CHAPTER XXXV. GILBERT’S TRIUMPH.

Shortly after the office opened on the following day, Simon Moore and John were disagreeably surprised by the entrance of Gilbert. He had found his witness, Tom, the boot-black, and requested him to remain outside, within call.

“What do you want here?” demanded the book-keeper, frowning.

“Has Mr. Sands returned?” asked our hero.

“No, he hasn’t,” replied Moore, with unblushing falsehood.

“I think you must be mistaken,” said Gilbert, composedly; “for I saw him getting on a street-car yesterday.”

“Then if you knew he was at home, why did you ask me?”

311Gilbert did not think it necessary to answer this question.

“I will stop and speak to him,” he said.

“No, you won’t,” said Simon Moore, roughly. “I know what you want. You want to make him believe you are innocent.”

“You are right, Mr. Moore. I do wish to convince him of my innocence¹.”

“I guess you’ve got cheek,” put in John. “Didn’t I find the money that was lost, in your overcoat pocket?”

“Yes.”

“That’s enough, I should say,” said the book-keeper, dexterously² availing himself of this admission. “You are a witness, John, that he has confessed the theft.”

“If you twist what I say in that way,” said Gilbert, indignantly, “there is no use in my saying anything.”

“That is true enough. There is no use in your saying anything. Now, I’ve got something more to 312say. You’ve no business in this office; and the sooner you clear out the better.”

“Yes, the sooner you clear out the better,” chimed in John. “You’ve come here to get away my place; but you’d better give up trying. Mr. Sands is not such a fool as to believe you.”

“Are you going?” demanded the book-keeper, menacingly. “John, put him out.”

John advanced cautiously towards our hero, who smiled unterrified.

“Come, go out!—do you hear?” he said.

“I won’t put you to the trouble of putting me out,” said Gilbert, good-naturedly. “I’ll step out for the present.”

“And go away from here,—do you hear? Don’t you hang around the office.”

Gilbert, however, did not see fit to obey this last order. He waited in the neighborhood for Mr. Sands to arrive.

“He means to make trouble, Cousin Simon,” said John, uneasily.

“He would like to, no doubt,” responded the book-keeper; 313“but it would be very strange if Mr. Sands believed him against us.”

“Well, I hope it’ll all turn out right,” said John; “but he’s got a lot of cheek—that boy has. I wish you’d had him locked up.”

“It might have been the best plan; but I think we can carry things through. Don’t you put in your oar³, or you may spoil the whole thing. Leave it to me.”

“All right, Cousin Simon.”

At the corner of Wall and New Streets Gilbert met Mr. Sands, who had come down-town, in a Broadway stage.

“I see you are on hand,” said the broker⁴. “Have you been to the office?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What sort of a reception did you get from Mr. Moore?”

“He ordered me out.”

The broker smiled.

“Perhaps it may be my turn to order out,” he said. “Come back with me.”

314“Thank you, sir.”

Simon Moore was not over-pleased when he saw Gilbert entering the office with his employer, but he said nothing. He waited to see how the land lay.

“Mr. Moore,” said the broker, “I met Gilbert outside, and have brought him in to talk over the charge which you bring against him.”

“He has been here already,” said Moore, coldly, “and I ordered him out.”

“It appears to me that this is rather summary treatment.”

“I think I have treated him very indulgently. I might have had him arrested for theft, but I didn’t want to be too hard upon him.”

“You seem to take it for granted that he is guilty.”

“He must be. He will himself admit that the missing bill was found in his overcoat pocket; ask him, if you like, sir.”

Mr. Sands turned to Gilbert.

“It is true,” he said.

315“That is all that need be said,” said the book-keeper, shrugging his shoulders.

“It does not necessarily follow that he put the bill in himself,” remarked Mr. Sands.

“Who else could have done it?” demanded Moore, triumphantly⁵.

“I will answer that question,” said Gilbert. “John put the money in my pocket, in order to get me into a scrape.”

“Do you hear that, Cousin Simon?” exclaimed John, with virtuous⁶ indignation. “I didn’t think Gilbert could be so wicked as to say such things.”

“I expected it,” said Moore, regarding Gilbert maliciously⁷. “A boy that will steal will lie also. Of course he only says it to screen himself.”

Gilbert listened to this outbreak very composedly. He knew that his employer was on his side, and did not think it necessary to contradict it.

“Have you any proof of your statement, Gilbert?” asked Mr. Sands.

“Of course he hasn’t,” said Moore, contemptuously. “It rests upon his word; and that is worth 316nothing. Ask him if he saw John put the money in his pocket.”

“No, I did not,” answered Gilbert, without waiting for Mr. Sands to put the question.

“I thought not,” said Moore, triumphantly. “You only suspected it.”

“Somebody saw it done,” said Gilbert. “Shall I call him?”

The question was addressed to Mr. Sands, who nodded his head.

Gilbert went to the door, and called Tom.

Tom, the boot-black, shuffled⁸ in, with his box strapped⁹ to his back.

“Tom,” said Gilbert, “did you, one day, see John—that boy there—putting a bill in my coat-pocket?”

“Yes,” answered Tom, “shure I did; but I thought it was his own, and it was no harm, till you told me how you’d lost your place.”

Mr. Sands put two or three questions, which Tom answered in a straightforward¹⁰ manner. Then he turned to the book-keeper.

317“What do you say to this, Mr. Moore?” he asked.

“I say that it is all a lie,” returned the book-keeper, angrily. “How much are you paid for lying?” he demanded, sharply, of the boot-black.

“Not a cent,” said Tom, indignantly; “and it isn’t a lie either, you spalpeen! You knew all about it, too. I saw you lookin’ at him when he did it.”

“I’d like to thrash you, within an inch of your life, you impudent¹¹ young blackguard!” said Simon Moore, furiously.

“You’d better not try it,” said Tom, boldly.

“I hope, Mr. Sands,” said Moore, turning to the broker, “that you are not going to believe this young ragamuffin against me. It is a pretty state of things, if my word is to be disputed by such as he.”

“Mr. Moore,” said the broker, gravely, “I regret to say that, in this instance, I am forced to believe him rather than you. Wait a moment,”—seeing that Moore was going to interrupt him,—“it is only fair that I should give you my reason. Possibly you will 318remember one evening when, at an oyster-saloon, you and John concerted this very plot against Gilbert. I was in the next stall, and overheard all you both said. I was not, therefore, surprised to learn, upon my return, under what circumstances Gilbert had been discharged.”

Simon Moore and John looked at each other in silent dismay. Both remembered well the conversation alluded¹² to.

“If I am the object of such suspicion,” blustered¹³ Moore, at length, “I don’t think I had better remain in your employ.”

“I approve your decision,” said the broker, gravely.

“I will leave at once, if you say so.”

Just then a young man entered the office.

“You are at liberty to do so,” said Mr. Sands. “I have already engaged this gentleman as your successor.”

“I guess I’ll go, too,” said John.

“You may. Gilbert, you will resume your old place.”

It would be difficult to paint the anger and mortification¹⁴ 319upon the faces of the two cousins as they left the office.

“This comes from trying to help you, you young loafer,” said Moore, savagely¹⁵, turning upon John. “But for you I should have kept my place.”

“I’m sure I aint to blame,” said John, whining¹⁶.

“You are wholly to blame. I shall thrash you some day.”

John thought this rather hard, since the plot was of his cousin’s contriving¹⁷. I may remark here that months passed before Simon Moore obtained another situation.

1 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。

2 dexterously   

adv.巧妙地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He operates the machine dexterously. 他操纵机器动作非常轻巧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• How dexterously he handled the mite. 他伺候小家伙，有多么熟练。 来自辞典例句

3 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

4 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

5 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。

6 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

7 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

11 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。

12 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

13 blustered   

v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹

参考例句：

• He blustered his way through the crowd. 他吆喝着挤出人群。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The wind blustered around the house. 狂风呼啸着吹过房屋周围。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 mortification   

n.耻辱，屈辱

参考例句：

• To my mortification, my manuscript was rejected. 使我感到失面子的是：我的稿件被退了回来。
• The chairman tried to disguise his mortification. 主席试图掩饰自己的窘迫。

15 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

16 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

17 contriving   

（不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到

参考例句：

• Why may not several Deities combine in contriving and framing a world? 为什么不可能是数个神联合起来，设计和构造世界呢？ 来自哲学部分
• The notorious drug-pusher has been contriving an escape from the prison. 臭名昭著的大毒枭一直都在图谋越狱。