登陆注册
20067300000035

第35章 CHAPTER VII A SEAT IN UNION SQUARE(2)

And yet with everything against him Oliver had no thought of giving up the struggle. Even Amos Cobb would have been proud of him could he have seen the dogged tenacity with which he clung to his purpose--a tenacity due to his buoyant, happy temperament, or to his devotion to his mother's wishes; or (and this is more than probable) to some drops of blood, perhaps, that had reached his own through his mother's veins--the blood of that Major with the blue and buff coat, whose portrait hung in the dining-room at home, and who in the early days had braved the flood at Trenton side by side with the Hero of the Bronze Horse now overlooking the bench on which Oliver sat; or it may be of that other ancestor in the queue whose portrait hung over the mantel of the club and who had served his State with distinction in his day.

Whatever the causes of these several effects, the one dominating power which now controlled him was his veneration for his mother's name and honor.

For on the night succeeding Amos Cobb's visit after she had dropped upon her knees and poured out her heart in prayer she had gone into Oliver's bedroom, and shutting the door had told him of the mortgage; of his father's embarrassment, and the danger they suffered of losing the farm--their only hope for their old age--unless success crowned Richard's inventions. With his hand fast in hers she had given him in exact detail all that she had done to ward off this calamity; recounting, word by word, what she had said to the Colonel, lowering her voice almost to a whisper as she spoke of the solemn promise she had made him--involving her own and her husband's honor--and the lengths to which she was prepared to go to keep her obligations to the bank.

Then, her hand still clasping his, the two sitting side by side on his bed, his wondering, startled eyes looking into hers--for this world of anxiety was an unknown world to him--she had by slow stages made him realize how necessary it was that he, their only son, and their sole dependence, should begin at once to earn his daily bread; not only on his own account but on hers and his father's. In her tenderness she had not told him that the real reason was his instability of purpose; fearing to wound his pride, she had put it solely on the ground of his settling down to some work.

"It is the law of nature, my son," she had added.

"Everything that lives must WORK to live. You have only to watch the birds out here in the Square to convince you of that. Notice them to-morrow, when you go out. See how busy they are; see how long it takes for any one of them to get a meal. You are old enough now to begin to earn your own bread, and you must begin at once, Ollie. Your father can no longer help you. I had hoped your profession would do this for you, but that is not to be thought of now."

Oliver, at first, had been stunned by it all. He had never before given the practical side of life a single thought. Everything had gone along smoothly from his earliest remembrance. His father's house had been his home and his protection; his room with its little bed and pretty hangings and all its comforts --a room cared for like a girl's--had always been open to him. He had never once asked himself how these things came about, nor why they continued.

These revelations of his mother's therefore were like the sudden opening of a door covering a vault over which he had walked unconsciously and which now, for the first time, he saw yawning beneath him.

"Poor daddy," were his first words. "I never knew a thing about his troubles; he seems always so happy and so gentle. I am so sorry--dear daddy--dear dad--" he kept repeating.

And then as she spoke there flashed into his mind the thought of his own hopes. They were shattered now. He knew that the art career was dead for him, and that all his dreams in that direction were over.

He was about to tell her this, but he stopped before the words were formed. He would not add his own burden to her sorrow. No, he would bear it alone. He would tell Sue, but he would not tell his mother. Next there welled up in his heart a desire to help this mother whom he idolized, and this father who represented to him all that was kind and true.

"What can I do? Where can I go, dearie?" he cried with sudden resolve. "Even if I am to work with my hands I am ready to do it, but it must be away from here. I could not do it here at home with everybody looking on; no, not here! not here!"

This victory gained, the mother with infinite tact, little by little, unfolded to the son the things she had planned. Finally with her arms about his neck, smoothing his cheek with her hands she told him of Amos Cobb's advice and of his offer, adding:

"He will give you a letter to his friend who lives at Haverstraw near New York, my boy, with whom you can stay until you get the situation you want."

The very impracticability of this scheme did not weigh with her. She did not see how almost hopeless would be the task of finding employment in an unknown city. Nor did the length of time her son might be a burden on a total stranger make any difference in her plans. Her own home had always been open to the friends of her friends, and for any length of time, and her inborn sense of hospitality made it impossible for her to understand any other conditions.

Then again she said to herself: "Mr. Cobb is a thoroughly practical man, and a very kind one.

His friend will welcome Oliver, or he would not have allowed my son to go." She had repeated, however, no word of the Vermonter's advice "to chuck the boy out neck and heels into the world and let him shift for himself," although the very Spartan quality of the suggestion, in spite of its brusqueness, had greatly pleased her. She could not but recognize that Amos understood. She would have faced the situation herself if she had been in her son's place; she said so to herself. And she hoped, too, that Oliver would face it as bravely when the time came.

As for the temptations that might assail her boy in the great city, she never gave them a thought.

同类推荐
  • The Virgin of the Sun

    The Virgin of the Sun

    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。
  • 广群芳谱

    广群芳谱

    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。
  • 噶玛兰厅志

    噶玛兰厅志

    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。
  • 摩邓女经

    摩邓女经

    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。
  • 老残游记

    老残游记

    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。
热门推荐
  • 至强神刃

    至强神刃

    修炼之路,艰难坎坷,为其至亲挚爱...人挡杀人,神挡弑神。天地为我颤抖…
  • 黑鱼精的夜晚

    黑鱼精的夜晚

    本书分为沟汉地带、他耳后有一把梭、鱼汤及其他、守庙人的黄昏、草木九种五辑,主要内容包括衣冠冢、李状元村、蟹族横行的村庄、海货市场、黑鱼精的夜晚等。
  • 圣剑使就是魔法少女

    圣剑使就是魔法少女

    曾经的圣剑使现在的魔法少女总觉得是不是有些什么地方不太对劲快住手,不要按右上角的红叉请一定一定一定别这样对我(变身文,不喜误入PS:封面不是Up主系列PS:封面的狗也不是UP主的系列
  • 杜环小传

    杜环小传

    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。
  • 成王天途

    成王天途

    一个受家族迫害,避祸山间小村的少年,偶得一卷深玄晦涩的奇妙功法,从此踏上由凡入圣,注定坎坷不平的武道。
  • 勇士觉醒

    勇士觉醒

    这是一个科技最为发达,已经成为巅峰的世界,却被一个外来物种弄得意外连连。
  • 女王之名

    女王之名

    她一时兴起,勾起他的下巴,“美人,给爷亲一个。”他斜了一眼她,极好心地配合她一时的抽风。她得寸进尺,“再来一个。”他从善如流,俯身,亲吻。她继续色迷迷地调戏美男,“不够。”他了然:不够?好吧,这可是你主动的……
  • 重生阿修罗

    重生阿修罗

    本来幸福的生活被一纸体检报告打乱,为了治好自己他尝遍了几乎所有方法,却还是改变不了命运,于是他决定挺而走险,尝试非科学的方法,却没想到成功了,代价是他一直处在极度饥饿的状态,只有足够的能量才能满足他的胃口…人类…超能…宝具神器都是能量,但他不忍心,正因为如此,他死了,如今他重生到了小时候,一切都将改变……
  • 一世宠爱:妃子为妻

    一世宠爱:妃子为妻

    富家女沐佳瑶,因为司机的复仇而意外穿越到历史上不存在的王朝,从此也开始了她的另一段奇缘。一块精致的紫色琉璃石?究竟背后隐藏着什么样的爱恨纠葛?一场奇异的穿越之旅,又会引起怎样的社会变迁?一段轰轰烈烈的宫廷三角恋情,一场凄美的桃花爱情!一个是初嫁的冷面夫君,一个是青梅竹马的恋人,究竟谁才是她命定的缘分?面对国仇家恨她是该继续复仇?还是该选择放下?当面对时空的错位。最终她能否收获心目中的爱情,与心爱之人同到白头?慕容心月:君玉,如果有一天我离开了,你会忘了我吗?上官君玉:不,让你离开,除非我死!
  • 元耀九天

    元耀九天

    元气大陆,浩瀚无边,人们修元气,化内气,引动天地元气,修炼到极致时,挥手间排山倒海!抬脚间冲破九天!被测出是一星废柴级元气亲和度的郭承,无法修炼却机缘巧合下得到一部惊世的功法!就此人生翻天覆地!元气无法修炼?常人打通二十七活窍,郭承打通三十六活窍,还有三十六死窍,九神窍,元气总量超过常人十倍!身体没有力量?炼体功法世间仅有,力拔山兮气盖世!断臂重生不是梦!什么?你说没有妹子?郭承呵呵一笑新书发布,收藏一个先!