CHAPTER XL. TOM FINDS HIMSELF RICH.

IN TEN minutes Tom found himself sitting at the hospitable¹ board of his two friends. It was literally² a board. A broad plank³, or rather two side by side, were stretched across the tops of two barrels, and upon this humble⁴ table Peter Brush spread a plain but substantial supper.

Cold meat, bread and butter and tea—that was all it consisted of, but of these there was plenty, and Tom made a fierce onslaught upon them.

“I’m sorry we haven’t any pudding or pie, Tom,” said Mr. Brush. “I know somethin’ about cookin’, but I ain’t up to that.”

“Brush made a pie once,” said the doctor, shuddering⁵. “It looked pretty well, but I tasted it, and the taste is still in my mouth. He tried to eat it himself, but couldn’t. A pig came along, and we gave it to him. I never saw that pig again. I suspect he died of the colic.”

Peter Brush laughed good-naturedly at this story, and only retorted:

“How much better would you have succeeded, doctor?”

“Worse, if possible. Don’t suppose I’m running down your culinary skill, friend Brush. I freely admit that it exceeds mine.”

209

“I never tasted anything so good in my life,” said Tom, with a large sense of enjoyment⁶.

“Hunger is a good sauce, my lad. To-morrow you may be more critical.”

Supper was over at length, and the three friends sat down before the cabin door.

“Tom, now I come to look at you,” said Brush, “you are the most complete ragamuffin I ever saw. Isn’t he, doctor?”

Tom laughed and looked rather ruefully at his dilapidated garb⁷.

“I’ve worn this suit seven or eight months,” he said, “through woods and underbrush, sleeping in it at night when I lived with the Indians, and roughing it as I never expected to. Do you see those shoes?”

They scarcely hung about his feet, while his suit was torn, soiled and tattered⁸.

“If mother should see me now, she would be in despair,” he said, “and that isn’t the worst of it.”

“What is the worst of it, Tom?”

“I am not only ragged⁹, but penniless.”

Peter Brush and the doctor exchanged a look of satisfaction. They were glad that Tom was penniless, because their help would be so much the more welcome.

“How is that, my lad?” asked Lycurgus. “The Indians didn’t take away your money, did they?”

“No; but after I left them and joined the party I finished my journey with, I had a use for all my funds. I had to buy a horse, and just as I came to the last stage of my journey he either ran away or was stolen. The210 last fifty miles I made on foot. As to the rest of the money it went for incidental expenses. Do you want to know how much I have left?”

He took from his pocket two cents.

“Those won’t pass here, Tom. Nobody will take so small a coin as that.”

“Not even for a suit of clothes?” asked Tom.

“No.”

“Then I must go to work and earn enough. What are the chances around here, Mr. Brush?”

“I’ll show you what we’ve done, Tom.”

Peter Brush led the way to his treasury¹⁰, as he called the place where he had stored his gold dust.

“What do you say to that?”

“Is it gold dust?” asked Tom, taking up a handful in curiosity.

“Yes.”

“How much is all that worth?”

“Six thousand dollars.”

“You don’t mean to say you found it all here?” asked Tom, amazed.

“Yes, I do. We struck a rich vein¹¹.”

“Is there more?” asked Tom, eagerly. “I will go to work to-morrow.”

“You don’t ask who this belongs to,” said Peter Brush, rather ungrammatically.

“To you and the doctor, of course.”

“And to you.”

“But I didn’t gather any of it,” said Tom.

“It makes no difference,” said Brush. “The firm211 was Spooner, Brush & Thatcher¹², and a third of it belongs to you as junior partner. Tom, you are worth two thousand dollars.”

“But I can’t take it, Mr. Brush,” cried Tom. “I can’t accept your great kindness. I had no hand in collecting this gold.”

“Because you were with the Indians when we left you.”

“You couldn’t help it.”

“But we saved our own lives by leaving you there. You had the worst of it. Do you want to make us ashamed of deserting you?”

“No, but——”

“Then you must take your share of the money. If you don’t, we’ll throw it away, won’t we doctor?”

“Yes, Tom must take it.”

“Then, my dear, kind friends, I will take it, for your sake and my mother’s. I wish I could change a part of it for a suit of clothes.”

“You can. There’s a trader in the village who keeps a general stock of goods. We’ll fit you out in the morning.”

“And is there a chance to mail a letter. Mother hasn’t heard from me for months; she may think I am dead.”

“There’s no regular post-office, but you can leave the letter at the trader’s, and it will go to ’Frisco by the first chance. Letters don’t often have to wait over a week.”

“It seems like a dream,” said Tom. “An hour ago212 I came here a penniless tramp. Now, thanks to you, I am a rich boy. I can’t realize that I am worth two thousand dollars.”

“Now, Tom, you must tell us how you escaped from the Indians. You haven’t told us a word yet.”

“True, Mr. Brush; I will begin at once.”

So Tom told his story, and you may be sure he had attentive¹³ listeners. It will not, of course, be necessary to repeat it here, since we already know what is of most interest. In response to questions, Tom mentioned many details which were of greater interest to his friends than they would be to us.

“That Indian boy is a regular trump¹⁴, and no mistake!” said Mr. Brush. “I wish you had brought him with you.”

“I shall never forget his kindness,” said Tom. “I shall think the better of all Indians for his sake all my life.”

So the evening wore on, and bed-time came. Tom wrapped himself in a blanket, and, weary with his long journey, was soon in the land of dreams.

1 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

4 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

5 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

6 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

7 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

8 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

9 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

10 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

11 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

12 thatcher   

n.茅屋匠

参考例句：

• Tom Sawyer was in the skiff that bore Judge Thatcher. 汤姆 - 索亚和撒切尔法官同乘一条小艇。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Mrs. Thatcher was almost crazed; and Aunt Polly, also. 撒切尔夫人几乎神经失常，还有波莉姨妈也是。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

13 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

14 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。