CHAPTER 38. AN IMPORTANT DISPATCH.

When Edward W—— got home that night he found two angry girls up to meet him. His sisters, Flotie and Anna, their dark eyes flashing, each with an “extra” in her hand, met him as he entered the sitting-room¹ in his usual quiet way.

 

“So! So, Master Ned! you think you can keep a secret from us, don’t you?” cried Flotie, shaking the paper in his face.

 

“Yes; we asked you if the ‘G. E. L.’ who was wanted to go to a dying mother wasn’t your Hattie Butler, and here she turns out a heroine on a Boston steamer. Oh, you hypocrite! you knew all about her going all the time.”

 

“Yes, I’ll wager² a box of gloves you did,” said Flotie.

 

“Now, own up, and we’ll forgive you,” said Anna, in a coaxing³ tone.

 

“What do you want me to own up, sis?”

 

“That G. E. L. and Hattie Butler are one and the same,” said Flotie. “You needn’t deny it, for we’re sure of it.”

 

“Well, if it will make you any happier, let it go so.”

 

“And that you knew she was going on that very boat,” added Anna.

 

“If that will set your mind any more at ease, I knew it.”

 

“Then why didn’t you tell us last night?” said Flotie, and her big black eyes fairly snapped.

 

“And why did you leave it just to chance for us to[186] find it out? We saw you buy an extra, and call a cab, and drive off like mad up town, and we each got one; and so you see you are caught, Master Edward.”

 

“So it appears. Have you done with your catechism? If so I’ll go to my room and prepare for rest.”

 

“We’re not done yet,” said Flotie. “What name do the initials G. E. L. stand for?”

 

“I do not know.”

 

“Brother Edward, that fib will never do. If you know a part of her secret you know all.”

 

“You are very much mistaken, my sister. I know but little, very little, of Miss Butler or her life beyond the bindery, and the little I do know she has given me confidentially⁴, and so it will be kept.”

 

“Very well, sir. Good-night. You can go to bed without your kiss.”

 

“The punishment is severe, sister dear, but I submit.”

 

And Edward marched away to his room smiling, while his sisters pouted⁵, yet wanted to call him back for the kiss of affection which never was forgotten when they were about to separate for the night.

 

The next morning Mr. W—— rose unusually early, took his coffee and a slice of toast, and left the house on his way to the bindery before his sisters were up.

 

He bought a paper at the nearest news-stand, and while riding down town in a street car read a long and well-written narrative⁶ of a sub-editor’s experience in a storm.

 

The heroism⁷ of Miss Hattie Butler, and the modesty⁸ which made her refuse to be interviewed or in any way recompensed for what she had done, was[187] commented on in brilliant terms. She had done this incalculable service, and then completely withdrawn⁹ from notice, and no one knew whither she had gone.

 

“It was so like her.”

 

That was all Mr. W—— said. But in it he paid her the highest compliment.

 

He found, on his arrival at the bindery, all who had come, the foreman and a good part of the hands, in a great state of excitement.

 

They had all seen either the extras of the day before, or got the morning papers. And the question among them all was, was the Hattie Butler alluded¹⁰ to the one who worked in the bindery. None of them, not even the foreman, had known of her leaving town, for Mr. W——, on Saturday night, had not thought it necessary to speak of it, and would not have done so now, except to his foreman, but for the questions of his work-people.

 

But now, with a pride he had no wish to control, he told them it was their Hattie Butler—that she had been suddenly called away to the bedside of a sick relative in Boston, and that she was on the boat when she played the heroine so grandly.

 

It was a wonder to see how proud those poor shop-workers felt. That one of their own class, as they regarded her, should suddenly become so famous, seemed like an individual triumph to each of them.

 

“Is Mr. Edward W—— here?” cried a messenger-boy, rushing up to the door. “Here’s a dispatch from Boston—marked private and very important!”

 

1 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

2 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

3 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

4 confidentially   

ad.秘密地，悄悄地

参考例句：

• She was leaning confidentially across the table. 她神神秘秘地从桌子上靠过来。
• Kao Sung-nien and Wang Ch'u-hou talked confidentially in low tones. 高松年汪处厚两人低声密谈。

5 pouted   

v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her lips pouted invitingly. 她挑逗地撮起双唇。
• I pouted my lips at him, hinting that he should speak first. 我向他努了努嘴，让他先说。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

8 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

9 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

10 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。