CHAPTER XXII MICKEY OWNS UP

 Brother told Mickey the tar¹ incident in a few words.

 

"And you can't make her believe Betty and I didn't put it on her porch," he concluded. "She's just 'termined we did it."

 

"And she sent the policeman to your house and all," mused² Mickey. "Gee³!"

 

His face was rather red and he looked at Brother and Sister queerly. He opened his mouth as though to say something, then apparently⁴ changed his mind.

 

"Well, we have to go home," declared Brother. "You'll go see Miss Putnam, won't you, Mickey?"

 

"I suppose so," muttered Mickey. "So long!"

 

"Maybe he doesn't like it," said Sister as they went on toward their house.

 

"Oh, yes he does," replied Brother confidently. "He'll go, you see if he doesn't."

 

Mickey Gaffney did go see Miss Putnam, and something about him made the old lady like him right away. She engaged him to do errands for her an hour in the morning, and again in the afternoon, and she paid him fifteen cents an hour. If he weeded in the garden that was to be extra.

 

"Will you have enough for your shoes?" asked Sister anxiously one morning, when Mickey came to do some weeding in the garden for Jimmie.

 

"My, yes, and I guess I can buy my little sister a pair," said Mickey proudly.

 

"Have you a little sister?" demanded Brother and Sister together. "How old is she?"

 

"Five," answered Mickey, getting down on his hands and knees and going at the weeds in a business-like way. "She'll be five next month."

 

"Isn't that nice!" commented Sister. "I'm five years old, too."

 

Mickey avoided her eyes and was apparently too busy to talk much to them, so by and by Brother and Sister ran off and left him to his weeding.

 

If they had stayed, they might have seen Mickey throw down his weeding-fork suddenly and march out of the garden.

 

"Don't believe that boy is going to stick to his work," said Molly to Mother Morrison. "He's gone already."

 

But Mickey was hurrying along toward Miss Putnam's house and did not care very much what anyone thought of him. He didn't think kindly⁵ of himself at that moment.

 

"Why, Mickey!" Miss Putnam looked up at him in amazement⁶ as he came around to the back porch where she was sweeping⁷ a rug. "What's the matter, child, don't you feel well?"

 

"I feel all right," he said briefly⁸. "Say, Miss Putnam, you know that tar that was on your porch? I threw it!"

 

"You—you what?" gasped⁹ Miss Putnam. "You threw that hot tar all over my clean porch and walk? Why, Mickey!"

 

"Yes'm," muttered Mickey miserably¹⁰.

 

"But why?" insisted Miss Putnam. "And Mrs. Graham told me that the Morrison boy and girl did it."

 

"Guess she thought she saw 'em—it was most dark," said Mickey. "But it wasn't Roddy and Betty. I did it, and Nina, my little sister, helped me."

 

"But why?" persisted Miss Putnam. "I never should have thought it of you, Mickey, never."

 

Strange as it may seem, Miss Putnam really liked Mickey. He was so willing and so cheerful and so quick that the old lady who had had to do all the work of her small home so long that she had forgotten how it felt to have younger hands helping¹¹ her, began to look forward to Mickey's coming every day.

 

And Mickey liked Miss Putnam. He found she was very fair about time and reasonable about the amount of work she expected him to accomplish. The fact that he was barefooted did not seem to bother her and she treated him exactly as though his clothes were whole instead of torn and poorly patched.

 

Now when she asked him why he had thrown the tar, it was hard for him to tell the truth. But he did. When Mickey once made up his mind to do a thing, he always went through with it.

 

"It was 'count of the barbwire," Mickey explained in a low voice. "I didn't know you put it up, and I climbed the fence one night, to scare you through the window, and I thought you'd run out and chase me. And I tore my coat on the wire and scratched my face. So after that I was always looking for a chance to get even."

 

"When I saw the tar, I came back after supper and made Nina carry it for me while I slung¹² it—we had a tin bucket. I'm awful sorry, Miss Putnam; honest I am!"

 

"But—did you let me send a policeman to the Morrison's house?" asked Miss Putnam uncertainly.

 

"I never knew about that till just before I came here to work," said Mickey earnestly. "And ever since I've felt mean as dirt, not telling. Nina is just as old as Betty. It wasn't her fault—Nina's, I mean; she does whatever I tell her to."

 

"Well, I'll go call on Mrs. Morrison this afternoon," said Miss Putnam briskly. "And then I'll take down that wire. I don't need it now anyway, for the children don't bother me since you're here. I guess they're afraid you'd catch them if you should chase them," she smiled grimly.

 

"And I can go right on working?" suggested Mickey anxiously.

 

"Of course, child. Why not?" said Miss Putnam.

 

That settled Mickey's last worry. With a hurried "thank you," he dashed away, out through the yard and up the street. He wanted to find Brother and Sister and tell them what he had done.

 

"My goodness, I think you're ever so brave," said Sister when she had heard his story. "I'd be scared to death to tell Miss Putnam like that."

 

"Pooh, she's all right," answered Mickey. "I like her. And now I have a lot of time to make up—most half an hour."

 

"School begins two weeks from today," announced Brother, watching Mickey tackle an onion row. "You're sure you're going, Mickey?"

 

"Of course," said Mickey proudly. "I'll stop for you the first morning just to prove it."

 

"And we'll go every day and never be late once, will we?" chimed in Sister.

 

But whether they were able to keep this good resolution or not remains¹³ to be seen. If you are interested to know you will have to read the next book about them, called "BROTHER AND SISTER'S SCHOOL DAYS."

 

1 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

2 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。