登陆注册
5590700000021

第21章 Jill's Mission(2)

The Prussians wear helmets,but they have spikes like the old Roman fellows.I like Prussians ever so much;they fight splendidly,and always beat.Austrians have a handsome uniform,though.""Talking of Romans reminds me that I have not heard your Latin for two days.Come,lazybones,brace up,and let us have it now.

I've done my compo,and shall have just time before I go out for a tramp with Gus,"said Frank,putting by a neat page to dry,for he studied every day like a conscientious lad as he was.

"Don't know it.Not going to try till next week.Grind away over your old Greek as much as you like,but don't bother me,"answered Jack,frowning at the mere thought of the detested lesson.

But Frank adored his Xenophon,and would not see his old friend,Caesar,neglected without an effort to defend him;so he confiscated the gum-pot,and effectually stopped the stamp business by whisking away at one fell swoop all that lay on Jill's table.

"Now then,young man,you will quit this sort of nonsense and do your lesson,or you won't see these fellows again in a hurry.You asked me to hear you,and I'm going to do it;here's the book."Frank's tone was the dictatorial one,which Jack hated and always found hard to obey,especially when he knew he ought to do it.

Usually,when his patience was tried,he strode about the room,or ran off for a race round the garden,coming back breathless,but good-tempered.Now both these vents for irritation were denied him,and he had fallen into the way of throwing things about in a pet.He longed to send Caesar to perpetual banishment in the fire blazing close by,but resisted the temptation,and answered honestly,though gruffly:"I know I'd id,but I don't see any use in pouncing on a fellow when he isn't ready.I haven't got my lesson,and don't mean to worry about it;so you may just give me back my things and go about your business.""I'll give you back a stamp for every perfect lesson you get,and you won't see them on any other terms";and,thrusting the treasures into his pocket,Frank caught up his rubber boots,and went off swinging them like a pair of clubs,feeling that he would give a trifle to be able to use them on his lazy brother.

At this high-handed proceeding,and the threat which accompanied it,Jack's patience gave out,and catching up Caesar,as he thought,sent him flying after the retreating tyrant with the defiant declaration,"Keep them,then,and your old book,too!I won't look at it till you give all my stamps back and say you are sorry.So now!"It was all over before Mamma could interfere,or Jill do more than clutch and cling to the gum-brush.Frank vanished unharmed,but the poor book dashed against the wall to fall half open on the floor,its gay cover loosened,and its smooth leaves crushed by the blow.

"It's the album!O Jack,how could you?"cried Jill,dismayed at sight of the precious book so maltreated by the owner.

"Thought it was the other.Guess it isn't hurt much.Didn't mean to hit him,anyway.He does provoke me so,"muttered Jack,very red and shamefaced as his mother picked up the book and laid it silently on the table before him.He did not know what to do with himself,and was thankful for the stamps still left him,finding great relief in making faces as he plucked them one by one from his mortified countenance.Jill looked on,half glad,half sorry that her savage showed such signs of unconverted ferocity,and Mrs.

Minot went on writing letters,wearing the grave look her sons found harder to bear than another person's scolding.No one spoke for a moment,and the silence was becoming awkward when Gus appeared in a rubber suit,bringing a book to Jack from Laura and a note to Jill from Lotty.

"Look here,you just trundle me into my den,please,I'm going to have a nap,it's so dull to-day I don't feel like doing much,"said Jack,when Gus had done his errands,trying to look as if he knew nothing about the fracas.

Jack folded his arms and departed like a warrior borne from the battle-field,to be chaffed unmercifully for a "pepper-pot,"while Gus made him comfortable in his own room.

"I heard once of a boy who threw a fork at his brother and put his eye out.But he didn't mean to,and the brother forgave him,and he never did so any more,"observed Jill,in a pensive tone,wishing to show that she felt all the dangers of impatience,but was sorry for the culprit.

"Did the boy ever forgive himself?"asked Mrs.Minot.

"No,'m;I suppose not.But Jack didn't hit Frank,and feels real sorry,I know.""He might have,and hurt him very much.Our actions are in our own hands,but the consequences of them are not.Remember that,my dear,and think twice before you do anything.""Yes,'m,I will";and Jill composed herself to consider what missionaries usually did when the natives hurled tomahawks and boomerangs at one another,and defied the rulers of the land.

Mrs.Minot wrote one page of a new letter,then stopped,pushed her papers about,thought a little,and finally got up,saying,as if she found it impossible to resist the yearning of her heart for the naughty boy,"I am going to see if Jack is covered up,he is so helpless,and liable to take cold.Don't stir till I come back.""No,'m,I won't."

Away went the tender parent to find her son studying Caesar for dear life,and all the more amiable for the little gust which had blown away the temporary irritability.The brothers were often called "Thunder and Lightning,"because Frank lowered and growled and was a good while clearing up,while Jack's temper came and went like a flash,and the air was all the clearer for the escape of dangerous electricity.Of course Mamma had to stop and deliver a little lecture,illustrated by sad tales of petulant boys,and punctuated with kisses which took off the edge of these afflicting narratives.

Jill meantime meditated morally on the superiority of her own good temper over the hasty one of her dear playmate,and just when she was feeling unusually uplifted and secure,alas!like so many of us,she fell,in the most deplorable manner.

同类推荐
  • 大方广师子吼经

    大方广师子吼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 擒玄赋

    擒玄赋

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 圆悟佛果禅师语录

    圆悟佛果禅师语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 神应经

    神应经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 北京五大部直音会韵

    北京五大部直音会韵

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 铁屋与青色马

    铁屋与青色马

    陈集益,70后重要作家。曾就读于鲁迅文学院第七届中青年作家高级研讨班。浙江省作协签约作家。在《十月》《人民文学》《中国作家》《钟山》《天涯》等大型文学期刊发表小说六十万字。2009年获《十月》新锐人物奖。2010年获浙江省青年文学之星奖。
  • 口技

    口技

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 嫁衣

    嫁衣

    醉酒后醒来,发现和一个陌生女人在一起。然而,这却是噩梦的开始。
  • 续红楼之水润玉心

    续红楼之水润玉心

    林黛玉在宝玉和宝姐姐成亲的晚上,伤心欲绝,投入了潋滟湖,被刘家村的一对老夫妇救起,巧遇北静王爷水溶,从而又引发了一段缠绵温馨的······片段一:林姑娘,我怎么舍得你离开我呢!我巴不得照顾你一辈子的!片段二:林姑娘,刚刚你看到我的时候,心里非常高兴是吗?还有这首诗,是你为我而做的吗?你心里一直在惦念着我,是吗?向大家推荐我的另外一部作品《续红楼之潇湘情缘》
  • 为将不为妃

    为将不为妃

    她是大姜唯一的女将军,一生戎马,征战四方,十五岁身披铠甲上阵杀敌,所求不过是护得这个已然风雨飘摇的大将军府百年安定。然而,她衷心以待的君主,原来只是把她当做镇守疆土的一颗棋子,最终落了个家破人亡的下场。幸得上苍怜悯,还她一世性命,这一世,且看她如何搅动满城风雨,动荡万里江山。唯一遗憾的是,前一世里,她一生一次的心动,落了个心灰意冷的结局。他生莫作有情痴,人间无地着相思。本想这一世封了心,不见他,不相识,不相知,如此便可不相思。可是,世事无常。后来,她才明白,原来她从来都不曾真正了解过他,真正被辜负的人,是他,不是她。
  • 告密者

    告密者

    1943年夏,在我家乡梨城西北一个小山村发生一起告密事件,导致藏身于此的梨城城工部组织部长章文被日军逮捕。上世纪80年代中期出版的《梨城党史》对此曾作如是记载:“1943年8月22日,日军包围距梨城一百多里地的猪笼寨,将全村村民驱赶到乡场上。日军采取枪击、刀劈、刺刀刺等残忍手段,一共杀害六名手无寸铁的无辜村民,以此逼迫村民供出藏身于此的地下党员,梨城城工部组织部长章文被告密被捕。”对于这起告密事件,如今的大多数梨城人并不清楚,如果我不是被借调到市党史委负责编写《梨城抗日斗争史》,说实话,我对此事件也是一无所知。
  • 腹黑王爷,王妃要休夫

    腹黑王爷,王妃要休夫

    “愿得一人心,鹿车共挽”是民间医女苏宛儿的愿景,她被城府颇深的三皇子算计,从二皇子手中夺走成了其王妃。两位皇子夺嗣的斗争波谲云诡,宛儿利用神奇的医技帮三皇子脱险。在一次次受情伤之后,宛儿投入了默默爱她的复仇王子南宫聿怀抱,而且离奇身世被揭开。宛儿利用智慧和神奇的医技,斗败情敌安柔,帮南宫聿复国。又北上乔装入宫,以毒攻毒击败宿敌颜嘉仪。三皇子和南宫聿都深爱宛儿,互不相让。宛儿该何去何从?
  • 战神记

    战神记

    乾坤无极,通天指,天禅玉清诀,御龙神功,天机书,如来神掌,万剑归宗......无数神奇玄幻的仙法神诀横贯七届;宿敌的追杀,妖魔的残暴,红颜的痴恋,兄弟的情义,天道的正义......弥漫天地!看秦驭天如何集众神功于一身,荡平七届,匡扶大义,一统天地!
  • 炮灰攻略

    炮灰攻略

    五十年代婚姻是包办的,五十年代的女性是弱势的。当男人的花言巧语,社会主义等一连串的理由砸来时,让你不得不信服,却为此耽误一生的青春。本文作者标新立异,以现代女性的心性、睿智、以及经历,重塑五十年代女性对婚姻的向往憧憬,给大家带来一个新时代女性对爱情价值观的正确导向,揭露伪男人的丑恶脸庞。
  • 观相百家:古典中国文化之春夏秋冬

    观相百家:古典中国文化之春夏秋冬

    郭智勇先生的前一本书《被遗忘与曲解的古典中国——<吕氏春秋>对传统学术的投诉》提出了“古典中国”这一全新的概念,而这本书《观相百家:古典中国文化之春夏秋冬》则进一步展示了古典中国的全景和真相。何为“仁”?何为“义”?“礼”从何来?等等这些,本书都会用一个全新的故事来告诉你。孔子是一个宗教改革家!墨子是对孔子的承接!儒家竟是对墨家的反对!秦始皇不可能焚烧诗书!《吕氏春秋》才是中国文化的最高成就!……总之,就让本书带你进入真正的文化中国吧。