He boasted a little, as was his way: hadn't the time really to bother with this telegraphic work, the farm took all of a man's day—but he couldn't very well say no when the engineer was so anxious to have him.

他吹嘘了一下，一如既往：如果真的没有时间去处理这项电报工作，农场占用了他一整天的时间——但当工程师如此急切地想要他时，他不能很好地拒绝.