章节正文
"You are all spoiling me," he said, as
Gilbert and he went upstairs to bed. "I am
beginning to understand the charms of home. To
go out into the world from here will be like
taking a cold shower bath."
"Never forget, Carl, that you will be
welcome back, whenever you feel like coming,"
said Gilbert, laying his band affectionately" target="_blank" title="ad.热情地；体贴地">affectionately on
Carl's shoulder. "We all like you here."
"Thank you, old fellow! I appreciate the
kindness I have received here; but I must strike
out for myself."
"How do you feel about it, Carl?"
"I hope for the best. I am young, strong
and willing to work. There must be an opening
for me somewhere."
The next morning, just after breakfast, a letter
arrived for Carl, mailed at Edgewood Center.
"Is it from your father?" asked Gilbert.
"No; it is in the handwriting of my
stepmother. I can guess from that that it
contains no good news."
He opened the letter, and as he read it his
face expressed disgust and annoyance.
"Read it, Gilbert," he said, handing him the
open sheet.
This was the missive:
"CARL CRAWFORD:--AS your father has a
nervous attack, brought on by your misconduct,
he has authorized me to write to you.
As you are but sixteen, he could send for you
and have you forcibly brought back, but deems
it better for you to follow your own course
and suffer the punishment of your obstinate
and perverse conduct. The boy whom you
sent here proved a fittingmessenger. He
seems, if possible, to be even worse than
yourself. He was very impertinent to me, and made
a brutal and unprovoked attack on my poor
boy, Peter, whose devotion to your father and
myself forms an agreeablecontrast to your
studied disregard of our wishes.
"Your friend had the assurance to ask for
a weeklyallowance for you while a voluntary
exile from the home where you have been only
too well treated. In other words, you want
to be paid for your disobedience. Even if your
father were weak enough to think of complying
with this extraordinary request, I should
do my best to dissuade him."
"Small doubt of that!" said Carl, bitterly.
"In my sorrow for your waywardness, I am
comforted by the thought that Peter is too
good and conscientious ever to follow your
example. While you are away, he will do his
utmost to make up to your father for his
disappointment in you. That you may grow wise
in time, and turn at length from the error of
your ways, is the earnest hope of your stepmother,
Anastasia Crawford."
"It makes me sick to read such a letter as
that, Gilbert," said Carl. "And to have that
sneak and thief--as he turned out to be--Peter,
set up as a model for me, is a little too much."
"I never knew there were such women in the
world!" returned Gilbert. "I can understand
your feelings perfectly, after my interview of
yesterday."
"She thinks even worse of you than of me,"
said Carl, with a faint smile.
"I have no doubt Peter shares her
sentiments. I didn't make many friends in your
family, it must be confessed."
"You did me a service, Gilbert, and I shall
not soon forget it."
"Where did your stepmother come from?"
asked Gilbert, thoughtfully.
"I don't know. My father met her at some
summer resort. She was staying in the same
boarding house, she and the angelic Peter. She
lost no time in setting her cap for my father,
who was doubtless reported to her as a man
of property, and she succeeded in capturing him."
"I wonder at that. She doesn't seem very fascinating."
"She made herself very agreeable to my
father, and was even affectionate in her manner
to me, though I couldn't get to like her.
The end was that she became Mrs. Crawford.
Once installed in our house, she soon threw
off the mask and showed herself in her true colors,
a cold-hearted, selfish and disagreeable woman."
"I wonder your father doesn't recognize her
for what she is."
"She is very artful, and is politic enough to
treat him well. She has lost no opportunity
of prejudicing him against me. If he were
not an invalid she would find her task more
difficult."
"Did she have any property when your
father married her?"
"Not that I have been able to discover. She
is scheming to have my father leave the lion's
share of his property to her and Peter. I dare
say she will succeed."
"Let us hope your father will live till you
are a young man, at least, and better able to
cope with her."
"I earnestly hope so."
"Your father is not an old man."
"He is fifty-one, but he is not strong. I
believe he has liver complaint. At any rate,
I know that when, at my stepmother's instigation,
he applied to an insurance company to
insure his life for her benefit, the application
was rejected."
"You don't know anything of Mrs. Crawford's
antecedents?"
"No."
"What was her name before she married
your father?"
"She was a Mrs. Cook. That, as you know,
is Peter's name."
"Perhaps, in your travels, you may learn
something of her history."
"I should like to do so."
"You won't leave us to-morrow?"
"I must go to-day. I know now that I must
depend wholly upon my own exertions, and
I must get to work as soon as possible."
"You will write to me, Carl?"
"Yes, when I have anything agreeable to write."
"Let us hope that will be soon."
CHAPTER VII.
ENDS IN A TRAGEDY.
Carl obtained permission to leave his trunk
at the Vance mansion, merely taking out what
he absolutely needed for a change.
"When I am settled I will send for it," he said.
"Now I shouldn't know what to do with it."
There were cordial good-bys, and Carl
started once more on the tramp. He might,
indeed, have traveled by rail, for he had ten
dollars and thirty-seven cents; but it occurred
to him that in walking he might meet with
some one who would give him employment.
Besides, he was not in a hurry to get on, nor had
he any definitedestination. The day was fine,
there was a light breeze, and he experienced
a hopeful exhilaration as he walked lightly on,
with the world before him, and any number
of possibilities in the way of fortunate
adventures that might befall him.
He had walked five miles, when, to the left,
he saw an elderly man hard at work in a hay
field. He was leaning on his rake, and look-
ing perplexed and troubled. Carl paused to
rest, and as he looked over the rail fence,
attracted the attention of the farmer.
"I say, young feller, where are you goin'?" he asked.
"I don't know--exactly."
"You don't know where you are goin'?"
repeated the farmer, in surprise.
Carl laughed. "I am going out in the world
to seek my fortune," he said.
"You be? Would you like a job?" asked the farmer, eagerly.
"What sort of a job?"
"I'd like to have you help me hayin'. My
hired man is sick, and he's left me in a hole.
It's goin' to rain, and----"
"Going to rain?" repeated Carl, in surprise,
as he looked up at the nearly cloudless sky.
"Yes. It don't look like it, I know, but
old Job Hagar say it'll rain before night, and
what he don't know about the weather ain't
worth knowin'. I want to get the hay on this
meadow into the barn, and then I'll feel safe,
rain or shine."
"And you want me to help you?"
"Yes; you look strong and hardy."
"Yes, I am pretty strong," said Carl, complacently.
"Well, what do you say?"
"All right. I'll help you."
Carl gave a spring and cleared the fence,
landing in the hay field, having first thrown
his valise over.
"You're pretty spry," said the farmer.
"I couldn't do that."
"No, you're too heavy," said Carl, smiling,
as he noted the clumsy figure of his employer.
"Now, what shall I do?"
"Take that rake and rake up the hay. Then we'll
go over to the barn and get the hay wagon."
"Where is your barn?"
The farmer pointed across the fields to a
story-and-a-half farmhouse, and standing near
it a good-sized barn, brown from want of paint
and exposure to sun and rain. The buildings
were perhaps twenty-five rods distant.
"Are you used to hayin'?" asked the farmer.
"Well, no, not exactly; though I've handled
a rake before."
Gilbert and he went upstairs to bed. "I am
beginning to understand the charms of home. To
go out into the world from here will be like
taking a cold shower bath."
"Never forget, Carl, that you will be
welcome back, whenever you feel like coming,"
said Gilbert, laying his band affectionately" target="_blank" title="ad.热情地；体贴地">affectionately on
Carl's shoulder. "We all like you here."
"Thank you, old fellow! I appreciate the
kindness I have received here; but I must strike
out for myself."
"How do you feel about it, Carl?"
"I hope for the best. I am young, strong
and willing to work. There must be an opening
for me somewhere."
The next morning, just after breakfast, a letter
arrived for Carl, mailed at Edgewood Center.
"Is it from your father?" asked Gilbert.
"No; it is in the handwriting of my
stepmother. I can guess from that that it
contains no good news."
He opened the letter, and as he read it his
face expressed disgust and annoyance.
"Read it, Gilbert," he said, handing him the
open sheet.
This was the missive:
"CARL CRAWFORD:--AS your father has a
nervous attack, brought on by your misconduct,
he has authorized me to write to you.
As you are but sixteen, he could send for you
and have you forcibly brought back, but deems
it better for you to follow your own course
and suffer the punishment of your obstinate
and perverse conduct. The boy whom you
sent here proved a fittingmessenger. He
seems, if possible, to be even worse than
yourself. He was very impertinent to me, and made
a brutal and unprovoked attack on my poor
boy, Peter, whose devotion to your father and
myself forms an agreeablecontrast to your
studied disregard of our wishes.
"Your friend had the assurance to ask for
a weeklyallowance for you while a voluntary
exile from the home where you have been only
too well treated. In other words, you want
to be paid for your disobedience. Even if your
father were weak enough to think of complying
with this extraordinary request, I should
do my best to dissuade him."
"Small doubt of that!" said Carl, bitterly.
"In my sorrow for your waywardness, I am
comforted by the thought that Peter is too
good and conscientious ever to follow your
example. While you are away, he will do his
utmost to make up to your father for his
disappointment in you. That you may grow wise
in time, and turn at length from the error of
your ways, is the earnest hope of your stepmother,
Anastasia Crawford."
"It makes me sick to read such a letter as
that, Gilbert," said Carl. "And to have that
sneak and thief--as he turned out to be--Peter,
set up as a model for me, is a little too much."
"I never knew there were such women in the
world!" returned Gilbert. "I can understand
your feelings perfectly, after my interview of
yesterday."
"She thinks even worse of you than of me,"
said Carl, with a faint smile.
"I have no doubt Peter shares her
sentiments. I didn't make many friends in your
family, it must be confessed."
"You did me a service, Gilbert, and I shall
not soon forget it."
"Where did your stepmother come from?"
asked Gilbert, thoughtfully.
"I don't know. My father met her at some
summer resort. She was staying in the same
boarding house, she and the angelic Peter. She
lost no time in setting her cap for my father,
who was doubtless reported to her as a man
of property, and she succeeded in capturing him."
"I wonder at that. She doesn't seem very fascinating."
"She made herself very agreeable to my
father, and was even affectionate in her manner
to me, though I couldn't get to like her.
The end was that she became Mrs. Crawford.
Once installed in our house, she soon threw
off the mask and showed herself in her true colors,
a cold-hearted, selfish and disagreeable woman."
"I wonder your father doesn't recognize her
for what she is."
"She is very artful, and is politic enough to
treat him well. She has lost no opportunity
of prejudicing him against me. If he were
not an invalid she would find her task more
difficult."
"Did she have any property when your
father married her?"
"Not that I have been able to discover. She
is scheming to have my father leave the lion's
share of his property to her and Peter. I dare
say she will succeed."
"Let us hope your father will live till you
are a young man, at least, and better able to
cope with her."
"I earnestly hope so."
"Your father is not an old man."
"He is fifty-one, but he is not strong. I
believe he has liver complaint. At any rate,
I know that when, at my stepmother's instigation,
he applied to an insurance company to
insure his life for her benefit, the application
was rejected."
"You don't know anything of Mrs. Crawford's
antecedents?"
"No."
"What was her name before she married
your father?"
"She was a Mrs. Cook. That, as you know,
is Peter's name."
"Perhaps, in your travels, you may learn
something of her history."
"I should like to do so."
"You won't leave us to-morrow?"
"I must go to-day. I know now that I must
depend wholly upon my own exertions, and
I must get to work as soon as possible."
"You will write to me, Carl?"
"Yes, when I have anything agreeable to write."
"Let us hope that will be soon."
CHAPTER VII.
ENDS IN A TRAGEDY.
Carl obtained permission to leave his trunk
at the Vance mansion, merely taking out what
he absolutely needed for a change.
"When I am settled I will send for it," he said.
"Now I shouldn't know what to do with it."
There were cordial good-bys, and Carl
started once more on the tramp. He might,
indeed, have traveled by rail, for he had ten
dollars and thirty-seven cents; but it occurred
to him that in walking he might meet with
some one who would give him employment.
Besides, he was not in a hurry to get on, nor had
he any definitedestination. The day was fine,
there was a light breeze, and he experienced
a hopeful exhilaration as he walked lightly on,
with the world before him, and any number
of possibilities in the way of fortunate
adventures that might befall him.
He had walked five miles, when, to the left,
he saw an elderly man hard at work in a hay
field. He was leaning on his rake, and look-
ing perplexed and troubled. Carl paused to
rest, and as he looked over the rail fence,
attracted the attention of the farmer.
"I say, young feller, where are you goin'?" he asked.
"I don't know--exactly."
"You don't know where you are goin'?"
repeated the farmer, in surprise.
Carl laughed. "I am going out in the world
to seek my fortune," he said.
"You be? Would you like a job?" asked the farmer, eagerly.
"What sort of a job?"
"I'd like to have you help me hayin'. My
hired man is sick, and he's left me in a hole.
It's goin' to rain, and----"
"Going to rain?" repeated Carl, in surprise,
as he looked up at the nearly cloudless sky.
"Yes. It don't look like it, I know, but
old Job Hagar say it'll rain before night, and
what he don't know about the weather ain't
worth knowin'. I want to get the hay on this
meadow into the barn, and then I'll feel safe,
rain or shine."
"And you want me to help you?"
"Yes; you look strong and hardy."
"Yes, I am pretty strong," said Carl, complacently.
"Well, what do you say?"
"All right. I'll help you."
Carl gave a spring and cleared the fence,
landing in the hay field, having first thrown
his valise over.
"You're pretty spry," said the farmer.
"I couldn't do that."
"No, you're too heavy," said Carl, smiling,
as he noted the clumsy figure of his employer.
"Now, what shall I do?"
"Take that rake and rake up the hay. Then we'll
go over to the barn and get the hay wagon."
"Where is your barn?"
The farmer pointed across the fields to a
story-and-a-half farmhouse, and standing near
it a good-sized barn, brown from want of paint
and exposure to sun and rain. The buildings
were perhaps twenty-five rods distant.
"Are you used to hayin'?" asked the farmer.
"Well, no, not exactly; though I've handled
a rake before."
- shower [´ʃauə]
n.展出者；阵雨；淋浴 (初中英语单词) - whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
- appreciate [ə´pri:ʃieit] v.评价；珍惜；感激 (初中英语单词)
- willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- handwriting [´hænd,raitiŋ] n.笔迹；书法 (初中英语单词)
- disgust [dis´gʌst] n.厌恶 vt.令(人)作呕 (初中英语单词)
- punishment [´pʌniʃmənt] n.罚，刑罚 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- devotion [di´vəuʃən] n.献身；忠诚；热爱 (初中英语单词)
- agreeable [ə´gri:əbəl] a.适合的；符合的 (初中英语单词)
- contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st] n.对比 v.使对比(照) (初中英语单词)
- weekly [´wi:kli] a.&ad.每周一次(的) (初中英语单词)
- allowance [ə´lauəns] n.津贴；配给量；考虑 (初中英语单词)
- extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
- earnest [´ə:nist] a.认真的 n.认真；诚恳 (初中英语单词)
- interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
- resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)
- doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
- selfish [´selfiʃ] a.自私的，利己的 (初中英语单词)
- scheming [´ski:miŋ] a.计划的；诡计多端 (初中英语单词)
- complaint [kəm´pleint] n.抱怨；叫屈 (初中英语单词)
- wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)
- permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)
- absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)
- definite [´definit] a.确定的，明确的 (初中英语单词)
- breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
- lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- assurance [ə´ʃuərəns] n.保证；自信；信任 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- affectionate [ə´fekʃənit] a.亲爱的 (高中英语单词)
- disagreeable [,disə´gri:əbl] a.令人不悦的 (高中英语单词)
- earnestly [´ə:nistli] ad.认真地；急切地 (高中英语单词)
- mansion [´mænʃən] n.大厦；宅第；官邸 (高中英语单词)
- cordial [´kɔ:diəl] a.热忱的；亲切的 (高中英语单词)
- destination [,desti´neiʃən] n.目标地 (高中英语单词)
- befall [bi´fɔ:l] v.降临；发表(于) (高中英语单词)
- repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
- clumsy [´klʌmzi] a.笨拙的；粗俗的 (高中英语单词)
- farmhouse [´fɑ:mhaus] n.农场住房，农舍 (高中英语单词)
- exposure [ik´spəuʒə] n.暴露；曝光(时间) (高中英语单词)
- upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)
- brutal [´bru:tl] a.兽性的；残暴的 (英语四级单词)
- disregard [,disri´gɑ:d] vt.&n.不顾；漠视 (英语四级单词)
- conscientious [,kɔnʃi´enʃəs] a.认真的；谨慎的 (英语四级单词)
- setting [´setiŋ] n.安装；排字；布景 (英语四级单词)
- politic [´pɔlitik] a.精明的；有策略的 (英语四级单词)
- invalid [in´vælid] n.病人 a.无效的 (英语四级单词)
- traveled [´trævəld] a.见面广的；旅客多的 (英语四级单词)
- hopeful [´həupfəl] a.有希望的，激励人的 (英语四级单词)
- elderly [´eldəli] a. 较老的，年长的 (英语四级单词)
- affectionately [ə´fekʃnitli] ad.热情地；体贴地 (英语六级单词)
- forcibly [´fɔ:səbli] ad.强行地，强烈地 (英语六级单词)
- fitting [´fitiŋ] a.适当的 n.试衣 (英语六级单词)
- stepmother [´step,mʌðə] n.继母，后母 (英语六级单词)
- angelic [æn´dʒelik] a.天使(般)的 (英语六级单词)
- applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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