CHAPTER XIII. ROBERT RECEIVES A LETTER.

As Palmer looked at the stalwart black-bearded man facing him a terrible fear sent a tremor¹ through his slender frame. Suppose the fellow had come to inflict² punishment upon him? Suppose he had a cowhide somewhere concealed³ about his clothes? He felt ready to sink through the floor.

"I hope," he said tremulously, "you found my letter satisfactory. I—I didn't know Alameda—I mean Mrs. Churchill—was married."

"Oh, that's all right. So you supposed her single?"

"I assure you I do."

"Well, at any rate she got even with you. She told me of the pitcher⁴ of water she threw on you out of the window. How did it feel?"

"Very wet," responded Palmer with a faint smile.

"Good joke!" said Churchill, laughing boisterously⁵. "I wish I had been there."

[Pg 111]

Somehow Palmer did not enjoy having the scene which had been so harrowing to him recalled. Yet this man must be propitiated⁶.

"I was there," he said with a feeble attempt at a joke.

"So you were, so you were. When Alameda told me about it I nearly laughed myself to death."

Palmer began to recover from his alarm. Evidently the injured husband was not disposed to take things seriously, for he seemed in a good humor.

"I hope you don't object to my admiring your wife?" he said.

"No, it does credit to your taste, but I can't have you flirting⁷ with her."

"I assure you my intentions were and are strictly⁸ honorable."

"Oh, Alameda will take care of that. I'll tell you what I came about."

"As long as it isn't about a duel⁹, I don't mind," thought Palmer.

"My wife is to have a benefit next Thursday evening. Tickets are a dollar each. How many will you take?"

"I'll take one."

"Better take two. You can scare up some young lady to take with you."

[Pg 112]

"I don't know many young ladies."

"Don't tell me that. You were not so very bashful with Alameda."

"I—I believe I'll take two."

"All right! Here they are."

"I'm afraid I haven't got two dollars with me," said Palmer embarrassed. In fact, he lived so closely up to his income that he seldom had that amount about him.

Peter Churchill frowned a little.

"I can't leave the tickets without the money," he said.

"I'll lend you the money, Mr. Palmer," said Robert.

"Thank you," said the senior clerk gratefully.

"Won't you take a couple of tickets, young fellow?" asked Churchill.

"No, sir. I will use one of Mr. Palmer's tickets."

The tickets were paid for and transferred to Palmer's vest-pocket. Then Alameda's husband left the office.

"I'm glad he's gone," said Livingston Palmer feebly. "I—I really thought he'd come in to horsewhip me."

"I guess he could do it," said Robert, with a smile.

[Pg 113]

"Isn't he a terrible looking ruffian? To think the divine Alameda should be married to such a man!"

"It's a pity she didn't meet you first. But I say, Mr. Palmer, you'd better give up paying attentions to her. It wouldn't be safe."

"I shall never dare to speak to her again."

"And you won't try to alienate¹⁰ her affections from him."

"No," answered Palmer fervently¹¹. "I—I feel that I have had a narrow escape."

Two weeks passed without any event of importance. Robert had no difficulty in "getting the run" of the business in the office, and it is not too much to say that he became in that short time quite as efficient as Livingston Palmer, though the latter had been in the office for several years. Robert was on the whole satisfied with his position, but it must be confessed that he was looking around for something better.

"I am sure Mr. Marden wouldn't want me to remain here if I could improve myself," he thought. "In fact, I think he would like me the better for striking out for myself."

"It's a terribly dull life—this in a stuffy¹² office," said Livingston Palmer one day. Since his upsetting with the variety singer the senior[Pg 114] clerk had hardly known what to do with himself.

"That's true," answered Robert. "But it's much better than doing nothing."

"That's true."

"When I struck out from home I was at first afraid I would be left stranded¹³."

"Humph! that wouldn't happen to me," said Palmer loftily. "I am certain I could strike something at once, if I tried."

Robert did not agree with his fellow clerk, since he had seen many a poor fellow on the streets begging for work of any kind. But he saw it would be useless to attempt to argue Palmer out of his high opinion of himself.

On the day following there came a long letter for Robert. It was postmarked Timberville, Michigan, and was from Dick Marden.

    "My dear Robert," wrote the miner, "I've been wanting to drop you a few lines for some time, but could not get around to do it. When I arrived here I found my uncle, Felix Amberton, very ill, and I have had to take practically entire charge of his affairs. My uncle is a bachelor like myself, so he hadn't even a wife to depend upon in this emergency.

    [Pg 115]

    "My uncle owns a large lumber¹⁴ interest here, close to the upper end of the State, and several Canadians are trying to force him into a sale of his lands at a low price. They claim to have some hold upon the land.

    "I must say I wish you were up here with me—to help run the lumber office. I have to be out on the lands a greater part of the time, and the office clerk is not to be trusted, since he is a great friend of the Canadians I mentioned. I am in hopes that my uncle will soon recover, to take charge for himself."

Dick Marden's letter interested Robert greatly. The confinement¹⁵ of city life was beginning to tell on the boy, who had heretofore lived more or less in the open at home.

"I'd like to go to Timberville," he said to Palmer, when he showed the communication. "The smell of pine and spruce would do a fellow a world of good."

"It wouldn't suit me," said Palmer, with a decided¹⁶ shake of his head. "Why, you have no amusements in a place like that—no theaters, no concerts, no billiard parlors¹⁷, nothing."

"And yet people get along very well without them," smiled Robert.

[Pg 116]

"They can't have very elevated tastes."

"Perhaps more elevated than you think, Livingston. I've known some lumbermen who were very well educated."

"If I made a change do you know what I would do?" asked Palmer.

"No."

"I would go on the stage," said the senior clerk earnestly.

"What stage? Perhaps the variety stage the adorable Alameda is on, eh?"

"No! no! I am done with that forever. I would go in for tragedy."

"Tragedy doesn't pay, so I've heard said."

"Good, real talent will pay, I feel sure of it."

"And what would you play, Hamlet?"

"I would play all of Shakespeare's plays, but the part of Sparticus the Gladiator would suit me better."

"Did you ever act?"

"Twice—at the Twice-a-week Club. We gave Julius C?sar, and I was C?sar. The performance was a great success from an artistic¹⁸ standpoint."

"How about it financially?"

"Well, to tell the truth, we ran about thirty-three dollars behind."

[Pg 117]

"Which proves what I said, that tragedy doesn't pay," said Robert, with a short laugh.

"My support was very poor, and, besides, our performance was not advertised widely enough."

"I presume the newspapers gave you some favorable notices."

"No, they did nothing of the sort. We had not given them much advertising¹⁹ and so they ignored us. You know they won't do a thing without being paid for it."

"I didn't know it. I thought they gave the news. Why, sometimes they condemn²⁰ a play even while they advertise it."

"Never mind, they ought to have praised our play, but they didn't." And here Palmer walked away and the subject was dropped.

1 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

2 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

3 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

4 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

5 boisterously   

adv.喧闹地，吵闹地

参考例句：

• They burst boisterously into the room. 他们吵吵嚷嚷地闯入房间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Drums and gongs were beating boisterously. 锣鼓敲打得很热闹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 propitiated   

v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

7 flirting   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't take her too seriously; she's only flirting with you. 别把她太当真，她只不过是在和你调情罢了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• 'she's always flirting with that new fellow Tseng!" “她还同新来厂里那个姓曾的吊膀子！ 来自子夜部分

8 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

9 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

10 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

11 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

13 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

14 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

15 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 parlors   

客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店

参考例句：

• It had been a firm specializing in funeral parlors and parking lots. 它曾经是一个专门经营殡仪馆和停车场的公司。
• I walked, my eyes focused into the endless succession of barbershops, beauty parlors, confectioneries. 我走着，眼睛注视着那看不到头的、鳞次栉比的理发店、美容院、糖果店。

18 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

19 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

20 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。