“ ‘Tain’t so—’tain’t so!”
“You will find that it is so, Mr. Starr,” said Andy, firmly, “and that your wicked attempt to cheat my mother out of more than a hundred dollars has failed.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Joshua Starr, nervously3; but his voice showed that he did believe it, nevertheless.
He had the best reason for knowing that such a receipt had been signed, but he had reckoned on its being lost or permanently4 mislaid.
The lawyer was not sure in his own mind whether Andy was not deceiving them, and determined5 to find out.
“These are bold words, boy,” he said. “We shall not believe in this receipt you talk about till you show it.”
“Mr. Starr believes in it,” retorted Andy, “for he knows very well he signed it; but he thought it was lost.”{150}
“I demand to see the receipt,” said the lawyer.
He drew a wallet from his pocket, and, taking out a folded piece of paper, handed it to the lawyer.
“Let me see it,” said Mr. Starr; but there was a cunning look in his eyes which made Andy distrustful.
“I object to his taking it,” interposed our hero.
“I don’t believe it’s genewine,” whined7 old Joshua. “It’s a base attempt to cheat me out of my money.”
“You’d better not talk about that, Mr. Starr,” said Andy.
“Lemme see it.”
“He has a right to see it,” said Mr. Ross; but he spoke8 in a quiet tone, for he saw that it would injure his professional reputation to involve himself in an evident attempt at swindling.
Joshua Starr took the paper in his hand, and gazed at it in a dazed way.
“The signatoor don’t look genewine,” he said, weakly.
Now it chanced that Mr. Starr’s signature was very peculiar—remarkable9 chiefly for its being a miserable10 scrawl11.
“Doesn’t it look like your writing?” said Andy.{151}
“Well, mebbe it is, a little; but I guess it’s a forgery12. I dunno but you wrote it yourself, Andy.”
“Do you believe that, Mr. Ross?” asked Andy, plainly.
“No,” said the lawyer, with a glance of contempt at his client. “I believe it is Mr. Starr’s signature.”
As he spoke, he cunningly let go the receipt, giving it an impulse toward the open fireplace, where a fire was burning.
Andy, however, was on the watch, and he sprang forward and rescued the valuable document.
“What are you trying to do, Mr. Starr?” he demanded, sternly.
“Nothing—it slipped,” answered the old man, crestfallen15.
Though Mr. Ross was disappointed that he was unable to injure the Gordons by the agency of Mr. Starr, he felt that he could not afford to be implicated16 in the rascality17 which his client had attempted in his presence.
“Mrs. Gordon,” he said, rising from his chair, “you will do me the justice to believe that I had no knowledge of the existence of this receipt. I supposed Mr. Starr’s claim was a genuine one, or I would not have meddled18 with{152} it. It is not my intention to aid and abet19 rascality.”
“You don’t mean me, do you, squire?” asked Joshua Starr, gazing in consternation20 at the lawyer.
“There’s a mistake, squire. I’m almost sure that signatoor ain’t genewine.”
“And I am sure that it is,” said the lawyer, curtly22. “You needn’t bring me any more of your business, Mr. Starr.”
He strode out of the cottage, with a look of utter disgust on his face.
“I don’t see what’s the matter with the squire,” said the old man. “He hadn’t ought to leave me that way.”
“Have you got any more business with us, Mr. Starr?” asked Andy.
“No—not as I know on. It’s pretty hard for me to lose all that money.”
“You can try to cheat somebody else out of it,” said Andy, coolly. “I wouldn’t advise you to try us again.”
“You’re a cur’us boy, Andy,” said the old man, as he slowly rose and hobbled off, disappointed.
When Mr. Ross reached home, he found his son Herbert waiting eagerly to interview him.
Herbert knew that his father had set out with Mr. Starr for Andy Gordon’s cottage, and he was anxious to hear just what passed,{153} and whether Andy wasn’t mortified23 and distressed24.
“You’ve got back, pa?” said Herbert, by way of opening the conversation.
“Yes, I’ve got back!” said Mr. Ross, gruffly.
“It didn’t seem to trouble him much,” said the lawyer, curtly.
“He wasn’t ready to pay the note, was he?” asked Herbert, in alarm.
“No.”
Herbert felt relieved.
“I thought he couldn’t raise the money,” he said, triumphantly26. “It was over a hundred dollars, wasn’t it?”
The lawyer had been so much annoyed that he enjoyed the disappointment in store for his son, on the principle that misery27 loves company.
“There was no need of his having any money ready,” he said.
“Mr. Starr hasn’t excused him from paying it, has he?” inquired Herbert, anxiously.
“Mr. Starr is an old scoundrel!” exclaimed Mr. Ross, impetuously.
“Do you really mean it?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes, I mean it.”{154}
“What has he done?”
“The note had been paid years ago, and he wanted to get it paid over again, and asked me to help him,” said the lawyer, with virtuous29 indignation.
“Then he can’t collect pay?” asked Herbert.
“Of course he can’t. How many times do you think a man is bound to pay a note?”
Herbert was not pleased with the way things had turned out, and he was puzzled at the remarkable change which had taken place in his father.
“Then I suppose,” he said, “you won’t get anything for what you have done in the matter?”
The lawyer’s eyes flashed. Here, at least, was a chance to get even with the old cheat, as he now denominated Mr. Starr. The next morning he sent a bill to Joshua Starr for professional services, setting the sum at fifteen dollars. This quickly brought the old man around to his office, in terrible dismay.
“You ain’t in earnest, squire?” he said.
“About what?”
“About this bill.”
“Mr. Starr, do you suppose I work for nothing?”
“But you didn’t collect any money for me, squire.”
“And whose fault was that, I’d like to{155} know?” retorted the lawyer. “It appears that your claim was fraudulent—fraudulent, Mr. Starr!”
Mr. Joshua Starr cared very little about the damage to his reputation arising from detection in such a dirty trick, but he cared a great deal about the fifteen dollars.
“What business had you to obtain my help in such a scandalous fraud?”
“Suppose we call it even, squire. You ain’t succeeded, and——”
“I shall succeed in this, Mr. Starr. That bill must be paid.”
“I won’t pay it!” said the old man, obdurately31.
“You won’t, eh? Then I’ll attach your farm.”
Finally Joshua Starr had to pay the lawyer’s charge, and I think the verdict of my young readers will be: “Served him right.”
Two days afterward32, to the astonishment of every one except his mother and Dr. Euclid, whom he took into his confidence, Andy Gordon left Hamilton, and was not seen in the village again for several weeks.
Where he went, and what he did, will be explained in succeeding chapters.
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1
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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8
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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9
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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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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scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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meddled
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abet
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| v.教唆，鼓励帮助 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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mortified
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| 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） | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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29
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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30
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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obdurately
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| adv.顽固地，执拗地 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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