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Poor and Proud-Part3_Oliver Optic(1822-1897)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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mind to wander back to the narrative her mother had related to

her. She glanced at her coarse clothes, and could hardly believe



that her grandfather was a rich merchant, and lived in a fine

house. How nice it would be if she could only find the old



gentleman! He could not be cross to her; he would give her all

the money she could spend, and make a great lady of her.



"Pooh! what a fool I am to think of such a thing!" exclaimed she

impatiently, as she rose from the door stone. "I am a beggar, and



what right have I to think of being a fine lady, while my poor

sick mother has nothing to eat and drink? It is very hard to be



so poor, but I suppose it is all for the best."

"Do you want me, Katy?" said a voice from the door, which Katy



recognized as that of Master Simon Sneed.

"I want to see you very much," replied Katy.



"Wait a moment, and I will join you."

And in a moment Master Simon Sneed did join her; but he is so



much of a curiosity, and so much of a character, that I must stop

to tell my young readers all about him.



Master Simon Sneed was about fifteen years old, and tall enough

to have been two years older. He was very slim, and held his head



very straight. In 1843, the period of which I write, it was the

fashion for gentlemen to wear straps upon their pantaloons; and



accordingly Master Simon Sneed wore straps on his pantaloons,

though, it is true, the boys in the street used to laugh and hoot



at him for doing so; but they were very ill-mannered boys, and

could not appreciate the dignity of him they insulted.



Master Sneed's garments were not of the finest materials, but

though he was a juvenile dandy, it was evident that it required a



great deal of personal labor to make him such.

Clearly those straps were sewed on by himself, and clearly those



cowhide shoes had been thus elaborately polished by no other

hands than his own. In a word, the appearance of his clothes,



coarse as was their texture, and unfashionable as was their cut,

indicated the most scrupulous care. It was plain that he had a



fondness for dress, which his circumstances did not permit him to

indulge to any very great extent.



Master Simon Sneed was a great man in his own estimation; and, as

he had read a great many exciting novels, and had a good command



of language, he talked and acted like a great man. He could hold

his own in conversation with older and wiser persons than



himself. He could astonish almost any person of moderate

pretensions by the largeness of his ideas; and, of late years,



his father had not pretended to hold an argument with him, for

Simon always overwhelmed him by the force and elegance of his



rhetoric. He spoke familiarly of great men and great events.

His business relations--for Master Sneed was a business man--were



not very complicated. According to his own reckoning, he was the

chief person in the employ of Messrs. Sands & Co., wholesale and



retail dry good Washington Street; one who had rendered immense

service to the firm, and one without whom the firm could not



possibly get along a single day; in short, a sort of Atlas, on

whose broad shoulders the vast world of the Messrs. Sands & Co.'s



affairs rested. But according to the reckoning of the firm, and

the general understanding of people, Master Simon was a boy in



the store, whose duty it was to make fires, sweep out, and carry

bundles, and, in consideration of the fact that he boarded



himself to receive two dollars and a half a week for his

services. There was a vast difference between Master Simon



Sneed's estimate of Masters Simon Sneed, and the Messrs. Sands &

Co.'s idea of Master Simon Sneed.



But I beg my young friends not to let anything I have written

create a prejudice against him, for he was really a very



kind-hearted young man, and under certain circumstances would

have gone a great way to oblige a friend. He had always been



exceedingly well disposed towards Katy; perhaps it was because

the simple-hearted little girl used to be so much astonished when



he told her about his mercantile relations with the firm of Sands

& Co.; and how he managed all their business for them after the



store was closed at night, and before the front door was unlocked

in the morning; how he went to the bank after immense sums of



money; and how the firm would have to give up business if he

should die, or be obliged to leave them. Katy believed that



Master Simon was a great man, and she wondered how his long, slim

arms could accomplish so much labor, and how his small head could



hold such a heap of magnificent ideas. But Master Simon,

notwithstanding his elevated position in the firm, was



condescending to her; he had more than once done her a favor and

had always expressed a lively interest in her welfare. Therefore






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