Chapter 12 Ben's Luck

 "We will get out here," said Mrs. Hamilton.

 

They had reached the corner of Fourth Street and Broadway.

 

Ben pulled the strap¹, and with his new friend left the stage. He offered his hand politely to assist the lady in descending².

 

"He is a little gentleman," thought Mrs. Hamilton, who was much pleased with our hero.

 

They turned from Broadway eastward³, and presently crossed the Bowery also. Not far to the east of the last avenue they came to a carpenter's shop.

 

Mr. Plank⁴, a middle-aged⁵, honest-looking mechanic, looked up in surprise when Mrs. Hamilton entered the shop.

 

"You didn't expect a call from me?" said the lady pleasantly.

 

"No, ma'am. Fashionable ladies don't often find their way over here."

 

"Then don't look upon me as a fashionable lady. I like to attend to my business myself, and have brought you the money for your bill."

 

"Thank you, ma'am. You never made me wait. But I am sorry you had the trouble to come to my shop. I would have called at your house if you had sent me a postal⁶."

 

"My time was not so valuable as yours, Mr. Plank. I must tell you, however, that you came near not getting your money this morning. Another person undertook to collect your bill."

 

"Who was it?" demanded the carpenter indignantly. "If there's anybody playing such tricks on me I will have him up before the courts."

 

"It was no acquaintance of yours. The person in question had no spite against you and you would only have suffered a little delay."

 

Then Mrs. Hamilton explained how a pickpocket⁷ had undertaken to relieve her of her wallet, and would have succeeded but for her young companion.

 

"Oh they're mighty⁸ sharp, ma'am, I can tell you," said the carpenter. "I never lost anything, because I don't look as if I had anything worth stealing; but if one of those rascals⁹ made up his mind to rob me, ten to one he'd do it."

 

Mr. Plank receipted his bill and Mrs. Hamilton paid him a hundred and eighty-seven dollars and fifty cents. Ben could not help envying him as he saw the roll of bills transferred to him.

 

"I hope the work was done satisfactory," said Mr. Plank. (Perfect grammar could not be expected of a man who, from the age of twelve, had been forced to earn his own living.)

 

"Quite so, Mr. Plank," said the lady graciously. "I shall send for you when I have any more work to be done."

 

There was no more business to attend to, and Mrs. Hamilton led the way out, accompanied by Ben.

 

"I will trouble you to see me as far as Broadway," said the lady. "I am not used to this neighborhood and prefer to have an escort."

 

"I didn't think this morning," said Ben to himself, "that a rich lady would select me as her escort."

 

On the whole, he liked it. It gave him a feeling of importance, and a sense of responsibility which a manly¹⁰ boy always likes.

 

"I shall be glad to stay with you as long as you like," said Ben.

 

"Thank you, Benjamin, or shall I say Ben?"

 

"I wish you would. I hardly know myself when I am called Benjamin."

 

"As we are walking alone, suppose you tell me something of yourself. I only know your name, and that you live in Pentonville. What relations have you?"

 

"A mother only--my father is dead."

 

"And you help take care of your mother, I suppose?"

 

"Yes; father left us nothing except the house we live in, or, at least, we could get track of no other property. He died in Chicago suddenly."

 

"I hope you are getting along comfortably--you and your mother," said Mrs. Hamilton kindly¹¹.

 

"We have our troubles," answered Ben. "We are in danger of having our house taken from us."

 

"How is that?"

 

"A rich man in our village, Squire¹² Davenport, has a mortgage of seven hundred dollars upon it. He wants the house for a relative of his wife, and threatens to foreclose at the end of three months."

 

"The house must be worth a good deal more than the mortgage."

 

"It is worth twice as much; but if it is put up at auction¹³ I doubt if it will fetch over a thousand dollars."

 

"This would leave your mother but three hundred?"

 

"Yes," answered Ben despondingly.

 

"Have you thought of any way of raising the money?"

 

"Yes; I came up to the city to-day to see a cousin of mother's, a Mr. Absalom Peters, who lives on Lexington Avenue, and I had just come from there when I got into the stage with you."

 

"Won't he help you?"

 

"Perhaps he might if he was in the city; though mother has seen nothing of him for twenty years; but, unfortunately, he just sailed for Europe."

 

"That is indeed a pity. I suppose you haven't much hope now?"

 

"Unless Mr. Peters comes back. He is the only one we can think of to call upon."

 

"What sort of a man is this Squire Davenport?"

 

"He is a very selfish man, who thinks only of his own interests. We felt safe, because we did not suppose he would have any use for a small house like ours; but night before last he called on mother with the man he wants it for."

 

"He cannot foreclose just yet, can he?" asked Mrs. Hamilton.

 

"No; we have three months to look around."

 

"Three months is a long time," said the lady cheerfully. "A good deal can happen in three months. Do the best you can, and keep up hope."

 

"I shall try to do so."

 

"You have reason to do so. You may not save your house, but you have, probably, a good many years before you, and plenty of good fortune may be in store for you."

 

The cheerful tone in which the lady spoke¹⁴ some how made Ben hopeful and sanguine¹⁵, at any rate, for the time being.

 

"In this country, the fact that you are a poor boy will not stand in the way of your success. The most eminent¹⁶ men of the day, in all branches of business, and in all professions, were once poor boys. I dare say, looking at me, you don't suppose I ever knew anything of poverty."

 

"No," said Ben.

 

"Yet I was the daughter of a bankrupt farmer, and my husband was clerk in a country store. I am not going to tell you how he came to the city and prospered¹⁷, leaving me, at his death, rich beyond my needs. Yet that is his history and mine. Does it encourage you?

 

"Yes, it does," answered Ben earnestly.

 

"It is for that reason, perhaps, that I take an interest in country boys who are placed as my husband once was," continued Mrs. Hamilton. "But here we are at Broadway. It only remains¹⁸ to express my acknowledgment of your timely assistance."

 

"You are quite welcome," said Ben.

 

"I am sure of that, but I am none the less indebted. Do me the favor to accept this."

 

She opened her portemonnaie, and taking from it a banknote, handed it to Ben.

 

In surprise he looked at it, and saw that it was a twenty-dollar bill.

 

"Did you know this was a twenty-dollar bill?" he asked in amazement¹⁹.

 

"Certainly," answered the lady, with a smile. "It is less than ten per cent. of the amount I would have lost but for you. I hope it will be of service to you."

 

"I feel rich with it," answered Ben. "How can I thank you, Mrs. Hamilton?"

 

"Call on me at No. ---- Madison Avenue, and do it in person, when you next come to the city," said the lady, smiling. "Now, if you will kindly call that stage, I will bid you good-by--for the present."

 

Ben complied with her request, and joyfully²⁰ resumed his walk down Broadway. 

1 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

2 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

3 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

4 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。

5 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

6 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

7 pickpocket   

n.扒手；v.扒窃

参考例句：

• The pickpocket pinched her purse and ran away.扒手偷了她的皮夹子跑了。
• He had his purse stolen by a pickpocket.他的钱包被掏了。

8 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

9 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

10 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

11 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

12 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。

13 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

16 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

17 prospered   

成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Mr. Black prospered from his wise investments. 布莱克先生由于巧妙的投资赚了不少钱。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

20 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。