CHAPTER XXXVII. CONCLUSION.

Three days later, in the early evening, Loammi Little met Harold in the street.

"Hi, you boy!" he said, with malicious¹ pleasure; "you lost your place at my father's store, didn't you?"

"Yes," answered Harold, calmly.

"That will teach you to treat me with respect hereafter."

"I suppose I am indebted to you for getting me discharged."

"Yes," answered Loammi, with a smile.

"Then I want to thank you."

"To thank me!" exclaimed Loammi, in surprise.

"Yes, for I have now a better place."

"Where?"

"With Tower, Douglas & Co."

"Did Scott Walton get it for you?" asked Loammi, quickly.

"Yes."

[Pg 311]

"Then he had better mind his own business. My father may get him discharged from his place there."

"That is more than he can do. Mr. Tower puts great confidence in Scott."

"Do you know what he pays him?"

"Forty dollars a week."

"Nonsense!" said Loammi, angrily.

"It is true."

"Then Mr. Tower is a fool."

"Why don't you call and tell him so?"

A really mean person can receive no heavier blow than to find his malicious attempt to injure another of no avail. This was the case with Loammi.

When he was forced to believe that Scott really received the high salary he had contemptuously scoffed² at, he became more discontented than ever. He tried to get his father to increase his allowance, but without success. He was mortified³ to find that even Harold vied with him in dress.

"How these beggarly upstarts are coming up!" he said to himself, bitterly. "It makes me sick."

But a heavier blow was in store for him. Dull times came in business, retail⁴ trade fell off, and one[Pg 312] morning it was announced in the papers that the great house of Ezra Little had suspended.

Mr. Little made desperate efforts to secure financial assistance, but in vain. No one liked him, and it looked as if he was irretrievably ruined.

When things looked darkest, a plain-looking old man entered the store, and asked to see Mr. Little.

"Seth Lawton!" exclaimed the merchant. "I can't see you. I am very busy."

"I hear you are in trouble," said Cousin Seth.

"And I suppose you are glad of it," replied Ezra, bitterly.

"No, I have come to help you," responded Mr. Lawton.

"You help me!" repeated Ezra, scornfully. "What good will a few hundred dollars do?"

"How much help do you need?"

"With forty thousand dollars I could weather the storm handsomely," replied Mr. Little.

"You shall have it, if you will secure me well."

"Have you got forty thousand dollars? I thought you a poor man."

"It isn't the only mistake you have made, Cousin Ezra. At the time you looked down upon me I was richer than yourself. But I will only help you on conditions."

[Pg 313]

"I will agree to any conditions," said Ezra, his pride humbled⁵. "Only help me out of my present trouble."

So the house of Ezra Little was saved, and its head received a lesson. His pride had had a fall. Those whom he looked down upon proved to surpass him in the only thing on which he prided himself—the possession of money.

One of Cousin Seth's conditions was that Loammi should go into his father's store, and exchange his elegant leisure for honest work. He complained a good deal, but Seth Lawton and his father insisted. He may in time become a useful, hard-working man of business, but he has a good deal to learn first.

Scott continues to prosper⁶, and next year will become a partner in the firm of Tower, Douglas & Co. Harold is earning a good salary now, and his father's troubles are over. He gets more remunerative⁷ work at his profession, and, with his family, occupies a pleasant home in Bayonne.

Mr. Lawton has leased a handsome house uptown, and Scott lives with him. He is rich—how rich no one knows—and Scott is generally supposed to be his heir.

THE END

1 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

2 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

3 mortified   

v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

• She was mortified to realize he had heard every word she said. 她意识到自己的每句话都被他听到了，直羞得无地自容。
• The knowledge of future evils mortified the present felicities. 对未来苦难的了解压抑了目前的喜悦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

6 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

7 remunerative   

adj.有报酬的

参考例句：

• He is prepared to make a living by accepting any remunerative chore.为了生计，他准备接受任何有酬报的杂活。
• A doctor advised her to seek remunerative employment.一个医生建议她去找有酬劳的工作。