CHAPTER III

 SIMEON Tetlow glanced up sharply. The door had opened without a sound. “You ’ve come. Umph!” He shoved the pile of letters from him.

 

“Sit down.”

 

The air was full of sunshine. Even in the dingy¹ office it glinted and shone.

 

Across its radiance Simeon studied the dull face. “Well!”

 

The eyes of the boy met his, half-wistfully, it seemed. “She needs me, sir,” he said. Simeon stirred uneasily. “Seen Dr. Blake?”

 

“Yes, sir. He says he cannot help her.”

 

“Umph!” Simeon shifted again in his chair. His eye dropped to the pile of papers beside him.

 

The boy’s hands had reached out to them. Almost instinctively² the fingers were threading their way among them, sorting and arranging in neat piles.

 

Simeon watched the fingers jealously. It was as if he might spring upon them and fasten them there forever. The young man’s eyes traveled about the room, noting signs of disorder³. “I can stay today,” he said slowly. He hesitated. “I can stay a week, sir, if you want me.”

 

“I don’t want you a week.” The man was looking at him savagely⁴. “You must bring them here!” he said.

 

“Here!” in doubt.

 

The man nodded. “They can live here as well as anywhere!”

 

The boy pondered it a minute. He shook his head slowly.

 

“They would n’t be happy,” he said. “She has friends there, in Bridgewater—people she’s known ever since she was a little girl—and father has his work. He ’s an old man. It would n’t be easy for him to get work here. He has an easy job—”

 

“Work enough here,” growled⁵ Simeon. He was studying the boy’s face keenly. Was it possible the fellow was making capital of all this? He threw off the thought. “Work enough here,” he repeated.

 

John considered it again. He looked up. The lamps threw their clear light into the future. “I ’d thought of that, sir,” he said slowly, “and I ’ve talked about it—a little. But I saw it hurt them. So I dropped it.”

 

“You ’re missing the chance of a lifetime,” said Simeon. “There are men working below that’d give ten years off their life to get what you’ve got without trying.”

 

The boy’s quiet eye met his.

 

“Oh, you ’ve tried—you’ve tried. I don’t mean that,” he said testily⁶. “But it’s a case of fitness—the chance of a lifetime,” he repeated significantly.

 

The boy looked at him. “I know it, sir. I’ve thought about it a long time. It ’s hard to do. But, you see, we never have but one father and mother.”

 

The other met it, blinking. “Umph!”

 

“I shall try to get something at the Bridgewater office. I thought perhaps you would recommend me if there was a vacancy⁷.”

 

“There is n’t any,” said Simeon shortly—almost with relief.

 

“The second shipping-clerk left week before last.”

 

“You don’t want that?”

 

“I think I do.”

 

Simeon turned vaguely⁸ toward the pigeonholes⁹. The boy’s quick eye was before him. “This is the one, sir.”

 

Simeon smiled grimly. He drew out a blank from its place and filled it in. “You won’t like it,” he said, holding the pen in his teeth while he reached for the blotter. “It ’s heavy lifting, and Simpson ’s no angel to work under. No chance to rise, either.” He was glaring at the boy, a kind of desperate affection growing in his eyes..

 

The boy returned the look mistily¹⁰. “You make it a little hard, sir. I wish I could stay.” He half held out his hand and drew it back.

 

Simeon ignored it. He had taken down a ledger¹¹ and picked a letter from the pile before him. The interview was over. The President of the “R. and Q.” Railroad was not hanging on anybody’s neck.

 

“It ’s the other ledger, sir,” said John quickly, “the farther one.” He reached over and laid it deftly¹² before his employer.

 

Simeon pushed it from him savagely. “Go to the devil!” he said.

 

The boy went, shutting the door quietly behind him.

1 dingy   

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。

2 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

4 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

5 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 testily   

adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地

参考例句：

• He reacted testily to reports that he'd opposed military involvement. 有报道称他反对军队参与，对此他很是恼火。 来自柯林斯例句

7 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

8 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

9 pigeonholes   

n.鸽舍出入口( pigeonhole的名词复数 )；小房间；文件架上的小间隔v.把…搁在分类架上( pigeonhole的第三人称单数 )；把…留在记忆中；缓办；把…隔成小格

参考例句：

• The tidy committee men regard them with horror,knowing that no pigeonholes can be found for them. 衣冠楚楚的委员们恐怖地看着他们，因为他们知道找不到一个稳妥的地方来安置他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All of those who are different those who do not fit the boxes and the pigeonholes? 那些与众不同，不合适常规，不符合传统的人的位置又在哪里？ 来自互联网

10 mistily   

adv.有雾地，朦胧地，不清楚地

参考例句：

• My wife is patting Run'er inside the house, murmuring lullaby mistily. 妻在屋里拍着闰儿，迷迷糊糊地哼着眠歌。 来自互联网
• Bits of tulle and fuzzy yarn hang mistily from the rafters. 房间的椽条上缠着薄纱和毛茸茸的纱线。 来自互联网

11 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

12 deftly   

adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He deftly folded the typed sheets and replaced them in the envelope. 他灵巧地将打有字的纸折好重新放回信封。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At last he had a clew to her interest, and followed it deftly. 这一下终于让他发现了她的兴趣所在，于是他熟练地继续谈这个话题。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹