Rex never felt so humiliated1 in his life. Here he was, surrounded by a crowd, captured by a policeman and accused by a miserable2 Chinaman of breaking a pane3 of glass.
"It's all a mistake, I tell you," he cried, starting to wrest4 himself loose from the officer's grasp, and then suddenly remaining passive as he reflected that this was undignified.
"What did you run for then!" questioned the policeman.
"Because he told me to-- the fellow with the red face," and Rex looked around in the throng5 to pick out the cause of his misfortune, but that individual had discreetly6 disappeared.
"I don't see him now," he went on.
"I guess you don't," put in the bystander who had already spoken. "Do you run every time anybody tells you to?"
"He said there was a runaway8 team behind me. Then I heard the glass break. He must have thrown the stone himself."
Rex tried to speak calmly, but he was boiling over with rage at the trick which he now realized had been played upon him.
"Me wantee new glass," the Chinaman insisted. "Play money."
How fervently9 Rex wished at that moment that they had come into their inheritance. He would have put his hand into his pocket, drawn10 out a five dollar bill with a lordly air and handed it over with the words: "Take this. I didn't break the glass, but I pity the poor heathen's distress11."
As it was, he had not a penny about him. It was difficult to keep up an air of bravado12 under these circumstances.
The crowd was growing bigger each minute. The policeman looked somewhat perplexed13. He judged from Rex's appearance that he was not a hoodlum who would be likely to throw a stone at a Chinaman's window, but he admitted that he had been running, and here was a man ready to swear that he saw him throw the stone.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Reginald Bemis Pell," replied Rex promptly14. He was proud of his name, and brought it out now with a kind of flourish.
"Where do you live?" went on the officer, while the crowd pressed closer to hear the replies.
"At Marley."
"You don't look like a boy who would break windows for the fun of it."
"Of course I wouldn't, and when my brother hears of this outrage15 he'll raise a big fuss over it. He's a lawyer and knows how to do it."
Rex didn't feel a bit humorous when he made this assertion, but there was something in it that struck the crowd as very funny. A good many laughed, and the policeman tried to repress a smile.
"Where is this brother of yours?"
"Right here in the city," and Rex gave the address.
"That's not far," said the officer. "We'll go round there and see if you have told us a straight story. Come along, John," he added to the laundry-man.
Rex glowed with a sense of triumph for a minute, and then began to reflect on what Syd would say at seeing him appear in such company-- with a police officer and a Chinaman. And there was the crowd that strung on behind as the three moved off!
"I wish I'd stayed at home," groaned16 poor Rex to himself.
However, he tried to take some comfort from the fact that the policeman's arm was not on his shoulder. People they passed might think it was the Chinaman who was under arrest. Then he felt that he ought to be glad that it was midsummer, with no chance of his meeting any of his friends.
He was trying to decide what he should do in case Syd had not come back by the time they reached the office, when just as they turned into Chestnut17 Street a familiar voice cried out:
"Hello, Rex, what under the sun?"
It was Scott Bowman. He had just come out of a trunk store in time to confront the sorry procession.
Rex wished the manhole cover over which he was passing would suddenly give way and precipitate18 him under the sidewalk in theatrical19 trap door fashion. Scott was the last person in all the world whom he wished to see.
"Don't you come near me, Scott," he answered, "if you don't want to be disgraced. I'm under arrest."
The look of utter and complete amazement20 on young Bowman's face at hearing this did more to convince the officer he had the wrong person in custody21 than anything else. He allowed Rex to stop and parley22 with his friend.
The situation was explained in few words. Scott was a year older than Rex. His father was a city official with a salary of ten thousand a year. He was highly indignant when he heard of the outrage.
"This is monstrous," he said, and announcing who he was, demanded that Rex be instantly released.
"But I can't do that, Mr. Bowman, if that is really your name," responded the officer somewhat nettled23. "Because this young gentleman happens to be a friend of yours, it doesn't make it any the less likely that he broke that window."
"'If that is really my name?'" repeated Scott, highly incensed24. "You'll find out whether that is my name or not when I report this affair to my father."
The officer smiled; so did a number in the crowd. Rex felt that his former humiliation25 was nothing compared to that which he was now undergoing, having caused his friend to be treated in this insulting fashion.
"Come on," said the policeman, and the line of march to Sydney's office was resumed, Scott valiantly26 falling into place beside Rex, vowing27 vengeance28 on the entire force of bluecoats.
"Don't stay with me, Scott," Rex implored29 him. "You've borne enough. I don't want to drag you down into the mire30 too."
"Do you suppose I'd desert a friend in a time of need like this?" returned Scott. "I'm going to take this officer's number now while I think of it."
Scott fished a pencil out of one pocket and a railroad timetable out of the other, and glancing at the shield on the breast of the policeman made a record of the figures on it in a very conspicuous31 manner. But the officer did not tremble with apprehension32. He simply turned to Rex and observed, "This is the place, isn't it?"
They had reached the building in which Sydney had his office.
"Yes, this is the place," replied Rex slowly. He was thinking how dreadful it would be to present himself before Syd with this crowd at his heels.
"I don't know whether he's in or not," he added. "Will you mind going up and finding out, Scott?"
"Of course I won't. I know just where the room is and I'll bring him down in a jiffy."
The policeman motioned the crowd back and he and Rex and the patient Chinaman went into the marble corridor and waited, while the throng peered in at them from the doorway33 and a new one began to gather from among those who passed to and fro in the building.
"I'm glad I never knew this was going to happen to me," reflected Rex. "I'd never have known a happy day if I had."
He had no fear of going to jail. He felt that there was justice enough in the world to ward34 that off.
But the ignominy of his present position was torture enough to a proud spirit like his.
Ah, here was one of the elevators coming down, with Scott looking eagerly out at him. And Syd was with him.
But was it Syd, this fellow with the pallid35 cheeks and deep circles under the eyes? Yes, it certainly was his brother, for he stepped out ahead of Scott and came over at once to pass his arm about Rex in gesture of protection.
Reginald gave an almost unconscious sigh of relief. Within that embrace he felt that he was safe.
"Now what is all this about?" said Sydney, in his business-like tone, addressing the officer. "It seems you have arrested my brother here for breaking a Chinaman's windows. Did you see him throw the stone?"
"No, but a gentleman did," replied the officer.
"Where's that gentleman now?"
He was not to be found. He had dropped out of the procession before it reached Chestnut Street.
"He was a bystander. He is not here now," answered the policeman. "I didn't think the boy did it myself, but he admits that he was running when the alarm was given."
"That amounts to nothing. Do you arrest everybody that runs in the street? Explain why you were running, Rex."
Rex did so, as he had already done.
"This fellow who told you that there was a runaway coming for you," went on Sydney; "had you seen him before?"
"Yes; he came up and spoke7 to me while I was looking in a store window at some bicycles."
"Did you answer him?"
"Yes."
"Pleasantly?"
Rex hesitated a moment.
"Well, I didn't exactly like his looks, so I said 'yes' or 'no, ' I forget which now, and went on."
"This seems like a clear case of the wrong man, officer," summed up Sydney. "It was that hoodlum who broke the glass just for the sake of getting my brother into trouble. You ought to see that plainly enough. You do, don't you?"
"Yes, now. I didn't know all the story before. I beg the young gentleman's pardon. Come, John, we'll have to look elsewhere for your tormentor," and the officer took the Chinaman by the arm and walked out with him.
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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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vowing
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式） | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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