One of the most troublesome of the annoyances2 which come nowadays to dwellers3 in the country, within easy reach of any great city, is the bad kind of strolling beggar known as "the tramp." He is of all sorts and sizes; and he goes everywhere, asking for any thing he wants, very much as if it belonged to him and he had come for his own—so long as he can do his asking of a woman or a sickly-looking man. There had been very few of these gentry4 seen in that vicinity, that summer, for a wonder; and those who had made their appearance had been reasonably well behaved. Probably because there had been so many healthy-looking men around, as a general thing. But it come to pass, on the very day in which Ham and Miranda were expected to arrive by the last of the evening trains, just as Dab1 Kinzer was turning away from the landing, where he had been for a look at "The Swallow" and to make sure she was all right for her owner's eyes, that a very disreputable specimen5 of a worthless man stopped at Mrs. Kinzer's to beg something to eat, and then sauntered away down the road. It was a little past the middle of the afternoon; and even so mean-looking, dirty a tramp as that had a perfect right to be walking along then and there. The sunshine, and the fresh salt air from the bay, were as much his as anybody's, and so was the water in the bay; and no one in all that region of country stood more in need of plenty of water than he.
The vagabond took his right to the road, as he had taken his other right to beg his dinner, until, half-way down to the landing, he was met by an opportunity to do a little more begging.
"Give a poor feller suthin'?" he impudently6 drawled, as he stared straight into the sweet fresh face of Annie Foster.
Annie had been out for only a short walk; but she happened to have her pocket-book with her, and she thoughtlessly drew it out, meaning to give the scamp a trifle, if only to get rid of him.
"Only a dime7, miss?" whined8 the tramp, as he shut his dirty hand over Annie's gift. "Come, now, make it a dollar, my beauty. I'll call it all square for a dollar."
The whine9 grew louder as he spoke10; and the wheedling11 grin on his disgusting face changed into an expression so menacing that Annie drew back with a shudder12, and was about returning her little portemonnaie to her pocket.
"No, you don't, honey!"
The words were uttered in a hoarse13 and husky voice, and were accompanied by a sudden grip of poor Annie's arm with one hand, while with the other he snatched greedily at the morocco case.
Did she scream?
How could she help it? Or what else could she have done, under the circumstances?
She screamed vigorously, whether she would or no, and at the same moment dropped her pocket-book in the grass beside the path, so that it momentarily escaped the vagabond's clutches.
"Shut up, will you!"
Other angry and evil words, accompanied by more than one vicious threat, followed thick and fast, as Annie struggled to free herself, while her assailant peered hungrily around after the missing prize.
It is not at all likely he would have attempted any thing so bold as that, in broad daylight, if he had not been drinking too freely; and the very evil "spirit" which had prompted him to his rash rascality14 unfitted him for its immediate15 consequences.
These latter, in the shape of Dab Kinzer and the lower joint16 of a stout17 fishing-rod, had been bounding along up the road from the landing, at a tremendous rate, for nearly half a minute.
A boy of fifteen assailing18 a full-grown ruffian?
Why not? Age hardly counts in such a matter; and then it is not every boy of even his growth that could have brought muscles like those of Dab Kinzer to the swing he gave that four-foot length of seasoned ironwood.
Annie saw him coming; but her assailant did not until it was too late for him to do any thing but turn, and receive that first hit in front instead of behind. It would have knocked over almost anybody; and the tramp measured his length on the ground, while Dabney plied19 the rod on him with all the energy he was master of.
"Oh, don't, Dabney, don't!" pleaded Annie: "you'll kill him!"
"I wouldn't want to do that," said Dab, as he suspended his pounding; but he added, to the tramp,—
"Now you'd better get up and run for it If you're caught around here again, it'll be the worse for you."
The vagabond staggered to his feet, and he looked savagely20 enough at Dab; but the latter looked so very ready to put in another hit with that terrible cudgel, and the whole situation was so unpleasantly suggestive of further difficulty, that the youngster's advice was taken without a word. That is, if a shambling kind of double limp can be described as a "run for it."
"Here it is: I've found my pocket-book," said Annie, as her enemy made the best of his way off.
"He did not hurt you?"
"No: he only scared me, except that I suppose my arm will be black-and-blue where he caught hold of it. Thank you ever so much, Dabney: you're a brave boy. Why, he's almost twice your size."
"Yes; but the butt21 of my rod is twice as hard as his head," said Dabney. "I was almost afraid to strike him with it. I might have broken his skull22."
"You didn't even break your rod."
"No; and now I must run back for the other pieces and the tip. I dropped them in the road."
"Please, Dabney, see me home first," said Annie. "I know it's foolish, and there isn't a bit of danger; but I must confess to being a good deal frightened."
Dab Kinzer was a little the proudest boy on Long Island, as he walked along at Annie's side, in compliance23 with her request. He went no farther than the gate, to be sure, and then he returned for the rest of his rod: but before he got back with it, Keziah Kinzer hurried home from a call on Mrs. Foster, bringing a tremendous account of Dab's heroism24; and then his own pride over what he had done was only a mere25 drop in the bucket, compared to that of his mother.
"Dabney is growing wonderfully," she remarked to Samantha, "He'll be a man before any of us know it."
If Dab had been a man, however, or if Ham Morris or Mr. Foster had been at home, the matter would not have been permitted to drop there. That tramp ought to have been followed, arrested, and shut up where his vicious propensities26 would have been under wholesome27 restraint for a while. As it was, after hurrying on for a short distance, and making sure he was not pursued, he clambered over the fence, and sneaked28 into the nearest clump29 of bushes. From this safe covert30 he watched Dab Kinzer's return after the lighter31 pieces of his rod; and then he even dared to crouch32 along the fence, and see which house his young conqueror33 went into.
"That's where he lives, is it?" he muttered, with a scowl34 of the most ferocious35 vengeance36. "Well, they'll have some fun there before they git to bed to-night, or I'll know the reason why."
It could not have occurred to such a man that he had been given his dinner at the door of that very house. What had the collection of his rights as a "tramp" to do with questions of gratitude37 and revenge?
The bushes were a good enough hiding-place for the time, and he crawled back to them with the air and manner of a man whose mind was made up to something.
Ford38 and Frank were absent in the city that day with Mr. Foster, who was kindly39 attending to some affairs of Frank's; but when the three came home, and learned what had happened, it was hard to tell which of them failed most completely in trying to express his boiling indignation. They were all on the point of running over to the Morris house to thank Dab, but Mrs. Foster interposed.
"I don't think I would. To-morrow will do as well, and you know they're expecting Mr. and Mrs. Morris this evening."
It was harder for the boys to give it up than for Mr. Foster, and the waiting till to-morrow looked a little dreary40. They were lingering near the north fence two hours later, with a faint idea of catching41 Dab, even though they knew that the whole Kinzer family were down at the railway-station, waiting for Ham and Miranda.
There was a good deal of patience to be exercised by them also; for that railway-train was provokingly behind time, and there was "waiting" to be done accordingly.
The darkness of a moonless and somewhat cloudy night had settled over the village and its surrounding farms, long before the belated engine puffed42 its way in front of the station-platform.
Just at that moment, back there by the north fence, Ford Foster exclaimed,—
"What's that smell?"
"It's like burning hay, more than any thing else," replied Frank.
"Where can it come from, I'd like to know? We haven't had a light out at our barn."
"Light?" exclaimed Frank. "Just look yonder!"
"Why, it's that old barn, 'way beyond the Morris and Kinzer house.
Somebody must have set it on fire. Hullo! I thought I saw a man running.
Come on, Frank!"
There was indeed a man running just then; but they did not see him, for he was already very nearly across the field, and hidden by the darkness. He had known how to light a fire that would smoulder long enough for him to get away.
He was not running as well, nevertheless, as he might have done before he came under the operation of Dab Kinzer's "lower joint."
Mrs. Kinzer did her best to prevent any thing like a "scene" at the railway-station when Ham and Miranda came out upon the platform; but there was an immense amount of "welcome" expressed in words and hugs and kisses, in the shortest possible space of time. There was no lingering on the platform, however; for Ham and his wife were as anxious to get at the "surprise" they were told was waiting for them, as their friends were to have them come to it.
Before they were half way home, the growing light ahead of them attracted their attention; and then they began to hear the vigorous shouts of "Fire!" from the throats of the two boys, re-enforced now by Mr. Foster himself, and the lawyer's voice was an uncommonly43 good one. Dabney was driving the ponies44, and they had to go pretty fast for the rest of that short run.
"Surprise?" exclaimed Ham. "I should say it was! Did you light it before you started, Dabney?"
"Don't joke, Hamilton," remarked Mrs. Kinzer. "It may be a very serious affair for all of us. But I can't understand how in all the world that barn should have caught fire."
"Guess it was set a-going," said Dab.
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1
dab
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| v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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2
annoyances
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| n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事 | |
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dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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impudently
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dime
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| n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角 | |
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8
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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10
spoke
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| 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 | |
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11
wheedling
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| v.骗取（某物），哄骗（某人干某事）( wheedle的现在分词 ) | |
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12
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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13
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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14
rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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15
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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16
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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18
assailing
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| v.攻击( assail的现在分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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19
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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22
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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24
heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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25
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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28
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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29
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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30
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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31
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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33
conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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36
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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39
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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40
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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41
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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42
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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43
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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44
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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