章节正文
liquor and--and--this is the result."
"Perhaps he will turn over a new leaf when he comes out of jail."
"I hope he does. If he doesn't, I don't know what I am going to
do."
"Have you anything to do?"
"I used to wash for two families in town but they have regular
hired help now."
"Perhaps you can get more work, if you advertise. If you'll
allow me, I'll put an advertisement in the Riverside News for
you."
"Thank you. I don't see what makes you so kind."
"Well, I have been down in the world myself, Mrs. Cullum, so I
know how to feel for others."
"Did you say you used to live with Bodley, the hermit?"
"Yes."
"My folks used to know him. He was rather a strange man after he
got shot by accident."
"Yes, but he was kind."
"Are you his son?"
"No. He said I was his nephew. But I never found out much about
that."
"Oh, yes, I remember something about that. He had a brother who
lost his wife and several children. Are you that man's son?"
"I believe I am."
"And you have never heard from your father?"
"Not a word."
"That is hard on you."
"I am going to look for my father some day."
"If so, I hope you will find him."
"So do I." Joe arose. "I must be going." He paused. "Mrs.
Cullum, will you let me help you?" he added, earnestly.
"Why, you have helped me a good deal already. Not one in a
thousand would do what you have done--after the way my husband
treated you."
"I thought that you might be short of money."
"I must confess I am."
"I am not rich but, if you can use it, I can let you have five
dollars."
"I'll accept it as a loan. I don't want you to give me the
money," answered the poor woman. She thought of the things she
absolutely needed, now that her husband was gone.
The money was handed over, and a few minutes later Joe took his
departure. Somehow his heart felt very light because of his
generosity. He had certainly played the part of a friend in
need.
But he did not stop there. Early in the morning he sought out
Andrew Mallison and told the hotel proprietor of Mrs. Cullum's
condition.
"I was thinking that you might be able to give her work in the
hotel laundry," he continued.
The hotel man called up the housekeeper and from her learned that
another woman could be used to iron.
"You can let her come and we'll give her a trial," said he.
It did not take Joe long to communicate with the poor woman, and
she was overjoyed to see work in sight, without waiting for an
advertisement in the newspaper.
"I'll go at once," said she. "I'll get a neighbor's girl to mind
the children." And she was as good as her word. As it happened,
she proved to be a good laundress, and Mr. Mallison gave her
steady employment until her husband came from jail. Then, much
to his wife's satisfaction, Sam Cullum turned over a new leaf and
became quite sober and industrious.
Joe was now becoming well acquainted around the hotel and took an
interest in many of the boarders.
Among the number was a young man named Felix Gussing. He was a
nice individual in his way, but had certain peculiarities. One
was that he was exceedingly afraid of horses and at every
possible opportunity he gave them as wide a berth as possible.
"Don't like them at all, don't you know," he said, to Joe, during
a boat ride. "Can't understand them at all."
"Oh, I think a good horse is very nice," answered our hero.
"But they are so--so balkish--so full of kicking," insisted Felix
Gussing.
"Well, I admit some of them are," answered Joe.
There were two young ladies stopping at the hotel and the young
man had become quite well acquainted with both of them. One he
thought was very beautiful and was half tempted to propose to
her.
On the day after the boat ride with Joe, Felix Gussing took the
ladies to have some ice cream, and during the conversation all
spoke of a certain landmark of interest located about three miles
from Riverside.
"I have seen it and it is--aw--very interesting," drawled Felix.
"Then we must see it, Belle," said one of the young ladies, to
her companion.
"Oh, I'm not going to walk that far," answered Belle, with a
bewitching look at the young man.
"You might drive over," suggested Felix, without stopping to
think twice.
"Oh, yes, I love driving!" cried one of the girls.
"And so do I!" answered the other.
"I will find out what can be done about a conveyance," answered
Felix.
Being a good deal of a dude, and dressing very fastidiously, he
did not much relish visiting the liverystable attached to the
hotel. But, early on the following morning, he walked down to
the place, and ordered a horse and carriage, to be ready at ten
o'clock.
Now it must be known that Felix did not intend to drive the
carriage. He thought the young ladies would drive for
themselves, since both had said that they loved driving.
Unfortunate man! he knew not the snare he had laid for himself!
Punctual to the minute the carriage drove up to the door.
Felix was on hand, standing on the steps, with politeness in his
air, though with trembling in his heart because so near the
horses. He assisted the ladies in. Then he handed the reins to
Miss Belle.
"Do you wish me to hold the horses while you get in?" she asked
sweetly.
"Till I get in!" ejaculated Felix, taken aback.
"Certainly! You don't think we are going to drive ourselves, do
you? Of course you are going with us."
Poor Felix! He was "in for it" now, decidedly. It required a
good deal of moral courage, a quality in which he was deficient,
to resist a lady's demand. His knees trembled with fear as he
scrambled in. Joe, who was standing not far away, looked on with
a quiet smile on his face. He realized what was passing in the
dude's mind.
"He'd give ten dollars to get out of it," our hero told himself.
The boy who had brought the turnout around looked at Felix
Gussing earnestly.
"Take care of that horse, mister," said he, warningly. "He's
young and a little bit wild."
"Wild?" gasped the dude. "I--I don't want to drive a wild
horse."
"Oh, he'll be all right if you keep an eye on him," went on the
stable boy.
"Young and a little bit wild!" thought Felix to himself. "Oh,
dear, what in the world shall I do? I never drove a horse
before. If I get back with less than a broken neck I'll be lucky!
I'd give a thousand to be out of this pickle."
"Hadn't we better start, Mr. Gussing?" asked one of the young
ladies, after a pause.
"Oh, yes--certainly!" he stammered. "But --er--you can drive if
you wish."
"Thank you, but I would prefer that you drive."
"Won't you drive?" he asked of the other young lady.
"Oh, no, not to-day. But I'll use the whip if you say so," she
answered.
"Not for the world!" cried the unhappy Felix. "He is a bit wild
already and there is no telling what he'd do if he felt the
whip."
At last the carriage drove off. Joe gazed after it thoughtfully.
"Unless I miss my guess, there is going to be trouble before that
drive is over," he thought. And there was trouble, as we shall
soon learn.
CHAPTER IX.
AN UNFORTUNATE OUTING.
Fortunately for the unhappy Felix the horse walked away from the
hotel in an orderly fashion, and soon they gained the highway
leading to the resort the party wished to visit.
Had the dude left the horse alone all might have gone well. But
he deemed it necessary to pull on first one line and then the
other, which kept the carriage in a meandering course.
"I don't think, Mr. Gussing, that you can be much used to
driving," said one of the young ladies, presently.
"That's a fact," answered the dude.
"Why don't you keep to the right of the road?"
"Well,--er--the fact is, this horse is a very difficult one to
drive. I don't believe I ever drove one which was more so."
As this was the first horse Mr. Gussing had ever driven, this
assertion was true in every particular.
"Oh, I can't travel so slow!" cried one of the young ladies, and
seized the whip, and before Felix could stop her, used it on the
steed.
The effect was magical. The horse started up like a racer, and
tore through the street as if trying to win a race for a thousand
dollars.
The dude clung to the reins in the wildest terror. To his
frenzied imagination it seemed that his final hour was
approaching.
"Whoa!" he screamed, jerking on the lines. "Stop, you crazy
beast! Stop, before we all get killed!"
But the horse only went the faster. And now, to increase his
alarm, he saw a buggy approaching from the opposite direction.
It contained one of the town lawyers, Silas Simms by name.
"We shall run into that buggy!" screamed the fair Belle. "Oh,
Mr. Gussing, be careful!"
A moment later the two turnouts came together with a crash, and
one wheel was torn from the buggy and the town lawyer pitched out
headlong to the ground. Then on went the carriage with the dude
and the two young ladies, at a faster pace than ever.
"Let me jump out!" screamed one of the ladies.
"No, not yet! You'll be killed, Grace," answered Belle.
"Then stop the carriage!"
Alas, the poor Felix was already doing his best to stop the
horse. But his jerkings on the reins only added to the horse's
wildness.
Not far along the road was a good sized brook, spanned by a neat
wooden bridge. As the carriage neared the bridge, Felix pulled
on the wrong rein once again. The horse turned from the road
proper, and descended full speed into the stream itself.
"Oh, now we'll be drowned!" shrieked Grace.
But she was mistaken. The stream was easily fordable, so there
was no danger on that score. But the rate at which they were
impelled through the water naturally created no inconsiderable
splashing, so that on emerging on the other side the dude, as
well as the young ladies, were well drenched.
To the great joy of Felix the contact with the water cooled the
ardor of the steed, so that he resumed the journey at a far more
moderate rate of speed.
"Perhaps he will turn over a new leaf when he comes out of jail."
"I hope he does. If he doesn't, I don't know what I am going to
do."
"Have you anything to do?"
"I used to wash for two families in town but they have regular
hired help now."
"Perhaps you can get more work, if you advertise. If you'll
allow me, I'll put an advertisement in the Riverside News for
you."
"Thank you. I don't see what makes you so kind."
"Well, I have been down in the world myself, Mrs. Cullum, so I
know how to feel for others."
"Did you say you used to live with Bodley, the hermit?"
"Yes."
"My folks used to know him. He was rather a strange man after he
got shot by accident."
"Yes, but he was kind."
"Are you his son?"
"No. He said I was his nephew. But I never found out much about
that."
"Oh, yes, I remember something about that. He had a brother who
lost his wife and several children. Are you that man's son?"
"I believe I am."
"And you have never heard from your father?"
"Not a word."
"That is hard on you."
"I am going to look for my father some day."
"If so, I hope you will find him."
"So do I." Joe arose. "I must be going." He paused. "Mrs.
Cullum, will you let me help you?" he added, earnestly.
"Why, you have helped me a good deal already. Not one in a
thousand would do what you have done--after the way my husband
treated you."
"I thought that you might be short of money."
"I must confess I am."
"I am not rich but, if you can use it, I can let you have five
dollars."
"I'll accept it as a loan. I don't want you to give me the
money," answered the poor woman. She thought of the things she
absolutely needed, now that her husband was gone.
The money was handed over, and a few minutes later Joe took his
departure. Somehow his heart felt very light because of his
generosity. He had certainly played the part of a friend in
need.
But he did not stop there. Early in the morning he sought out
Andrew Mallison and told the hotel proprietor of Mrs. Cullum's
condition.
"I was thinking that you might be able to give her work in the
hotel laundry," he continued.
The hotel man called up the housekeeper and from her learned that
another woman could be used to iron.
"You can let her come and we'll give her a trial," said he.
It did not take Joe long to communicate with the poor woman, and
she was overjoyed to see work in sight, without waiting for an
advertisement in the newspaper.
"I'll go at once," said she. "I'll get a neighbor's girl to mind
the children." And she was as good as her word. As it happened,
she proved to be a good laundress, and Mr. Mallison gave her
steady employment until her husband came from jail. Then, much
to his wife's satisfaction, Sam Cullum turned over a new leaf and
became quite sober and industrious.
Joe was now becoming well acquainted around the hotel and took an
interest in many of the boarders.
Among the number was a young man named Felix Gussing. He was a
nice individual in his way, but had certain peculiarities. One
was that he was exceedingly afraid of horses and at every
possible opportunity he gave them as wide a berth as possible.
"Don't like them at all, don't you know," he said, to Joe, during
a boat ride. "Can't understand them at all."
"Oh, I think a good horse is very nice," answered our hero.
"But they are so--so balkish--so full of kicking," insisted Felix
Gussing.
"Well, I admit some of them are," answered Joe.
There were two young ladies stopping at the hotel and the young
man had become quite well acquainted with both of them. One he
thought was very beautiful and was half tempted to propose to
her.
On the day after the boat ride with Joe, Felix Gussing took the
ladies to have some ice cream, and during the conversation all
spoke of a certain landmark of interest located about three miles
from Riverside.
"I have seen it and it is--aw--very interesting," drawled Felix.
"Then we must see it, Belle," said one of the young ladies, to
her companion.
"Oh, I'm not going to walk that far," answered Belle, with a
bewitching look at the young man.
"You might drive over," suggested Felix, without stopping to
think twice.
"Oh, yes, I love driving!" cried one of the girls.
"And so do I!" answered the other.
"I will find out what can be done about a conveyance," answered
Felix.
Being a good deal of a dude, and dressing very fastidiously, he
did not much relish visiting the liverystable attached to the
hotel. But, early on the following morning, he walked down to
the place, and ordered a horse and carriage, to be ready at ten
o'clock.
Now it must be known that Felix did not intend to drive the
carriage. He thought the young ladies would drive for
themselves, since both had said that they loved driving.
Unfortunate man! he knew not the snare he had laid for himself!
Punctual to the minute the carriage drove up to the door.
Felix was on hand, standing on the steps, with politeness in his
air, though with trembling in his heart because so near the
horses. He assisted the ladies in. Then he handed the reins to
Miss Belle.
"Do you wish me to hold the horses while you get in?" she asked
sweetly.
"Till I get in!" ejaculated Felix, taken aback.
"Certainly! You don't think we are going to drive ourselves, do
you? Of course you are going with us."
Poor Felix! He was "in for it" now, decidedly. It required a
good deal of moral courage, a quality in which he was deficient,
to resist a lady's demand. His knees trembled with fear as he
scrambled in. Joe, who was standing not far away, looked on with
a quiet smile on his face. He realized what was passing in the
dude's mind.
"He'd give ten dollars to get out of it," our hero told himself.
The boy who had brought the turnout around looked at Felix
Gussing earnestly.
"Take care of that horse, mister," said he, warningly. "He's
young and a little bit wild."
"Wild?" gasped the dude. "I--I don't want to drive a wild
horse."
"Oh, he'll be all right if you keep an eye on him," went on the
stable boy.
"Young and a little bit wild!" thought Felix to himself. "Oh,
dear, what in the world shall I do? I never drove a horse
before. If I get back with less than a broken neck I'll be lucky!
I'd give a thousand to be out of this pickle."
"Hadn't we better start, Mr. Gussing?" asked one of the young
ladies, after a pause.
"Oh, yes--certainly!" he stammered. "But --er--you can drive if
you wish."
"Thank you, but I would prefer that you drive."
"Won't you drive?" he asked of the other young lady.
"Oh, no, not to-day. But I'll use the whip if you say so," she
answered.
"Not for the world!" cried the unhappy Felix. "He is a bit wild
already and there is no telling what he'd do if he felt the
whip."
At last the carriage drove off. Joe gazed after it thoughtfully.
"Unless I miss my guess, there is going to be trouble before that
drive is over," he thought. And there was trouble, as we shall
soon learn.
CHAPTER IX.
AN UNFORTUNATE OUTING.
Fortunately for the unhappy Felix the horse walked away from the
hotel in an orderly fashion, and soon they gained the highway
leading to the resort the party wished to visit.
Had the dude left the horse alone all might have gone well. But
he deemed it necessary to pull on first one line and then the
other, which kept the carriage in a meandering course.
"I don't think, Mr. Gussing, that you can be much used to
driving," said one of the young ladies, presently.
"That's a fact," answered the dude.
"Why don't you keep to the right of the road?"
"Well,--er--the fact is, this horse is a very difficult one to
drive. I don't believe I ever drove one which was more so."
As this was the first horse Mr. Gussing had ever driven, this
assertion was true in every particular.
"Oh, I can't travel so slow!" cried one of the young ladies, and
seized the whip, and before Felix could stop her, used it on the
steed.
The effect was magical. The horse started up like a racer, and
tore through the street as if trying to win a race for a thousand
dollars.
The dude clung to the reins in the wildest terror. To his
frenzied imagination it seemed that his final hour was
approaching.
"Whoa!" he screamed, jerking on the lines. "Stop, you crazy
beast! Stop, before we all get killed!"
But the horse only went the faster. And now, to increase his
alarm, he saw a buggy approaching from the opposite direction.
It contained one of the town lawyers, Silas Simms by name.
"We shall run into that buggy!" screamed the fair Belle. "Oh,
Mr. Gussing, be careful!"
A moment later the two turnouts came together with a crash, and
one wheel was torn from the buggy and the town lawyer pitched out
headlong to the ground. Then on went the carriage with the dude
and the two young ladies, at a faster pace than ever.
"Let me jump out!" screamed one of the ladies.
"No, not yet! You'll be killed, Grace," answered Belle.
"Then stop the carriage!"
Alas, the poor Felix was already doing his best to stop the
horse. But his jerkings on the reins only added to the horse's
wildness.
Not far along the road was a good sized brook, spanned by a neat
wooden bridge. As the carriage neared the bridge, Felix pulled
on the wrong rein once again. The horse turned from the road
proper, and descended full speed into the stream itself.
"Oh, now we'll be drowned!" shrieked Grace.
But she was mistaken. The stream was easily fordable, so there
was no danger on that score. But the rate at which they were
impelled through the water naturally created no inconsiderable
splashing, so that on emerging on the other side the dude, as
well as the young ladies, were well drenched.
To the great joy of Felix the contact with the water cooled the
ardor of the steed, so that he resumed the journey at a far more
moderate rate of speed.
- liquor [´likə]
n.酒类；(溶)液 (初中英语单词) - nephew [´nevju:, ´nɛfju] n.侄子；外甥 (初中英语单词)
- confess [kən´fes] vt.供认；坦白；承认 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- employment [im´plɔimənt] n.工作；职业；雇用 (初中英语单词)
- satisfaction [,sætis´fækʃən] n.满意；满足 (初中英语单词)
- stable [´steibəl] n.马棚 a.稳固的 (初中英语单词)
- carriage [´kæridʒ] n.马车；客车；货运 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- resist [ri´zist] v.抵抗；对抗；抵制 (初中英语单词)
- unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
- unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)
- orderly [´ɔ:dəli] a.整洁的 n.勤务兵 (初中英语单词)
- resort [ri´zɔ:t] vi.求助；乞灵；诉诸 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
- imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
- lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)
- stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
- contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)
- advertise [´ædvətaiz] v.登(做)广告；通知 (高中英语单词)
- advertisement [əd´və:tismənt] n.(做)广告；宣传 (高中英语单词)
- proprietor [prə´praiətə] n.所有人；业主；经营者 (高中英语单词)
- housekeeper [´haus,ki:pə] n.主妇，女管家 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- communicate [kə´mju:nikeit] vi.通讯；传达；传播 (高中英语单词)
- exceedingly [ik´si:diŋli] ad.非常地，极度地 (高中英语单词)
- relish [´reliʃ] n.滋味；风味 v.品尝 (高中英语单词)
- decidedly [di´saididli] ad.坚决地，果断地 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- livery [´livəri] a.有肝病征象的 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- riverside [´rivəsaid] n.河岸 a.河岸上的 (英语六级单词)
- landmark [´lændmɑ:k] n.界标；里程碑 (英语六级单词)
- politeness [pə´laitnis] n.礼貌；文雅；温和 (英语六级单词)
- magical [´mædʒikəl] a.有魔术的，神奇的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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