On the morning after the meeting the happiest man in all Barton was the Reverend Jonas Wedgewell. He had been one of the first to agitate1 the subject of a grand temperance demonstration2; in fact, he had, while preaching the funeral sermon of a young man who had been drowned while drunk, prophesied3 that the sad event which had on that occasion drawn4 his hearers together would give a mighty5 impetus6 to the temperance movement; then like a sensible, matter-of-fact prophet, he exerted himself to the uttermost that his prophecy might be fulfilled. He subscribed7 liberally to the fund which paid for advertising8 the meeting; he labored9 personally a full hour with the performer on the big drum, and ended by persuading him to forego a coon-hunt on that particular night, that he might take part in a hunt for nobler game. The Reverend Jonas had drafted all the pledges which were circulated during the meeting, and had seen to it[14] that they contained no weak or ungrammatic expressions which might tempt10 thirsty souls to treat disrespectfully the documents and the principles they embodied12. He had reached the church door at the third tap of the bell, had greeted all his reverend brethren with a hearty13 shake with both his own hands, and had offered the Reverend Timotheus Brown so many pertinent14 suggestions as to the prayer which that gentleman had been requested to make that the ancient divine remarked, with a touch of saintly sarcasm15, that he did not consider that the occasion justified16 him in making a departure from his habit of offering strictly17 original prayers.
Through the whole course of the meeting good Pastor18 Wedgewell sat expectantly on the extreme end of the pulpit sofa, his body inclined a little forward, his hands upon his knees, his eyes gleaming brightly through polished glasses, and his whole pose suggesting the most intense earnestness. He discerned a telling point before its verbal expression was fully11 completed, his hands commenced to applaud the moment the point was announced; his varnished19 boots and well-stored head beat time alike to “Lily Dale,” the march from “Norma,” “Sweet[15] Spirit, hear my prayer,” and such other airs as the band was not ashamed to play in public; he sprang from his seat and approvingly patted the youthful backs of the pretended drunkard and his mother, he laughed almost hysterically20 at the wit of the lecturer, and moistened handkerchief after handkerchief as the able speaker depicted21 the sad results of drunkenness. While the pledges were being circulated, the reverend man occupied a position which raked the house, and he was the first to announce to the faithful in the front seats the capture of any drinking man. He intercepted22 Tom Lyker, a tin-shop apprentice23, who had signed the pledge, in the aisle24, immediately after the audience was dismissed, and suggested that they should together hold a season of prayer in the study attached to the church; and the rather curt25 manner in which the repentant26 but not altogether regenerate28 Thomas declined the invitation did not abash29 the holy man in the least; for, as the audience finally dispersed30, he secured a few faithful ones, with whom he adjourned31 to the study, and enjoyed what he afterward32 referred to as a precious season.
Mrs. Wedgewell, who rendered but feeble reverence33 unto him who was at once her spouse34 and her[16] spiritual adviser35, had been known to say that when the old gentleman was wound up there was no knowing when he would run down again; and all who saw the good man on the morning after the meeting, admitted that his wife’s simile36 was an uncommonly37 apt one. Squire38 Tomple believed so fully in the advantages of the early bird over all others in search of sustenance39, that his store was always opened at sunrise; yet George Doughty40 had just taken the third shutter41 from the front window, when a gentle tap on the shoulder caused him to drop the rather heavy board upon his toes. As he wrathfully turned himself, he beheld42 the approving countenance43 and extended congratulatory hand of the Reverend Wedgewell.
“George, my dear, my noble young friend,” said he, as the irate44 youth squeezed his agonized45 toes, “you have performed a most noble and meritorious46 action—an action which you will never have cause to regret.”
For a moment or two the young man’s face said many things not seemly to express in appropriate words to a clergyman; but he finally recovered his sense of politeness, and replied:
“I hope I shan’t repent27 of it, but I don’t know.[17] It may be noble and meritorious to sign the pledge, but a fellow needs to have twenty times as much man in him to keep it.”
“Now you don’t mean to say, George, that you’ll allow such a vile47 appetite to regain48 its ascendency over you?” pleaded the preacher.
“’Tisn’t a vile appetite,” quickly replied the young man. “I need whisky as much as I need bread and butter—yes, and a great deal more, too. I have to open the store at sunrise, and keep it open till nine o’clock and after, have to make myself agreeable to anywhere from two to twenty people at a time, sell all I can, watch people who will steal the minute your eye is off of them, not let anybody feel neglected, and see that I get cash from everybody who isn’t good pay. When there isn’t anybody here, I’ve got to keep the books, see that the stock don’t run down in spots, and stir up people that are slow pay. The only way I can do it all is by taking something to help me. I hate whisky—I’m going to try to leave it alone; but I tell you, Dominie, it’s going to be one of the biggest fights you ever knew a young man to go into.”
The reverend listener was as easily depressed49 as he was exalted50, and Doughty’s short speech had the[18] effect of greatly elongating51 the minister’s countenance. Yet he had a great deal of that pertinacity52 which is as necessary to soldiers of the cross as it is to those of the bayonet; so he began manfully to search his mind for some weapon or means of defense53 which the clerk could use. Suddenly his countenance brightened, his benevolent54 eyes enlarged behind his glasses, and he exclaimed:
“Just the thing! My dear young friend, the hand of Providence55 is in this matter. Your worthy56 employer was the chairman of our meeting last night; certainly he will be glad to give you such assistance as shall lessen57 the amount of your labors58. Here he comes now. Let me manage this affair; I really ask it as a favor.”
“I’m much obliged, but I think—confound it!” ejaculated the young man, as his companion hastened out of earshot and buttonholed Squire Tomple. Half smiling and half frowning Doughty retired59 from the door, but took up a new position, from which he could see the couple. To the eyes of the clerk, his employer seemed a rock in his unchanging pose, while the old preacher, rich in many a grace not peculiar60 to country storekeepers, yet utterly61 ignorant of business and such of its perversions62 as[19] are called requirements, seemed a mere63 lamb—a fancy which was strengthened by the incessant64 gesturing and change of position in which he indulged when in conversation. The pair soon separated; the minister walked away, his step seeming not so exultant65 as when he approached the merchant; while the latter, appearing to his clerk to be broader, deeper, and more solid than ever, approached the store, lifted up his head, displayed the face he usually wore when he found he had made a bad debt, and said,
“George, I wish you wouldn’t try to talk about business to ministers. Old Wedgewell has just pestered66 me nearly to death; says you complain of having too much to do, and that you have to drink to keep up. It’ll be just like him to tell somebody else, and a pretty story that’ll be to go around about the chairman of a temperance meeting.”
“I didn’t mean to say anything to him,” replied the clerk; “but he made me drop a shutter on my toes, and I guess that loosened my tongue a little. I didn’t tell him anything but the truth, though, Squire. I signed the pledge, last night, hoping you’d help me through.”
“What—what do you mean, George?” asked[20] the merchant, in a tone which defined the word “conservative” more clearly than lexicographer67 ever did.
“I can’t work so many hours a day without drinking sometimes,” replied the clerk. “What I ask of you is to take a boy. If I could come in a couple of hours later every morning—and there’s next to nothing done in the first two hours of the day—I could have a decent amount of rest, not have to hurry so much, and wouldn’t break down so often, and have to go to whisky to be helped up again.”
“A boy would have to be paid,” remarked the Squire in the tone he habitually68 used when making a penitential speech in class-meeting; “and here’s summer-time coming; there isn’t much business done in summer, you know.”
“A boy won’t cost more than a dollar a week the first year,” replied the clerk, “and you’d make that out of the people who sometimes have to go somewhere else and trade on days when you’re not here and I’m too busy to wait on them. There isn’t so much money made in summer; but women come to the store then a good deal more than they do in the winter, and they take up an awful amount of time.[21] Besides, the store has to be opened about two hours earlier every morning than it does in winter.”
The merchant pinched his gloomy brow and reflected. Doughty looked at him without much hopefulness. The Squire’s heart might be all right, but his pocket-book was by far the more sensitive and controlling organ. At last the Squire said,
“Well, if it’s for your good that you want the boy, you ought to be willing to pay his salary. Besides——”
“Excuse me, Squire Tomple,” interrupted Doughty; “’tisn’t for my good alone. ‘Accursed be he who putteth the bottle to his brother’s lips.’ I’ve heard you quote that to more than one man right in this store. That’s what you’re doing to me if you keep on. You sell half as much again as any other storekeeper in town, and why? Because I am smart enough to hold custom. I haven’t cared to do anything else. I’ve given myself up to making and holding custom for you, and I took to whisky to keep me up to my work.”
“Well, haven’t I paid you for all you’ve done?” demanded the proprietor69.
“Yes; but now I ask you to pay a little more. I’ve told you why; and now the case stands just[22] here: which do you care for most, the price of a boy or the soul of your faithful clerk? You say a man’s soul’s in danger if he drinks.”
“Well, I’ll tell you, George,” replied the Squire, “I’ll think about it. I want to do what’s right; but I—I don’t like to have other people’s sins fastened on me.”
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1
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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9
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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11
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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13
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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14
pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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15
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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16
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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17
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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18
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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21
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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23
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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25
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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26
repentant
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| adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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28
regenerate
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| vt.使恢复，使新生；vi.恢复，再生；adj.恢复的 | |
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abash
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| v.使窘迫，使局促不安 | |
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30
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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31
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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36
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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38
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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39
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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40
doughty
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| adj.勇猛的，坚强的 | |
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41
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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42
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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43
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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44
irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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45
agonized
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| v.使（极度）痛苦，折磨( agonize的过去式和过去分词 )；苦斗；苦苦思索；感到极度痛苦 | |
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46
meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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47
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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48
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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49
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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50
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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51
elongating
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的现在分词 ) | |
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52
pertinacity
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| n.执拗，顽固 | |
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53
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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54
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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55
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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56
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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57
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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58
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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59
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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60
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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61
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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62
perversions
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| n.歪曲( perversion的名词复数 )；变坏；变态心理 | |
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63
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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64
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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65
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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66
pestered
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
lexicographer
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| n.辞典编纂人 | |
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68
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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69
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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