CHAPTER XXVII. MR. STANDISH STATES HIS BUSINESS.

 As Mr. Standish spoke¹, he slipped into the room adroitly², closed the door again, and locked it.

He looked about for a seat, and discovered a rocking-chair, which, like the chair Gerald occupied, appeared to be suffering from infirmity and old age.

“Glad to see you again, Gerald!” he said urbanely³.

“Mr. Standish, are you responsible for this outrage⁴?” demanded Gerald angrily.

“For what outrage, my dear young friend?”

“Did you send that boy to lure⁵ me in here?”

“That boy is my promising⁶ nephew, Tip Standish.”

“I am not surprised to hear it. Was he acting⁷ under your orders?”

“You’ve hit it, my dear boy. He was acting under my orders, and I am proud to say that he did himself credit.”

[213]

“He told me a story about being in danger of a beating from his mother.”

Standish laughed.

“His mother is a poor weak woman weighing about ninety pounds. She isn’t strong enough to harm a fly.”

“In other words the boy lied.”

“Tip has remarkable⁸ inventive powers. He may make a story-writer in time.”

“I am quite sure he doesn’t excel you—in invention, Mr. Standish.”

“Thank you, dear boy. It is pleasant to be appreciated. You do me proud, you really do.”

“Never mind compliments, Mr. Standish. Of course you had some object in luring⁹ me here. What is it?”

“I admire the quickness with which you come to business. Really you are a very smart boy.”

“With all my smartness I have fallen into a trap. Now, what do you want?”

“Perhaps you might have some idea—can’t you now?”

“I can think of nothing except money. I suppose you want to rob me.”

“My dear boy!” protested Standish, “you misjudge me. What, Samuel Standish a common thief? I am indeed mortified¹⁰. I was not aware[214] that you carried a large sum of money with you,” he added, not without curiosity.

“I don’t,” answered Gerald. “I have only fifteen dollars in my pocketbook.”

Samuel Standish in spite of his disclaimer looked somewhat disappointed, but he kept up appearances.

“Keep the money, my boy!” he said with a wave of the hand. “Keep the money! Heaven forbid that I should deprive you of it. Samuel Standish is a man of honor.”

Gerald gazed at him with increasing bewilderment. He had not expected such a display of honesty. Moreover, if Standish did not want money, what did he want? What could be his object in trapping him?

“If I have done you injustice¹¹, Mr. Standish, I apologize,” he said. “I supposed it must be money you wanted, for I could think of nothing else. Of course in confining me you are committing an illegal act. If you will release me at once I will overlook what has already passed.”

“You are a smart boy, Gerald,” said Samuel Standish jocosely¹². “You ought to have been a lawyer.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Oh, you are quite welcome, I am sure.”

 

Samuel Standish leaned forward and said: “I want some papers that you are carrying about with you.”—Page 215.

 

[215]

“I must trouble you to release me at once, as Mr. Brooke expects me back at the hotel. We had arranged to take an excursion.”

“I shouldn’t like to interfere¹³ with any little arrangement you have made. Gerald, I am your friend, though you may not think it.”

“Well, your treatment of me this morning doesn’t seem like it. Is it your custom to trap and kidnap those to whom you are friendly?”

Mr. Standish laughed.

“Not in general,” he answered, “but I wanted an interview with you for special reasons.”

“It was not necessary to kidnap me in order to obtain it. If you had requested an interview I would have granted it.”

“Well, perhaps so, but I wanted to make sure. I wanted an interview somewhere where we were not likely to be interrupted.”

“As you have your wish, will you please come to business, and let me know what you want of me?”

Samuel Standish leaned forward and said significantly, “I want some papers that you are carrying about with you.”

1 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 adroitly   

adv.熟练地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He displayed the cigarette holder grandly on every occasion and had learned to manipulate it adroitly. 他学会了一套用手灵巧地摆弄烟嘴的动作，一有机会就要拿它炫耀一番。 来自辞典例句
• The waitress passes a fine menu to Molly who orders dishes adroitly. 女服务生捧来菜单递给茉莉，后者轻车熟路地点菜。 来自互联网

3 urbanely   

adv.都市化地，彬彬有礼地，温文尔雅地

参考例句：

• Don't let the repoter spook you, and you have to behave urbanely. 别让记者缠住你，而你还得举止文雅。 来自互联网

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。

10 mortified   

v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

• She was mortified to realize he had heard every word she said. 她意识到自己的每句话都被他听到了，直羞得无地自容。
• The knowledge of future evils mortified the present felicities. 对未来苦难的了解压抑了目前的喜悦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

12 jocosely   

adv.说玩笑地，诙谐地

参考例句：

13 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。