登陆注册
15477200000022

第22章 CHAPTER XII. MR. LIONEL LAKE AGAIN.(2)

"Yes, I believe so. What do you know about him?" asked the lady in surprise.

"I have engaged him as errand boy."

"You have! What for?" exclaimed Mrs. Pitkin.

"I couldn't help it. He brought a letter from your uncle, requesting me to do so, and offering to pay his wages out of his own pocket."

"This is really getting very serious," said Mrs.

Pitkin, annoyed. "Suppose he should take a fancy to this boy?"

"He appears to have done so already," said her husband dryly.

"I mean, suppose he should adopt him?"

"You are getting on pretty fast, Lavinia, are you not?"

"Such things happen sometimes," said the lady, nodding. "If it should happen it would be bad for poor Lonny."

"Even in that case Lonny won't have to go to the poor-house."

"Mr. Pitkin, you don't realize the danger. Here's Uncle Oliver worth a quarter of a million dollars, and it ought to be left to us."

"Probably it will be."

"He may leave it all to this boy. This must be prevented."

"How?"

"You must say the boy doesn't suit you, and discharge him."

"Well, well, give me time. I have no objection; but I suspect it will be hard to find any fault with him. He looks like a reliable boy."

"To me he looks like an artful young adventurer," said Mrs. Pitkin vehemently. "Depend upon it, Mr. Pitkin, he will spare no pains to ingratiate himself into Uncle Oliver's favor."

It will be seen that Mrs. Pitkin was gifted--if it can be called a gift--with a very suspicious temperament.

She was mean and grasping, and could not bear the idea of even a small part of her uncle's money going to any one except her own family.

There was, indeed, another whose relationship to Uncle Oliver was as close--a cousin, who had estranged her relatives by marrying a poor bookkeeper, with whom she had gone to Milwaukee.

Her name was never mentioned in the Pitkin household, and Mrs. Pitkin, trusting to the distance between them, did not apprehend any danger from this source. Had she known Rebecca Forbush was even now in New York, a widow with one child, struggling to make a living by sewing and taking lodgers, she would have felt less tranquil. But she knew nothing of all this, nor did she dream that the boy whom she dreaded was the very next day to make the acquaintance of this despised relation.

This was the way that it happened:

Phil soon tired of the room he had taken in Fifth Street. It was not neatly kept, and was far from comfortable. Then again, he found that the restaurants, cheap as they were, were likely to absorb about all his salary, though the bill-of-fare was far from attractive.

Chance took him through a side-street, between Second and Third Avenues, in the neighborhood of Thirteenth Street.

Among the three and four-story buildings that lined the block was one frame-house, two-story-and-basement, on which he saw a sign, "Board for Gentlemen." He had seen other similar signs, but his attention was specially drawn to this by seeing a pleasant-looking woman enter the house with the air of proprietor. This woman recalled to Philip his own mother, to whom she bore a striking resemblance.

"I would like to board with one whose face recalled that of my dear dead mother," thought Phil, and on the impulse of the moment, just after the woman had entered, he rang the door-bell.

The door was opened almost immediately by the woman he had just seen enter.

It seemed to Phil almost as if he were looking into his mother's face, and he inquired in an unsteady voice:

"Do you take boarders?"

"Yes," was the answer. "Won't you step in?"

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 渺星辰

    渺星辰

    渺小如浮沙,亦可成世界。鲲鹏一展翅,星辰皆碎裂。生,何谓也?死,谓何也?蜉蝣撼树不自量?一生筑梦谁堪笑?通者自通,愚者自娱。不触天,不畏天,不敬天。虽微如蜉蝣,渺如浮沙。可撼树,可裂天!只为生而畅怀,死而无憾。
  • 谁敢说我男人的坏话

    谁敢说我男人的坏话

    我们的主角墨珂庭,护夫、痴情、够持久。他爱上的第一个男人被别人玷污后,自杀身亡。墨珂庭戴着他送给自己的红豆手链整整八年,以为自己不会再爱上别人,直到一个跟爱人的长相十分相似的男人闯进了他的世界里……墨珂庭的心里总有一种感觉,觉得这个男人就是他死去的爱人。谜底究竟是……?他们会摩擦出什么样的火花呢?
  • 我欲无限

    我欲无限

    在这个物竞天择,适者生存的世界里,人类作为玩笑一般的存在究竟怎么生存下去?是可笑的智慧?还是所谓的知识?NO!NO!NO!人类所仰仗的,便只有内心深处,那永无止境的欲望,那汹涌澎湃的——邪欲。来。让我们揭下那即将渗入肌肤的面具,换上小丑那裂嘴的鬼面,然后扭曲声线。在现实里,以真实的面貌,去演绎你们的“完美”在这个追逐力量的游戏里,以假的自己,去展现真实的你们。人,究竟是什么?也许,人本该是魔。
  • 创始灵珠

    创始灵珠

    人为什么要奋斗,因为要实现梦想!人为什么要努力,因为要变的更强!人为什么要活着,因为要走更多的路!做有意义的事情,这样才是精彩的人生!一21世纪豪门的公子哥,突然一天消散在这个世界消失,而随之一个神秘的玻璃球也跟随这他一起被带到了这个世界!“这是一个修仙世界、看看主人公是如何在这个世界、走出一条永恒传说的道路,什么化神、大乘、仙君、仙帝、神王、始神,高天都会一个一个的将之打倒!一点一点的闯出属于他的传奇!
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 华语之全能天王

    华语之全能天王

    他12岁出道,一时间火遍大江南北所有人都知道他的名字他是李明灿!他13岁拍摄电影,那部电影一时间成为当时卖座最高的电影!他15岁以惊人的才华写出人生第一本自传体小说,一时间被冠上王牌作家称号!他从16岁起每年荣登中国福布斯名人榜前列,但是他开始沉寂下来。5年后,他重新开始,看他打造一个属于他的娱乐帝国,早就属于他的传奇人生。全能天王——李明灿!PS:时隔多日,重新出发!
  • 剑弑凌霄

    剑弑凌霄

    一位寒门少年,一块不知名的令牌,一位老者的引领,开启无限可能!成为至高的掌控者。
  • 上古世纪之谁与争锋

    上古世纪之谁与争锋

    渣男孟飞第一次玩游戏,就被神奇电脑吸入上古世纪游戏中,开始一段奇异的梦幻旅程。
  • 夜染无痕,卿为天下

    夜染无痕,卿为天下

    他四岁生辰之时,北斗西斜,镇压的凶剑幻化为匕首,饮其血认主,刺向沉睡百年的护国神兽,吴铭帝怒,斩其母妃九族,一碗毒羹强行灌入他的口中……她的母亲身怀六甲,随夫征战,她出生时,数千匹雪狼从四面八方聚集而来,逼退敌军数里,护她安然降世,吴铭王朝惊,谓之“妖”,八年谋划,东宫一族,一夜覆灭……八年后,他们重返吴铭大陆,她嫣然浅笑,问:“天下与我,你怎么选?”他亦笑:“你是我的天下。”
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)