章节正文
into every hole and corner they could think of and locate. They
pulled away heavy boards and logs, and Joe even got a spade and
dug up the ground at certain points.
"It doesn't seem to be here," said Ned, after an hour had passed.
"It must be here," cried Joe.
"Perhaps it was buried under a tree."
"That may be true. Anyway, I am certain it is somewhere around
this cabin."
After that the hunt was continued for another hour, and they
visited several spots in that locality where Joe thought the blue
box might have been placed. But it was all to no purpose, the
box failed to come to light.
At last the two boys sat down on a bench in front of the cabin.
Both were tired out, Ned especially so. Joe was much downcast
and his friend did what he could to cheer him up.
"The box is bound to come to light some day," said Ned. "That
is, unless some of those men carried it off."
"What men, Ned?"
"The fellows who helped to mend the cabin just before the
funeral."
"Oh, I don't think they would steal the box. Bart Andrews and
Jack Thompson are as honest as the day is long."
"Well, it's mighty queer you can't find some trace of the blue
box."
The boys talked the matter over for some time, and then Ned
announced that he must go home.
"You can go with me if you wish," he said. "It will be better
than staying here all alone."
But Joe declined the offer.
"I'll stay here, and begin the hunt again the first thing in the
morning," he said.
"Well, if you want anything, come and see me, Joe; won't you?"
"I will, Ned."
Ned had come over in his own boat and now Joe walked down to the
lake with him. His friend gone, the hermit's boy returned to the
delapidated cabin.
He was hungry but he had no heart to eat. He munched some bread
and cheese which a neighbor had brought over. He felt utterly
alone in the great worlds and when he thought of this a strange
feeling came over him.
It was a bitter night for the poor boy, but when morning came his
mind was made up. He would make his own way in the world, asking
aid from no one, not even Ned.
"And if I can't find the blue box I'll get along without it," he
told himself.
As soon as it was light he procured breakfast and then started on
another hunt for the missing box. The entire day was spent in
the search, but without results. Towards night, Joe went down to
the lake. Here he caught a couple of small fish, which he fried
for his supper.
All told, Joe had exactly a dollar and a half of his own and nine
dollars which he had found in the hermit's pocketbook.
"Ten dollars and a half," he mused, as he counted the amount
over. "Not very much to go out into the world with. If I want
to do anything in town I'll have to buy some clothes."
From this it will be surmised that Joe was thinking of giving up
his roving life around the lake and mountains, and this was true.
Hunting and fishing appealed to him only in an uncertain way, and
he longed to go forth into the busy world and make something of
himself.
He had two suits of clothing, but both were very much worn, and
so were his shoes and his cap. Hiram Bodley had left some old
clothing, but they were too big for the boy.
"I guess I'll get Jasok the peddler to come up here and make me
an offer for what is here," he told himself.
Jasok was a Hebrew peddler who drove around through the lake
region, selling tinware and doing all sorts of trading. It was
time for him to visit that neighborhood and Joe went to the
nearest house on the main road and asked about the man.
"He will most likely be along to-morrow, Joe," said the neighbor.
"If he comes, Mr. Smith, will you send him over to my place?
Tell him I want an offer for the things."
"Going to sell out, Joe?"
"Yes, sir."
"What are you going to do after that?"
"Try for some job in town."
"That's a good idea. Hunting and fishing isn't what it used to
be. What do you want for the things?"
"All I can get," and a brief smile hovered on Joe's face.
"I wouldn't sell out too cheap. Jasok is a great fellow to drive
a bargain."
"If he won't give me a fair price, I'll load the things on the
rowboat and sell them in town."
"That's an idea. Do you want to sell Hiram's double-barrel shot
gun?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll give you ten dollars for it."
"I was going to ask twelve, Mr. Smith. It's a pretty good gun."
"So it is, although it is a little bit old-fashioned. Well,
bring it over and I'll allow you twelve dollars," answered the
neighbor, who was willing to assist Joe all he could.
Joe went back for the gun without delay, and received his money.
Then he returned to the cabin and brought out all the goods he
wished to sell.
By the middle of the next day the Hebrew peddler appeared. At
first he declared that all of the things Joe had to sell were not
worth two dollars.
"Very well, if you think that, we won't talk about it," said Joe,
briefly.
"Da vos all vorn out," said Jasok. "De clothes vos rags, and de
furniture an' dishes was kracked."
"If you don't want them, I'll take them to town and sell them. I
am sure Moskowsky will buy them."
Now it happened that Moskowsky was a rival peddler who also
boasted of the ownership of a second-hand store. To think that
the goods might go to this man nettled Jasok exceedingly.
"Vell, I likes you, Cho," he said. "I vos your friend, an' I gif
you dree dollars for dem dings."
"You can have them for ten dollars," answered the boy.
A long talk followed, and in the end the Hebrew peddler agreed to
pay seven dollars and a half, providing Joe would help to carry
the goods to the main road, where the wagon had been left. The
money was paid over, and by nightfall all of the goods were on
the wagon, and Joe was left at the cabin with nothing but the
suit on his back. But he had thirty dollars in his pocket, which
he counted over with great satisfaction.
"I ought to be able to get something to do before that is gone,"
he told himself. "If I don't, it will be my own fault."
CHAPTER V.
A NEW SUIT OF CLOTHES.
On the following day it rained early in the morning, so Joe had
to wait until noon before he left the old cabin. He took with
him all that remained of his possessions, including the precious
pocketbook with the thirty dollars. When he thought of the blue
box he sighed.
"Perhaps it will never come to light," he told himself. "Well,
if it does not I'll have to make the best of it."
Two o'clock found him on the streets of Riverside, which was a
town of fair size. During the summer months many visitors were
in the place and the hotels and boarding houses were crowded.
There was one very fine clothing store in Riverside, but Joe did
not deem it best, with his limited capital, to go there for a
suit. Instead he sought out a modestestablishment on one of the
side streets.
Just ahead of him was an Irish couple who had evidently not been
in this country many years. The man entered the store awkwardly,
as if he did not feel at home. Not so his wife, who walked a
little in advance of her husband.
"Have you got any men's coats?" said she to the clerk who came
forward to wait on the pair. "If I can get one cheap for me
husband here I'll buy one."
"Oh, yes, madam," was the ready reply. "We have the best stock in
town, by all odds. You can't fail to be suited."
So saying, he led the way to a counter piled high with the
articles called for, and hauled them over.
"There," said he, pulling out one of a decidedly ugly pattern.
"There is one of first quality cloth. It was made for a
gentleman of this town, but did not exactly fit him, and so we'll
sell it cheap."
"And what is the price?"
"Three dollars."
"Three dollars!" exclaimed the Irish lady, lifting up her hands
in extreme astonishment.
"Three dollars! You'll be afther thinkin' we're made of money,
sure! I'll give you a dollar and a half."
"No, ma'am, we don't trade in that way. We don't very often take
half what we ask for an article."
"Mike," said she, "pull off yer coat an' thry it on. Three
dollars, and it looks as if it was all cotton."
"Not a thread of cotton in that," was the clerk's reply.
"Not wan, but a good many, I'm thinkin'," retorted the Irish
lady, as she helped her husband draw on the coat. It fitted
tolerably well and Mike seemed mightily pleased with his
transformation.
"Come," said the wife. "What will ye take?"
"As it's you, I'll take off twenty-five cents," replied the
clerk.
"And sell it to me for two dollars?" inquired his customer, who
had good cause for her inaccurate arithmetic.
"For two dollars and seventy-five cents."
"Two dollars and seventy-five cents! It's taking the bread out of
the childer's mouths you'd have us, paying such a price as that!
I'll give you two twenty-five, an' I'll be coming again some
time."
"We couldn't take so low as two twenty- five, ma'am. You may
have it for two dollars and a half."
After another ineffectual attempt to get it for two dollars and a
quarter, the Irish woman finally offered two dollars and
forty-five cents, and this offer was accepted.
She pulled out a paper of change and counted out two dollars and
forty cents, when she declared that she had not another cent.
But the clerk understood her game and coolly proceeded to put the
coat back on the pile. Then the woman very opportunely found
another five-cent piece stored away in the corner of her pocket.
"It's robbin' me, ye are," said she as she paid it over.
"Oh, no, ma'am, you are getting a great bargain," answered the
clerk.
Joe had witnessed the bargaining with a good deal of quiet
amusement. As soon as the Irish couple had gone the clerk came
toward the boy.
"Well, young man, what can I do for you?" he asked, pleasantly.
"I want a suit of clothing. Not an expensive suit, but one
guaranteed to be all wool."
"A light or a dark suit?"
"A dark gray."
"I can fit you out in a fine suit of this order," and the clerk
pointed to several lying in a heap nearby.
"I don't want that sort. I want something on the order of those
in the window marked nine dollars and a half."
"Oh, all right."
Several suits were brought forth, and one was found that fitted
pulled away heavy boards and logs, and Joe even got a spade and
dug up the ground at certain points.
"It doesn't seem to be here," said Ned, after an hour had passed.
"It must be here," cried Joe.
"Perhaps it was buried under a tree."
"That may be true. Anyway, I am certain it is somewhere around
this cabin."
After that the hunt was continued for another hour, and they
visited several spots in that locality where Joe thought the blue
box might have been placed. But it was all to no purpose, the
box failed to come to light.
At last the two boys sat down on a bench in front of the cabin.
Both were tired out, Ned especially so. Joe was much downcast
and his friend did what he could to cheer him up.
"The box is bound to come to light some day," said Ned. "That
is, unless some of those men carried it off."
"What men, Ned?"
"The fellows who helped to mend the cabin just before the
funeral."
"Oh, I don't think they would steal the box. Bart Andrews and
Jack Thompson are as honest as the day is long."
"Well, it's mighty queer you can't find some trace of the blue
box."
The boys talked the matter over for some time, and then Ned
announced that he must go home.
"You can go with me if you wish," he said. "It will be better
than staying here all alone."
But Joe declined the offer.
"I'll stay here, and begin the hunt again the first thing in the
morning," he said.
"Well, if you want anything, come and see me, Joe; won't you?"
"I will, Ned."
Ned had come over in his own boat and now Joe walked down to the
lake with him. His friend gone, the hermit's boy returned to the
delapidated cabin.
He was hungry but he had no heart to eat. He munched some bread
and cheese which a neighbor had brought over. He felt utterly
alone in the great worlds and when he thought of this a strange
feeling came over him.
It was a bitter night for the poor boy, but when morning came his
mind was made up. He would make his own way in the world, asking
aid from no one, not even Ned.
"And if I can't find the blue box I'll get along without it," he
told himself.
As soon as it was light he procured breakfast and then started on
another hunt for the missing box. The entire day was spent in
the search, but without results. Towards night, Joe went down to
the lake. Here he caught a couple of small fish, which he fried
for his supper.
All told, Joe had exactly a dollar and a half of his own and nine
dollars which he had found in the hermit's pocketbook.
"Ten dollars and a half," he mused, as he counted the amount
over. "Not very much to go out into the world with. If I want
to do anything in town I'll have to buy some clothes."
From this it will be surmised that Joe was thinking of giving up
his roving life around the lake and mountains, and this was true.
Hunting and fishing appealed to him only in an uncertain way, and
he longed to go forth into the busy world and make something of
himself.
He had two suits of clothing, but both were very much worn, and
so were his shoes and his cap. Hiram Bodley had left some old
clothing, but they were too big for the boy.
"I guess I'll get Jasok the peddler to come up here and make me
an offer for what is here," he told himself.
Jasok was a Hebrew peddler who drove around through the lake
region, selling tinware and doing all sorts of trading. It was
time for him to visit that neighborhood and Joe went to the
nearest house on the main road and asked about the man.
"He will most likely be along to-morrow, Joe," said the neighbor.
"If he comes, Mr. Smith, will you send him over to my place?
Tell him I want an offer for the things."
"Going to sell out, Joe?"
"Yes, sir."
"What are you going to do after that?"
"Try for some job in town."
"That's a good idea. Hunting and fishing isn't what it used to
be. What do you want for the things?"
"All I can get," and a brief smile hovered on Joe's face.
"I wouldn't sell out too cheap. Jasok is a great fellow to drive
a bargain."
"If he won't give me a fair price, I'll load the things on the
rowboat and sell them in town."
"That's an idea. Do you want to sell Hiram's double-barrel shot
gun?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll give you ten dollars for it."
"I was going to ask twelve, Mr. Smith. It's a pretty good gun."
"So it is, although it is a little bit old-fashioned. Well,
bring it over and I'll allow you twelve dollars," answered the
neighbor, who was willing to assist Joe all he could.
Joe went back for the gun without delay, and received his money.
Then he returned to the cabin and brought out all the goods he
wished to sell.
By the middle of the next day the Hebrew peddler appeared. At
first he declared that all of the things Joe had to sell were not
worth two dollars.
"Very well, if you think that, we won't talk about it," said Joe,
briefly.
"Da vos all vorn out," said Jasok. "De clothes vos rags, and de
furniture an' dishes was kracked."
"If you don't want them, I'll take them to town and sell them. I
am sure Moskowsky will buy them."
Now it happened that Moskowsky was a rival peddler who also
boasted of the ownership of a second-hand store. To think that
the goods might go to this man nettled Jasok exceedingly.
"Vell, I likes you, Cho," he said. "I vos your friend, an' I gif
you dree dollars for dem dings."
"You can have them for ten dollars," answered the boy.
A long talk followed, and in the end the Hebrew peddler agreed to
pay seven dollars and a half, providing Joe would help to carry
the goods to the main road, where the wagon had been left. The
money was paid over, and by nightfall all of the goods were on
the wagon, and Joe was left at the cabin with nothing but the
suit on his back. But he had thirty dollars in his pocket, which
he counted over with great satisfaction.
"I ought to be able to get something to do before that is gone,"
he told himself. "If I don't, it will be my own fault."
CHAPTER V.
A NEW SUIT OF CLOTHES.
On the following day it rained early in the morning, so Joe had
to wait until noon before he left the old cabin. He took with
him all that remained of his possessions, including the precious
pocketbook with the thirty dollars. When he thought of the blue
box he sighed.
"Perhaps it will never come to light," he told himself. "Well,
if it does not I'll have to make the best of it."
Two o'clock found him on the streets of Riverside, which was a
town of fair size. During the summer months many visitors were
in the place and the hotels and boarding houses were crowded.
There was one very fine clothing store in Riverside, but Joe did
not deem it best, with his limited capital, to go there for a
suit. Instead he sought out a modestestablishment on one of the
side streets.
Just ahead of him was an Irish couple who had evidently not been
in this country many years. The man entered the store awkwardly,
as if he did not feel at home. Not so his wife, who walked a
little in advance of her husband.
"Have you got any men's coats?" said she to the clerk who came
forward to wait on the pair. "If I can get one cheap for me
husband here I'll buy one."
"Oh, yes, madam," was the ready reply. "We have the best stock in
town, by all odds. You can't fail to be suited."
So saying, he led the way to a counter piled high with the
articles called for, and hauled them over.
"There," said he, pulling out one of a decidedly ugly pattern.
"There is one of first quality cloth. It was made for a
gentleman of this town, but did not exactly fit him, and so we'll
sell it cheap."
"And what is the price?"
"Three dollars."
"Three dollars!" exclaimed the Irish lady, lifting up her hands
in extreme astonishment.
"Three dollars! You'll be afther thinkin' we're made of money,
sure! I'll give you a dollar and a half."
"No, ma'am, we don't trade in that way. We don't very often take
half what we ask for an article."
"Mike," said she, "pull off yer coat an' thry it on. Three
dollars, and it looks as if it was all cotton."
"Not a thread of cotton in that," was the clerk's reply.
"Not wan, but a good many, I'm thinkin'," retorted the Irish
lady, as she helped her husband draw on the coat. It fitted
tolerably well and Mike seemed mightily pleased with his
transformation.
"Come," said the wife. "What will ye take?"
"As it's you, I'll take off twenty-five cents," replied the
clerk.
"And sell it to me for two dollars?" inquired his customer, who
had good cause for her inaccurate arithmetic.
"For two dollars and seventy-five cents."
"Two dollars and seventy-five cents! It's taking the bread out of
the childer's mouths you'd have us, paying such a price as that!
I'll give you two twenty-five, an' I'll be coming again some
time."
"We couldn't take so low as two twenty- five, ma'am. You may
have it for two dollars and a half."
After another ineffectual attempt to get it for two dollars and a
quarter, the Irish woman finally offered two dollars and
forty-five cents, and this offer was accepted.
She pulled out a paper of change and counted out two dollars and
forty cents, when she declared that she had not another cent.
But the clerk understood her game and coolly proceeded to put the
coat back on the pile. Then the woman very opportunely found
another five-cent piece stored away in the corner of her pocket.
"It's robbin' me, ye are," said she as she paid it over.
"Oh, no, ma'am, you are getting a great bargain," answered the
clerk.
Joe had witnessed the bargaining with a good deal of quiet
amusement. As soon as the Irish couple had gone the clerk came
toward the boy.
"Well, young man, what can I do for you?" he asked, pleasantly.
"I want a suit of clothing. Not an expensive suit, but one
guaranteed to be all wool."
"A light or a dark suit?"
"A dark gray."
"I can fit you out in a fine suit of this order," and the clerk
pointed to several lying in a heap nearby.
"I don't want that sort. I want something on the order of those
in the window marked nine dollars and a half."
"Oh, all right."
Several suits were brought forth, and one was found that fitted
- cheese [tʃi:z]
n.干酪，乳酪 (初中英语单词) - missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中英语单词)
- uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)
- neighborhood [´neibəhud] n.邻居；邻近；附近 (初中英语单词)
- old-fashioned [´əuld´feʃənd] a.老式的；过时的 (初中英语单词)
- willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
- assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)
- second-hand [,sekənd´hænd] a.用过的；间接的 (初中英语单词)
- modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
- establishment [i´stæbliʃmənt] n.建(成)立；研究所 (初中英语单词)
- evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)
- extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)
- customer [´kʌstəmə] n.顾客，买主，主顾 (初中英语单词)
- expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
- locality [ləu´kæliti] n.位置，地区，发生地 (高中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)
- decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)
- fishing [´fiʃiŋ] n.钓鱼；捕鱼；渔业 (英语四级单词)
- ownership [´əunəʃip] n.所有权；所有制 (英语四级单词)
- coolly [´ku:li] ad.冷(静地)，沉着地 (英语四级单词)
- hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)
- nightfall [´nait,fɔ:l] n.黄昏；傍晚 (英语六级单词)
- riverside [´rivəsaid] n.河岸 a.河岸上的 (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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