Roswell and Frank were standing1 in front of one of the curio stores, studying the interesting exhibits, among which was a pan of Klondike gold, but they kept watch of the stranger, who slouched up to them and halted at the side of Frank.
"I say, pards," he said in the gruff, wheedling2 tones of the professional tramp, "can't you do something for a chap that's down on his luck?"
As the lads turned to face him they saw an unclean, tousled man, very tall, with stooping shoulders, protruding3 black eyes, spiky4 hair, and a generally repellent appearance.
"What's the trouble?" asked Frank, looking into the face that had not been shaven for several days.
"Had the worst sort of luck; got back from Klondike two days ago with thirty thousand dollars, and robbed of every cent. I'm dead broke."
"You seem to have had enough to buy whiskey," remarked Roswell, who had had a whiff of his breath, and placed no faith in his story. The man looked angrily at them, but restrained himself, in hopes of receiving help.
"There's where you're mistaken, my friends; I haven't had anything to eat for two days, and when a stranger offered me a swallow of whiskey to keep up my strength, I took it, as a medicine. If it hadn't been for that, I'd have flunked5 right in the street—sure as you live. What are you doing, if I may ask, in Juneau?"
"We are listening to you just now, but we are on our way to the gold fields," replied Roswell.
"Not alone?"
"We are going with two men, one of whom has been there before."
"That's more sensible. Let me give you a little advice—"
"We really do not feel the need of it," interposed Roswell, who liked the man less each minute. "You must excuse us, as we wish to join them at the hotel. Good-day."
"See here," said the fellow angrily, as he laid his hand on the arm of Frank; "ain't you going to stake me a bit?"
The lad shook off his grasp.
"Even if we wished to do so, we could not, for our friend at the hotel has all the funds that belong to our party. Perhaps if you go there, and he believes the story, Mr. Graham may do something for you, but Tim McCabe has not the means with which to help anybody."
At mention of the Irishman's name the fellow showed some agitation6. Then, seeing that he was about to lose the expected aid, he uttered a savage7 expression and exclaimed:
"I don't believe a word you say."
"It is no concern of ours whether you believe it or not," replied Roswell, as he and Frank started down the street toward their hotel. The fellow was amazed at the defiance8 of the lads, and stood staring at them and muttering angrily to himself. Could he have carried out his promptings, he would have robbed both, but was restrained by several reasons.
In the first place, Juneau, despite the influx9 of miners, is a law-abiding city, and the man's arrest and punishment would have followed speedily. Moreover, it would not have been an altogether "sure thing" for him to attack the youths. They were exceptionally tall, active and strong, and would have given him trouble without appeal to the firearms which they carried.
They looked round and smiled, but he did not follow them. When they reached the hotel they related the incident.
"Would ye oblige me with a description of the spalpeen?" said Tim McCabe, after they had finished. Roswell did as requested.
"Be the powers, it's him!" exclaimed Tim. "I 'spected it when ye told the yarn10 which I've heerd he has been telling round town."
"Whom do you mean?" asked Frank.
"Hardman, Ike Hardman himsilf."
"Who is he?"
"Didn't I tell ye he was the one that robbed me of my money? Sure I did, what is the matter wid ye?"
"You told us about being robbed," said Jeff, "but didn't mention the name of the man who did it."
"I want to inthrodooce mesilf to him!" exclaimed Tim, flushed with indignation; "axscoose me for a bit."
He strode to the door with the intention of hunting up and chastising11 the rogue12, but, with his hand on the knob, checked himself. For a moment he debated with himself, and then, as his broad face lit up with his natural good humor, he came back to his chair, paraphrasing13 Uncle Toby:
"The world's big enough for the likes of him and me, though he does crowd a bit. Let him git all the good out of the theft he can, say I."
Dyea is at the head of navigation, and is the timber line, being a hundred miles to the northwest of Juneau. It is at the upper fork of what is termed Lynn Canal, the most extensive fiord on the coast. It is, in truth, a continuation of Chatham Strait, the north and south passage being several hundred miles in extent, the whole forming the trough of a glacier14 which disappeared ages ago.
On the day following the incident described our friends boarded the little, untidy steam launch bound for Dyea. There were fifty passengers beside themselves, double the number it was intended to carry, the destination of all being the gold fields. The weather was keen and biting, and the accommodations on the boat poor. They pushed here and there, surveying with natural interest the bleak15 scenery along shore, the mountains white with snow, and foretelling16 the more terrible regions that lay beyond. Hundreds of miles remained to be traversed before they could expect to gather the yellow particles, but neither of the sturdy lads felt any abatement17 of courage.
"Well, look at that!" suddenly exclaimed Roswell, catching18 the arm of his companion as they were making their way toward the front of the boat.
Frank turned in the direction indicated, and his astonishment19 was as great as his companion's. Tim McCabe and the shabby scamp, Ike Hardman, were sitting near each other on a bench, and smoking their pipes like two affectionate brothers. No one would have suspected there had ever been a ripple20 between them.
Catching the eye of the amazed boys, Tim winked21 and threw up his chin as an invitation for them to approach. Frank shook his head, and he and Roswell went back to where Jeff was smoking his pipe. They had hardly time to tell their story when the Irishman joined them.
CATCHING THE EYE OF THE AMAZED BOYS, TIM WINKED.
CATCHING THE EYE OF THE AMAZED BOYS, TIM WINKED.
"I obsarved by the exprission on your faces that ye were a bit surprised," he said, addressing the youths.
"Is that fellow the Hardman you told us about?" asked Roswell.
"The same at your sarvice."
"And the man who robbed you of your money?"
Tim flung one of his muscular legs over the other, and with a twinkle of the eyes said:
"Hardman has made it all right; the matter is fixed22 atween oursilves."
"Then he give you back your money?" was the inquiring remark of Jeff.
"Not precisely23 that, though he said he would do the same if he only had it with him, but he run up agin a game at Juneau and was cleaned out. Whin he told me that I was a bit sorry for him. He further obsarved that it was his intintion if he won to stake me agin and add something extra for interest on what he borrowed of me. That spakes well for Hardman, so we shook hands over it," was the hearty24 conclusion of Tim.
The boys were too astonished to speak. Jeff Graham's shoulders shook, and he looked sideways at his friend with a quizzical expression, unable to do justice to his feelings. As for Tim, his red face was the picture of bland25 innocence26, but he was not through. Astounding27 as were the statements he had just made, he had a still more astounding one to submit.
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1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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2
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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3
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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4
spiky
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| adj.长而尖的，大钉似的 | |
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5
flunked
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| v.( flunk的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学 | |
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6
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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7
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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8
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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9
influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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10
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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11
chastising
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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12
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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13
paraphrasing
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| v.释义，意译( paraphrase的现在分词 ) | |
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14
glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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15
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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16
foretelling
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的现在分词 ) | |
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17
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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18
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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19
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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20
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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21
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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22
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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23
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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24
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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25
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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26
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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27
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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