CHAPTER XXIII. THE TABLES TURNED.

 As Maurice Walton left the Burnet House, he fell in with the one whom he most wished to avoid. Gilbert was returning to the store, after his usual midday lunch. He was surprised to see Maurice, supposing him at home, suffering from the headache.

 

"How do you happen to be here, Maurice?" he asked. "I thought you were at home."

 

"My head felt so bad that I thought I would come out into the fresh air," answered Maurice, a little confused.

 

"Do you feel better?"

 

"A little. I think I'll go home and go to bed."

 

"I hope you'll be all right to-morrow."

 

"I guess so."

 

So they separated, Gilbert, who was not inclined to be suspicious, not doubting his fellow-clerk's statements.

 

That evening, when he returned to his boarding-house, the servant said:

 

"Did your friend find the opera-glass?"

 

"What?" said Gilbert.

 

"Shure a friend of yours called, and said you had sent him to borrow your opera-glass."

 

"I sent nobody. Who was it? What did he look like?"

 

"He was about your size, shure, and had a black mustash."

 

"I don't know who it can be. Did he go up into my room?"

 

"Yes, he did. He said he knew the way."

 

"I can't think who it was."

 

Gilbert went up stairs, and, to increase the mystery, there was his opera-glass on the bureau, where he usually kept it. It was directly in sight, so that the visitor must have seen it.

 

"I can't understand it," he said, perplexed¹. "Mordaunt, do you know of any friend of mine who has a black mustache?"

 

"Frank Oswald."

 

"He is considerably² larger than I am. The servant said it was some one of my size."

 

"I can't think of anybody else."

 

"I don't see why he didn't take the opera-glass, if he wanted it, though it would have been rather bold, as I didn't authorize³ anybody to take it."

 

As there seemed no clew to the mystery, and as, moreover, Gilbert had no suspicion that the visitor was on an unlawful errand, he dismissed it from his mind.

 

Two days afterward⁴, Gilbert met his uncle in the street. As the week was not up, he was about to pass him with a bow, when Mr. Grey paused, and appeared inclined to speak.

 

"Young man," he said, "can you call on me this evening?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"I shall leave the city to-morrow, and, though it is of no consequence to me, I suppose you would like to know my decision in regard to the matter you broached⁵ the other day."

 

"I will call," said Gilbert, bowing.

 

"He looks as if he were going to defy me," thought our hero. "Well, I am ready for him."

 

In the evening he called, and was shown up to his uncle's room.

 

"Good-evening, Mr. Grey," he said, politely.

 

"Good-evening, young sir," said the other. "You did me the honor, the other day, of claiming relationship with me?"

 

"I did."

 

"Knowing that your claim had no foundation, but was only an impudent⁶ fabrication, instigated⁷ by cupidity——"

 

"I beg your pardon, sir," said Gilbert, quietly, "but that statement I deny most positively⁸. I have not the slightest doubt that that relationship exists; neither has Mr. Ferguson."

 

"You have succeeded in duping Mr. Ferguson. You will find it a harder task to dupe me. If you knew me better, you would have hesitated before you attempted to humbug⁹ me in that barefaced¹⁰ way."

 

"If you knew me better, Uncle James——"

 

"I am not your Uncle James."

 

"Mr. Grey, then. If you knew me better, Mr. Grey, you would know that I am not capable of making a false claim."

 

"Oh! no doubt you are very honest—the soul of integrity," sneered¹¹ James Grey; "but every one has his price, and, as the success of your imposture¹² would make you rich for life, you concluded to leave honesty out of the question."

 

James Grey might at once have referred to his possession of the paper, but he could not forbear playing with Gilbert, as a cat with a mouse, enjoying meanwhile the power which he possessed¹³ of crushing his claims by a single statement.

 

"Your charge is entirely¹⁴ unjust," said Gilbert, quietly. "I shall appreciate the money to which I am rightfully entitled, to be sure; but I want to settle my claim, also, to my father's name, of which I was so long ignorant."

 

"If you choose to call yourself Grey, or Green, or Brown, there is no law to prevent you, I suppose," said Mr. Grey, sarcastically¹⁵; "but when you, a street bootblack, try to force your way into a respectable family, there is considerable to be said."

 

"I am not ashamed of having been a bootblack," said our hero, calmly. "I was earning an honest living, though an humble¹⁶ one; and I was not living upon what belonged to another."

 

"Do you mean me?" interrupted his uncle, angrily.

 

"You must decide whether you are meant, Mr. Grey."

 

"Suppose now I decline to consider seriously this very impudent claim of yours, what are you going to do about it?"

 

"I shall take legal advice."

 

"How do you expect to pay a lawyer?"

 

"I shall try to manage it."

 

"No lawyer will undertake such a discreditable case."

 

"I happen to be acquainted with one lawyer that will. In fact, I have mentioned the matter to him, and I am acting¹⁷ by his advice now."

 

"Does he tell you that you have a good case?"

 

"He does."

 

"What does he say is the strongest part of it?"

 

"The statement of Jacob Morton."

 

"Do you happen to have it with you?"

 

"No, sir. After the experience of my last call, I prefer not to bring it."

 

"You can't produce it," said James Grey, triumphantly¹⁸.

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because you have no such document."

 

"You are mistaken there."

 

"I have the strongest reason for saying that this forged document, on which you so much rely, is no longer in your possession."

 

"I should like to know your reason," said Gilbert, struck by his uncle's significant manner.

 

"Then I will tell you. It is not in your possession, because it is in mine!"

 

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Gilbert, somewhat startled.

 

"Just what I say. I have obtained possession of the paper which you so artfully concocted¹⁹, and pretended to be the dying statement of Jacob Morton."

 

"What, did Mr. Ferguson give it to you?" asked Gilbert, amazed.

 

"Mr. Ferguson? What had he to do with it?"

 

"It is in his safe. I deposited it there, the morning after my interview with you."

 

"That is a lie!" exclaimed Mr. Grey, in excitement. "You placed it in your trunk."

 

"Oh!" said Gilbert, as light dawned upon him, "I understand you, now. Before carrying it to Mr. Ferguson, I made a copy for reference, thinking, also, that you might want to look at it again. That copy I left in my trunk; but the original is in Mr. Ferguson's safe."

 

"I don't believe you," said James Grey, furiously.

 

"It is perfectly²⁰ true. I suppose that the young man who I hear called at my room one day in my absence, was your agent, and that he stole the paper."

 

"Out of my room, you scoundrel!" roared James Grey, whose disappointment was in proportion to his former exultation²¹. "I defy you!"

 

Gilbert saw that it would be of no use to prolong the discussion. He bowed quietly, and left the room.

1 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

2 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。

3 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

4 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

5 broached   

v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体

参考例句：

• She broached the subject of a picnic to her mother. 她向母亲提起野餐的问题。 来自辞典例句
• He broached the subject to the stranger. 他对陌生人提起那话题。 来自辞典例句

6 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

7 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

9 humbug   

n.花招，谎话，欺骗

参考例句：

• I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道，我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。
• All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。

10 barefaced   

adj.厚颜无耻的，公然的

参考例句：

• It's barefaced robbery asking such a high price for that old bicycle!那辆旧自行车要价如此之高真是无耻的敲诈。
• What barefaced cheek!真是厚颜无耻！

11 sneered   

讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sneered at people who liked pop music. 他嘲笑喜欢流行音乐的人。
• It's very discouraging to be sneered at all the time. 成天受嘲讽是很令人泄气的。

12 imposture   

n.冒名顶替，欺骗

参考例句：

• Soiled by her imposture she remains silent.她背着冒名顶替者的黑锅却一直沉默。
• If they knew,they would see through his imposture straight away.要是他们知道，他们会立即识破他的招摇撞骗行为。

13 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

14 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

15 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

16 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

17 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。

18 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

19 concocted   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• The soup was concocted from up to a dozen different kinds of fish. 这种汤是用多达十几种不同的鱼熬制而成的。
• Between them they concocted a letter. 他们共同策划写了一封信。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

21 exultation   

n.狂喜，得意

参考例句：

• It made him catch his breath, it lit his face with exultation. 听了这个名字，他屏住呼吸，乐得脸上放光。
• He could get up no exultation that was really worthy the name. 他一点都激动不起来。