By the time Jack had learned this much, he threw himself upon the canvas cot, careless of what else there might be to observe, and sobbed26 violently. This, then, was the end of the boy who had been so good for a month, who was going to join the church and be useful in persuading other boys out of bad courses, and be a missionary27, perhaps, and a minister at the very least! Everybody now would think him a hypocrite; he would probably be sent to the penitentiary28 for a year or two, for now that the proper occasion for recalling the fact had passed, he remembered to have heard that disturbing religious assemblages was a great crime in the eyes of the law. Perhaps they would send him to the reform school, which would be a thousand times worse than the penitentiary, for the word "reform" suggested as dreadful possibilities to Jack as it ever did to a self-made politician. When he came out again what would happen to him? He had never seen any persons but loafers pay any attention to discharged prisoners who made Doveton their abiding29 place. Nobody would let their boys play with him then—if, indeed, by that time he had enough youth and spirits left to want to play; he would have to sit on the back seats in church among the sad-eyed, uninteresting reprobates30 who now sat there, instead of among the neatly31 dressed boys who sat under the eyes of their parents and the preacher.
Then Jack thought of the hereafter, in the literal, material manner, which was the natural result of the religious teachings he had received. If angels knew everything and went wherever they pleased, and if his deceased brothers and sisters became angels just after they died—they had been angelic while they lived—how must they feel to see their well-born, carefully taught brother in so dreadful a place as a common prison? As Jack thought of it he wished the prison bed had a cover under which he could hide; but as it had not, he squeezed his face and flattened33 his nose upon the rough, dirty canvas. The thought of his parents recalled the wish, frequently felt by Jack, that somebody would understand him, know how earnestly he longed to be good—some one to whom he could tell some of the splendid thoughts he sometimes had—thoughts which would simply astonish his parents out of their senses, if he could feel free to tell them. Why didn't people give him credit for what was in him, instead of eternally finding fault with him for what came out of him? Was he a jug34 that he should be judged in such a manner? Looking the matter squarely in the face, however, how was any one to know what was inside of him except by what proceeded from him?
This train of reasoning was promptly35 dismissed as unpleasant in the extreme, and Jack began to search his pockets for something that might assist him in consuming time more endurably, when some one at the grating in the door startled him by exclaiming:
"Well, young man!"
Jack recognized the voice of his father, and his heart went down, down, down, apparently36 through the floor, and all the way into the depths of the middle of the western half of the Pacific Ocean, which, by careful investigation37, Jack had determined38 was the geographical39 antipode of Doveton. Then the door opened, and Jack's father entered, and, oh, horror of horrors! he brought with him Mr. Daybright, the minister. Jack sat upon the side of the cot and nervelessly dropped his face into his hands and his elbows upon his knees.
"Well, young man," resumed the doctor, "what have you got to say for yourself?"
Jack preserved utter silence, but determined that he never before heard so exasperating40 a question.
"My poor boy," said Mr. Daybright, sitting down beside Jack and putting his arm around him, "Satan has indeed been making a mighty fight to secure your immortal41 part."
"I think so too," sobbed Jack, glad of a chance to lay the blame of his mischievousness42 upon somebody else, and determining that if he ever did become a minister, he would make things lively for Matt Bolton's father, who denied the existence of a personal devil.
"So think I," remarked the doctor, "and a very successful job Satan has made of it. I wish he would give me a few lessons in the art of getting hold of boys."
The minister thought to himself that it was not necessary for the doctor to go so far for information when he could have obtained it from present company, but as the doctor paid a large pew rent in Mr. Daybright's church, that divine thought it inadvisable to offend a person upon whom a portion of his own salary depended. But he could safely say what he chose to Jack, so he said:
"Rouse yourself, my dear young friend; you still live and move and have your being, and
'While the lamp holds out to burn
The vilest43 sinner may return,'
you know. Why not, in this unsavory place, eschew45 finally and forever all bad associations?"
"I will—oh, I will!" cried Jack.
"I've heard something of the sort before," remarked the doctor. "I've heard it from this young scamp himself, and, Mr. Daybright, you and I have often heard it from men who thought they were upon their death-beds."
"Blessed be death-beds, then," fervently46 exclaimed the minister. "Jack, why don't you determine to say, hereafter and always, 'Get thee behind me, Satan!' when wrong impulses make themselves known in your mind?"
"I have done it," said Jack, recalling his experience with the pin in the German Methodist meeting, "but it don't take him long to get around in front of me again."
The doctor hid an unseemly giggle47 in his handkerchief, and the minister himself was temporarily silenced; then the doctor managed to straighten out his voice, as he said:
"Listen to me, my boy. I can take you out of this vile44 hole, but only by subscribing48 a hundred dollars to the debt of the German Methodist church, repairing their broken window, giving them a new Bible, changing my custom from the market to Shantz the butcher, who doesn't sell the best of meat but does charge the highest prices, asking Bolton to raise the salary of old Nokkerman, reducing the amount of my bill to Petrus von Schlenker"—
"I didn't do anything to any of these people," interrupted Jack.
"Whether you did or not," said the doctor, "doesn't affect the case. You did something, whatever it was, to disturb that meeting; those men were all there, they are all among the complainants, and must be satisfied in order to persuade them to withdraw their complaint."
"Didn't—didn't Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel want anything?" asked Jack falteringly49.
"Oh!" exclaimed the doctor, "it was you who made him sit upon that crooked50 pin, was it? How did you do it?"
Jack, finding himself trapped by his own words, meekly51 explained the operation which led to Nuderkopf's spasmodic loquacity52, both visitors holding their mouths as he did so. Then the doctor resumed the disturbed line of the conversation by asking:
"What do you propose to do?"
"Oh!" said Jack, raising his head, "I'll be a minister, and preach to bad boys all my life, if you will only get me out of here, and send me off to some seminary where nobody knows me."
"Umph!" grunted53 the doctor. "And what sort of a living do you suppose you'll earn in that business?"
"'Quench54 not the Spirit,'" quoted the minister, and the doctor inwardly acknowledged the justice of the rebuke55, though he hypocritically remarked that he had spoken thus only to test Jack's sincerity56.
"Will you let other boys alone—keep away from them entirely57?" asked the doctor.
This was severer than Jack had anticipated, even when in the depths of contrition58 and apprehension59, so he dropped his head again, and realized anew what a dreadful thing sin was when one came to look it fairly in the face.
"Do you hear me?" asked the doctor.
"All but Matt, father," said Jack. "He never does anything wrong, unless I put him up to it, and I'll promise never to tell him any good thing again, if you'll let me go with him."
"Good thing!" ejaculated the doctor. "What sort of repentance60 do you call that, dominie, when outrageous61 capers62 are characterized as good things?"
The minister shook his head gravely, and answered:
"My dear young friend, you must realize that what you call good things are really bad things. Until you fully32 understand this, there is nothing to prevent your getting into just such trouble again."
"Then I'll call everything bad," said Jack; "blackberrying, fishing, answers to hard sums,——"
"Gently, boy," said the minister. "None of these things do harm to any one."
"I supposed they did," cried Jack, "for I like them all, and it seems as if whatever I like is bad."
"Not at all," said the minister, while the doctor hastily drew forth63 his notebook and made the following note for the great work on heredity: "When a person is suffering, he is liable to believe that things have always been as they are at that particular moment; hence the unhealthy poems, novels and dramas which certain disordered minds spring upon the public." Then the doctor replaced his notebook, contemplated the weeping boy for a moment or two, sat down beside him, put his arms around him, and exclaimed:
"My darling boy, I love you better than I love my life." The doctor lied terribly, as most busy people do who affirm strong, unselfish sentiments, but Jack was not in a condition just then to question the character of any one who cared to befriend him, so he hid his face in his father's breast and cried as if he could not stop. He even threw his own arms about the doctor with a mighty grip, considering how young the boy was.
"Think of your mother, too," pleaded the doctor. "She has suffered more for you than you ever can for yourself, and she is dreadfully feeble and nervous; do try to lighten the load which at best must be very heavy to her."
"I will," said Jack; "indeed I will. I'll darn all my own stockings."
"And," said the minister, who wished all things done decently and in order as established by Providence64, "pray daily for grace to overcome every sin."
"I always do," said Jack, "but it don't always work."
"It never will," said the minster, "if you don't act as if your prayer was in earnest. No amount of praying will keep you out of a mud-puddle if you persist in wanting to go into it."
"Well, come along," remarked the doctor, who had consulted his watch, and remembered a patient who expected a call just then. The door opened, and the trio stepped into the hall; just then there came along a zephyr65 which had passed a kitchen where onions were being boiled, but for all that, Jack thought it the most delicious breeze that ever blew. The constable, who stood outside the door gave Jack a most discomposing scowl66 which was not entirely disconnected with remembrances of water melons; but Jack, instead of repaying the scowl in kind, which he could have done with entire success from his own incomparable collection of faces, inwardly determined that at some appropriate time he would privately67 apologize to the official and repay his water melon in kind. As his father and the minister turned toward the main street, Jack exhibited strong manifestations68 of reluctance69, so both gentlemen concluded it would be only merciful to lead the boy homeward through less frequented streets. But it seemed to Jack as if the whole town had known of his impending70 release, and were lying in wait to look at him. Shantz the butcher drove by and glared at him; old Nokkerman, en route for supper, looked upon him reproachfully; Nuderkopf Trinkelspiel, who was mixing mortar71 in front of a new building, contemplated him with the stony72 stare which is not peculiar73 to cockneys only, and Matt himself went by without bestowing74 even a friendly wink75 upon him.
Worst of all, as the trio passed Billy Barker's house, the nice little sister of Billy happened to step outside the door. Jack dropped his eyes ever so far, but he could not resist looking out of their extreme corners to see what she might think of him. The face which he saw contained considerable wonder, but it also expressed a sorrow which was unmixed with reprobation76, and by the time that Jack reached home he was brimful of a feeling to which he had hitherto been an utter stranger. It was not love, as that sentiment is conventionally defined, for it was entirely devoid77 of passion and selfishness, but it is not surprising that Jack, having never heard love talked of but in one way—to wit, a strong regard for one person by another person of the opposite sex—should go home with the firm conviction that he was oceans deep in love with nice little Mattie Barker. To get a kind look from a person of whom you have never heard anything bad, a person who never scolded you, nor meddled78 with any of your affairs, and in whose face you can see no evidence of guile79, will doubtless cause you, adult reader, to contemplate such person with earnest regard, and if you are a man and the person alluded80 to is of the other sex, you will hardly be able, even in the light of your past experience among humanity, to imagine any reason why she may not be an angel in human form.
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1
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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3
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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7
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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8
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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9
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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10
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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11
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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idiocy
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| n.愚蠢 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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14
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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15
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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17
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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18
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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19
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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20
counterfeit
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| vt.伪造，仿造；adj.伪造的，假冒的 | |
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21
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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22
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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23
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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24
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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25
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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26
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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27
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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28
penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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29
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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30
reprobates
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| n.道德败坏的人，恶棍( reprobate的名词复数 ) | |
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31
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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32
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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33
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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34
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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35
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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36
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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37
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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38
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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39
geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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40
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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41
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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42
mischievousness
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| 恶作剧 | |
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43
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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44
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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45
eschew
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| v.避开，戒绝 | |
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46
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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47
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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48
subscribing
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| v.捐助( subscribe的现在分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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49
falteringly
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| 口吃地，支吾地 | |
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50
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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51
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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52
loquacity
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| n.多话，饶舌 | |
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53
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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54
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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55
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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56
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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57
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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58
contrition
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| n.悔罪，痛悔 | |
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59
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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60
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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61
outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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62
capers
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| n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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64
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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65
zephyr
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| n.和风，微风 | |
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66
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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67
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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68
manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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69
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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70
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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71
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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72
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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74
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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75
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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76
reprobation
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| n.斥责 | |
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77
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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78
meddled
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
guile
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| n.诈术 | |
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80
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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