The week slipped away, and still no tidings of Ida. The house seemed lonely without her. Not until then did they understand how largely she had entered into their life and thoughts. But worse even than the sense of loss was the uncertainty1 as to her fate.
"It is time that we took some steps about finding Ida," the cooper said. "I would like to go to Philadelphia myself, to make inquiries2 about her, but I am just now engaged upon a job which I cannot very well leave, and so I have concluded to send Jack3."
"When shall I start?" exclaimed Jack.
"To-morrow morning," answered his father.
"What good do you think it will do," interposed Rachel, "to send a mere4 boy like Jack to Philadelphia?"
"A mere boy!" repeated her nephew, indignantly.
"A boy hardly sixteen years old," continued Rachel. "Why, he'll need somebody to take care of him. Most likely you'll have to go after him."
"What's the use of provoking a fellow so, Aunt Rachel?" said Jack. "You know I'm 'most eighteen. Hardly sixteen! Why, I might as well say you're hardly forty, when we all know you're fifty."
"Maybe I'm mistaken," said Jack, carelessly. "I didn't know exactly how old you were; I only judged from your looks."
At this point, Rachel applied6 a segment of a pocket handkerchief to her eyes; but, unfortunately, owing to circumstances, the effect instead of being pathetic, as she intended it to be, was simply ludicrous.
It so happened that a short time previous, the inkstand had been partially7 spilled upon the table, through Jack's carelessness and this handkerchief had been used to sop8 it up. It had been placed inadvertently upon the window seat, where it had remained until Rachel, who was sitting beside the window, called it into requisition. The ink upon it was by no means dry. The consequence was, that, when Rachel removed it from her eyes, her face was discovered to be covered with ink in streaks9 mingling10 with the tears that were falling, for Rachel always had a plentiful11 supply of tears at command.
The first intimation the luckless spinster had of her mishap12 was conveyed in a stentorian13 laugh from Jack.
He looked intently at the dark traces of sorrow on his aunt's face--of which she was yet unconscious--and doubling up, went off into a perfect paroxysm of laughter.
"Jack!" said his mother, reprovingly, for she had not observed the cause of his amusement, "it's improper14 for you to laugh at your aunt in such a rude manner."
"Oh, I can't help it, mother. Just look at her."
Thus invited, Mrs. Harding did look, and the rueful expression of Rachel, set off by the inky stains, was so irresistibly15 comical, that, after a hard struggle, she too gave way, and followed Jack's example.
Astonished and indignant at this unexpected behavior of her sister-in-law, Rachel burst into a fresh fit of weeping, and again had recourse to the handkerchief.
"This is too much!" she sobbed16. "I've stayed here long enough, if even my sister-in-law, as well as my own nephew, from whom I expect nothing better, makes me her laughingstock. Brother Timothy, I can no longer remain in your dwelling17 to be laughed at; I will go to the poorhouse and end my miserable18 existence as a common pauper19. If I only receive Christian20 burial when I leave the world, it will be all I hope or expect from my relatives, who will be glad enough to get rid of me."
The second application of the handkerchief had so increased the effect, that Jack found it impossible to check his laughter, while the cooper, whose attention was now drawn21 to his sister's face, burst out in a similar manner.
This more amazed Rachel than Martha's merriment.
"Even you, Timothy, join in ridiculing22 your sister!" she exclaimed, in an "_Et tu, Brute_" tone.
"We don't mean to ridicule23 you, Rachel," gasped24 her sister-in-law, "but we can't help laughing."
"At the prospect25 of my death!" uttered Rachel, in a tragic26 tone. "Well, I'm a poor, forlorn creetur, I know. Even my nearest relations make sport of me, and when I speak of dying, they shout their joy to my face."
"Yes," gasped Jack, nearly choking, "that's it exactly. It isn't your death we're laughing at, but your face."
"My face!" exclaimed the insulted spinster. "One would think I was a fright by the way you laugh at it."
"So you are!" said Jack, with a fresh burst of laughter.
"To be called a fright to my face!" shrieked27 Rachel, "by my own nephew! This is too much. Timothy, I leave your house forever."
The excited maiden28 seized her hood29; which was hanging from a nail, and was about to leave the house when she was arrested in her progress toward the door by the cooper, who stifled30 his laughter sufficiently31 to say: "Before you go, Rachel, just look in the glass."
Mechanically his sister did look, and her horrified32 eyes rested upon a face streaked33 with inky spots and lines seaming it in every direction.
In her first confusion Rachel jumped to the conclusion that she had been suddenly stricken by the plague. Accordingly she began to wring34 her hands in an excess of terror, and exclaimed in tones of piercing anguish35:
"It is the fatal plague spot! I am marked for the tomb. The sands of my life are fast running out."
This convulsed Jack afresh with merriment, so that an observer might, not without reason, have imagined him to be in imminent36 danger of suffocation37.
"You'll kill me, Aunt Rachel! I know you will," he gasped.
"You may order my coffin38, Timothy," said Rachel, in a sepulchral39 voice; "I shan't live twenty-four hours. I've felt it coming on for a week past. I forgive you for all your ill-treatment. I should like to have some one go for the doctor, though I know I'm past help."
"I think," said the cooper, trying to look sober, "you will find the cold-water treatment efficacious in removing the plague spots, as you call them."
Rachel turned toward him with a puzzled look. Then, as her eyes rested for the first time upon the handkerchief she had used, its appearance at once suggested a clew by which she was enabled to account for her own.
Somewhat ashamed of the emotion which she had betrayed, as well as the ridiculous figure which she had cut, she left the room abruptly40, and did not make her appearance again till the next morning.
After this little episode, the conversation turned upon Jack's approaching journey.
"I don't know," said his mother, "but Rachel is right. Perhaps Jack isn't old enough, and hasn't had sufficient experience to undertake such a mission."
"Now, mother," expostulated Jack, "you ain't going to side against me, are you?"
"There is no better plan," said his father, quietly.
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收听单词发音
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1
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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2
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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3
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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4
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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5
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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6
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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7
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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8
sop
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| n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿 | |
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9
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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10
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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11
plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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12
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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13
stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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14
improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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15
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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16
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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17
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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18
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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19
pauper
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| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
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20
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
ridiculing
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的现在分词 ) | |
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23
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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24
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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25
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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26
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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27
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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29
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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30
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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31
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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32
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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33
streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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34
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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35
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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36
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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37
suffocation
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| n.窒息 | |
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38
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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39
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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40
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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