“Well, boy, what do you want? Have you anything to say to me?”
Mr Auberly turned sharp round on Willie, whose gaze had gone beyond the length of simple curiosity. In fact, he was awe-struck at the sight of such a very tall and very dignified1 man standing2 so grimly in the midst of such dreadful devastation3.
“Please, sir, I was sent to you, sir, by—”
“Oh, you’re the boy, the son of—that is to say, you were sent to me by your mother,” said Mr Auberly with a frown.
“Well, sir,” replied Willie, hesitating, “I—I—was sent by—by—”
“Ah, I see,” interrupted Mr Auberly with a smile that was meant to be gracious, “you were sent by a fireman; you are not the—the—I mean you’re the other boy.”
Poor Willie, being of a powerfully risible4 nature, found it hard to contain himself on hearing his own words of the previous evening re-echoed thus unexpectedly. His face became red, and he took refuge in blowing his nose, during which process—having observed the smile on Mr Auberly’s face—he resolved to be “the other boy.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, looking up modestly, “I was sent by a fireman; I am the other boy.”
Mr Auberly smiled again grimly, and said that the fireman was a brave fellow, and that he had saved his daughter’s life, and that he was very glad to do anything that lay in his power for him, and that he understood that Willie was the fireman’s brother; to which the boy replied that he was.
“Well, then, come this way,” continued Mr Auberly, leading Willie into the library of the adjoining house, which his friend had put at his disposal, and seating himself at a writing-table. “You want a situation of some sort—a clerkship, I suppose?”
Willie admitted that his ambition soared to that tremendous height.
“Let me see,” muttered Mr Auberly, taking up a pen and beginning to write; “yes, she will be able to help me. What is your name, boy?”
“Willie, sir.”
“Just so, William; and your surname—your other name?”
“Willders, sir.”
Mr Auberly started, and looked Willie full in the eyes. Willie, feeling that he was playing a sort of double part without being able to avoid it, grew red in the face.
“What did you say, boy?”
“Then you’re not the other boy,” said Mr Auberly, laying down his pen, and regarding Willie with a frown.
“Please, sir,” replied Willie, with a look of meekness6 which was mingled7 with a feeling of desperation, for his desire to laugh was strong upon him, “please, sir, I don’t rightly know which boy I am.”
Mr Auberly paused for a moment.
“Boy, you’re a fool!”
“Thank ’ee, sir,” said Willie.
This reply went a long way in Mr Auberly’s mind to prove the truth of his assertion.
“Answer me, boy,” said Mr Auberly with an impressive look and tone; “were you sent here by a fireman?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Willie.
“What is his name?”
“Same as mine, sir—Willders.”
“Of course, of course,” said Mr Auberly, a little confused at having put such an unnecessary question. “Does your mother know you’re here?”
This brought the slang phrase, “Does your mother know you’re out?” so forcibly to the boy’s mind, that he felt himself swell8 internally, and had recourse again to his pocket-handkerchief as a safety-valve.
“Yes, sir,” said he, on recovering his composure; “arter I saw Blazes—Frank, I mean, that’s my brother, sir—I goes right away home to bed. I stops with my mother, sir, an’ she saw me come off here this mornin’, sir. She knows I was comin’ here.”
“Of course; yes, yes, I see,” muttered Mr Auberly, again taking up his pen. “I see; yes, yes; same name—strange coincidence, though; but, after all, there are many of that name in London. I suppose the other boy will be here shortly. Very odd, very odd indeed.”
“Please, sir,” observed Willie, in a gentle tone, “you said I was the other boy, sir.”
Mr Auberly seemed a little annoyed at his muttered words being thus replied to, yet he condescended9 to explain that there was another boy of the same name whom he expected to see that morning.
“Oh, then there’s another other boy, sir?” said Willie with a look of interest.
“Hold your tongue!” said Mr Auberly in a sharp voice; “you’re a fool, and you’re much too fond of speaking. I advise you to keep your tongue quieter if you wish to get on in life.”
Willie once more sought relief in his pocket-handkerchief, while his patron indited10 and sealed an epistle, which he addressed to “Miss Tippet, Number 6, Poorthing Lane, Beverly Square.”
“Here, boy, take this to the lady to whom it is addressed—the lane is at the opposite corner of the square—and wait an answer.”
“No; the answer is for yourself,” said Mr Auberly testily12; “and hark ’ee, boy, you need not trouble me again. That note will get you all you desire.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Willie, making a bow, and preparing to retire; “but please, sir, I don’t very well know, that is to say—ahem!”
“Well, boy?” said the patron sternly.
“Excuse me, sir; I can’t help it, you know; but please, sir, I wish to explain about that other boy—no, that’s me, but the other other boy, you know—”
“Begone, boy!” cried Mr Auberly in a voice so stern that Willie found himself next moment in the street, along which he ran chuckling13 worse than ever.
A little reflection might have opened Mr Auberly’s eyes to the truth in regard to Willie, but a poor relation was to him a disagreeable subject of contemplation, and he possessed14 the faculty15, in an eminent16 degree, of dismissing it altogether from his mind. Having care enough on his mind at that time, poor man, he deliberately17 cast the confusion of the two boys out of his thoughts, and gave himself up to matters more interesting and personal.
We may add here that Mrs Willders was faithful to her promise, and never more addressed her brother-in-law by word or letter. When Willie afterwards told her and Frank of the absurdity18 of his interview, and of the violent manner in which Mr Auberly had dismissed him when he was going to explain about the “other” boy, his mother thought it best to let things rest as they stood, yet she often wondered in her own quiet way what Mr Auberly would think of her and of the non-appearance of the “other” boy; and she felt convinced that if he only put things together he must come to understand that Willie and Frank were her sons. But Mrs Willders did not know of the before-mentioned happy facility which her kinsman19 possessed of forgetting poor relations; so, after wondering on for a time, she ceased to wonder or to think about it at all.
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收听单词发音
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1
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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2
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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3
devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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4
risible
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| adj.能笑的；可笑的 | |
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5
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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6
meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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7
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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8
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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9
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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10
indited
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| v.写（文章，信等）创作，赋诗，创作( indite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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12
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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13
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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14
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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15
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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16
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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17
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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18
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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19
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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