CHAPTER XII. MR. JONES IS EXCITED.

 The astonishment¹ and wrath² of Mr. Jones were almost ludicrous as he stared at the lawyer, who, cool and composed, reiterated³ his threat.

 

"I never heard of such a thing!" he gasped⁴. "You take my own money from me?"85

 

"It remains⁵ to be proved whether it is your own money. The boy says it is his."

 

"The boy lies."

 

"Really, Mr. Jones, I cannot allow you to make such charges against my client, unless you are ready to substantiate⁶ them by proof."

 

"It stands to reason," began Mr. Jones, but the young lawyer interrupted him.

 

"Nothing stands to reason that you can't prove," he said. "We will give you an opportunity to prove your ownership of the bill to-morrow in court. Now hand the bill to officer Drake."

 

Very much against his will, Mr. Jones felt compelled to do this.

 

"Isn't the boy going to be arrested?" he demanded, with an ugly look at Bert.

 

"It is unnecessary. You can bring a formal charge against him before Squire⁷ Marlowe to-morrow."

 

"The boy may escape during the night. I won't trust him."

 

There was a murmur⁸ of disapproval⁹ among those present. All liked Bert, and Mr. Jones, from his quick temper and ugly disposition¹⁰, was by no means a favorite. The store-keeper saw that it would not be good policy to insist upon Bert's arrest, and he said, sullenly¹¹, "I86 will hold you responsible for his presence at the trial."

 

Mr. Conway smiled.

 

"If he is not present, I will myself see that you do not suffer in consequence. Besides, flight would be tantamount to confession¹², and the case would go against him by default."

 

"And should I in that case get the twenty-dollar bill?"

 

"I will take it upon me to offer no opposition," said the lawyer.

 

"Now, can I go?" asked Bert.

 

"Yes; I will accompany you home for consultation¹³."

 

Bert took the can of kerosene¹⁴ and was about to leave the store, when the store-keeper said harshly: "Put down that kerosene! you haven't paid for it!"

 

Bert flushed and looked embarrassed. It was true that he had not paid for it, nor did he have the money to pay, outside of the twenty-dollar bill which had been taken from him.

 

"I have no money," he said. "I will leave it till to-morrow."

 

"How much is it, Mr. Jones?" asked Conway.

 

"Twenty-five cents."87

 

"I will advance the money. Bert, take your can."

 

"You are very kind, Mr. Conway," said the boy gratefully.

 

"We will settle hereafter. Now let us be going."

 

In explanation of the price mentioned, I may say that kerosene is now much cheaper than at the date of my story.

 

"Now, Bert," said Mr. Conway, "as your legal adviser¹⁵ I shall have to ask you to tell me just where you obtained the bill you offered in payment to Mr. Jones for the kerosene. I have no doubt of your innocence¹⁶, but we must make it plain to all who may attend the trial."

 

"I should like to have you come home with me, Mr. Conway. Mother will confirm what I say."

 

"I shall be glad to do so. Will your mother be alarmed?"

 

"Yes, I think she will; but you can make things clear to her."

 

Mrs. Barton was indeed startled when she learned that Bert had been charged with theft, but after a free talk with Mr. Conway she felt much relieved.

 

"Your defence is perfect, I think," said the young lawyer. "Of course Mr. Jones or his lawyer may claim that you wrote the letter yourself."

 

"Will it be necessary to send to Uncle Jacob and get him to testify?"

 

"I don't think so. I think your defence will be complete without it. There is another point of considerable importance which I shall look up to-night. If things turn out as I suspect they will, we shall not need to disturb your Uncle Jacob."

 

At nine o'clock Mr. Conway took his leave and returned to the hotel. He had a short conference with the landlord, which was evidently satisfactory.

 

"I think we shall prove too many for Mr. Jones," he murmured softly, as he went up to bed.

 

1 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

2 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

3 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

4 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 substantiate   

v.证实；证明...有根据

参考例句：

• There is little scientific evidence to substantiate the claims.这些主张几乎找不到科学依据来证实。
• These theories are used to substantiate the relationship between the phenomenons of the universe.这些学说是用来证实宇宙现象之间的关系。

7 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

8 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

9 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

10 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

11 sullenly   

不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地

参考例句：

• 'so what?" Tom said sullenly. “那又怎么样呢？”汤姆绷着脸说。
• Emptiness after the paper, I sIt'sullenly in front of the stove. 报看完，想不出能找点什么事做，只好一人坐在火炉旁生气。

12 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

13 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

14 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。

15 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

16 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。