“Hello!” He laid his hands on a pair of broad shoulders that pushed toward him out of the dusk. “I want you—right off!”
“All right, sir, I’m coming.” There was a note of joy in the voice that warmed the older man’s heart.
“You ’re ready, are you?” He had turned toward the steps, with quick motion.
The boy laughed a little, hurrying beside him. “Not tonight. I must wait. There are things—”
The president paused, one foot on the step, glaring at him. “What things—Telegraph—” He waved a hand toward the office.
“It is n’t that.” The boy spoke2 quickly, the puffs from the engine driving his words aside. Nothing could seem important except that great engine, panting to be off, and the nervous man gripping the rail at his side. “It is n’t that, sir. It is my mother and the moving. I must see to that first.”
“Oh, they ’re coming, are they?” The hand on the rail relaxed.
“Yes, sir.”
The president stepped back to the platform. He made an impatient gesture to the engineer and turned to the boy. “How long do you want?” It was the old, sharp tone.
But the boy smiled, looking at him with shining eyes. “We might walk up and down,” he suggested.
“Things are bad down there!” He jerked out the words. “Damn fool work!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tomlinson is an old man,” said the boy.
“Old fool!” retorted the other. “Must have been asleep—drunk!”
“I don’t think he drinks,” said the boy quietly. “The hours are long—he ’s old—he may have dropped off.”
“He ’ll drop off now,” said the other grimly, “—way off—How long will it take—this moving business?”
The boy waited a minute. “I want to come now, sir, right off—tomorrow. But my mother is not well—You see we must wait for the right day, and there is the house to look out for and my father—”
“Don’t you know I need you?” said Simeon gruffly.
The boy looked at him again. It was plain, even in the obscure light, that the man was driven.... He had never seen him like this; and he thought rapidly. The engine had ceased its puffs, but he felt the great throbbing6 power waiting there behind it. His blood thrilled to it, drifting in his veins7. To be off with this man—shaping the course of a world! They had come to the end of the platform and he stopped, wiping away the great drops that had gathered on his forehead.
“It ’s a hot night,” said Simeon testily8. “Come into the car—get something cool.” The tone was almost crafty9 and the boy smiled, shaking his head. “Not tonight!”
Already the slow, patient underhold had regained10 its power. He spoke in his old, slow fashion, choosing his words with care. “I can’t go tonight, sir. But I ’ll come the first thing in the morning, if that will do. A few days won’t matter. The moving can wait till this thing is straightened out.” He motioned toward the east, where the wreck11 lay.
They had turned and were pacing back toward the engine. Insensibly Simeon’s gait had slowed to the boy’s even tread and his breathing had slackened its quick beat. He looked at the great eye blazing toward them through the dusk. “You won’t come,” he said, “not till you ’re good and ready. But I tell you—I shall dock your pay!”
The boy laughed out. “I will come tomorrow, sir, if she keeps well.”
“Oh, tomorrow!” said Simeon. It might have been years from the tone.
He stepped on to the platform of the car. “I can get along without you,” he said. The train had started and the words rumbled12 back, out of the roar of smoke. But to the boy, standing13 with his hat in his hand, they were an appeal for help, a call from the whirl and rush of the world for something that he had to give.
He turned away and went down the street, wondering a little at the strangeness of the day.
It was a radiant night.
He looked up to the sky—the same sky that the man in the garden had lifted his face to, a little while ago, kneeling among the plants. But the stars were out now, lighting14 its gloom. The boy thought suddenly of his mother’s eyes and quickened his pace. She would be waiting for him, looking into the dark. He felt a little thrill of pride in her courage. ... She would make the sacrifice for him without a murmur15. Yet it was not for him—nor for the man who needed him. But behind him—behind them all—a great hand seemed reaching out to the boy, beckoning16 him, drawing him to his place in the world.
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1
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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2
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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3
growled
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| 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 | |
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4
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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5
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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6
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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7
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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8
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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9
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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10
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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11
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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12
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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13
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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14
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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15
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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16
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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