CHAPTER XXXVI. THE HERMIT SECURES A HOUSE.

A short distance from the house occupied by Squire¹ Collins was one which had been for six months vacant. It had been erected² as a summer residence by a New York gentleman, and occupied by him for several seasons. It was the finest house in the village, and it seemed a pity it should remain untenanted.

Mr. Beech⁴, the builder, now spent his summers at various watering-places, and had apparently⁵ tired of Pocasset. It was understood that the house was left in the hands of Mr. Thompson, who was authorized⁶ to let it to a responsible tenant³.

Old Anthony the next morning made it in his way to call at the office of Mr. Thompson. The latter received him with his usual courtesy.

"I hear that you are boarding with Mrs. Manning, Mr. Taylor," he said.

"Yes."

"I think you must find it much more agreeable than your life in the woods."

"I do; I am getting over my misanthropy, and am taking more cheerful views of life."

"That is good. My son Frank is an intimate friend of Mark, and thinks a great deal of him and his mother."

"So do I," responded the hermit⁷. "Mark is a straightforward⁸ boy, and will succeed life."

"I hope so. I wish I had anything for him to do—Frank would be glad. Perhaps in time I may find him a place."

"I think I shall be able to provide employment for Mark myself," said the hermit, quietly.

Mr. Thompson regarded him with surprise. Like the rest of the villagers, he had been in the habit of regarding old Anthony as a man of limited means.

"By-the-way, Mr. Thompson, I called this morning on a little matter of business," continued the hermit. "I believe you have the rental⁹ of the Beach house."

"Yes," answered Mr. Thompson, somewhat surprised.

"I am acquainted with a family who are on the lookout¹⁰ for a house in Groveton. This, I think, would suit them, if the rent is not too high."

"It is, you know, a fine house. Would your friends like to have it furnished?"

"I think so."

"In that case, the rent will be four hundred dollars a year, or a hundred dollars a quarter. In the city, or at Long Branch, as you probably are aware, four times as much would be required."

"I think that will be satisfactory. Can immediate¹¹ possession be given?"

"Yes; I will at once set the cleaners to work, and have it got ready by the end of the week. One question I am obliged to ask. Is the party for whom you are acting¹², responsible, in a pecuniary¹³ way?"

"The first quarter's rent will be paid in advance."

"Pretty satisfactory. May I ask the name of the tenant?"

"There are reasons for keeping it secret for a few days."

"Oh, well, that is not material."

Old Anthony never said a word about what he had done, for, as my readers will conjecture¹⁴, he meant to have Mark and his mother occupy the house. It did, however, get noised about, that Mr. Beach's house was taken. Squire Collins among others, was curious to ascertain¹⁵ something about the new tenants¹⁶, and made a call on Mr. Thompson, with the special object of finding out.

"I am no wiser than you, Squire Collins," said Mr. Thompson. "Of course we shall all know in a few days."

"By whom was the matter negotiated?"

"There again I am bound to secrecy¹⁷, but all will be known."

"Of course the party must have ample means, and I look forward to having a pleasant neighbor—there are very few in the village with whom we can associate, on an equality, and so any good family is an acquisition."

"You are more fastidious than I, Squire Collins," said Mr. Thompson smiling. "I don't value men according to the size of their pocket-books."

"You must admit, however, that refinement¹⁸ and wealth are likely to go together. You are not too democratic for that?"

"I am not sure. I have known many rich people who were very far from being refined. By-the-way, I hear that you have bought the house occupied by Mrs. Manning."

"Yes."

"Shall you allow her to remain there?"

"No; I mean to enlarge it, and let my foreman occupy it."

"That will be a disappointment to Mrs. Manning."

"Oh, I suppose so," said the squire, carelessly; "but that is her lookout, not mine."

"I really don't know of any house in the village she can obtain."

Squire Collins shrugged¹⁹ his shoulders.

"I really haven't troubled my mind about the matter," he said.

"If I had time, I don't know but I would build them a small cottage on the vacant lot I have on Glen Street."

"Take my advice, and don't; the widow is in very precarious²⁰ circumstances. Her son, Mark, is out of employment."

"Can't you find him something to do, in your shop?"

"I could, but do not feel disposed to. He is a very independent boy, and more than once, he treated my son, James, in a disrespectful way. No; he must shift for himself some other way."

"Of the two boys, I certainly very much prefer Mark," thought Mr. Thompson; but politeness prevented his saying so.

Squire Collins soon took his leave, having failed to acquire the information he sought.

1 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

2 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

3 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

4 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

5 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。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 hermit   

n.隐士，修道者；隐居

参考例句：

• He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
• Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

8 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

9 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

10 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 pecuniary   

adj.金钱的；金钱上的

参考例句：

• She denies obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.她否认通过欺骗手段获得经济利益。
• She is so independent that she refused all pecuniary aid.她很独立，所以拒绝一切金钱上的资助。

14 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

15 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

16 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

17 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

18 refinement   

n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼

参考例句：

• Sally is a woman of great refinement and beauty. 莎莉是个温文尔雅又很漂亮的女士。
• Good manners and correct speech are marks of refinement.彬彬有礼和谈吐得体是文雅的标志。

19 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。