登陆注册
5590700000030

第30章 The Debating Club(3)

"First I want to ask if all you fellows are ready to stand by Bob,out of the club as well as in,for it won't do much good to be kind to him here and cut him at school and in the street,"said Ed,heartily in earnest about the matter.

"I will!"cried Jack,ready to follow where his beloved friend led,and the others nodded,unwilling to be outdone by the youngest member.

"Good!With all of us to lend a hand,we can do a great deal;and I tell you,boys,it is time,if we want to keep poor Bob straight.We all turn our backs on him,so he loafs round the tavern,and goes with fellows we don't care to know.But he isn't bad yet,and we can keep him up,I'm sure,if we just try.I hope to get him into the Lodge,and that will be half the battle,won't it,Frank?"added Ed,sure that this suggestion would have weight with the honorable Chairman.

"Bring him along;I'm with you!"answered Frank,making up his mind at once,for he had joined the Temperance Lodge four years ago,and already six boys had followed his example.

"He is learning to smoke,but we'll make him drop it before it leads to worse.You can help him there,Admiral,if you only will,"added Ed,giving a grateful look at one friend,and turning to the other.

"I'm your man";and Gus looked as if he knew what he promised,for he had given up smoking to oblige his father,and kept his word like a hero.

"You other fellows can do a good deal by just being kind and not twitting him with old scrapes,and I'll do anything I can for you all to pay for this";and Ed sat down with a beaming smile,feeling that his cause was won.

The vote was taken,and all hands went up,for even surly Joe gave in;so Bob and Tom were duly elected,and proved their gratitude for the honor done them by becoming worthy members of the club.

It was only boys'play now,but the kind heart and pure instincts of one lad showed the others how to lend a helping hand to a comrade in danger,and win him away from temptation to the safer pastimes of their more guarded lives.

Well pleased with themselves--for every genuine act or word,no matter how trifling it seems,leaves a sweet and strengthening influence behind--the members settled down to the debate,which was never very long,and often only an excuse for fun of all sorts.

"Ralph,Gus,and Ed are for,and Brickbat,Grif,and Chick against,I suppose?"said Frank,surveying his company like a general preparing for battle.

"No,sir!I believe in co-everything!"cried Chick,a mild youth,who loyally escorted a chosen damsel home from school every day.

A laugh greeted this bold declaration,and Chick sat down,red but firm.

"I'll speak for two since the Chairman can't,and Jack won't go against those who pet him most to death,"said Joe,who,not being a favorite with the girls,considered them a nuisance and lost no opportunity of telling them so.

Fire away,then,since you are up;commanded Frank.

"Well,"began Joe,feeling too late how much he had undertaken,"I don't know a great deal about it,and I don't care,but I do not believe in having girls at college.They'd on't belong there,nobody wants 'em,and they'd better be at home darning their stockings.""Yours,too,"put in Ralph,who had heard that argument so often he was tired of it.

"Of course;that's what girls are for.I don't mind 'em at school,but I'd just as soon they had a room to themselves.We should get on better.""You would if Mabel wasn't in your class and always ahead of you,"observed Ed,whose friend was a fine scholar,and he very proud of the fact.

"Look here,if you fellows keep interrupting,I won't sit down for half an hour,"said Joe,well knowing that eloquence was not his gift,but bound to have his say out.

Deep silence reigned,for that threat quelled the most impatient member,and Joe prosed on,using all the arguments he had ever heard,and paying off several old scores by siy hits of a personal nature,as older orators often do.

"It is clear to my mind that boys would get on better without any girls fooling round.As for their being as smart as we are,it is all nonsense,for some of 'em cry over their lessons every day,or go home with headaches,or get mad and scold all recess,because something 'isn't fair.'No,sir;girls ain't meant to know much,and they can't.Wise folks say so and I believe 'em.Haven't got any sisters myself,and I don't want any,for they'd on't seem to amount to much,according to those who do have 'em."Groans from Gus and Ed greeted the closing remarks of the ungallant Joe,who sat down,feeling that he had made somebody squirm.Up jumped Grif,the delight of whose life was practical jokes,which amiable weakness made him the terror of the girls,though they had no other fault to find with the merry lad.

"Mr.Chairman,the ground I take is this:girls have not the strength to go to college with us.They couldn't row a race,go on a lark,or take care of themselves,as we do.They are all well enough at home,and I like them at parties,but for real fun and go I wouldn't give a cent for them,"began Grif,whose views of a collegiate life were confined to the enjoyments rather than the studies of that festive period."I have tried them,and they can't stand anything.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 如初莘莘不相恋

    如初莘莘不相恋

    夏柚涵:“你不说我会一直等我么。”苏莘言:“你终于舍得回来了。”洛樱雪:“放过我,放过自己好吗?我累了。”
  • Old Friends

    Old Friends

    Ninety-year-old Lou quit school after the eighth grade, worked for the rest of his life, and stayed with the same woman for nearly seventy years. Seventy-two-year-old Joe was chief probation officer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, holds a law degree, and has faced the death of a son and the raising of a mentally challenged daughter. Now, the two men are roommates in a nursing home. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, the two become close friends.With an exacting eye for detail, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder examines end-of-life sorrows, joys, and unexpected surprises with poetry and compassion. Struggling to find meaning in the face of mortality, Joe and Lou experience the challenges that come with aging—with a grace and dignity that's sure to inspire.
  • 时空干涉手册

    时空干涉手册

    新书已发,《正版传送门》,详情请戳作家进入新书介绍。过去,不止存在于记录,未来,也并不是想象……个人、国家、星球、宇宙——文明,从来不会局限于此。当真实的时空旅行发生,我才明白,个人在这无穷世界中仅是沧海一粟。我叫方言,那时的我,还是一名普通的学生,直到,我做出了选择……
  • 中国现代诗导读(穆旦卷)

    中国现代诗导读(穆旦卷)

    中国现代诗,也叫“新诗”,是指发端于“五四”时期到1949年新中国成立这一段时间的白话诗,即应用现代汉语的、自由抒发思想感情的、形式上不拘一格的诗歌。本书收录了多篇诗人与解诗者的文学对话。
  • 杜拉斯的小说政治

    杜拉斯的小说政治

    随便哪个女人都比男人神秘,任何女人,我知道这个!——杜拉斯《话多的女人》。一切简单化都是法西斯主义的……任何革命者都有自己的左派主张……如果中国人对此不理解不接受,如果他们相信人身上的一切是可以缩减的,那么一切革命就完蛋了。——杜拉斯《话多的女人》。全世界的作家,无论什么人,都在用马克思主义写作。
  • 暖婚蜜意

    暖婚蜜意

    "你拥有的,我深知遥不可及。经济,权力。我能永远爱你,但我知道我配不上你。我珍爱的,你不明它的意义。珍馐,美玉。我能舍弃一切,但我唯独不能没有你。他是身份神秘的商界巨鳄,也是背景军政商三界的家族独子。她是普通百姓,本科毕业,成天为了过日子累死累活的程序员。他冷酷无情的外表下,隐藏着的是对她的义无反顾和趋之若鹜。那年杏花雨下,她笑的灿烂,他爱的深沉。两个看似生活不会有交集的人会摩擦出怎样的火花。爱情的风花雪月又有着如何的起伏波澜,这一切,就等你自己在书里寻找答案。"--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 快穿:渣男改造计划

    快穿:渣男改造计划

    排雷:主角反复去世,人设反复横跳,剧情莫名其妙(文是作者家狗写的,作者只负责发:)何邪一直坚信自己是和谐社会的创造者,为了这个目标他可以牺牲一切,包括自己深爱的恋人。直到他发现这一切不过是实验室中模拟的幻梦,而梦终会醒来,他只是芸芸众生的其中一位。为了唤醒心爱之人,他重新沉入梦中,抛弃沉重的躯壳,与恋人相守。但庄周梦蝶,蝶梦庄周,到底谁才是真实?注:意识流简介,但这其实是个沙雕文,信我:)
  • 城市的钥匙

    城市的钥匙

    龙仁青,当代著名作家。1967年3月生于青海湖畔铁卜加草原1986年7月毕业于青海海南民族师范学校藏语言文学专业。先后从事广播、电视、报纸等媒体的新闻翻译(汉藏文)、记者、编辑、导演、制片等职,现供职于青海电视台影视部。
  • 董郎顾

    董郎顾

    汉末三国英雄NO.1非曹操莫属。学霸周炯遭遇车祸一不留神来到汉朝末年,成为天赋异禀的神童董郎。且看董祀如何凭借灵活多变头脑开饭铺,建工场,泡美眉,造兵器,最终辅佐义父曹孟德兼并群雄统一中原,改写汉末江山中华历史……曹操收了吕布,郭嘉和周瑜长寿,三国必将是另一种结局......
  • 仰望那份遥远的美丽

    仰望那份遥远的美丽

    为了我最爱的galgame《遥仰凰华》所做,应该不会写太长(为纪念我十六岁所做)