“Dead!” cried Punner, “it’s a great loss. We’ll have to hold a meeting and pass res——”
“We’ll have to get out of this place in short order,” said Lucas, “the sheriff has levied1 an attachment2 on the hotel and all it contains.”
“What!”
“How’s that?”
“Do you mean that the house is to be shut up and we turned out?”
“Just that,” said Lucas. “The sheriff has invoiced3 every thing, even the provisions on hand. He says that we can’t eat another bite here.”
“And I’m starving even now!” exclaimed Punner. “I could eat most anything. Let’s walk round to Delmonico’s, Cattleton.”
“But really, what can we do?” demanded Ferris, dolefully enough.
“Go home, of course,” said Cattleton.
Ferris looked blank and stood with his hands thrust in his pockets.
“I can’t go home,” he presently remarked.
“Why?”
“I haven’t money enough to pay my way.”
“By George! neither have I!” exclaimed Cattleton with a start.
“You echo my predicament,” said Peck.
Little Mrs. Philpot was speechless for a time as the force of the situation broke upon her.
“Squeezed in a wheat corner?” inquired Miss Stackpole, “what do you mean by that?”
“Got sheared?”
“Yes, the bulls sat down on him.”
“Oh, you mean a speculation—a—”
“Yes, Gaslucky was in for all he was worth, and they run it down on him and flattened7 him. A gas-man’s no business in wheat, especially in Chicago; they spread him out, just as the sheriffs proceedings8 have flattened all our hopes for the present.”
“It’s just outrageous9!” cried little Mrs. Philpot, finding her voice. “He should have notified us, so that—”
“They didn’t notify him, I guess,” said Cattleton.
“No, he found it out afterwards,” remarked Lucas, glancing gloomily toward where Dunkirk and Miss Moyne stood, apparently10 in light and pleasant conversation.
Viewed in any light the predicament was a peculiar11 and distressing12 one to the guests of Hotel Helicon. The sheriff, a rather ignorant,[133] but very stubborn and determined13 man, held executions and writs14 of attachment sued out by Gaslucky creditors15, which he had proceeded to levy16 on the hotel and on all the personalty visible in it belonging to the proprietor17.
“’Course,” said he, “hit’ll be poorty hard on you’ns, but I can’t help it, I’ve got ter do my juty, let it hurt whoever it will. Not er thing kin18 ye tech at’s in this yer tavern19, ’ceptin’ what’s your’n, that air’s jest how it air. So now mind w’at yer a doin’.”
The servants were idle, the dining-room closed, the kitchen and pantries locked up. Never was there a more doleful set of people. Mrs. Nancy Jones Black thought of playing a piece of sacred music, but she found the grand piano locked, with its key deep in the sheriff’s pocket.
The situation was made doubly disagreeable when at last the officer informed the guests that they would have to vacate their rooms forthwith, as he should proceed at once to close up the building.
“Heavens, man, are you going to turn us out into the woods?” demanded Peck.
“Woods er no woods,” he replied, “ye’ll hev ter git out’n yer, right off.”
“But the ladies, Mr. Sheriff,” suggested Punner, “no Southern gentleman can turn a lady out of doors.”
The officer actually colored with the force of the insinuation. He stood silent for some time with his eyes fixed21 on the floor. Presently he looked up and said:
“The weeming kin stay till mornin’.”
“Well they must have something to eat,” said Punner. “They can’t starve.”
“Thet’s so,” the sheriff admitted, “they kin hev a bite er so.”
“And we——”
“You men folks cayn’t hev a dorg gone mouthful, so shet up!”
“Well,” observed Cattleton, dryly, “it appears the odds22 is the difference between falling into the hands of moonshiners and coming under the influence of a lawful23 sheriff.”
“I know a little law,” interposed Bartley Hubbard with a sullen24 emphasis, “and I know that this sheriff has no right to tumble us out of doors, and for my part——”
“Fur yer part,” said the sheriff coolly, “fur yer part, Mister, ef ye fool erlong o’ me I’ll crack yer gourd25 fur ye.”
“You’ll do what?”
“I’ll stave in yer piggin.”
“I don’t understand.”
“W’y, blame yer ignorant hide, wha’ wer’ ye borned and fotch up? I’ll jest knock the everlastin’ head off’n ye, thet’s ’zac’ly w’at I says. Mebbe ye don’t understan’ thet?”
“Yes,” said Hubbard, visibly shrinking into himself, “I begin to suspect your meaning.”
Miss Crabb was taking notes with enthusiastic rapidity.
Dunkirk called the sheriff to him and a long conference was held between them, the result of which was presently announced.
“I heve thort it over,” said the quiet officer of the law, “an’ es hit appear thet w’at grub air on han’ an’ done cooked might spile afore it c’u’d be sold, therefore I proclamate an’ say at you’ns kin stay yer tell termorrer an’ eat w’at’s cooked, but tech nothin’ else.”
Cattleton and Punner applauded loudly. To everybody the announcement was a reprieve26 of no small moment, and a sigh of relief rustled27 through the groups of troubled guests. Those who had been down the ravine were very tired and hungry; the thought of a cold luncheon28 to them was the vision of a feast.
Dunkirk had a basket of wine brought down from his room and he made the sheriff sit beside him at the table.
“We shall have to walk down the mountain in the morning, I suppose,” remarked Bartley Hubbard.
“That’s jest w’at’s the matter,” observed the sheriff.
“But the ladies, my dear sir, the ladies——” began Punner.
“The weeming, they’ll hev kinveyances, young man, so ye kin jest shet up ef ye please,” the officer interrupted, with a good-natured wink30 and a knowing wag of his head.
A disinterested31 observer would have noted32 readily enough that the feast was far from a banquet. There was Ferris, for instance,[136] munching33 a biscuit and sipping34 his wine and pretending to enjoy Punner’s sallies and Cattleton’s drolleries, while down in his heart lay the leaden thought, the hideous35 knowledge of an empty pocket. Indeed the reflection was a common one, weighting down almost every breast at the board.
One little incident did make even Ferris forget himself for a moment or two, it was when deaf Miss Nebeker misinterpreted some remark made by Hubbard and arose with a view to reciting The Jerseyman’s Jewsharp, with a new variation, “Oh, Jerseyman Joe had a Jewsharp of gold,” she began, in her most melodious36 drawl. She could not hear the protesting voices of her friends and she misinterpreted the stare of the sheriff.
“For the good heaven’s sake, Hubbard,” cried Lucas, “do use your influence; quick, please, or I shall collapse37.”
Bartley Hubbard took hold of her dress and gently pulled her down into her chair.
“The sheriff objects!” he yelled in her ear.
“We all have had a good time at the Hotel Helicon, but our sojourn40 upon the heights of Mt. Boab has been cut short by a certain chain of mishaps41 over which we have had no control, and to-morrow we go away, doubtless forever.[137] I feel like saying that I harbor no unpleasant recollections of the days we have spent together.”
Cattleton sprung to his feet to move a vote of thanks “to the public-spirited and benevolent42 man who built this magnificent hotel and threw open its doors to us.”
It was carried.
“Now then,” said Lucas, adjusting his glasses and speaking in his gravest chest-tones, “I move that it be taken as the sense of this assembly, that it is our duty to draw upon our publisher for money enough to take us home.”
The response was overwhelming.
Dunkirk felt the true state of affairs. He arose, his broad face wreathed with genial43 smiles, and said:
“To the certain knowledge of your unhappy publisher your accounts are already overdrawn44, but in view of the rich material you have been gathering45 of late, your publisher will honor you draughts46 to the limit of your expenses home.”
Never did happier people go to bed. The last sleep in Hotel Helicon proved to be the sweetest.
Far in the night, it is true, some one sang loudly but plaintively47 under Miss Moyne’s window until the sheriff awoke and sallied forth20 to end the serenade with some remarks about “cracking that eejit’s gourd;” but there was no disturbance48, the sounds blending sweetly with the dreams of the slumberers. They all knew that it was Crane, poor fellow, who had finally[138] torn himself away from his father’s fascinating uncle.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
levied
|
|
| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
attachment
|
|
| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
invoiced
|
|
| 开发票（invoice的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
sheared
|
|
| v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
flattened
|
|
| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
proceedings
|
|
| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
outrageous
|
|
| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
distressing
|
|
| a.使人痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
writs
|
|
| n.书面命令，令状( writ的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
creditors
|
|
| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
levy
|
|
| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
proprietor
|
|
| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
kin
|
|
| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
tavern
|
|
| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
lawful
|
|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
sullen
|
|
| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
gourd
|
|
| n.葫芦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
reprieve
|
|
| n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
rustled
|
|
| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
luncheon
|
|
| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
jovially
|
|
| adv.愉快地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
wink
|
|
| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
disinterested
|
|
| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
munching
|
|
| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sipping
|
|
| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
melodious
|
|
| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
collapse
|
|
| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
parlor
|
|
| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
crumbs
|
|
| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
sojourn
|
|
| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
mishaps
|
|
| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
benevolent
|
|
| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
genial
|
|
| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
overdrawn
|
|
| 透支( overdraw的过去分词 )； (overdraw的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
draughts
|
|
| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
plaintively
|
|
| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
disturbance
|
|
| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |