The farmer led our two boys through a deliciously scented1 pine-wood at the rear of his house, to a valley which seemed to extend and widen out into a multitude of lesser2 valleys and clumps3 of woodland, where lakelets and rivulets4 and waterfalls glittered in the afternoon sun like shields and bands of burnished5 silver.
Taking a ball of twine6 from one of his capacious pockets, he gave it to Bobby along with a small pocket-book.
“Have you got clasp-knives?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” said both boys, at once producing instruments which were very much the worse for wear.
“Very well, now, here is the work I want you to do for me this afternoon. D’you see the creek7 down in the hollow yonder—about half a mile off?”
“Yes, yes, sir.”
“Well, go down there and cut two sticks about ten feet long each; tie strings8 to the small ends of them; fix hooks that you’ll find in that pocket-book to the lines. The creek below the fall is swarming9 with fish; you’ll find grasshoppers10 and worms enough for bait if you choose to look for ’em. Go, and see what you can do.”
A reminiscence of ancient times induced Bobby Frog to say “Walke–e–r!” to himself, but he had too much wisdom to say it aloud. He did, however, venture modestly to remark—
“I knows nothink about fishin’, sir. Never cotched so much as a eel12 in—”
“When I give you orders, obey them!” interrupted the farmer, in a tone and with a look that sent Bobby and Tim to the right-about double-quick. They did not even venture to look back until they reached the pool pointed13 out, and when they did look back Mr Merryboy had disappeared.
“Vell, I say,” began Bobby, but Tim interrupted him with, “Now, Bob, you must git off that ’abit you’ve got o’ puttin’ v’s for double-u’s. Wasn’t we told by the genl’m’n that gave us a partin’ had-dress that we’d never git on in the noo world if we didn’t mind our p’s and q’s? An’ here you are as regardless of your v’s as if they’d no connection wi’ the alphabet.”
“Pretty cove14 you are, to find fault wi’ me,” retorted Bob, “w’en you’re far wuss wi’ your haitches—a-droppin’ of ’em w’en you shouldn’t ought to, an’ stickin’ of ’em in where you oughtn’t should to. Go along an’ cut your stick, as master told you.”
The sticks were cut, pieces of string were measured off, and hooks attached thereto. Then grasshoppers were caught, impaled15, and dropped into a pool. The immediate16 result was almost electrifying17 to lads who had never caught even a minnow before. Bobby’s hook had barely sunk when it was seized and run away with so forcibly as to draw a tremendous “Hi! hallo!! ho!!! I’ve got ’im!!!” from the fisher.
“Hoy! hurroo!!” responded Tim, “so’ve I!!!”
Both boys, blazing with excitement, held on.
The fish, bursting, apparently18, with even greater excitement, rushed off.
“He’ll smash my stick!” cried Bob.
“The twine’s sure to go!” cried Tim. “Hold o–o–on!”
This command was addressed to his fish, which leaped high out of the pool and went wriggling19 back with a heavy splash. It did not obey the order, but the hook did, which came to the same thing.
“A ten-pounder if he’s a’ ounce,” said Tim.
“You tell that to the horse—hi ho! stop that, will you?”
But Bobby’s fish was what himself used to be—troublesome to deal with. It would not “stop that.”
It kept darting20 from side to side and leaping out of the water until, in one of its bursts, it got entangled21 with Tim’s fish, and the boys were obliged to haul them both ashore22 together.
“Splendid!” exclaimed Bobby, as they unhooked two fine trout23 and laid them on a place of safety; “At ’em again!”
At them they went, and soon had two more fish, but the disturbance24 created by these had the effect of frightening the others. At all events, at their third effort their patience was severely25 tried, for nothing came to their hooks to reward the intense gaze and the nervous readiness to act which marked each boy during the next half-hour or so.
At the end of that time there came a change in their favour, for little Martha Mild appeared on the scene. She had been sent, she said, to work with them.
“To play with us, you mean,” suggested Tim.
“No, father said work,” the child returned simply.
“It’s jolly work, then! But I say, old ’ooman, d’you call Mr Merryboy father?” asked Bob in surprise.
“Yes, I’ve called him father ever since I came.”
“An’ who’s your real father?”
“I have none. Never had one.”
“An’ your mother?”
“Never had a mother either.”
“Well, you air a curiosity.”
“Hallo! Bob, don’t forget your purliteness,” said Tim. “Come, Mumpy; father calls you Mumpy, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Then so will I. Well, Mumpy, as I was goin’ to say, you may come an’ work with my rod if you like, an’ we’ll make a game of it. We’ll play at work. Let me see where shall we be?”
“In the garden of Eden,” suggested Bob.
“The very thing,” said Tim; “I’ll be Adam an’ you’ll be Eve, Mumpy.”
“Very well,” said Martha with ready assent26.
She would have assented27 quite as readily to have personated Jezebel or the Witch of Endor.
“And I’ll be Cain,” said Bobby, moving his line in a manner that was meant to be persuasive28.
“Oh!” said Martha, with much diffidence, “Cain was wicked, wasn’t he?”
“Well, my dear Eve,” said Tim, “Bobby Frog is wicked enough for half-a-dozen Cains. In fact, you can’t cane29 him enough to pay him off for all his wickedness.”
“Bah! go to bed,” said Cain, still intent on his line, which seemed to quiver as if with a nibble30.
As for Eve, being as innocent of pun-appreciation as her great original probably was, she looked at the two boys in pleased gravity.
“Hi! Cain’s got another bite,” cried Adam, while Eve went into a state of gentle excitement, and fluttered near with an evidently strong desire to help in some way.
“Hallo! got ’im again!” shouted Tim, as his rod bent31 to the water with jerky violence; “out o’ the way, Eve, else you’ll get shoved into Gihon.”
“Euphrates, you stoopid!” said Cain, turning his Beehive training to account. Having lost his fish, you see, he could afford to be critical while he fixed32 on another bait.
But Tim cared not for rivers or names just then, having hooked a “real wopper,” which gave him some trouble to land. When landed, it proved to be the finest fish of the lot, much to Eve’s satisfaction, who sat down to watch the process when Adam renewed the bait.
Now, Bobby Frog, not having as yet been quite reformed, and, perhaps, having imbibed33 some of the spirit of his celebrated34 prototype with his name, felt a strong impulse to give Tim a gentle push behind. For Tim sat in an irresistibly35 tempting36 position on the bank, with his little boots overhanging the dark pool from which the fish had been dragged.
“Tim,” said Bob.
“Adam, if you please—or call me father, if you prefer it!”
“Well, then, father, since I haven’t got an Abel to kill, I’m only too ’appy to have a Adam to souse.”
Saying which, he gave him a sufficient impulse to send him off!
Eve gave vent11 to a treble shriek37, on beholding38 her husband struggling in the water, and Cain himself felt somewhat alarmed at what he had done. He quickly extended the butt39 of his rod to his father, and dragged him safe to land, to poor Eve’s inexpressible relief.
“What d’ee mean by that, Bob?” demanded Tim fiercely, as he sprang towards his companion.
“Cain, if you please—or call me son, if you prefers it,” cried Bob, as he ran out of his friend’s way; “but don’t be waxy40, father Adam, with your own darlin’ boy. I couldn’t ’elp it. You’d ha’ done just the same to me if you’d had the chance. Come, shake ’ands on it.”
Tim Lumpy was not the boy to cherish bad feeling. He grinned in a ghastly manner, and shook the extended hand.
“I forgive you, Cain, but please go an’ look for Abel an’ pitch into him w’en next you git into that state o’ mind, for it’s agin common-sense, as well as history, to pitch into your old father so.” Saying which, Tim went off to wring41 out his dripping garments, after which the fishing was resumed.
“Wot a remarkable42 difference,” said Bobby, breaking a rather long silence of expectancy43, as he glanced round on the splendid landscape which was all aglow44 with the descending45 sun, “’tween these ’ere diggin’s an’ Commercial Road, or George Yard, or Ratcliff ’Ighway. Ain’t it, Tim?”
Before Tim could reply, Mr Merryboy came forward.
“Capital!” he exclaimed, on catching46 sight of the fish; “well done, lads, well done. We shall have a glorious supper to-night. Now, Mumpy, you run home and tell mother to have the big frying-pan ready. She’ll want your help. Ha!” he added, turning to the boys, as Martha ran off with her wonted alacrity47, “I thought you’d soon teach yourselves how to catch fish. It’s not difficult here. And what do you think of Martha, my boys?”
“She’s a trump48!” said Bobby, with decision.
“Fust rate!” said Tim, bestowing49 his highest conception of praise.
“Quite true, lads; though why you should say ‘fust’ instead of first-rate, Tim, is more than I can understand. However, you’ll get cured of such-like queer pronunciations in course of time. Now, I want you to look on little Mumpy as your sister, and she’s a good deal of your sister too in reality, for she came out of that same great nest of good and bad, rich and poor—London. Has she told you anything about herself yet?”
“Nothin’, sir,” answered Bob, “’cept that when we axed—asked, I mean—I ax—ask your parding—she said she’d neither father nor mother.”
“Ah! poor thing; that’s too true. Come, pick up your fish, and I’ll tell you about her as we go along.”
The boys strung their fish on a couple of branches, and followed their new master home.
“Martha came to us only last year,” said the farmer. “She’s a little older than she looks, having been somewhat stunted50 in her growth, by bad treatment, I suppose, and starvation and cold in her infancy51. No one knows who was her father or mother. She was ‘found’ in the streets one day, when about three years of age, by a man who took her home, and made use of her by sending her to sell matches in public-houses. Being small, very intelligent for her years, and attractively modest, she succeeded, I suppose, in her sales, and I doubt not the man would have continued to keep her, if he had not been taken ill and carried to hospital, where he died. Of course the man’s lodging52 was given up the day he left it. As the man had been a misanthrope—that’s a hater of everybody, lads—nobody cared anything about him, or made inquiry53 after him. The consequence was, that poor Martha was forgotten, strayed away into the streets, and got lost a second time. She was picked up this time by a widow lady in very reduced circumstances, who questioned her closely; but all that the poor little creature knew was that she didn’t know where her home was, that she had no father or mother, and that her name was Martha.
“The widow took her home, made inquiries54 about her parentage in vain, and then adopted and began to train her, which accounts for her having so little of that slang and knowledge of London low life that you have so much of, you rascals55! The lady gave the child the pet surname of Mild, for it was so descriptive of her character. But poor Martha was not destined56 to have this mother very long. After a few years she died, leaving not a sixpence or a rag behind her worth having. Thus little Mumpy was thrown a third time on the world, but God found a protector for her in a friend of the widow, who sent her to the Refuge—the Beehive as you call it—which has been such a blessing57 to you, my lads, and to so many like you, and along with her the 10 pounds required to pay her passage and outfit58 to Canada. They kept her for some time and trained her, and then, knowing that I wanted a little lass here, they sent her to me, for which I thank God, for she’s a dear little child.”
The tone in which the last sentence was uttered told more than any words could have conveyed the feelings of the bluff59 farmer towards the little gem60 that had been dug out of the London mines and thus given to him.
Reader, they are prolific61 mines, those East-end mines of London! If you doubt it, go, hear and see for yourself. Perhaps it were better advice to say, go and dig, or help the miners!
Need it be said that our waifs and strays grew and flourished in that rich Canadian soil? It need not! One of the most curious consequences of the new connection was the powerful affection that sprang up between Bobby Frog and Mrs Merryboy, senior. It seemed as if that jovial62 old lady and our London waif had fallen in love with each other at first sight. Perhaps the fact that the lady was intensely appreciative63 of fun, and the young gentleman wonderfully full of the same, had something to do with it. Whatever the cause, these two were constantly flirting64 with each other, and Bob often took the old lady out for little rambles65 in the wood behind the farm.
There was a particular spot in the woods, near a waterfall, of which this curious couple were particularly fond, and to which they frequently resorted, and there, under the pleasant shade, with the roar of the fall for a symphony, Bob poured out his hopes and fears, reminiscences and prospects66 into the willing ears of the little old lady, who was so very small that Bob seemed quite a big man by contrast. He had to roar almost as loud as the cataract67 to make her hear, but he was well rewarded. The old lady, it is true, did not speak much, perhaps because she understood little, but she expressed enough of sympathy, by means of nods, and winks68 with her brilliant black eyes, and smiles with her toothless mouth, to satisfy any boy of moderate expectations.
And Bobby was satisfied. So, also, were the other waifs and strays, not only with old granny, but with everything in and around their home in the New World.
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1
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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eel
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| n.鳗鲡 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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impaled
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| 钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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17
electrifying
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| v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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18
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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19
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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21
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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nibble
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| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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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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imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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38
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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39
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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40
waxy
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| adj.苍白的；光滑的 | |
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41
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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42
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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43
expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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44
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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45
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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46
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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47
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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48
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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49
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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50
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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51
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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52
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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53
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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54
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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55
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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56
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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57
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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58
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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59
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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60
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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61
prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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62
jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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63
appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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64
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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65
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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winks
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| v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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