【英文读物】Through One Administration.docx

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1、【英文读物】Through One AdministrationCHAPTER I.Eight years before the Administration rendered important by the series of events and incidents which form the present story, there had come to Washington, on a farewell visit to a distant relative with whom he was rather a favorite, a young officer who was o

2、n the point of leaving the civilized world for a far-away Western military station. The name of the young officer was Philip Tredennis. His relative and entertainer was a certain well-known entomologist, whom it will be safe to call Professor Herrick. At the Smithsonian and in all scientific circles

3、, Professor Herricks name was a familiar one. He was considered an enviable as well as an able man. He had established himself in Washington because he found men there whose tastes and pursuits were congenial with his own, and because the softness of the climate suited him; he was rich enough to be

4、free from all anxiety and to enjoy the delightful liberty of pursuing his scientific labors because they were his pleasure, and not because he was dependent upon their results. He had a quiet and charming home, an excellent matter-of-fact wife, and one daughter, who was being educated in a northern

5、city, and who was said to be as bright and attractive as one could wish a young creature to be.Of this daughter Tredennis had known very little, except that she enjoyed an existence and came home at long intervals for the holidays, when it did not happenPg 2 that she was sent to the sea or the mount

6、ains with her mother instead.The professor himself seemed to know but little of her. He was a quiet and intensely studious person, taking small interest in the ordinary world and appearing always slightly surprised when his wife spoke to him; still, his manner toward her was as gentle and painstakin

7、g as if she had been the rarest possible beetle, and the only one of her species to be found in any known collection, though perhaps the interest she awakened in him was not so great as it might have been under such exceptionally favorable circumstances. She was not a brilliant or far-seeing woman,

8、and her opinions of entomology and, indeed, of science in general, were vague, and obscured by objections to small boxes, glass cases, long pins, and chloroform, and specimens of all orders.So, observing this, Tredennis felt it not at all unnatural that he should not hear much of his daughter from t

9、he professor. Why his relative liked him the young man was not at all sure, though at times he had felt the only solution of the mystery to be that he liked him because his tendency was toward silence and books and research of all kinds. He thought he was certain that the professor did like him. He

10、had invited him to visit him in Washington, and had taken him to the Smithsonian, and rambled from room to room with him, bestowing upon him tomes of information in the simplest and most natural manner; filled with the quietest interest himself and entirely prepared to find his feeling shared by his

11、 charge. He had given into his hands the most treasured volumes in his library, and had even seemed pleased to have him seated near him when he sat at work. At all events, it was an established fact that a friendly feeling existed between them, and that if it had been his habit to refer to his daugh

12、ter, he would have spoken of her to Tredennis. But Tredennis heard nothing of her until he had been some days inPg 3 Washington, and then it was Mrs. Herrick who spoke of her.Nathan, she said one evening at dinner, Bertha will be home on Tuesday.The professor laid his spoon down as if he had rather

13、unexpectedly discovered that he had had enough soup.Bertha, he said. Indeed! Next Tuesday. Well, of course, we must be ready for her. Do you want any money, my dear? But, of course, you will want money when she comes, if she has finished school, as I think you said she had.I shall want money to pay

14、her bills, answered Mrs. Herrick. She will bring them with her. Her aunt has had her things made in New York.Yes, said the professor, I dare say they will be more satisfactory. What kind of things, for instance, Catherine?Dresses, replied Mrs. Herrick, and things of that sort. You know she is to com

15、e out this season.To come out, remarked the professor, carefully giving the matter his undivided attention. I hope she will enjoy it. What sort of a ceremony is it? And after a young person has come out does she ever go in, and is there any particular pageant attached to such aa contingency?When she

16、 comes out, answered Mrs. Herrick, taking a purely practical view of the affair, she begins to go to parties, to balls, and receptions, and lunches; which she does not do when she is going to schools. It isnt considered proper, and it wouldnt give her any time for her studies. Bertha hasnt been allo

17、wed to go out at all. Her aunt Maria has been very particular about it, and she will enjoy things all the more because they are quite new to her. I dare say she will be very gay this winter. Washington is a very good place for a girl to come out in.After dinner, when they retired to the library toge

18、ther, it occurred to Tredennis that the professor wasPg 4 bestowing some thought upon his paternal position, and his first observation proved that this was the case.It is a most wonderful thing that a few brief years should make such changes, he said. It seems impossible that so short a time should

19、change a small and exceedingly red infant into a young person returned from school in the most complete condition, and ready to come out. She was not interesting as an infant. I tried to find her so, but failed, though it was insisted that she was an unusually intelligent baby, and I have not seen m

20、uch of her of late years. When she was growing it was thought that the climate of Washington was not good for her. I am really a little curious about her. My views of girls are extremely undefined. I have always been a bookworm. I have not known girls. They have not come within my radius. I remember

21、 one I once knew years ago, but that is all. It was when I was a younger man. I think she was a year or so older than Bertha. She was very interestingas a study. She used to bewilder me.He walked over to the table, and began to turn over some papers.She had gray eyes, he said, in a rather lower voic

22、e,gray eyes.He was so quiet for some time that Tredennis thought he had forgotten what he had been talking about; but, after a pause of at least three minutes, he spoke again.I would not be at all sorry, he said, if Bertha was a little like her. I suppose, he added,referring seriously to Tredennis,I

23、 suppose they are all more or less alike.I thinkfaltered Tredennis, perhaps so.He did not feel himself an authority. The professor stood still a moment, regarding the fire abstractly.She had gray eyes, he said again,gray eyes! and immediately afterward returned to his table, seated himself, and fell

24、 to work.The next week Bertha arrived, and to her distantPg 5 relative her arrival was a revelation. She descended upon the quiet householdwith her trunks, her delight in their contents, her anticipation of her first season, her fresh and rather surprised exultation in her own small powers and charm

25、s, which were just revealing themselves to herlike a young whirlwind. Her mother awakened to a most maternal interest in the gayeties into which she was to be drawn; the very servants were absorbed in the all-pervading excitement, which at length penetrated to the professors study itself, and arouse

26、d him from his entomological reveries.After she had been in the house a week, he began to examine the girl through his spectacles with great care and deliberation, and, having cheerfully submitted to this inspection through several meals, one day at dinner its object expressed herself with charming

27、directness concerning it.I do hope youll like me, papa, she said, when you have classified me.Classified you! said the professor, in some bewilderment.Yes, answered Bertha. You know I always feel as if you might turn me over gently with your finger at any moment, and watch me carefully while I strug

28、gled until you knew all about me, and then chloroform me and stick a pin through me with a label on it. I shouldnt like the chloroform and the pin, but I should take an interest in the label. Couldnt I have the label without the pin, papa?I dont know, said the professor, examining her more carefully

29、 than ever. I am afraid not.After that it became his custom to encourage her to reveal herself in conversation, which it was very easy to do, as she was a recklessly candid young person, given to the most delightfully illogical partisanship, an endless variety of romantic fancies, and a vivid repres

30、entation of all facts in which she felt interest. It must be confessed that, for the sake of hearing her talk, the Pg 6professor somewhat neglected, for the time being, both Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, and, drifting into the sitting-room upon many sunny mornings, allowed himself to be surrounded by

31、innocent frivolities in the way of personal adornments. And it must also be added that he fell into the habit of talking of the girl to Tredennis, as they sat together by the study fire at night.She is an attractive girl, he said once, seriously. I find myself quite absorbed in her at times. She is

32、chaotic, illogical, unpracticaloftener than not she does not know anything of what she is talking about, but her very absurdities have a kind of cleverness in them. And witthere is wit in her nonsense, though she is scarcely conscious of it. I cannot help thinking of her future, and what its needs w

33、ill develop in her. It all depends upon the needs. You never know what will be developed, but you know it depends upon the needs.Ihope there will be no painful needs, said Tredennis, looking at the fire. She is very happy. I never saw any one so happy.Yes, shes very happy, admitted the professor. At

34、 present she is not much more than a joyous, perfectly healthy young animal. She sings and laughs because she cant help it, and she adorns herself from instinct. Shell be different in a year or two. Shell be less happy, but more interesting.More interesting! said Tredennis, in a low voice.Yes, more

35、interesting, answered the professor, looking at the fire himself, with an air of abstractedly following a train of thought. She will have made discoveries about herself. It is a pity she cant make them without being less happybut then, none of us are happy. He paused, rubbed his forehead a second, a

36、nd then turned suddenly on Tredennis.Are you happy? he demanded.Tredennis started and hesitated.Y-yesn-no, he answered, unsteadily. He wouldPg 7 have said yes unreservedly a short time ago; but within the last few days he had been less sure of himself, and now, being confronted with the question une

37、xpectedly, he found that he must answer with a reservationthough he could not at all have given a reason for the feeling that he must do so.Perhaps it is not my way to look at life brightly, he added.It is her way, said the professor. She believes in everything in a persistent, childish fashion that

38、 is touching to older persons like myself. If you contest her points of belief with her she is simply obstinate. You cant move her.Why should any one try? said Tredennis, warmly.There is no need to try, responded the professor. She will find out for herself.Why should she? said Tredennis, warmer sti

39、ll. I hope she wont.The professor took off his spectacles and began to polish them carefully with a corner of his large white handkerchief.She is going to be a clever woman, he said. For her sake I am sorry to see it. She is going to be the kind of clever woman who has nine chances out of ten of bei

40、ng a desperate pain to herself while she is a pleasure to her friends. She hasnt the nature to find safety in cleverness. She has a conscience and emotions, and they will go against her.Against her? cried Tredennis.She will make mistakes and suffer for theminstead of letting others suffer. She wont

41、be a saint, but she might be a martyr. It always struck me that it took faults and follies to make a martyr.He bent forward and poked the fire as carefully as he had rubbed his spectacles; then he turned to Tredennis againslowly this time, instead of suddenly.You resent it all, I suppose, he said. O

42、f course you do. It makes you angry, Ive no doubt. It wouldPg 8 have made me angry, I dare say, at your age, to hear an elderly scientist dissect a pretty young creature and take the bloom off her life for her. Its natural.I dont like to think of her asas being anything but happyandand good, said Tr

43、edennis, with some secret resentment.Shell not be bad, said the professor, critically. It isnt in her. She might be happy, perhapsif one thing happened to her.What one thing? asked Tredennis.If she married a fine fellow, whom she was deeply and passionately in love withwhich happens to very few wome

44、n.In the shadow of his corner Tredennis felt the hot blood mount steadily to his forehead, and was glad of the dim light, for the professor was still regarding him fixedly, though as if in abstraction.She will belikely to marry the man she loves, sir, he said, in a voice neither clear nor steady.Yes

45、, said the professor; unless she makes the mistake of merely marrying the man who loves her. She will meet him often enough. And, if he chances some day to be a fascinating fellow, her fate will be sealed. That goes along with the rest of her strengths and weaknesses.And he gave the fire a vigorous

46、poke, which cast a glow of light upon them both; then, leaving his chair, he stood for a moment polishing his glasses,staring absently at Tredennis before he put them on,and wandered back to his table and his specimens.Tredennis own acquaintance with his young relative was not a very intimate one. T

47、oo many interests presented themselves on every side to allow of her devoting herself specially to any one, and her fathers favorite scarcely took the form of an interest. She had not the leisure to discover that he was fully worth the discovering. She regarded him simply as a large and rather serio

48、us young man, who, without seeming stupid, listenedPg 9 rather than talked; and yet was not actually a brilliant listener, since he only listened with an air of observing quietly, and keeping the result of his observations to himself.I dare say it will suit him to be out among the Indians, she said to her mother upon one occasion. And I should think it would suit the Indians. He wont find them frivolous and given up to vanity. I believe he thinks I am friv