CHAPTER XXV. — BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.

 Sam would have been glad to leave the office, but he knew that to ask would be to subject him to increased suspicion. Besides, the stranger might not be intending to accuse him.

 

Dr. Graham's attention was excited, and he asked, "Do you know anything of this matter, Mr. Clement¹?"

 

"Yes, doctor. As I said, I was on board the Brooklyn ferry with this young man and a friend of his, whom I believe he addressed as Jim. I heard them talk, being in the next seat, about money, and something was said about concealment². My curiosity was aroused, and I made up my mind to follow them after they left the boat."

 

"He knows all about it," thought Sam. "I wish I hadn't come back."

 

"Go on," said Dr. Graham, eying Sam sternly as he spoke³. "You followed the boys?"

 

"Yes. They made their way to the end of a pier⁴, where this young man of yours slipped off his stockings, and, as well as I could tell, for I was watching at a distance, concealed⁵ some bills in them, and afterwards drew them on again. It struck me at once that if the money had been honestly come by, they wouldn't have been so anxious to secrete⁶ it."

 

"Sam," said the doctor, sternly, "what have you to say to this charge?"

 

"It was my money," stammered⁷ Sam.

 

"What did you put it in your stockings for?"

 

"Jim told me how dangerous it was to carry it round in my pocket loose. So, as I hadn't any pocket-book, I put it in my stockings."

 

"Very probable, indeed. Suppose you take off your stockings."

 

Sam had decided⁸ objections to this; but he saw that it would be of no use to urge them, and slowly and reluctantly complied.

 

"Now put in your hand, and take out the money."

 

Sam did so.

 

The doctor counted the bills.

 

"Here are only nine dollars," he said. "Take out the rest."

 

"There isn't any more," said Sam.

 

"Don't attempt to deceive me," said his employer, sternly. "It will be the worse for you if you do."

 

"There isn't any more," persisted Sam, earnestly. "If you don't believe it, you may look yourself."

 

Dr. Graham did so, and found the statement correct.

 

"There were twenty dollars in the letter," he said, sternly. "What has become of the other eleven?"

 

There was no use in persisting in denial further, and Sam made a virtue⁹ of necessity.

 

"Jim got half the money," he confessed.

 

"Who's Jim?"

 

"Jim Nolan."

 

"How came he to get half the money? Did you owe it to him?"

 

For the first time it struck Sam that he had been a fool to give away ten dollars without adequate return. All that Jim had given him was bad advice, which is never worth taking.

 

"I don't know how I came to give it to him," said Sam. "It was he who wanted me to take the money. I wouldn't have done it but for Jim."

 

"It strikes me," said Mr. Clement, "that Jim is not a very desirable companion. So you gave him ten dollars?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Did you spend any of the money?" asked Dr. Graham.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"In what way?"

 

"I went in with Jim, and played a game of billiards¹⁰."

 

"Paying for the game with my money?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"What else?"

 

"Jim took me into a drinking-place, and treated me to a whiskey-punch."

 

"Also with my money, I suppose."

 

"Yes, sir; he wanted to get the ten-dollar bill changed."

 

"Was this in Brooklyn or New York?"

 

"In Brooklyn."

 

"Upon my word, very well planned. So you expected me to believe your story about having your pocket picked. Did you?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"A pretty story, Mr. Clement," said the doctor, turning to his friend. "What would you advise me to do, arrest the boy?"

 

"Oh, don't," implored¹¹ Sam, turning pale; "I'll never do it again."

 

"You won't have the chance," said the doctor, drily.

 

"If you ask my advice," said Mr. Clement, "I will give it. I suspect this Jim is the worse boy of the two. Now he's got ten dollars of your money."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Do you mean to let him keep it?"

 

"He's spent part of it by this time."

 

"You can get the rest back."

 

"How? I don't know the boy."

 

"You know his name. The Superintendent¹² of the Newsboys Lodging¹³ House could probably put you on his track. Besides, your boy here can help you."

 

"I don't know but you are right."

 

"Sam," said Mr. Clement, "are you willing to help Dr. Graham get back his money?"

 

"I don't like to get Jim into a scrape," said Sam.

 

"It seems he's got you into a scrape. It is your only chance of escaping being sent to Blackwell's Island."

 

"Will Jim be sent there?"

 

"That depends on the doctor. If this Jim will give back what he has of the money you gave him, and agree to give back the rest as soon as he earns it, I think the doctor will let him off."

 

"Then I'll do what I can," said Sam.

 

"As for you," said the doctor, "I shall retain these nine dollars; also the four I was to have paid you to-morrow. If I get back the full amount from your confederate, I will pay you the difference. Now how can you get at this Jim?"

 

"He'll be somewhere around City Hall Park," said Sam.

 

"You may go in search of him. Tell him to come to this office with you. If he don't come he will be arrested, and I will have no mercy upon him. If you undertake to play me false, the same fate awaits you."

 

"Don't be afraid," said Sam. "I'll come back, honor bright!"

 

"Do you think he will?" asked Dr. Graham, turning to Mr. Clement.

 

"Yes, for he knows it wouldn't be safe for him to stay away."

 

"Go away, then, and come back as soon as possible."

 

Sam made all haste to the City Hall Park, where he expected to find Jim. He was not disappointed. Jim was sitting on one of the steps of the City Hall smoking a cigar. He had the air of a gentleman of leisure and independent income, with no cares to disturb or harass¹⁴ him.

 

He did not see Sam till the latter called him by name.

 

"Where'd you come from, Sam?" he asked, placidly¹⁵.

 

"From the office."

 

"Did the boss make a row about the money?"

 

"You bet he did!"

 

"Ho didn't find out, did he?"

 

"Yes, he did."

 

Jim looked up now.

 

"He don't know anything about me does he?" he inquired.

 

"I had to tell him."

 

"That's mean!" exclaimed Jim. "You'd ought to be ashamed to tell on a friend."

 

"I had to. There was a chap—a friend of the doctor's—that was on the boat, and heard us talkin' about the money. He followed us, and saw me stuff the money in my stockin'."

 

Jim indulged in a profane¹⁶ ejaculation.

 

"What's he goin' to do about it?" he asked.

 

"He's made me give up the money, and he's sent me for you."

 

"I won't go," said Jim, hastily.

 

"You'd better. If you don't, you'll be took up."

 

"What am I to go to the office for?" asked Jim, rather startled.

 

"To give up the money."

 

"I've spent two dollars."

 

"If you give up what's left, and agree to pay the rest, he'll let you off."

 

"Did he say so?"

 

"Yes, he told me so."

 

If there had been any hope of escaping with the money, Jim would have declined calling on Dr. Graham; but of that he knew there was little chance. Indeed, he was not altogether unknown to the police, having, on two or three previous occasions, come under their notice. So, considerably¹⁷ less cheerful than before, he accompanied Sam to the office.

 

"Is this the boy?" asked the doctor, surveying Sam's companion attentively¹⁸.

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"I am glad to see you, young man," said the doctor, drily. "Suppose we settle money matters first of all. How much have you left?"

 

Jim drew out eight dollars in bills.

 

"So far, so good. You owe me two dollars."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"I won't ask for your note of hand. I'm afraid I couldn't negotiate it; but I expect you to pay me back the balance by instalments. If not, I shall know where to lay hold of you."

 

Jim had nothing to say.

 

"Now you can go. Sam, you can stay."

 

"I suppose he's goin' to send me off," thought Sam.

 

"You may stay till to-morrow night, Sam," said the doctor, "and I will pay you what balance I owe you. After that, I think we had better part company. You are a little too enterprising for me."

 

Sam made no objection. In fact, he had got tired of the confinement¹⁹, and thought it would be an agreeable variety to return to his old life again. The next evening, therefore, he retired²⁰ from professional life, and, with a balance of fifty cents in his possession, set up once more as a street vagabond. When Jim Nolan paid up his indebtedness, he would be entitled to two dollars more. Until then he was held for the debt of his confederate.

1 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

2 concealment   

n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒

参考例句：

• the concealment of crime 对罪行的隐瞒
• Stay in concealment until the danger has passed. 把自己藏起来，待危险过去后再出来。

3 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。

4 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

5 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

6 secrete   

vt.分泌；隐匿，使隐秘

参考例句：

• The pores of your body secrete sweat.身上的毛孔分泌汗液。
• Squirrels secrete a supply of nuts for winter.松鼠为准备过冬而藏坚果。

7 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 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。

9 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

10 billiards   

n.台球

参考例句：

• John used to divert himself with billiards.约翰过去总打台球自娱。
• Billiards isn't popular in here.这里不流行台球。

11 implored   

恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She implored him to stay. 她恳求他留下。
• She implored him with tears in her eyes to forgive her. 她含泪哀求他原谅她。

12 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

13 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

14 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

15 placidly   

adv.平稳地，平静地

参考例句：

• Hurstwood stood placidly by, while the car rolled back into the yard. 当车子开回场地时，赫斯渥沉着地站在一边。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• The water chestnut floated placidly there, where it would grow. 那棵菱角就又安安稳稳浮在水面上生长去了。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

16 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

17 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

18 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

20 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。