“Oh, you were the fellow that played the trick on Watson, eh?” asked the clerk with a chuckle4. “Say, maybe he wasn’t peeved5 about it!”
“Was he? Well, he got them anyway.”
“Yes, he made believe he was going to pay for them himself, and then when he and his friends had drank ’em he said I was to charge ’em to you.”
[126]
“That’s all right. Forty cents, wasn’t it?”
“He’s all the time doing things like that,” continued the clerk grievedly. “Did I tell you about the time he got a bottle of liniment off the shelf and emptied it into the sarsaparilla tank when I wasn’t looking? Well, he did. And Deacon Whittier and Si Moon——”
“What?” laughed Rodney. “Who’d you say?”
“Si Moon; keeps the livery stable,” replied the other, puzzled by the boy’s amusement. “Know him?”
“No, but I’m going to start a list of names. You’ve got some corkers around here! What do they call Mr. Moon for short? Sirocer?”
“They call him Si,” replied the clerk with the hauteur6 of one who discovers that he has made a humorous remark and doesn’t know what it was. “Don’t know what you mean about Si Rocker.”
“Never mind. What happened to old Si-moon?”
“He was sick as a horse, he and the Deacon, too. And——”
“Perhaps it was horse liniment?” suggested Rodney gravely.
[127]
“No, ’twa’n’t, it was Hipplepot’s Embrocation. I know because I found the bottle behind the fountain there. ’Most half empty it was, too. Might have killed ’em!”
“How did you find out Watson did it?”
“Why, he’d been in here a while before, and I just naturally suspected him. And when I asked him he owned right up.”
“Well that was honest anyway, wasn’t it? He might have told a lie about it.”
“Watson wouldn’t,” said the clerk grudgingly7. “I’ll say that for him. He’s a terror, all right, but he owns up to things. I nearly lost my job that time, though.”
“Too bad. Well, here’s the money. Just cross off that bill, will you?” and Rodney laid a half dollar on the counter. The clerk looked at it doubtfully.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“Why, to pay for those sodas.”
“Oh! They’re paid for. Thought you knew. Watson came down Saturday and paid for ’em.”
“He did!” Rodney stared and thoughtfully returned the money to his pocket. “I wonder what he did that for?”
[128]
“I don’t know. Said something about only being in fun the other time. I just took the money and was glad to get it. There’s lots of fellows up to school don’t pay up as well as he does.”
Hurrying back up the hill Rodney wondered why Watson had changed his mind, and debated whether to speak to him about it. He finally decided8 to let the matter drop. Whatever Watson’s motive9 might have been, Rodney had an idea that the older boy wouldn’t care to be thanked.
It was two days after that that Phineas Kittson startled the school and provided several days of amusement by announcing his candidacy for a position on the football team. Rodney learned of it first. He found Kitty frowning over a book of football rules that afternoon after practice. Kitty looked up as Rodney came into the room, nodded, and went back to his study. Rodney observed the blue covered book curiously10, until in a moment Kitty asked:
“Merrill, what do you mean when you say a ball is ‘dead’?”
[129]
“Why, that it isn’t—isn’t playable. Like when the fellow who has it is tackled, you know, or when it goes over the goal line.”
“Oh. Seems to me the person who wrote these rules tried to make them as difficult as possible. All mixed up, I call them. Silly.”
“Aren’t thinking of playing, are you?” asked Rodney smilingly.
Kitty turned down the corner of a leaf and nodded slowly. “Yes, I’ve decided that I’ll have to try,” he replied calmly. “Got more time this year. Reading in a paper yesterday that football is great developer of the lungs. Don’t see why it shouldn’t be, eh? Course, a fellow couldn’t rely on football alone. Have to take regular exercises, too. It follows. But in its way, don’t see why football wouldn’t be—er—beneficial. Would it seem so to you, Merrill?”
“Yes.” Rodney struggled to keep from laughing. “Yes, I’d say football might develop the lungs beautifully.”
“Shall try it. Been trying to get the sense of that.” He nodded at the rule book. “Guess you have to play the game to learn what it’s all about though. Complicated. Contradictory11.[130] Can’t make heads nor tails of it. What do you wear?”
“Oh, you wear canvas breeches and a canvas jacket thing that laces up the front. And a jersey12 underneath13. And long stockings and shoes with cleats.”
“Cost much?”
“Mm, that depends. Twelve dollars will do it, I guess.”
“Buy them in the village?”
“I think so. Yes, Tad told me I could get most everything here. I forget what the name of the shop was.”
“Porgan’s, I guess.”
“Or Humpernickle’s,” suggested Rodney with a grin.
“Don’t know that. Think I’ve seen footballs and such things in Porgan’s. Where’s Humpernickle’s?”
“Search me,” laughed Rodney, “but I’ll bet there’s a place of that name here somewhere. When you going to start, Kittson?”
“Me? Oh, tomorrow, I guess. What do you do? Any—er—formalities?”
“N-no, just—just go over to the field dressed[131] for play and tell—” Rodney’s grin wouldn’t be suppressed any longer—“tell Mr. Cotting you want to try for the team.”
“I see. All right. Much obliged. Mind going down to Porgan’s after school and helping14 me buy things?”
“Glad to,” replied Rodney gravely. “I say, do you mind if I tell the fellows about it?”
Kitty stared across in mild surprise. “About me? No.” The tone implied that Kitty didn’t see why he should mind! “Tell ’em if you want to. Not important though, is it?”
“Oh, well, I only thought that—that they’d like to know.”
“Suppose they would. What time is it? Half past five! I’m late this evening!” And Kitty gravely threw aside his jacket, pulled his faded brown sweater over his head, attached his pedometer to his belt, and set forth15 on his final stunt16 of the day, which was a little jaunt17 down to the river and back up the hill at top speed.
Rodney left the room close on the heels of Kitty and burst into Jack Billings’s room. Only Tom Trainor was there, Tom bending over a[132] book with both hands clutching desperately18 at his hair.
“Don’t care if you are,” answered Rodney. “You aren’t too busy to hear some news.”
“Yes, I am. Don’t want to hear any news. Get out, Rod!”
“It’s about Kitty.”
“Nothing is news about Kitty,” scoffed20 Tom. But he stopped tearing his hair and looked around. “What is it?”
“He’s going out for the team!”
“What team?”
“Football!”
“Never!”
“He is! Honest injun, Tom!”
“Not Kitty!”
“Kitty!”
“Whoops!” Tom’s chair went over with a crash and he flew to the hall. “Fellows! Pete! Stacey! Everybody this way!”
“Shut up!” came a wail21 from the closed door of Pete Greenough’s room. But Stacey answered, and he and Tad tumbled into the[133] hall. “What’s up? Where’s the fire?” asked Tad.
“News, fellows! Glorious news! Kitty——”
“Hold on, Pete! Wait till you hear it! Kitty’s going to play football!”
There was a moment of intense silence. Then shrieks23 of delight broke forth, and Tom and Tad clasped each other ecstatically and danced along the hall. At that moment Jack Billings and Warren Hoyt appeared on the stairs, and the news was broken to them very gently by five voices shouting in unison24. After that they piled into Jack’s room and laughed and joked to their heart’s content.
“I know where I’m going to be to-morrow afternoon at three-thirty,” announced Tad. “Right on the sideline, fellows, where I can see it all!”
“That’s where we’ll all be!” gurgled Tom. “And he’s going down to Porgan’s after school to-morrow to buy an outfit25. Let’s all go along and help, fellows!”
But Jack demurred26. “That would be too[134] strong,” he said. “It is funny, but we don’t want to hurt old Kitty’s feelings. It’s going to be funny enough anyway, without that.”
“That’s so,” Stacey agreed. “Besides,” and he smiled in his quiet way, “he might take offence and quit then and there.”
Further discussion was halted by the sound of steps on the stairway. The fellows grinned at each other and Warren Hoyt called: “Is that you, Kitty? What’s this Merrill’s telling us?”
Kitty appeared at the doorway27, breathing deeply and perspiring28 freely, and observed them anxiously through his spectacles.
“About football?” he inquired. “Yes, I’m going to try it. I’ve read that it is fine for the lungs. May be wrong though. What do you think, Stacey?”
“Nothing better,” replied Stacey gravely.
“I think it’s fine of you,” said Tad earnestly. “Cotting will be so pleased, Kitty!”
“Think so?” Kitty looked modest. “Of course I don’t know much about it. Learn, though, I guess. Understand strength and stamina29 are requisites30 of football. Got ’em. You fellows know that.”
[135]
“You bet we do, Kitty! I’d back you against Sandow any old day,” declared Tom. “My word, but it’s a bully31 thing for the team!”
“Don’t know about that. Afraid it’ll take me a while to learn the—er—fine points, eh?”
“Pshaw!” said Warren. “A fellow of your ability can learn the game in a day, Kitty!”
“Suppose you’re kidding me,” replied Kitty good-naturedly. “Don’t mind. May be an ass32, but I’ll have a try at it.”
And Kitty, nodding with a final owl-like stare, took himself off.
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收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pharmacy
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| n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品 | |
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2
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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3
sodas
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| n.苏打( soda的名词复数 )；碱；苏打水；汽水 | |
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4
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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5
peeved
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| adj.恼怒的，不高兴的v.（使）气恼，（使）焦躁，（使）愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
hauteur
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| n.傲慢 | |
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7
grudgingly
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8
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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9
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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10
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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11
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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12
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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13
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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14
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
stunt
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| n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长 | |
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17
jaunt
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| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
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18
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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19
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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20
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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22
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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23
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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25
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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26
demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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28
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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29
stamina
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| n.体力；精力；耐力 | |
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30
requisites
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| n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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31
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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32
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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