The city was a bustling3 new place with prosperity and activity in its very air. There were great railway-shops, factories of several kinds, and various other enterprises. It was a typical Western “boom” town. Its buildings were modern, its streets regular and well-paved. Men and women, as they drove through the streets in their carriages, thought nothing of it if a mounted horde4 of yelling cow-boys galloped5 past with their revolvers playfully flourished, nor saw anything unusual in the gangs of blanket-draped Indians who hung about the bar-rooms, dance-halls, or gambling-houses. The new-comers liked the place; Dick believed they would eventually secure work, and Fred had the first sense of security which had come to him since leaving Stafford. Here, under his new name, in this remote place, he was sure he would meet with no familiar face, nor catch any discordant7 echoes of the life he had left behind him, and which he was trying to banish8 from his memory.
There was in the town a certain Stephen Whipple, a man about sixty-five years of age, who had come from one of the Southern States shortly after the Civil War. He had established himself, first, as a small grocer, but, having acquired considerable wealth, he was now the owner of the only wholesale9 grocery store in the place, an establishment which was known for miles around.
He was an earnest member of the Presbyterian church of the town, and its chief pride, owing to his influence in the community. It had been his money which had built the church to which he belonged, and it was said that he practically paid the salary of its eloquent10 young preacher.
In his great red-brick, four-story business-house on the main street Stephen Whipple had his private office. It was in the rear of the counting-room and was of unusual size, and by many deemed a curious place. Indeed, it was put to strange, unbusiness-like uses, for it was here that the owner of the establishment personally received all sorts of applications for aid. There were half a dozen plain chairs in the bare, uncarpeted room, and the Rev6. Luke Matthews, who had the entrée to the office at any moment, often found a motley gathering11 of supplicants on hand, each patiently awaiting his turn to be beckoned12 to the seat close to the portly, shaggy-browed merchant. There were individuals who called the old man a deep-dyed hypocrite, for they held that no really self-sacrificing toiler13 in the Lord’s vineyard could have amassed14 the great wealth old Whipple was known to possess. But this was disputed by all the men in his employment, at least, for they were ready to attest15 that Whipple had often held over important business matters till the case of some suffering applicant16 could be investigated and relief supplied. There were other uses to which this room was put. Old Whipple, in order to render his pet church more attractive to the public, selected and paid out of his own pocket the salaries of the best choir17 in town. He was no expert musician, but he had them meet in his office and practise on every Saturday afternoon, and he was always present, seeing to it that refreshments18 were served and the singers made comfortable.
It was one morning when Dick Warren and Fred Walton had been in the town for a month, and had reached the lowest ebb19 of their resources, that the minister dropped in to see the merchant. The Rev. Luke Matthews was of unusual height, measuring six feet four, very slender in build, and of markedly nervous temperament20. He was under thirty, unmarried, wore his black hair long enough to touch his shoulders, and had the thin-lipped, unbearded face of an Edwin Booth. It was said of him that he couldn’t keep a coin in his pocket—that it was promptly given to the first beggar he met.
“Well, brother, how are your bones?” was the halfjesting greeting he gave the old man, as he bustled21 in, buttoning and unbuttoning his long black coat and swinging his broad-brimmed hat at his side. “Not holding court this morning?” He laughed as he looked over the empty chairs.
“No; I sent the last prisoner up for life an hour ago,” the merchant responded, jovially22. “Set down, set down!”
The long-legged man with the poetic23 face complied. “Well,” he said, “you’ll have to be a judge in that sort of tribunal so long as you inhabit this globe.” He smiled, showing two fine rows of white teeth. “It looks like the Lord is pushing you on to unlimited24 prosperity, and your work for humanity will increase instead of letting up. Say, brother, I know the sort of thing you glory in, and I’ve had an experience—the sort of experience that makes a fellow feel like preaching is worth while. It was exactly the kind of thing you are interested in yourself.”
“What have you run across now?” Whipple asked, as he leaned his elbow on his desk and rested his florid face on his hand.
“The genuine thing, brother—a genuine reformation in a young chap hardly out of his teens. He’s been coming to my special meetings for young men, and, as I’m a close observer, I was attracted by his face. It interested me more than that of any boy’s I ever saw. Finally, I ventured to approach him. I never scare them off if I can help it, but I singled him out from the rest last Thursday evening and spoke25 to him. I saw that he was greatly moved, and I invited him into my study, and we had a good long heart-to-heart talk. Brother Whipple, I never felt the glory of God bearing down on me in my life as I did while that boy was talking—while he was telling me his past history. Crying like his heart would break, he confessed to having been almost everything a boy could be—a thief, a tramp, and an all-round, good-for-nothing idler, from his childhood up to his sudden awakening26 to what was right.”
“Good, good!” Stephen Whipple ejaculated, his features working, his kind old eyes twinkling.
“But now comes the climax27 to my experience,” the minister went on. “You and I meet a converted person now and then, but we don’t often run across individuals in private life who are leading lives which convert. The boy went on to tell me, brother, how he was rescued from arrest by a young man who was a tramp like himself. They began searching for work side by side. The boy told me how his new friend—without ever saying a word that was preachy—gradually won him from his ingrained tendencies and taught him the difference between right and wrong. He gave me scores of touching28 and inspiring incidents that had happened between them during their wanderings here and there, trying to get work. Somehow I became even more deeply interested in the fellow I hadn’t met than the one I had in tow, and so I asked the boy if he would introduce me to his friend. He hesitated for a while, and then finally agreed to take me to the room they had together. It was away over beyond the railroads, in the slums of our ‘tenderloin’ district. It seemed to be the only room whose price they could afford, and they were unwilling29 to contract for what they could not pay. It was an awful place, brother, up a narrow flight of shaky stairs, in the attic30 of a negro shoemaker’s house, in the worst part of ‘Dive-town.’ The man, this Fred Spencer, when we came in, was seated at the little dingy31 window reading a newspaper. He seemed very much surprised, and flushed red as he stood up and shook hands. He was fine-looking—strong and tall, well-clad and neat from his feet to his carefully combed hair, but his great big sad eyes haunted me long after I left him, and when he spoke his voice seemed to come from a proud spirit that was crushed and broken. He began by saying that his friend had spoken to him of my meetings, and that he was exceedingly grateful for my interest and courtesy in calling. He tried to apologize for the appearance of the room, and insisted on my taking the only chair while he and his room-mate sat on the bed, which, by the way, was unfit for a convict to sleep on. They used it together, and yet it was barely wide enough for one. The straw in the mattress32 was crumbling33 to powder and falling to the floor.”
“Poor chaps,” the merchant sighed, “and they have evidently seen better days.”
“Spencer, the older one, has decidedly,” the minister answered. “He is evidently Southern, for he has the soft accent of Virginia, I should say, and the manner of the old aristocracy. I told him that I had heard of his good influence over the boy, and he got redder than ever, and tried to make light of what he had done, endeavored, in fact, to convince me that the boy had only spoken as he had out of personal friendship. Finally I offered my assistance toward finding employment for them both, and Spencer showed real embarrassment—as if he did not want to put me to any trouble in the matter.”
“He’s tried to find work here, then?” Stephen Whipple mused34, aloud.
“Yes, and been turned down on all sides. He has tried till he has lost hope. He likes Gate City, but is afraid they will be driven to the road again.”
“And to think that a fellow like that can’t find work,” Whipple cried, indignantly, “when the world is full of grafters and panhandlers! Brother Matthews, I am interested in those fellows, especially the oldest one. My list is full, as you know, but I can manage to find places for the right sort. Couldn’t you send him to me right away? I’ll be here to-night after closing time. There won’t be anybody else about, and me and him can talk undisturbed. I’d like to help a chap like that. You have got me interested. The world is too full of bad men who are prospering35 for his sort to go unrewarded.”
“Well, I’ll send him, Brother Whipple. God bless you, old man, you can always be counted on!”
That evening the merchant sat in the light of his green-shaded gas-lamp at his desk waiting for the expected caller. The outer door of the great building, which opened on the main street, was ajar, and was plainly visible to the merchant from his seat. Now, as he heard his visitor coming, he rose to his feet, pushed his desk-chair back with his ponderous36 calves37, and stood smiling cordially. As the young man entered, politely removing his hat, Whipple grasped Walton’s hand and shook it warmly.
“I’m powerfully glad to know you, Mr. Spencer,” he said, “I am, indeed. I’m told you are a newcomer to our brag38 town, and as I’m one of the pioneers, so to speak, I take a personal pride in the place, and I want to see everybody that drifts this way anchored here for life. It certainly is the town for fresh young blood. Even old men can make money here, and I. know the young can. Set down, set down! I’m glad you ran across my long-legged jumping-jack of a preacher. He is a wheel-horse, I am here to state. If all the churches in the world were led by men of his stamp, infidelity would die of the dry rot or burn up with shame.
“I built Matthews’ meeting-house, and if I hadn’t found a man like him to fill the pulpit I’d have turned the blamed thing into a warehouse39 to store groceries in. But I found him, and he’s doing mighty40 well—mighty well! He isn’t any of your ranting41 trance religionists; he’s practical, and, in one way, the funniest cuss you ever laid eyes on. Me and him have big times in our way. He looks after the souls of men while I sometimes help a little in patching up their bodies. He tells me that you and a friend of yours haven’t made any business connection yet. My house is pretty well supplied, but this is our best season of the year, and a good man always comes in handy. You look like you’ve got a good head on them broad shoulders, and I want to give you a start, so if you will show up here in the morning with your friend, I’ll put you to work in the office and stow him away somewhere.”
“You are very, very kind, Mr. Whipple,” Fred said, a gratified flush on his face; “but you have had no recommendation of me, and—”
“I don’t want none,” the merchant said, firmly. “You see, I’ve already heard about you. Long before me and you met you had cast your bread on the water, and it has already come back. I’ve heard about you. Anybody these days can bring a scrap42 of paper with indorsements scribbled43 on it, but the best recommendation is the sort that crawls along ahead of a fellow. Yes, I’ve heard about you, and, to be plain, that’s why I sent for you. Even if I didn’t have no opening right now, it would pay me to rub against men that—well, that believe like you do and act like you have acted.”
“I suppose you mean”—Walton was quite embarrassed now—“I suppose Mr. Matthews has been speaking of what my friend told him of our ups-and-downs together; but really I couldn’t let that sort of thing stand as an indorsement of me, Mr. Whipple. Dick is young and enthusiastic. It seems that he has never had a close friend before, and he naturally exaggerates my—”
“Say, look here,” the merchant broke in, with a smile, “you really don’t know how funny that sounds. In this day and time, when a man in my position has to set and listen to folks spout44 for the hour about how good and worthy45 they are, why—well, to see a chap actually denying the favorable things which have been said behind his back is a downright curiosity. Why, the very fact that you are talking this way shows plain enough what you are. Along with what I’ve picked up about you and the—the general look of you, now that you are at close range—why, if you was to lay down a whole batch46 of written recommendations I’d chuck ‘em in that stove. I’m a judge of human faces and of men, and I know you mean well, and that is all I ask.”
“It is very good of you, Mr. Whipple,” Walton said, his glance on the floor. “I feel like we could get on together. I know I’d do my best to please you.”
“Well, then, there is nothing more to be said,” old Whipple answered. “Bring that boy in to-morrow morning, and we’ll make some sort o’ a start.”
Fred sat silent. He took a deep breath and raised his eyes to the genial47 face in the green light. “I must be frank and open with a man as generous as you are, Mr. Whipple. If I am to work here we ought to understand each other thoroughly48. There are some things which you must know about me, or I cannot consent to enter your employment, for it would be deceiving you.”
“Oh, that’s it!” Whipple said, awkwardly. “Still, you mustn’t feel that I am requiring any explanations of—of a private nature, for I am not.”
“You ought to know more than you do know about me, at all events,” Walton went on. “I’d feel better if nothing at all was hidden from your knowledge. I haven’t lived right, Mr. Whipple. I went wrong—frightfully wrong. I got in debt—it is worse than that. I misappropriated a considerable sum of money belonging to my father. He is a stern, hard man, and demanded as much of me as he would have done of a stranger. I left home to escape arrest. You may think I ought to have submitted to the law. I simply couldn’t, for I felt that my father, when his passion cooled, would regret his step, and, moreover, I felt that, with my freedom, I could apply myself and eventually restore the loss.”
“Merciful Father!” Whipple exclaimed, fervently49. “Lord have mercy! To think of a man blessed with a son holding the law over his repentant50 head and chasing him from spot to spot over God’s green earth! The child he brought into the world and saw cooing in the cradle, a little, tiny sprout51 of his own flesh and blood, made in the image of the Lord God of Hosts! My boy,” the old man leaned forward, “shake hands with me. I’ve often wanted to help young men in my stormy life, but, God knows, I never felt the desire as strong as I do now. Just in this little talk I’ve been drawn52 more closely to you than I ever was to a human being before. You are the right sort, the genuine thing; if I was to turn you adrift, I’d never get over it. I had a boy once, and I doted on him. He died when he was a little toddling53 fellow, and since then I have never been consoled. But his loss, and the memory of him, has warmed my heart to young men wherever I meet them. You must come to me, my boy. I feel sure we’ll pull together. In fact, I’d want you at hand, for I’d grieve to see you falter54 in your noble undertaking55. God will bless your effort as sure as the stars are shining up there in the heavens to-night.”
“I haven’t told you quite all yet,” Walton added, in a low tone. “To protect myself, I took another name. My real name is—”
“Stop! Don’t tell me. That won’t make one bit of difference to me,” Whipple answered, with a sigh, as if he were thinking more of the young man’s former revelations than the one just made. “No doubt it is best. You say you have determined56 to make good the loss, and if bearing another name will help you out, then it can’t be wrong. Go ahead, I’ll be your friend; I’ll stick to you. I’m glad we came together to-night. It makes me feel better. I’ve seen many sorts of human struggles, but I never saw one that touched me down deep like yours does. Wait, let me lock up, and I’ll walk along a piece with you.”
Outside, after he had closed the heavy door, the merchant put his hand on the arm of his companion, and they moved on down the street together. Suddenly they paused. Whipple swept his fat hand in a slow gesture toward the skies.
“My boy,” he said, fervently, “this is a wonderful, wonderful old world. Life seems hard and harsh at times, but when the soul is right a man can conquer anything. I have my fight to make; you have yours—stick to it, and may the Lord be with you! Goodnight.”. .
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
earnings
|
|
| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
bustling
|
|
| adj.喧闹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
horde
|
|
| n.群众，一大群 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
galloped
|
|
| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
rev
|
|
| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
discordant
|
|
| adj.不调和的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
banish
|
|
| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
wholesale
|
|
| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
eloquent
|
|
| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
beckoned
|
|
| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
toiler
|
|
| 辛劳者，勤劳者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
amassed
|
|
| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
attest
|
|
| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
applicant
|
|
| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
choir
|
|
| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
refreshments
|
|
| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
ebb
|
|
| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
temperament
|
|
| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
bustled
|
|
| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
jovially
|
|
| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
unlimited
|
|
| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
awakening
|
|
| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
climax
|
|
| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
unwilling
|
|
| adj.不情愿的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
attic
|
|
| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
dingy
|
|
| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
mattress
|
|
| n.床垫，床褥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
crumbling
|
|
| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
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： |
|
|
|
|
35
prospering
|
|
| 成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
ponderous
|
|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
calves
|
|
| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
brag
|
|
| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
warehouse
|
|
| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ranting
|
|
| v.夸夸其谈( rant的现在分词 )；大叫大嚷地以…说教；气愤地)大叫大嚷；不停地大声抱怨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
scrap
|
|
| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
scribbled
|
|
| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
spout
|
|
| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
batch
|
|
| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
thoroughly
|
|
| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
fervently
|
|
| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
repentant
|
|
| adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
sprout
|
|
| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
toddling
|
|
| v.（幼儿等）东倒西歪地走( toddle的现在分词 )；蹒跚行走；溜达；散步 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
falter
|
|
| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |