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CHAPTER X. MISS SCRIMP’S CURIOSITY.
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Little Jessie Albemarle always had the door-bell to answer, even if she was making beds in the top story of the house, when she heard it, for Miss Scrimp considered it beneath her dignity to go to the door when she was able to keep a cook and a house-servant. Moreover, she was seldom dressed for appearance at the door except when ready to go to market or the time arrived when she could watch her hungry boarders from the accustomed seat at the head of the long table in her dining-room.
 
And Jessie heard a sharp, sudden ring thrice repeated, only a week later than when she had answered the postman’s ring before for Hattie Butler’s California letter, and she knew by the peculiar1 ring who was there. She bounded down stairs two or three steps at a jump, and passed Miss Scrimp on the landing at the head of the first stairs where she usually posted herself to listen when any one came to the door.
 
The postman handed her a letter, and Jessie, at a glance, saw that it was for Miss Hattie Butler—was postmarked in California and sealed with red wax with that strange device—two hearts pierced with an arrow.
 
Scarcely was the door shut when Miss Scrimp screamed out, in her usual shrill2 tone:
 
“You, Jess! who is that letter for?”
 
“Miss Hattie Butler, ma’am,” said Jess, meekly3. “Sha’n’t I keep it and give it to her when she comes?”
 
[46]
 
“No, bring it here this minute!”
 
Jess went slowly up stairs, and reluctantly handed the letter over to her mistress. She had given her letters before, which she knew never reached those to whom they were directed. And the poor little servant loved Hattie Butler, and could not bear that she should be wronged.
 
Miss Scrimp looked at her letter.
 
“It’s from Californy again,” she muttered. “There’s somethin’ strange in so many letters comin’ to that gal4 from Californy.” Then she turned to Jessie, and fixing, if she could fix, those cross-eyes on her, she said, in a whisper, a harsh, fierce whisper: “If you just breathe one whisper to a living soul about this letter a-comin’ here, I’ll pull the very ears off your frowsy head. I’m afeared some one is a-tryin’ to delude5 that sweet young cretur away, and I’m not a-goin’ to sit still and see it. No, it’s my Christian6 duty to take care of her, and I’m goin’ to do it. I’ll see who it is a-writin’ to her, and what he says.”
 
“Why, sure, ma’am, you wouldn’t keep Miss Hattie’s own letter from her?” asked Jessie, with unusual boldness.
 
“Yes, for her own good, I would. And now, mind you, don’t speak it to a living soul. If you do, I’ll whip you till you can’t squeal7!”
 
Miss Scrimp was one who never forgot such a promise, as poor Jessie knew to her sorrow. So she went back up stairs to her work, and Miss Scrimp darted8 into her own room with that letter.
 
She sat down near the dingy9 window, and looked at it, back and front, and examined it in every way to see if it was not possible to open it without breaking the seal.
 
[47]
 
But this could not be done. The seal must be broken, or the end of the envelope cut. Miss Scrimp hesitated before acting10 on either of these ideas. She had heard of a penalty attached to the crime of opening another person’s letter.
 
She didn’t care a pin for the crime, but she did care for the penalty. She was like the penitent11 thief. He was sorry to be caught stealing.
 
“I must know what is in this letter!” she muttered. “I can’t understand that girl. And she will never tell me anything. There’s a mystery about her, and for the life of me I can’t get at the bottom of it. But I will—I will, if I die for it. Jess will never dare tell her about this letter. I’d skin her alive if she did. I’ll open it, and know who she has got in Californy, and what he wants.”
 
With a desperate twitch12 she ran her dirty thumb-nail under the crease13 of the envelope, near the end of the letter, tore it open, and took out a half sheet of note-paper.
 
It had neither date nor place of dating at its head. The letter was composed of but two lines. She read them over aloud:
 
“My darling, every pledge is kept. Wealth is gained. Let me come to you!”
 
There was no signature—not a clew. The handwriting was elegant, but even the sex of the writer could not be determined14 by that.
 
If ever a woman was madly disappointed, that woman was Miss Scrimp.
 
Literally15 she had run all her risk for nothing. And her curiosity now was excited a thousandfold. What pledges had been kept by the one who dare call Hattie Butler darling? Wealth had been[48] gained, but whose was it? That the writer wanted to come to Hattie was certain. But who was that writer? Miss Scrimp would have given her false hair and teeth to know. Yes, or she would have fed her boarders on turkey for a week if she could have gotten old and tough ones at half price.
 
If she had only known who to write to, or even to telegraph to, an answer would have gone back, signed: “Come along soon as you can—Hattie Butler.”
 
But Hattie would not have known it. Miss Scrimp, mean as she was, would have spent five dollars for telegraphing in a moment if she could by that have got to the bottom of the mystery which so terribly worried her.
 
Little did she dream, while in this turmoil16 of disappointment, that a pair of gleeful eyes were fairly dancing over her too evident annoyance17; for Jessie Albemarle, after going noisily up stairs, as if to her work, had crept down as slyly as a mouse, and peeping through the key-hole, had been a witness to the opening of the letter.
 
And when she saw Miss Scrimp put the letter under a book on a shelf near her bed, the brave little friend of Hattie Butler determined that, even though the seal was broken, the letter should reach its proper owner.
 
“She’ll go down to cut their slices of bread and meat for supper, and then I’ll get it,” said Jessie to herself. “She will never let me cut the bread or meat for fear I’ll cut too thick, or maybe eat a bite or two while I’m cutting ’em. But Miss Hattie is so good to me that I will help her, and she shall have her letter whether I get whipped for it or not.”
 
[49]
 
And the little heroine went back to her work as silently as she had left it, with her little plan fully18 arranged.
 
And Miss Scrimp, having hidden the letter, was pondering in perplexity over its meaning. She had been often exercised over the secrets of her boarders, but never so badly as now.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
2 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
3 meekly meekly     
adv.温顺地,逆来顺受地
参考例句:
  • He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时,他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 gal 56Zy9     
n.姑娘,少女
参考例句:
  • We decided to go with the gal from Merrill.我们决定和那个从梅里尔来的女孩合作。
  • What's the name of the gal? 这个妞叫什么?
5 delude lmEzj     
vt.欺骗;哄骗
参考例句:
  • You won't delude him into believing it.你不能诱使他相信此事。
  • Don't delude yourself into believing that she will marry you.不要自欺,别以为她会嫁给你。
6 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
7 squeal 3Foyg     
v.发出长而尖的声音;n.长而尖的声音
参考例句:
  • The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
  • There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时,车闸发出尖叫声。
8 darted d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248     
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 dingy iu8xq     
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的
参考例句:
  • It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
  • The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。
10 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
11 penitent wu9ys     
adj.后悔的;n.后悔者;忏悔者
参考例句:
  • They all appeared very penitent,and begged hard for their lives.他们一个个表示悔罪,苦苦地哀求饶命。
  • She is deeply penitent.她深感愧疚。
12 twitch jK3ze     
v.急拉,抽动,痉挛,抽搐;n.扯,阵痛,痉挛
参考例句:
  • The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
  • I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。
13 crease qo5zK     
n.折缝,褶痕,皱褶;v.(使)起皱
参考例句:
  • Does artificial silk crease more easily than natural silk?人造丝比天然丝更易起皱吗?
  • Please don't crease the blouse when you pack it.包装时请不要将衬衫弄皱了。
14 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
15 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
参考例句:
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
16 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
17 annoyance Bw4zE     
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼
参考例句:
  • Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气?
  • I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。
18 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。


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