CHAPTER XXX. SAM LEE DISCOVERS A FARO GAME.

A hard thing it is to recall to another
The seeds of wrong doing our brother has sown
But harder it is, our proud spirits to smother¹
And confess to a harvest so largely our own.

It was long past midnight before the ladies thought of retiring, so great was the excitement consequent upon the evening's revelations. But at last the Doctor and Sir Frederic were left alone. The fire was growing dim, but neither of the gentlemen thought to have it replenished². The physician's mind was so intent upon the identity of Lawrence Maynard that it seemed at last to react with unconscious cerebration upon the thoughts of Sir Frederic, for he paced the room thoughtfully a few moments, then pausing directly[Pg 189] before his companion, said anxiously, "Dr. Seward, have you any theory whatever regarding this man,—this imposter?"

Like one confronted by the utterance⁴ of his own private thoughts Dr. Seward started and was for a moment embarrassed, but controlling himself, he said briefly⁵, "Yes, Sir Frederic, I have a theory, but it is so vague and so intensely disagreeable that I dread⁶ to give it utterance."

Then, as Sir Frederic turned away without further questioning, he too, rose excitedly and began pacing the floor.

"Sir Frederic I will tell you my suspicion," he said suddenly, after a short silence. "It may be but a foolish fancy, yet I cannot shake it off." Then he told him fully³, but with deep remorse⁷, of the episode in his early life in which the Lady Van Tyne figured so conspicuously⁸, but with the determination to shield his patient to the last, he told the entire story without mentioning a name, still to make his theory well founded, he was obliged to state that the two boys were as alike as brothers, and Sir Frederic, with a sinking heart, gave a shrewd guess as to the children's parentage.

[Pg 190]

He was only a few years younger than the Lady Van Tyne and he now recalled many instances of her imprudent demeanor⁹ when a girl, but the reflection cast upon Archibald Sinclair's morality by the Doctor's story, was a source of deep regret when he thought of the patient, still worshiping, wife.

In another moment his mode of action was decided¹⁰, and placing his hand upon Dr. Seward's shoulder, he said sadly, "Doctor, I will respect your story as I have no doubt as to the truth of the facts you have stated, but unless this matter can be handled without one word of her husband's treachery coming to Mrs. Sinclair's ears, I shall quietly withdraw from the search and allow that masquerading rascal¹¹ to go 'scot free,' so far as I am personally concerned."

"And I will gladly close my lips," answered Dr. Seward, "if you so advise, but find him, we must, for it is more than possible that my suspicions are unfounded and I can never rest until the matter is settled."

Sir Frederic had no time to reply, for after a hurried rap upon the door, the portly butler, red[Pg 191] with excitement, entered, and beckoning¹² Sir Frederic aside, said apologetically:

"There's a Chinaman down at the basement door that says 'e must see you hat once, Sir! I hordered 'im away, but 'twas no use. 'E says 'e's bound and determined¹³ to see you!"

Sir Frederic had not seen Sam Lee since the day of his arrival in the city, but he recalled him instantly, and feeling sure that his was an errand of importance, he dismissed the indignant butler and listened with great eagerness for what the Mongolian had to say.

Sam Lee had improved his time while in New York and could now communicate quite fluently in his funny, broken English, but now, in the intensity¹⁴ of his emotions, his newly acquired learning forsook¹⁵ him and for at least five minutes he poured forth¹⁶ a succession of abbreviated¹⁷ words and sentences that were positively¹⁸ maddening to a man so seriously interested as was Sir Frederic.

But at last he seemed to comprehend the situation, and ceasing his voluble chatter¹⁹, repeated, over and over again the words, "Me find him![Pg 192] Me find him! Melican man come klick,—Chinaman show way!"

Sir Frederic, sure that the words were true, motioned for Sam Lee to wait and then ran back to the parlor²⁰ where he hurriedly explained the news to the physician and requested him to act his pleasure about accompanying him on so disagreeable an errand.

Dr. Seward was eager to go, and in a few seconds both men were ready for the street.

Thinking Stella might be alarmed at his protracted²¹ absence, Sir Frederic mounted the stairs and turned the latch²² of her sleeping room as softly as possible.

The light was burning dimly, and as he surmised²³, his wife was far in the land of dreams. Her fair hair fell upon the pillow, while the coverlid, slipping from her shoulders, exposed her tender loveliness, and almost with tears in his eyes, Sir Frederic bent²⁴ and touched his lips to a wandering curl while he covered the dimpled shoulders, and then with another look at the beautiful, childish face, turned and passed noiselessly from the room. The thought that his fair and innocent darling[Pg 193] had once been held within the power of this unprincipled villain²⁵, sent his blood tingling²⁶ through his veins²⁷, and with a sudden thirst for vengeance²⁸ in his soul, he quickly rejoined the others, and following closely upon the heels of the excited Chinaman, was, an hour later, in the actual presence of the man who for nearly three years had succeeded in evading²⁹ justice and escaping the penalty of his guilty deeds.

1 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

2 replenished   

补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满

参考例句：

• She replenished her wardrobe. 她添置了衣服。
• She has replenished a leather [fur] coat recently. 她最近添置了一件皮袄。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 utterance   

n.用言语表达，话语，言语

参考例句：

• This utterance of his was greeted with bursts of uproarious laughter.他的讲话引起阵阵哄然大笑。
• My voice cleaves to my throat,and sob chokes my utterance.我的噪子哽咽，泣不成声。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

7 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

8 conspicuously   

ad.明显地，惹人注目地

参考例句：

• France remained a conspicuously uneasy country. 法国依然是个明显不太平的国家。
• She figured conspicuously in the public debate on the issue. 她在该问题的公开辩论中很引人注目。

9 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

12 beckoning   

adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• An even more beautiful future is beckoning us on. 一个更加美好的未来在召唤我们继续前进。 来自辞典例句
• He saw a youth of great radiance beckoning to him. 他看见一个丰神飘逸的少年向他招手。 来自辞典例句

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

15 forsook   

forsake的过去式

参考例句：

• He faithlessly forsook his friends in their hour of need. 在最需要的时刻他背信弃义地抛弃朋友。
• She forsook her worldly possessions to devote herself to the church. 她抛弃世上的财物而献身教会。

16 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

17 abbreviated   

adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He abbreviated so much that it was hard to understand his article. 他的文章缩写词使用太多，令人费解。
• The United States of America is commonly abbreviated to U.S.A.. 美利坚合众国常被缩略为U.S.A.。

18 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

19 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

20 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

21 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

23 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

25 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

26 tingling   

v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

27 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

29 evading   

逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• Segmentation of a project is one means of evading NEPA. 把某一工程进行分割，是回避《国家环境政策法》的一种手段。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Too many companies, she says, are evading the issue. 她说太多公司都在回避这个问题。