CHAPTER XXIX. REUNITED.

Miss Scrimp was in her dining-room, looking to the lay-out of the table for the boarders when they came to supper, which would be in an hour or thereabout.

 

Little Jessie, ever neat as far as she could be in her person, now looked really pretty, for her new eight-cent calico dress, though bought at a slop-shop, fitted her slight and childish form perfectly¹, and she had combed out her dark curling hair until it looked like flosses of raven² silk. The very pallor of her little face made her dark, mournful eyes more beautiful.

 

The girl was setting the table, assisted a little now and then by Biddy Lanigan, who cut the bread and meat, and Miss Scrimp was superintending it all, when she heard a carriage rattle³ up to the door, and a moment later heard the door-bell ring.

 

Miss Scrimp had not yet changed her dress for evening, or put on her false curls. She thought Mr. W—— might be in that carriage, as he had been before when a carriage stopped with Hattie, and to be seen by him, without her curls, would never do.

 

So she said to Jessie:

 

“Run to the door, and see who is there, while I run up stairs and change my dress. If it is anybody to see me, ask ’em right into the parlor⁴ and light the gas there, for ’twill soon be dark enough to need it, and I look my best in gas-light.”

 

Jessie opened the door, and a glad cry broke from her lips when she saw Hattie standing⁵ there, and[141] though two ladies and an elderly gentleman stood on the steps also, she paid no heed⁶ to them, but cried out:

 

“Oh, dear, good Miss Hattie, is it you? See my new dress. It is the first I have had in such a long, long time. If any one wants to see Miss Scrimp, I’m to take ’em right into the parlor and light up the gas. She has gone up stairs to fix up.”

 

“We’ll go into the parlor, dear; there are those with me who wish to see Miss Scrimp, and you, too. Run and light the gas.”

 

Jessie ran in, and Mrs. Emory, grasping Hattie’s arm, gasped⁷ out:

 

“You need not tell me who she is; my heart spoke⁸ the instant I saw her. It is my child—my blessed child!”

 

“Be calm—come in the parlor, dear madam, and let me break it to Jessie, or the poor girl will almost die in her joy. She has had a hard life here. She looks scarcely fourteen, yet she is two years older.”

 

“That is true,” said the matron of the asylum⁹; “we have the date of her coming registered.”

 

The three ladies and Mr. Legare entered the parlor just as the blaze of the gas in three-bracket jets came flashing out.

 

Jessie turned, and Hattie said, as she stood there with a wondering look in her face:

 

“Jessie, do you want to be very, very happy? I have brought a lady here who will love you so, so much if you will only let her.”

 

Jessie looked at Hattie, then at Mrs. Emory, whose eyes began to fill, and, with a wild cry, sprang half way toward the latter.

 

“Oh, Miss Hattie!” she cried; “tell me—isn’t this[142] the mother, the dear mother I’ve dreamed about so long—so long?”

 

“It is! it is! Jessie, my child, my love, come to my arms!” cried Mrs. Emory, tears of joy rushing in a flood from her eyes.

 

In a second mother and daughter sobbed¹¹ in each other’s arms.

 

Mr. Legare wept, too, and even the matron of the asylum, hardened to many a scene like this, stood with her handkerchief to her eyes.

 

Hattie alone, hearing a shuffling¹² and well-known step coming down the stairs, kept her composure, for she knew she would need it all.

 

“Sakes alive! What’s goin’ on here? Who is that that’s a-cryin’ over my bound-girl?” cried Miss Scrimp, addressing Hattie, the only one who confronted her.

 

“Hush¹³, woman! This scene is too sacred for you to intrude¹⁴ upon,” said Hattie, sternly. “There a mother, a loving mother, weeps in joy over her long lost child, restored at last by the blessing¹⁵ of God to her bosom¹⁶.”

 

“Her child? Why, it’s Jess—my bound-girl!” sneered¹⁷ Miss Scrimp.

 

“Woman, she is your bound-girl no longer,” said the matron of the asylum. “You deceived us when once before we came here to find her, and falsely said she had run away from you. Now, we, who have the right, annul¹⁸ the indentures¹⁹, and restore her to her mother.”

 

“It sha’n’t be!” screamed Miss Scrimp. “She’s mine by law, and I’ll have her, if I have to call in all the police in the ward¹⁰.”

 

“One word more, one single threat, and I will call the police to arrest you, and never pause in my[143] prosecution²⁰ until you rest inside a prison’s bars, there to stay for years, as you deserve.”

 

Miss Scrimp shivered from head to foot when she heard those words, for she had for an instant forgotten that she was wholly in the power of Miss Butler.

 

“Oh, oh!” she sobbed, “this is the way my help is to be taken from me after I’ve clothed and fed her for years.”

 

“Starved and abused her, you mean—say not fed and clothed. She has fed on scraps²¹, slept on rags, and if I must be a witness you will suffer now for what you’ve done to her!” cried Hattie, too angry to care to shield the wretched spinster in the least.

 

“Oh, hush! Don’t tell her that!” gasped Miss Scrimp, for, as Mrs. Emory turned toward her, she recognized the lady she had sent away with a falsehood when that lady came asking for Jessie Albemarle.

 

“Miss Butler, you dear, blessed angel, will you come home with Jessie and me? Come as her sister and my child!” cried Mrs. Emory, taking no more notice of Miss Scrimp than she would have done of a plaster cast of some poor politician.

 

“I cannot go with you to-night, Mrs. Emory, but to-morrow I will go to see you and your dear little daughter. To-night you want her all to yourself, and I have some writing which I must do.”

 

“Then, dear Miss Hattie, I will wait till to-morrow to say what I cannot say now to you, for my heart is too full. Come, Jessie—come, brother—let us go. The matron will go with us; we will leave her at the asylum as we go.”

 

Jessie ran and kissed Hattie over and over, and[144] then turned and fixed²² a bitter look of hatred²³ on Miss Scrimp.

 

“You’ve whipped me for the last time, you toothless old brute²⁴; you can wait on the table now yourself.”

 

“Come, Jessie; it is unworthy of you to notice her now. Come, my darling.”

 

And Mrs. Emory took her child by the hand, and, followed by Mr. Legare and the matron, went out to the carriage—Jessie in just the clothes she had on when they met, without bonnet²⁵ or shawl.

 

And Miss Scrimp, speechless with impotent anger, helpless in her rage, stood and saw them go, and saw Hattie kiss Jessie and her mother in the carriage, and then saw it drive off, and many of the boarders, just coming, saw it, too, but not yet did they understand it all.

 

“I s’pose I’m to thank you for all this,” said Miss Scrimp, her cross-eyes fairly green as she snapped her words short off, speaking to Hattie.

 

“If you thank me for anything thank me for the mercy which yet keeps you out of prison,” said Hattie, quietly.

 

“I’d like to kill you!” hissed²⁶ the spinster.

 

“No doubt you would if you dared. But there is an eye on you which protects me. So beware.”

 

Miss Scrimp shivered from head to foot, and looked all around her as if she feared the hand of arrest to be laid upon her.

 

Yet Hattie had alluded²⁷ to that “All-seeing eye,” which is never closed.

 

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

3 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

4 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

7 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 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。

9 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

10 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

11 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

12 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

14 intrude   

vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰

参考例句：

• I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
• I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。

15 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

16 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

17 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

18 annul   

v.宣告…无效，取消，废止

参考例句：

• They have the power to alter or annul inappropriate decisions of their own standing committees.他们有权改变或者撤销本级人民代表大会常务委员会不适当的决定。
• The courts later found grounds to annul the results,after the king urged them to sort out the "mess".在国王敦促法庭收拾烂摊子后，法庭随后宣布废除选举结果。

19 indentures   

vt.以契约束缚（indenture的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Occasionally a girl of intelligence andwould insist on the fulfilled of the terms of her indentures. 偶尔也有个把聪明、倔强的姑娘坚决要求履行合同上的规定。 来自互联网

20 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

21 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

22 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

23 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

24 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

25 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

26 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

27 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。