章节正文
Carl's experience, however, had been very
limited. He had, to be sure, had a rake in his
hand, but probably he had not worked more
than ten minutes at it. However, raking is
easily learned, and his want of experience was
not detected. He started off with great
enthusiasm, but after a while thought it best to
adopt the more leisurely movements of the
farmer. After two hours his hands began to
blister, but still he kept on.
"I have got to make my living by hard work,"
he said to himself, "and it won't do to let such
a little thing as a blister interfere."
When he had been working a couple of hours,
he began to feel hungry. His walk, and the
work he had been doing, sharpened his appetite
till he really felt uncomfortable. It was
at this time--just twelve o'clock--that the
farmer's wife came to the front door and blew
a fish horn so vigorously that it could probably
have been heard half a mile.
"The old woman's got dinner ready," said
the farmer. "If you don't mind takin' your
pay in victuals, you can go along home with
me, and take a bite."
"I think I could take two or three, sir."
"Ho, ho! that's a good joke! Money's scarce,
and I'd rather pay in victuals, if it's all the
same to you."
"Do you generally find people willing to
work for their board?" asked Carl, who knew
that he was being imposed upon.
"Well, I might pay a leetle more. You work
for me till sundown, and I'll give you dinner
and supper, and--fifteen cents."
Carl wanted to laugh. At this rate of
compensation he felt that it would take a long time
to make a fortune, but he was so hungry that
he would have accepted board alone if it had
been necessary.
"I agree," he said. "Shall I leave my rake here?"
"Yes; it'll be all right."
"I'll take along my valise, for I can't
afford to run any risk of losing it."
"Jest as you say."
Five minutes brought them to the farmhouse.
"Can I wash my hands?" asked Carl.
"Yes, you can go right to the sink and wash
in the tin basin. There's a roll towel behind
the door. Mis' Perkins"--that was the way
he addressed his wife--"this is a young chap
that I've hired to help me hayin'. You can
set a chair for him at the table."
"All right, Silas. He don't look very old, though."
"No, ma'am. I ain't twenty-one yet,"
answered Carl, who was really sixteen.
"I shouldn't say you was. You ain't no
signs of a mustache."
"I keep it short, ma'am, in warm weather," said Carl.
"It don't dull a razor any to cut it in cold
weather, does it?" asked the farmer, chuckling
at his joke.
"Well, no, sir; I can't say it does."
It was a boiled dinner that the farmer's
wife provided, corned beef and vegetables, but
the plebeian meal seemed to Carl the best he
ever ate. Afterwards there was apple pudding,
to which he did equal justice.
"I never knew work improved a fellow's
appetite so," reflected the young traveler.
"I never ate with so much relish at home."
After dinner they went back to the field
and worked till the supper hour, five o'clock.
By that time all the hay had been put into the barn.
"We've done a good day's work," said the
farmer, in a tone of satisfaction, "and only
just in time. Do you see that dark cloud?"
"Yes, sir."
"In half an hour there'll be rain, or I'm mistaken.
Old Job Hagar is right after all."
The farmer proved a true prophet. In half
an hour, while they were at the supper table,
the rain began to come down in large drops
--forming pools in the hollows of the ground,
and drenching all exposed objects with the
largesse of the heavens.
"Where war you a-goin' to-night?" asked the farmer.
"I don't know, sir."
"I was thinkin' that I'd give you a night's
lodgin' in place of the fifteen cents I agreed
to pay you. Money's very skeerce with me,
and will be till I've sold off some of the crops."
"I shall be glad to make that arrangement,"
said Carl, who had been considering how much
the farmer would ask for lodging, for there
seemed small chance of continuing his journey.
Fifteen cents was a lower price than he had
calculated on.
"That's a sensible idea!" said the farmer,
rubbing his hands with satisfaction at the
thought that he had secured valuable help at
no money outlaywhatever.
The next morning Carl continued his tramp,
refusing the offer of continued employment on
the same terms. He was bent on pursuing
his journey, though he did not know exactly
where he would fetch up in the end.
At twelve o'clock that day he found himself
in the outskirts of a town, with the same
uncomfortableappetite that he had felt the
day before, but with no hotel or restaurant
anywhere near. There was, however, a small
house, the outer door of which stood conveniently
open. Through the open window, Carl saw a table
spread as if for dinner, and he thought it probable
that he could arrange to become a boarder for
a single meal. He knocked at the door, but no one came.
He shouted out: "Is anybody at home?" and received
no answer. He went to a small barn just outside
and peered in, but no one was to be seen.
What should he do? He was terribly hungry,
and the sight of the food on the table was
tantalizing.
"I'll go in, as the door is open," he decided,
"and sit down to the table and eat. Somebody
will be along before I get through, and I'll
pay whatever is satisfactory, for eat I must."
He entered, seated himself, and ate heartily.
Still no one appeared.
"I don't want to go off without paying,"
thought Carl. "I'll see if I can find somebody."
He opened the door into the kitchen, but it
was deserted. Then he opened that of a small
bedroom, and started back in terror and dismay.
There suspended from a hook--a man of
middle age was hanging, with his head bent
forward, his eyes wide open, and his tongue
protruding from his mouth!
CHAPTER VIII.
CARL FALLS UNDER SUSPICION.
To a person of any age such a sight as that
described at the close of the last chapter might
well have proved startling. To a boy like
Carl it was simply overwhelming. It so happened
that he had but twice seen a dead person,
and never a victim of violence. The peculiar
circumstances increased the effect upon his mind.
He placed his hand upon the man's face, and
found that he was still warm. He could have
been dead but a short time.
"What shall I do?" thought Carl, perplexed.
"This is terrible!"
Then it flashed upon him that as he was
alone with the dead man suspicion might fall
upon him as being concerned in what night be
called a murder.
"I had better leave here at once," he reflected.
"I shall have to go away without paying for my meal."
He started to leave the house, but had
scarcely reached the door when two persons
--a man and a woman--entered. Both looked
at Carl with suspicion.
"What are you doing here?" asked the man.
"I beg your pardon," answered Carl; "I
was very hungry, and seeing no one about, took
the liberty to sit down at the table and eat.
I am willing to pay for my dinner if you will
tell me how much it amounts to."
"Wasn't my husband here?" asked the woman.
"I--I am afraid something has happened to your husband,"
faltered Carl.
"What do you mean?"
Carl silentlypointed to the chamber door.
The woman opened it, and uttered a loud shriek.
"Look here, Walter!" she cried.
Her companion quickly came to her side.
"My husband is dead!" cried the woman;
"basely murdered, and there," pointing fiercely
to Carl, "there stands the murderer!"
"Madam, you cannot believe this!" said Carl,
naturally agitated.
"What have you to say for yourself?"
demanded the man, suspiciously.
"I only just saw--your husband," continued
Carl, addressing himself to the woman. "I
had finished my meal, when I began to search
for some one whom I could pay, and so opened
this door into the room beyond, when I saw
--him hanging there!"
"Don't believe him, the red-handed
murderer!" broke out the woman, fiercely. "He
is probably a thief; he killed my poor husband,
and then sat down like a cold-blooded villain
that he is, and gorged himself."
Things began to look very serious for poor Carl.
"Your husband is larger and stronger than myself,"
he urged, desperately. "How could I overpower him?"
"It looks reasonable, Maria," said the man.
"I don't see how the boy could have killed Mr.
Brown, or lifted him upon the hook, even if
he did not resist."
limited. He had, to be sure, had a rake in his
hand, but probably he had not worked more
than ten minutes at it. However, raking is
easily learned, and his want of experience was
not detected. He started off with great
enthusiasm, but after a while thought it best to
adopt the more leisurely movements of the
farmer. After two hours his hands began to
blister, but still he kept on.
"I have got to make my living by hard work,"
he said to himself, "and it won't do to let such
a little thing as a blister interfere."
When he had been working a couple of hours,
he began to feel hungry. His walk, and the
work he had been doing, sharpened his appetite
till he really felt uncomfortable. It was
at this time--just twelve o'clock--that the
farmer's wife came to the front door and blew
a fish horn so vigorously that it could probably
have been heard half a mile.
"The old woman's got dinner ready," said
the farmer. "If you don't mind takin' your
pay in victuals, you can go along home with
me, and take a bite."
"I think I could take two or three, sir."
"Ho, ho! that's a good joke! Money's scarce,
and I'd rather pay in victuals, if it's all the
same to you."
"Do you generally find people willing to
work for their board?" asked Carl, who knew
that he was being imposed upon.
"Well, I might pay a leetle more. You work
for me till sundown, and I'll give you dinner
and supper, and--fifteen cents."
Carl wanted to laugh. At this rate of
compensation he felt that it would take a long time
to make a fortune, but he was so hungry that
he would have accepted board alone if it had
been necessary.
"I agree," he said. "Shall I leave my rake here?"
"Yes; it'll be all right."
"I'll take along my valise, for I can't
afford to run any risk of losing it."
"Jest as you say."
Five minutes brought them to the farmhouse.
"Can I wash my hands?" asked Carl.
"Yes, you can go right to the sink and wash
in the tin basin. There's a roll towel behind
the door. Mis' Perkins"--that was the way
he addressed his wife--"this is a young chap
that I've hired to help me hayin'. You can
set a chair for him at the table."
"All right, Silas. He don't look very old, though."
"No, ma'am. I ain't twenty-one yet,"
answered Carl, who was really sixteen.
"I shouldn't say you was. You ain't no
signs of a mustache."
"I keep it short, ma'am, in warm weather," said Carl.
"It don't dull a razor any to cut it in cold
weather, does it?" asked the farmer, chuckling
at his joke.
"Well, no, sir; I can't say it does."
It was a boiled dinner that the farmer's
wife provided, corned beef and vegetables, but
the plebeian meal seemed to Carl the best he
ever ate. Afterwards there was apple pudding,
to which he did equal justice.
"I never knew work improved a fellow's
appetite so," reflected the young traveler.
"I never ate with so much relish at home."
After dinner they went back to the field
and worked till the supper hour, five o'clock.
By that time all the hay had been put into the barn.
"We've done a good day's work," said the
farmer, in a tone of satisfaction, "and only
just in time. Do you see that dark cloud?"
"Yes, sir."
"In half an hour there'll be rain, or I'm mistaken.
Old Job Hagar is right after all."
The farmer proved a true prophet. In half
an hour, while they were at the supper table,
the rain began to come down in large drops
--forming pools in the hollows of the ground,
and drenching all exposed objects with the
largesse of the heavens.
"Where war you a-goin' to-night?" asked the farmer.
"I don't know, sir."
"I was thinkin' that I'd give you a night's
lodgin' in place of the fifteen cents I agreed
to pay you. Money's very skeerce with me,
and will be till I've sold off some of the crops."
"I shall be glad to make that arrangement,"
said Carl, who had been considering how much
the farmer would ask for lodging, for there
seemed small chance of continuing his journey.
Fifteen cents was a lower price than he had
calculated on.
"That's a sensible idea!" said the farmer,
rubbing his hands with satisfaction at the
thought that he had secured valuable help at
no money outlaywhatever.
The next morning Carl continued his tramp,
refusing the offer of continued employment on
the same terms. He was bent on pursuing
his journey, though he did not know exactly
where he would fetch up in the end.
At twelve o'clock that day he found himself
in the outskirts of a town, with the same
uncomfortableappetite that he had felt the
day before, but with no hotel or restaurant
anywhere near. There was, however, a small
house, the outer door of which stood conveniently
open. Through the open window, Carl saw a table
spread as if for dinner, and he thought it probable
that he could arrange to become a boarder for
a single meal. He knocked at the door, but no one came.
He shouted out: "Is anybody at home?" and received
no answer. He went to a small barn just outside
and peered in, but no one was to be seen.
What should he do? He was terribly hungry,
and the sight of the food on the table was
tantalizing.
"I'll go in, as the door is open," he decided,
"and sit down to the table and eat. Somebody
will be along before I get through, and I'll
pay whatever is satisfactory, for eat I must."
He entered, seated himself, and ate heartily.
Still no one appeared.
"I don't want to go off without paying,"
thought Carl. "I'll see if I can find somebody."
He opened the door into the kitchen, but it
was deserted. Then he opened that of a small
bedroom, and started back in terror and dismay.
There suspended from a hook--a man of
middle age was hanging, with his head bent
forward, his eyes wide open, and his tongue
protruding from his mouth!
CHAPTER VIII.
CARL FALLS UNDER SUSPICION.
To a person of any age such a sight as that
described at the close of the last chapter might
well have proved startling. To a boy like
Carl it was simply overwhelming. It so happened
that he had but twice seen a dead person,
and never a victim of violence. The peculiar
circumstances increased the effect upon his mind.
He placed his hand upon the man's face, and
found that he was still warm. He could have
been dead but a short time.
"What shall I do?" thought Carl, perplexed.
"This is terrible!"
Then it flashed upon him that as he was
alone with the dead man suspicion might fall
upon him as being concerned in what night be
called a murder.
"I had better leave here at once," he reflected.
"I shall have to go away without paying for my meal."
He started to leave the house, but had
scarcely reached the door when two persons
--a man and a woman--entered. Both looked
at Carl with suspicion.
"What are you doing here?" asked the man.
"I beg your pardon," answered Carl; "I
was very hungry, and seeing no one about, took
the liberty to sit down at the table and eat.
I am willing to pay for my dinner if you will
tell me how much it amounts to."
"Wasn't my husband here?" asked the woman.
"I--I am afraid something has happened to your husband,"
faltered Carl.
"What do you mean?"
Carl silentlypointed to the chamber door.
The woman opened it, and uttered a loud shriek.
"Look here, Walter!" she cried.
Her companion quickly came to her side.
"My husband is dead!" cried the woman;
"basely murdered, and there," pointing fiercely
to Carl, "there stands the murderer!"
"Madam, you cannot believe this!" said Carl,
naturally agitated.
"What have you to say for yourself?"
demanded the man, suspiciously.
"I only just saw--your husband," continued
Carl, addressing himself to the woman. "I
had finished my meal, when I began to search
for some one whom I could pay, and so opened
this door into the room beyond, when I saw
--him hanging there!"
"Don't believe him, the red-handed
murderer!" broke out the woman, fiercely. "He
is probably a thief; he killed my poor husband,
and then sat down like a cold-blooded villain
that he is, and gorged himself."
Things began to look very serious for poor Carl.
"Your husband is larger and stronger than myself,"
he urged, desperately. "How could I overpower him?"
"It looks reasonable, Maria," said the man.
"I don't see how the boy could have killed Mr.
Brown, or lifted him upon the hook, even if
he did not resist."
- working [´wə:kiŋ]
a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词) - willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)
- prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)
- sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)
- valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl] a.有价值的，贵重的 (初中英语单词)
- employment [im´plɔimənt] n.工作；职业；雇用 (初中英语单词)
- appetite [´æpitait] n.欲望；食欲 (初中英语单词)
- terribly [´terəbli] ad.可怕地 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- satisfactory [,sætis´fæktəri] a.令人满意的 (初中英语单词)
- terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
- victim [´viktim] n.牺牲者；受害者 (初中英语单词)
- violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)
- suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
- silently [´sailəntli] ad.寂静地；沉默地 (初中英语单词)
- pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- fiercely [´fiəsli] ad.凶猛地，残忍地 (初中英语单词)
- reasonable [´rizənəbəl] a.合理的；有理智的 (初中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- uncomfortable [ʌn´kʌmftəbəl] a.不舒服的，不自在的 (高中英语单词)
- relish [´reliʃ] n.滋味；风味 v.品尝 (高中英语单词)
- lodging [´lɔdʒiŋ] n.寄宿，住宿 (高中英语单词)
- hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
- startling [´stɑ:tliŋ] a.惊人的 (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- desperately [´despəritli] ad.绝望地；拼命地 (高中英语单词)
- leisurely [´leʒəli] a.从容地，慢慢地 (英语四级单词)
- blister [´blistə] n.水疱；(玻璃等)气泡 (英语四级单词)
- vigorously [´vigərəsli] ad.精力旺盛地；健壮地 (英语四级单词)
- plebeian [pli´bi:ən] n.(古罗马的)平民 (英语四级单词)
- considering [kən´sidəriŋ] prep.就...而论 (英语四级单词)
- boarder [´bɔ:də] n.搭伙者；寄宿者 (英语四级单词)
- overwhelming [,əuvə´welmiŋ] a.压倒的；势不可挡的 (英语四级单词)
- overpower [,əuvə´pauə] vt.压倒；制服；打败 (英语四级单词)
- sundown [´sʌndaun] n.日落 (英语六级单词)
- outlay [´autlei] n.费用 vt.支付；花费 (英语六级单词)
- outskirts [´autskə:ts] n.外边；郊区 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
京公网安备 11011202003401号
