

 

“I am not joking,” said Alonzo. “We want a boy like you to brighten us up. You might be useful besides. We’ll give him a fair share of all we make, won’t we, men?”

 

“I’m agreed.”

 

“And so am I.”

 

“And I,” said all.

 

“Thank you, gentlemen,” said Tom. “It’s a compliment, and so I consider it, for you wouldn’t make the offer if you didn’t like my company, but to be frank I don’t think I should like it.”

 

“He’s right.”

 

It was the captain who spoke⁴.

 

“He’s right, boys. I’m a robber myself, and am likely to be, but I won’t ask him to be. His life is before him—a bright and prosperous one it may be, and I for one won’t ask him to spoil it by taking to the road. It’s well enough for us, for there’s no other chance for us.”

 

“Captain,” said Alonzo, “you ain’t turning pious⁵, are you?”

 

He spoke lightly, but he regarded the captain attentively⁶ as he spoke.

 

The captain laughed, but it was a forced laugh.

 

“That isn’t in my line,” he said. “I thought you knew me too well for that, Alonzo.”

 

“Of course I do. I thought mayhap you’d got the blues⁷, or was getting sick of our company.”

 

“You have no reason to think that, because I don’t want the boy to follow our example. If you had a son of your own, Alonzo, you wouldn’t train him up to his father’s trade, would you?”

 

“Yes, I would,” said Alonzo doggedly⁸. “The world owes me a living; the rich have more than belongs to them, and I am ready to relieve them of what belongs to the poor. What do you say, men?”

 

“That’s the way to talk,” said all in substance.

 

They were social outlaws—offenders in the eye of the law, but Alonzo’s specious⁹ reasoning gave an air of respectability to their profession, and they were ready to adopt it as their own.

 

“It may be so,” said the captain, “but I wouldn’t ask a boy to join us.”

 

He got up from the grass on which he had been reclining with the rest, and walked thoughtfully away.

 

“Something’s come over the captain,” said Alonzo, looking after him.

 

“I don’t know but the captain’s right after all,” said another of the men.

 

“What, Jack¹⁰, are you going to turn back on us.”

 

“Not I, nor the captain neither, but what he said about a boy’s taking up our business came home to me. I’ve got a boy somewhere about the age of that youngster. He don’t know what his father is, and he sha’n’t know, if I can help it. I ain’t good for much, but I want that boy to grow up respectable.”

 

“Suppose we change the subject,” said Alonzo, adding with a sneer¹¹, “piety’s spreading. I sha’n’t be surprised, Jack, to hear that you and the captain have turned missionaries¹². As for me, I ain’t partial to a black suit and a white choker.”

 

“You’d prefer a different kind of a choker,” suggested Jack.

 

“What do you mean by that?” demanded Alonzo roughly.

 

“No offense¹³, lieutenant,” said Jack. “Let a man have his joke. We’re all in the same boat, as far as that goes.”

 

But Alonzo still looked moody¹⁴, and did not seem inclined to accept the apology.

 

Upon this Jack, to restore good feelings, brought out his violin, for he was a little of a musician, and begun to play a lively dancing tune³.

 

“Let’s have a dance,” said one.

 

This suggestion was well received, and the members of the band begun to leap about to the inspiring airs of the fiddle¹⁵.

 

Then it was that a bright thought entered the mind of one of the robbers—we will call him Bill.

 

“Have out the Dutchman,” he said. “Let us make him dance.”

 

This proposal was received with a shout of laughter, in which Alonzo joined as heartily¹⁶ as the rest. Even Tom, though he sympathized with his fellow-captive, could not help shouting with laughter as he pictured to himself the burly form prancing¹⁷ up and down in the mazy dance.

 

“Good!” said Alonzo. “Bill, you and Dick go in and bring out the prisoners. We’ll have some sport.”

 

The two men, nothing loth, jumped up and disappeared within the building. After some delay they reappeared, followed by Gates and Morton, and leading between them, bewildered and terrified, the massive figure of our Teutonic friend, Herr Schmidt. He gazed about him in evident affright, and ejaculated:

 

“What will you do mit me? Don’t kill me, goot gentlemen. I am only one poor Dutchman.”

 

“We won’t hurt you, mynheer,” said Alonzo, “that is if you obey our commands. You must dance a jig¹⁸.”

 

“I cannot dance at all,” said Herr Schmidt in alarm. “Indeed I cannot, gentlemen.”

 

“Oh, you needn’t be particular about the steps, but dance you must. We are all going to dance. Jack, strike up a tune, and let the fun begin.”

1 abstaining   

戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的现在分词 )； 弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Abstaining from killing, from taking what is not given, & from illicIt'sex. 诸比丘！远离杀生，远离不与取，于爱欲远离邪行。
• Abstaining from arguments was also linked to an unusual daily cortisol pattern. 压抑争吵也造成每日异常的皮质醇波动。

2 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

3 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

8 doggedly   

adv.顽强地，固执地

参考例句：

• He was still doggedly pursuing his studies.他仍然顽强地进行着自己的研究。
• He trudged doggedly on until he reached the flat.他顽强地、步履艰难地走着，一直走回了公寓。

9 specious   

adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地

参考例句：

• Such talk is actually specious and groundless.这些话实际上毫无根据，似是而非的。
• It is unlikely that the Duke was convinced by such specious arguments.公爵不太可能相信这种似是而非的论点。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

12 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

14 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

15 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

16 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

17 prancing   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lead singer was prancing around with the microphone. 首席歌手手执麦克风，神气地走来走去。
• The King lifted Gretel on to his prancing horse and they rode to his palace. 国王把格雷特尔扶上腾跃着的马，他们骑马向天宫走去。 来自辞典例句

18 jig   

n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳

参考例句：

• I went mad with joy and danced a little jig.我欣喜若狂，跳了几步吉格舞。
• He piped a jig so that we could dance.他用笛子吹奏格舞曲好让我们跳舞。