Indeed, the supper gong had not been pounded by Sister, and some of the young men were grouped impatiently in the half-lighted parlor3.
Through the swinging door into the steaming kitchen Hiram saw a huge black woman waddling4 about the range, and heard her husky voice berating5 Sister for not moving faster. Chloe only appeared when a catastrophe6 happened at the boarding-house—and a catastrophe meant the removal of Mrs. Atterson from her usual orbit.
“She's gone to the funeral. That Uncle Jeptha of hern is dead,” whispered Sister in Hiram's ear when she put his soup in front of him.
“Ah-ha!” observed Mr. Crackit, eyeing Hiram with his head on one side, “secrets, eh? Inside information of what's in the pudding sauce?”
Nothing went right at the boarding-house during the next two days. And for Hiram Strong nothing seemed to go right anywhere!
He demanded—and got the permission, with another ten-cent tax—another hour off to visit the market. But he found nobody who would hire a boy at once. Some of the farmers doubted if he knew as much about farm-work as he claimed to know. He was, after all, a boy, and some of them would not believe that he had even worked in the country.
Affairs at the Emporium were getting strained, too. Daniel Dwight was as shrewd a man as the next one. He saw plainly that his junior clerk was getting ready—like the many who had gone before him—for a flitting.
He knew the signs of discontent, although Hiram prided himself on doing his work just as well as ever.
Then, there was a squabble with Dan, Junior. The imp2 was always underfoot on Saturdays. He was supposed to help—to run errands, and take out in a basket certain orders to nearby customers who might be in a hurry.
But usually when you wanted the boy he was in the alley7 pitching buttons with loafing urchins8 of his own kind—“alley rats” his father angrily called them—or leading a predatory gang of the same unsavory companions in raids on other stores in the neighborhood.
And Dan, Junior “had it in” for Hiram. He had not forgiven the bigger boy for pitching him into the puddle9.
“An' them was my best clo'es, and now maw says I've got to wear 'em just the same on Sunday, and they're shrunk and stained,” snarled10 the younger Dan, hovering11 about Hiram as the latter re-dressed the fruit stand during a moment's let-up in the Saturday morning rush. “Gimme an orange.”
“What! At five cents apiece?” exclaimed Hiram. “Guess not. Go look in the basket under the bench; maybe there's a specked one there.”
“Nope. Dad took 'em all home last night and maw cut out the specks12 and sliced 'em for supper. Gimme a good orange.”
“Ask your father,” said Hiram.
“Naw, I won't!” declared young Dwight, knowing very well what his father's answer would be.
“Let that alone, Dan!” cried Hiram, and seized the youngster by the wrist.
Dan, Junior, was a wiry little scamp, and he twisted and turned, and kicked and squalled, and Hiram was just wrenching14 the orange from his hand when Mr. Dwight came to the door.
“What's this? What's this?” he demanded. “Fighting, are ye? Why don't you tackle a fellow of your own size, Hi Strong?”
“I've a mind to turn you over to a policeman, Hiram,” cried “Mr. Dwight, That's what I've a mind to do.”
“I suppose you'll discharge me first, won't you?” suggested Hiram, scornfully.
“You can come in and git your money right now, young man,” said the proprietor16 of the Emporium. “Dan! let them oranges alone. And don't you go away from here. I'll want you all day to-day. I shall be short-handed with this young scalawag leaving me in the lurch17 like this.”
It had come so suddenly that Hiram almost lost his breath. He had part of his wish, that was sure. He was not likely to work for Daniel Dwight any longer.
The old man led the way back to his office. He had a little pile of money already counted out upon the desk. It was plain that he had intended quarreling with Hiram and getting rid of him at this time, for he had the young fellow's wages figured up to t hat very hour—and twenty cents deducted19 for the two hours Hiram had had “off.”
“But that isn't fair. I'm willing to work to the end of the day. I ought to get my wages in full for the week, save for the twenty cents,” said Hiram mildly.
To tell the truth, now that he had lost his job—unpleasant as it had been—Hiram was more than a little troubled. He was indeed about to be cast adrift.
“You'll git jest that sum, and not a cent more,” declared Mr. Dwight, sharply. “And if you start any trouble here I'll call in the officer on the beat—yes, I will! I don't know but I ought to deduct18 the cost of Dan, Junior's, spoiled suit, too. He says you an' he was skylarkin' on Sunday and that's how he fell into the water.”
Hiram had no answer to make to this. What was the use? He took the money, slipped it into his pocket, and went out.
He did not linger around the Emporium. Nor was he scarcely out of sight when a man driving a span of handsome bay horses halted his team before the store, jumped out, and went in.
“Are you the proprietor of Dwight's Emporium?” asked the man in the gray coat and hat, in his hearty20 tones. “You are? Glad to meet you! I'm looking for a young man who works for you.”
“Who's that? What do you want of him?” asked Dan, Senior, doubtfully, and rubbing his hand, for the stranger's grip had been as hearty as his voice.
The other laughed in his jovial21 way. “Why, to tell the truth, I don't know his name. I didn't ask him. He's not much more than a boy—a sturdy youngster with a quick way with him. He did me a service the other evening and I wanted to see him.”
“There ain't any boy working here,” snapped Mr. Dwight. “Them's all the clerks I got behind the counter—and there ain't one of 'em under thirty, I'll be bound.”
“That's so,” admitted the stranger. “And although it was so dark I could not see that fellow's face, and I didn't ask his name, I am sure he was young.”
“I jest discharged the only boy I had—and scamp enough he was,” snarled Mr. Dwight. “If you were looking for him, you'd have been sorry to find him. I didn't know but I'd have to send for a policeman to git him off the premises22.”
“What—what?”
“That's what I tell you. He was a bad egg. Mebbe he's the boy you want—but you won't get no good of him when you find him. And I've no idea where he's to be found now,” and the old man turned his back on the man in the gray coat and went into his office.
The stranger climbed back into his buggy and took up the lines again with a preoccupied23 headshake.
“Now, I promised Lettie,” he muttered, “that I'd find out all about that boy—and maybe bring him home with me. Funny that man gave his such a bad character. Wish I could have seen the lad's face the other night—that would have told the story.
“Well,” and he dismissed the matter with a sigh, for he was busy man, “if he's got my card, and he is out of a job, perhaps he'll look me up. Then we'll see.”
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收听单词发音
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1
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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4
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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berating
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| v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的现在分词 ) | |
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catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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7
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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puddle
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| n.(雨)水坑，泥潭 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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11
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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12
specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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15
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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deducted
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| v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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