Chapter 24 A Change Of Scene

    "Now," said Mr. Pettigrew, when they were sitting side by side on the upper deck of the Puritan, the magnificent steamer on the Fall River line. "I want you to consent to a little plan that will mystify my old friends and neighbors."

    "What is it, Mr. Pettigrew?"

    "I have never written home about my good fortune; so far as they know I am no better off than when I went away."

    "I don't think I could have concealed¹ my success."

    "It may seem strange, but I'll explain -- I want to learn who are my friends and who are not. I am afraid I wasn't very highly thought of when I left Burton. I was considered rather shiftless.

    "I was always in for a good time, and never saved a cent. Everybody predicted that I would fail, and I expect most wanted me to fail. There were two or three, including my uncle, aunt and the friend who lent me money, who wished me well.

    "I mustn't forget to mention the old minister who baptized me when I was an infant. The good old man has been preaching thirty or forty years on a salary of four hundred dollars, and has had to run a small farm to make both ends meet. He believed in me and gave me good advice. Outside of these I don't remember any one who felt an interest in Jefferson Pettigrew."

    "You will have the satisfaction of letting them see that they did not do you justice."

    "Yes, but I may not tell them -- that is none except my true friends. If I did, they would hover² round me and want to borrow money, or get me to take them out West with me. So I have hit upon a plan. I shall want to use money, but I will pretend it is yours."

    Rodney opened his eyes in surprise.

    "I will pass you off as a rich friend from New York, who feels an interest in me and is willing to help me."

    Rodney smiled.

    "I don't know if I can look the character," he said.

    "Oh yes you can. You are nicely dressed, while I am hardly any better dressed than when I left Burton."

    "I have wondered why you didn't buy some new clothes when you were able to afford it."

    "You see we Western miners don't care much for style, perhaps not enough. Still I probably shall buy a suit or two, but not till I have made my visit home. I want to see how people will receive me, when they think I haven't got much money. I shall own up to about five hundred dollars, but that isn't enough to dazzle people even in a small country village."

    "I am wiling³ to help you in any way you wish, Mr. Pettigrew."

    "Then I think we shall get some amusement out of it. I shall represent you as worth about a hundred thousand dollars."

    "I wish I were."

    "Very likely you will be some time if you go out to Montana with me."

    "How large a place is Burton?"

    "It has not quite a thousand inhabitants. It is set among the hills, and has but one rich man, Lemuel Sheldon, who is worth perhaps fifty thousand dollars, but put on the airs of a millionaire."

    "You are as rich as he, then."

    "Yes, and shall soon be richer. However, I don't want him to know it. It is he who holds the mortgage on my uncle's farm."

    "Do you know how large the mortgage is?"

    "It is twelve hundred dollars. I shall borrow the money of you to pay it."

    "I understand," said Rodney, smiling.

    "I shall enjoy the way the old man will look down upon me very much as a millionaire looks down upon a town pauper⁴."

    "How will he look upon me?"

    "He will be very polite to you, for he will think you richer than himself."

    "On the whole, we are going to act a comedy, Mr. Pettigrew. What is the name of the man who lent you money to go to Montana?"

    "A young carpenter, Frank Dobson. He lent me a hundred dollars, which was about all the money he had saved up."

    "He was a true friend."

    "You are right. He was. Everybody told Frank that he would never see his money again, but he did. As soon as I could get together enough to repay him I sent it on, though I remember it left me with less than ten dollars in my pocket.

    "I couldn't bear to think that Frank would lose anything by me. You see we were chums at school and always stood by each other. He is married and has two children."

    "While you are an old bachelor."

    "Yes; I ain't in a hurry to travel in double harness. I'll wait till I am ready to leave Montana, with money enough to live handsomely at home."

    "You have got enough now."

    "But I may as well get more. I am only thirty years old, and I can afford to work a few years longer."

    "I wish I could be sure of being worth fifty thousand dollars when I am your age."

    "You have been worth that, you tell me."

    "Yes, but I should value more money that I had made myself."

    Above five o'clock on Monday afternoon Mr. Pettigrew and Rodney reached Burton. It was a small village about four miles from the nearest railway station. An old fashioned Concord⁵ stage connected Burton with the railway. The driver was on the platform looking out for passengers when Jefferson Pettigrew stepped out of the car.

    "How are you, Hector?" said the miner, in an off hand way.

    "Why, bless my soul if it isn't Jeff!" exclaimed the driver, who had been an old schoolmate of Mr. Pettigrew's.

    "I reckon it is," said the miner, his face lighting⁶ up with the satisfaction he felt at seeing a home face.

    "Why, you ain't changed a mite⁷, Jeff. You look just as you did when you went away. How long have you been gone?"

    "Four years!"

    "Made a fortune? But you don't look like it. That's the same suit you wore when you went away, isn't it?"

    Mr. Pettigrew laughed.

    "Well no, it isn't the same, but it's one of the same kind."

    "I thought maybe you'd come home in a dress suit."

    "It isn't so easy to make a fortune, Hector."

    "But you have made something, ain't you?"

    "Oh, yes, when I went away I hadn't a cent except what I borrowed. Now I've got five hundred dollars."

    "That ain't much."

    "No, but it's better than nothing. How much more have you got, Hector?"

    "Well, you see I married last year. I haven't had a chance to lay by."

    "So you see I did as well as if I had stayed at home."

    "Are you going to stay home now?"

    "For a little while. I may go back to Montana after a bit."

    "Is it a good place to make money?"

    "I made five hundred dollars."

    "Thats only a little more than a hundred dollars a year.

    Frank Dobson has saved as much as that and he's stayed right here in Burton."

    "I'm glad of that," said Pettigrew heartily⁸. "Frank is a rousing good fellow. If it hadn't been for him I couldn't have gone to Montana."

    "It doesn't seem to have done you much good, as I can see."

    "Oh, well, I am satisfied. Let me introduce my friend, Mr. Rodney Ropes of New York."

    "Glad to meet you," said Hector with a jerk of the head.

    "Rodney, won't you sit inside? I want to sit outide with Hector."

    "All right, Mr. Pettigrew."

    "Who is that boy?" asked Hector with characteristic Yankee curiosity, as he seized the lines and started the horses.

    "A rich young fellow from New York. I got acquainted with him there."

    "Rich is he?" Jefferson Pettigrew nodded.

    "How rich do you think?"

    "Shouldn't wonder if he might be worth a hundred thousand."

    "You don't say! Why, he beat Squire⁹ Sheldon."

    "Oh, yes, Squire Sheldon wouldn't be considered rich in New York."

    "How did he get his money?"

    "His father left him a fortune."

    "Is that so? I wish my father had left me a fortune."

    "He did, didn't he?"

    "Yes, he did! When his estate was settled I got seventy five dollars, if you call that a fortune. But I say, what brings the boy to Burton?"

    "His friendship for me, I expect. Besides he may invest in a place."

    "There's the old Morse place for sale. Do you think he'd buy that?"

    "It wouldn't be nice enough for him. I don't know any place that would be good enough except the squire's."

    "The squire wouldn't sell."

    "Oh, well, I don't know as Rodney would care to locate in Burton."

    "You're in luck to get such a friend. Say, do you think he would lend you a hundred dollars if you were hard up?"

    "I know he would. By the way, Hector, is there any news? How is my uncle?"

    "I think the old man is worrying on account of his mortgage."

    "Who holds it?"

    "The squire. They do say he is goin' to foreclose. That'll be bad for the old man. It'll nigh about break his heart I expect."

    "Can't uncle raise the money to pay him?"

    "Who is there round here who has got any money except the squire?"

    "That's so."

    "Where are you goin' to stop, Jeff?"

    "I guess I'll stop at the tavern¹⁰ tonight, but I'll go over and call on uncle this evening."

1 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。

2 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

3 wiling   

v.引诱( wile的现在分词 )；诱惑；消遣；消磨

参考例句：

4 pauper   

n.贫民，被救济者，穷人

参考例句：

• You lived like a pauper when you had plenty of money.你有大把钱的时候，也活得像个乞丐。
• If you work conscientiously you'll only die a pauper.你按部就班地干，做到老也是穷死。

5 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

6 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

7 mite   

n.极小的东西；小铜币

参考例句：

• The poor mite was so ill.可怜的孩子病得这么重。
• He is a mite taller than I.他比我高一点点。

8 heartily   

adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很

参考例句：

• He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿，就出去找他的马。
• The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手，热情地和我握手。

9 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。

10 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。