THE Corliss family were sadly in need of funds. There were the butcher and the baker1 and the candlestick-maker politely presenting their bills to the family recently arrived in Crowfield, suggesting in print and in writing and by word of mouth that “bills are payable2 monthly.” Now it was the end of the month, and there was no money to pay these same bills; for the expense of moving and settling in a new place had been heavy, and their small income had already disappeared.
“How much money is it that we need for immediate3 bills, Mother?” asked Dr. Corliss wearily. It always tired him to talk about money.
“Just about a hundred dollars would bridge us over nicely,” said his wife, with an anxious pucker4 in her forehead. “But I don’t see any sign of our getting that hundred dollars for a month to come. And then it will be needed for fresh bills.”
“Why, of course, you must take my hundred dollars that I found in Aunt Nan’s book,”[73] said Mary cheerfully, though it cost her a pang5 to think of using up her wonder-gift so soon in this way. “I’ll just take it out of the bank next Saturday morning.”
“I hate to touch that money of yours, Mary, even if we put it back for you when we can,” sighed her mother. “I hoped we could save that for your nest-egg toward a college fund. Let me think it over a bit longer. Perhaps something will happen to help us. Or I may think of some way to earn the money.”
They left discussion of the matter for that time. But they all took the troublesome problem away with them into their daily tasks.
“It is a shame for Mary to have to give up her hundred dollars,” thought John. “I wish I could help earn some money so that she needn’t do it. If I was in the city I could sell papers or something. But what can I do here when I have to go to school every day? School takes up such a lot of time!”
John sighed as he swung his books over his shoulder and started off for school. All day he thought about that needed money; and it was in his mind when he turned in at the gate that night.
“I wish I was clever and could think up something,”[74] said John to Caliban, who was sitting on the top step looking at him when John came in. “I wonder you don’t help us, Caliban. Come, now, can’t you think of something, old witch-cat?”
Caliban did not seem to mind being spoken to in this impolite way. But he did look at John in a fashion that the boy thought very knowing, and he did unmistakably wink7 one eye.
“Miaou!” said Caliban, and he turned his back on John, and began to walk upstairs.
John was going upstairs too; so he followed Caliban, who, however, hopped8 three steps at a time, while John could only take two with his short legs. When they reached the top of the flight, Caliban looked about to see if John was still following him. John had not meant to do so, but when he saw Caliban turn and look, with that queer expression in his green eyes, John had an idea.
“Maybe he wants me to follow him,” said he to himself. He tossed his books on to a chair and tiptoed after the big black cat. Caliban ambled9 unconcernedly along the hall and suddenly darted10 up the attic11 stairs. “Hello!” said John, with a whistle under his breath. “What is Caliban up to now? I thought he never went[75] far from Mary’s library. But, I declare, he is coaxing12 me to follow him up into the attic! You bet I’ll follow you, old boy!”
John had never paid much attention to the attic. He had looked into it, of course. But it was so dark and dusty and cobwebby that it was not much fun poking13 about up there. Since their first visit the family had not been there except to store away some of Aunt Nan’s superfluous14 old furniture and ornaments15.
If the house had seemed like a museum to the family when they first entered it, this attic looked like a junk-shop. Every corner was filled with furniture, boxes, bundles, strange garments hanging from hooks, bales bursting with mysterious contents. Away back in the dusty corners, where it was so dark that John’s eye could not distinguish, bulked other dim shapes.
Caliban walked across the floor in a furtive16 fashion, then suddenly made a dive into a distant dark corner, where John immediately heard a scurrying17 and scratching.
“He’s after a mouse!” thought John excitedly. And he, too, dived into the darkness after the cat, who had disappeared. But Caliban had scuttled18 into some hole too small for John to enter. John could hear him still scratching and[76] sniffing19. And an occasional squeak20 betrayed the misfortune of some long-tailed dweller21 in the garret that Caliban had taken by surprise.
John got down on his hands and knees the better to investigate that corner. But still he could not spy the cat and his prey22. He only bumped his nose against the low beams, and got his mouth full of cobwebs. But in that dark hiding-place he came upon an unexpected thing. This was something that at first he took to be a bicycle. But he soon found by feeling of it that there was but one wheel, and that it was made of wood. At one end was a curious bunch of what felt like long hair; it made John shudder23. But presently he remembered.
“It must be a spinning-wheel,” said John to himself. “I remember seeing one in the picture of Priscilla and John Alden.” Just then he bumped his head on something hard. “What is this great long-handled pan?” he said. “I’ve seen those in the curiosity shops, too. Hello! Here’s a cradle, the kind that rocks. I’ve seen those in pictures. And here’s a pair of andirons. My! this is a regular old curiosity shop. These things must be worth a lot of money.”
Then a sudden wonderful idea popped into John’s head. “Why can’t we sell them, if they[77] are worth a lot of money? Why, of course we can sell them, and save Mary’s hundred dollars! Maybe that is just what old Caliban knew, when he coaxed24 me to follow him up here. Say, you old rascal25, where are you? Here, ’Ban! ’Ban! Come on out and let me see what you think about it!”
But Caliban had disappeared with his mouse, or whatever it was, which had ceased to squeak. And there was nothing but darkness and silence in the old attic beside the little boy and that strange litter of ancient things.
John looked around and shivered. “I guess I’ll be going,” he said. “I won’t stop to examine anything more. They all belong to Mother. I’ll let her do the looking-up. I’ll run down and tell her what I’ve found.”
And hurrying as fast as he could out of the dark corner, where the cobwebs and the dust were trying to keep intruders away from the old things to which they clung, John made for the attic stairs. Two or three times he thought he heard strange noises behind him, and he couldn’t go fast enough. Probably it was Caliban still scratching in some dark subway under the rafters. But John had no wish to stop and investigate. He came clattering26 down the stairs, and burst into his mother’s room.
[78]“Mother!” he cried, “I’ve found something!”
“Goodness, John!” she said. “What a dirty face you have, and your eyebrows27 are all cobwebby. Where in the world have you been, and what have you found?”
“I’ve found things up in the attic!” exclaimed John triumphantly28. “Caliban showed me the way. It was all his doings. I think he did it on purpose—to help Mary.”
“To help Mary! What in the world do you mean?” cried Mrs. Corliss. “Have you found a treasure, John, or some more mysterious secrets?”
“Well, no, not exactly,” confessed John, somewhat crestfallen29. “Unless we make it a secret. I’d like that. But I think it’s a nice surprise, Mumsie, and I think it will save some of Mary’s hundred dollars. Mother,—all the furniture belongs to you, doesn’t it?”
“Why, yes, Johnny,” she answered, wondering. “Why do you ask?”
“Because,” said John importantly, “I have been snooping around the attic, Mumsie, and I think there are a lot of things you can sell.”
“What kind of things do you mean, John?” she asked, looking interested.
“Why, you know, Mother,” said John, “there’s[79] a lot of old truck in the corners up there that looks just like the stuff we used to see in the curiosity shops in the city. I didn’t look very far, Mumsie, ’cause it was so—well, so dirty in there. But there’s wheels and andirons and things that I bet are worth lots of money!”
“Are there, John?” said Mrs. Corliss. “How clever of you to think of it! I never dreamed of looking in Aunt Nan’s attic to find the way out of our difficulty. Perhaps this is the solution!”
“It’s Caliban’s idea,” said John, wishing to be fair and not to claim too much credit, but feeling well pleased with himself, just the same.
“Let’s go up right away and see what we can find; shall we, John?” said his mother. “I can’t wait!”
“All right,” agreed John. “But you’d better take a candle, Mumsie. It’s terribly dark and spooky up there. And noises sound louder in the dark.”
Back to the garret they went, Mrs. Corliss as eager as John. And into those dark corners which had been undisturbed for many, many years they shed the light of their blinking, inquisitive30 candle. Mrs. Corliss was more thorough than John had cared to be. She untied31 strings32, and lifted lids of trunks, and unwrapped[80] coverings. Out of chests and bundles and crates33 they dragged things that had been waiting through generations of Aunt Nan’s ancestors for some one to make them useful; things that had been discarded or pushed back still farther in order to make room for her whims34 and “jokes.”
Besides the old spinning-wheel, andirons, and warming-pan, they found parts of a four-post bedstead, a tall clock, and many quaint35 chairs. They unearthed36 a hair trunk, foot-warmers, mirrors, crockery, and lamps with prisms dangling37; shawls and bonnets38 and carpet-bags. All of these things were old and most of them were ugly. But Mrs. Corliss knew that they would look beautiful to many persons, just because they were old; which seemed to John a strange reason.
When they had brought all this old stuff together in the middle of the attic floor, Mrs. Corliss looked about and smiled through a face-veil of dusty cobwebs.
“Well, John!” she said, “I believe my part of the legacy39 is not to be laughed at, either. We don’t want to keep these old things, for they have no history for us and they are not beautiful in themselves—the only two excuses I see for cherishing useless old things. Luckily[81] there are plenty of people who think differently. I’ll go up to town to-morrow with a list of what you and I have found, and see what I can get for them at some reliable antique shop. Let’s keep it a secret, and surprise your father and Mary, if we have good luck with the venture. Shall we?”
“Let’s!” cried John, clapping his hands.
Just then out of the darkness crept Caliban, licking his chops, and looking very sly.
“Now, don’t you go and tell Mary, Caliban!” charged John. “For this is our secret. You let me into it yourself, and you’ve got to be our partner now. Don’t you dare even to purr about it!”
Caliban did not promise; but he trotted40 downstairs before them very discreetly41. And all that evening no one would have guessed by the manner of those three conspirators42 what a tremendous secret they were concealing43 in their hearts. John did not dare to look at his mother’s face, however, he was so bursting with importance.
The next day Mrs. Corliss went to town on an errand which she explained rather vaguely44 to the rest of the family. She returned with a queer little old man with round shoulders and a white beard, who spoke6 English strangely and[82] whose hands were not very clean. Mrs. Corliss took him straight up to the attic, which was the only part of the house he seemed anxious to visit. They stayed up there some time, and there was a great noise of pushing and rolling of furniture. When they came down, the little old man was looking very much pleased and rubbing his dirty hands together. And he went away still rubbing.
Mrs. Corliss came to the supper-table with something which she fluttered triumphantly before the eyes of her bewildered family.
“What is it, Mother?” said Mary.
“How much is it, Mumsie?” begged John at the same minute.
“It is a check for a hundred dollars!” cried Mrs. Corliss. “It’s to pay the horrid46 bills. Hurrah!”
“Where in the world did you get it?” asked Dr. Corliss. “Is it another of Mary’s bookmarks?”
“Not a bit of it!” sang Mrs. Corliss. “Mary’s bookmark is all her own, safe in bank. I got this out of the attic—out of my furniture. Now, perhaps you will think something of my despised legacy. I sold only a few of the old[83] things that are of so much less use to us than the space they occupy. There are plenty of them left, and the dealer47 is crazy to get them, too. We need be in no hurry to part with them. Aunt Nan’s attic is a perfect storehouse of treasures in that man’s eyes. It was Johnny who found it out.”
“Me and Caliban,” said John loyally; “don’t forget him.” And he told the others the whole story of his following the cat.
“You blessed old Caliban!” cried Mary, catching48 up the great bundle of fur and hugging him tightly. “You shall have an extra saucer of milk for your supper, so you shall!”
Caliban did not explain to her about the nest of fat mice which he had discovered in the attic. That was his share of the “treasure.”
[84]
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1
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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6
spoke
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| 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 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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8
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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12
coaxing
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| 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 | |
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13
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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14
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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scurrying
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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24
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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25
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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26
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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27
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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28
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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32
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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34
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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35
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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36
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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37
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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38
bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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39
legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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40
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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41
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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42
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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43
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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44
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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45
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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46
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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47
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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48
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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