It was a midsummer's day in Washington. Even at early morning, while the sun was yet level with the faces of pedestrians1 in its broad, shadeless avenues, it was insufferably hot. Later the avenues themselves shone like the diverging2 rays of another sun,—the Capitol,—a thing to be feared by the naked eye. Later yet it grew hotter, and then a mist arose from the Potomac, and blotted3 out the blazing arch above, and presently piled up along the horizon delusive4 thunder clouds, that spent their strength and substance elsewhere, and left it hotter than before. Towards evening the sun came out invigorated, having cleared the heavenly brow of perspiration5, but leaving its fever unabated.
The city was deserted6. The few who remained apparently7 buried themselves from the garish8 light of day in some dim, cloistered9 recess10 of shop, hotel, or restaurant; and the perspiring11 stranger, dazed by the outer glare, who broke in upon their quiet, sequestered12 repose13, confronted collarless and coatless specters of the past, with fans in their hands, who, after dreamily going through some perfunctory business, immediately retired14 to sleep after the stranger had gone. Congressmen and Senators had long since returned to their several constituencies with the various information that the country was going to ruin, or that the outlook never was more hopeful and cheering, as the tastes of their constituency indicated. A few Cabinet officers still lingered, having by this time become convinced that they could do nothing their own way, or indeed in any way but the old way, and getting gloomily resigned to their situation. A body of learned, cultivated men, representing the highest legal tribunal in the land, still lingered in a vague idea of earning the scant16 salary bestowed17 upon them by the economical founders18 of the Government, and listened patiently to the arguments of counsel, whose fees for advocacy of claims before them would have paid the life income of half the bench. There was Mr. Attorney-General and his assistants still protecting the Government's millions from rapacious19 hands, and drawing the yearly public pittance20 that their wealthier private antagonists21 would have scarce given as a retainer to their junior counsel. The little standing22 army of departmental employes,—the helpless victims of the most senseless and idiotic23 form of discipline the world has known,—a discipline so made up of caprice, expediency24, cowardice25, and tyranny that its reform meant revolution, not to be tolerated by legislators and lawgivers, or a despotism in which half a dozen accidentally-chosen men interpreted their prejudices or preferences as being that Reform. Administration after administration and Party after Party had persisted in their desperate attempts to fit the youthful colonial garments, made by our Fathers after a by-gone fashion, over the expanded limits and generous outline of a matured nation. There were patches here and there; there were grievous rents and holes here and there; there were ludicrous and painful exposures of growing limbs everywhere; and the Party in Power and the Party out of Power could do nothing but mend and patch, and revamp and cleanse26 and scour27, and occasionally, in the wildness of despair, suggest even the cutting off the rebellious28 limbs that persisted in growing beyond the swaddling clothes of its infancy29.
It was a capital of Contradictions and Inconsistencies. At one end of the Avenue sat the responsible High Keeper of the military honor, valor30, and war-like prestige of a great nation, without the power to pay his own troops their legal dues until some selfish quarrel between Party and Party was settled. Hard by sat another Secretary, whose established functions seemed to be the misrepresentation of the nation abroad by the least characteristic of its classes, the politicians,—and only then when they had been defeated as politicians, and when their constituents31 had declared them no longer worthy32 to be even THEIR representatives. This National Absurdity33 was only equaled by another, wherein an ex-Politician was for four years expected to uphold the honor of a flag of a great nation over an ocean he had never tempted34, with a discipline the rudiments35 of which he could scarcely acquire before he was removed, or his term of office expired, receiving his orders from a superior officer as ignorant of his special duties as himself, and subjected to the revision of a Congress cognizant of him only as a politician. At the farther end of the Avenue was another department so vast in its extent and so varied36 in its functions that few of the really great practical workers of the land would have accepted its responsibility for ten times its salary, but which the most perfect constitution in the world handed over to men who were obliged to make it a stepping stone to future preferment. There was another department, more suggestive of its financial functions from the occasional extravagances or economies exhibited in its payrolls,—successive Congresses having taken other matters out of its hands,—presided over by an official who bore the title and responsibility of the Custodian37 and Disburser38 of the Nation's Purse, and received a salary that a bank-President would have sniffed39 at. For it was part of this Constitutional Inconsistency and Administrative40 Absurdity that in the matter of honor, justice, fidelity41 to trust, and even business integrity, the official was always expected to be the superior of the Government he represented. Yet the crowning Inconsistency was that, from time to time, it was submitted to the sovereign people to declare if these various Inconsistencies were not really the perfect expression of the most perfect Government the world had known. And it is to be recorded that the unanimous voices of Representative, Orator42, and Unfettered Poetry were that it was!
Even the public press lent itself to the Great Inconsistency. It was as clear as crystal to the journal on one side of the Avenue that the country was going to the dogs unless the SPIRIT of the Fathers once more reanimated the public; it was equally clear to the journal on the other side of the Avenue that only a rigid44 adherence45 to the LETTER of the Fathers would save the nation from decline. It was obvious to the first-named journal that the “letter” meant Government patronage46 to the other journal; it was patent to that journal that the “shekels” of Senator X really animated43 the spirit of the Fathers. Yet all agreed it was a great and good and perfect government,—subject only to the predatory incursions of a Hydra-headed monster known as a “Ring.” The Ring's origin was wrapped in secrecy47, its fecundity48 was alarming; but although its rapacity49 was preternatural, its digestion50 was perfect and easy. It circumvolved all affairs in an atmosphere of mystery; it clouded all things with the dust and ashes of distrust. All disappointment of place, of avarice51, of incompetency52 or ambition, was clearly attributable to it. It even permeated53 private and social life; there were Rings in our kitchen and household service; in our public schools, that kept the active intelligences of our children passive; there were Rings of engaging, handsome, dissolute young fellows, who kept us moral but unengaging seniors from the favors of the fair; there were subtle, conspiring54 Rings among our creditors55, which sent us into bankruptcy56 and restricted our credit. In fact it would not be hazardous57 to say that all that was calamitous58 in public and private experience was clearly traceable to that combination of power in a minority over weakness in a majority—known as a Ring.
Haply there was a body of demigods, as yet uninvoked, who should speedily settle all that. When Smith of Minnesota, Robinson of Vermont, and Jones of Georgia returned to Congress from these rural seclusions59 so potent60 with information and so freed from local prejudices, it was understood, vaguely61, that great things would be done. This was always understood. There never was a time in the history of American politics when, to use the expression of the journals before alluded62 to, “the present session of Congress” did not “bid fair to be the most momentous63 in our history,” and did not, as far as the facts go, leave a vast amount of unfinished important business lying hopelessly upon its desks, having “bolted” the rest as rashly and with as little regard to digestion or assimilation as the American traveller has for his railway refreshment64.
In this capital, on this languid midsummer day, in an upper room of one of its second-rate hotels, the Honorable Pratt C. Gashwiler sat at his writing-table. There are certain large, fleshy men with whom the omission65 of even a necktie or collar has all the effect of an indecent exposure. The Hon. Mr. Gashwiler, in his trousers and shirt, was a sight to be avoided by the modest eye. There were such palpable suggestions of vast extents of unctuous66 flesh in the slight glimpse offered by his open throat that his dishabille should have been as private as his business. Nevertheless, when there was a knock at his door he unhesitatingly said, “Come in!”—pushing away a goblet67 crowned with a certain aromatic68 herb with his right hand, while he drew towards him with his left a few proof slips of his forthcoming speech. The Gashwiler brow became, as it were, intelligently abstracted.
The intruder regarded Gashwiler with a glance of familiar recognition from his right eye, while his left took in a rapid survey of the papers on the table, and gleamed sardonically69.
“You are at work, I see,” he said apologetically.
“Yes,” replied the Congressman70, with an air of perfunctory weariness,—“one of my speeches. Those d——d printers make such a mess of it; I suppose I don't write a very fine hand.”
If the gifted Gashwiler had added that he did not write a very intelligent hand, or a very grammatical hand, and that his spelling was faulty, he would have been truthful71, although the copy and proof before him might not have borne him out. The near fact was that the speech was composed and written by one Expectant Dobbs, a poor retainer of Gashwiler, and the honorable member's labor72 as a proof-reader was confined to the introduction of such words as “anarchy,” “oligarchy,” “satrap,” “palladium,” and “Argus-eyed” in the proof, with little relevancy as to position or place, and no perceptible effect as to argument.
The stranger saw all this with his wicked left eye, but continued to beam mildly with his right. Removing the coat and waistcoat of Gashwiler from a chair, he drew it towards the table, pushing aside a portly, loud-ticking watch,—the very image of Gashwiler,—that lay beside him, and, resting his elbows on the proofs, said:
“Well?”
“Have you anything new?” asked the parliamentary Gashwiler.
“Much! a woman!” replied the stranger.
The astute73 Gashwiler, waiting further information, concluded to receive this fact gaily74 and gallantly75. “A woman?—my dear Mr. Wiles76,—of course! The dear creatures,” he continued, with a fat, offensive chuckle77, “somehow are always making their charming presence felt. Ha! ha! A man, sir, in public life becomes accustomed to that sort of thing, and knows when he must be agreeable,—agreeable, sir, but firm! I've had my experience, sir,—my OWN experience,”—and the Congressman leaned back in his chair, not unlike a robust78 St. Anthony who had withstood one temptation to thrive on another.
“Yes,” said Wiles impatiently, “but d—n it, she's on the OTHER SIDE.”
“The other side!” repeated Gashwiler vacantly.
“Yes, she's a niece of Garcia's. A little she devil.”
“But Garcia's on our side,” rejoined Gashwiler.
“Yes, but she is bought by the Ring.”
“A woman!” sneered79 Mr. Gashwiler; “what can she do with men who won't be made fools of? Is she so handsome?”
“I never saw any great beauty in her,” said Wiles shortly, “although they say that she's rather caught that d——d Thatcher80, in spite of his coldness. At any rate, she is his protegee. But she isn't the sort you're thinking of, Gashwiler. They say she knows, or pretends to know, something about the grant. She may have got hold of some of her uncle's papers. Those Greasers were always d——d fools; and, if he did anything foolish, like as not he bungled81 or didn't cover up his tracks. And with his knowledge and facilities too! Why, if I'd—” but here Mr. Wiles stopped to sigh over the inequalities of fortune that wasted opportunities on the less skillful scamp.
Wiles turned his wicked eye on him. “Manuel and Miguel, who sold out to our man, are afraid of her. They were our witnesses. I verily believe they'd take back everything if she got after them. And as for Pedro, he thinks she holds the power of life and death over him.”
“Pedro! life and death,—what's all this?” said the astonished Gashwiler.
Wiles saw his blunder, but saw also that he had gone too far to stop. “Pedro,” he said, “was strongly suspected of having murdered Concho, one of the original locators.”
Mr. Gashwiler turned white as a sheet, and then flushed again into an apoplectic83 glow. “Do you dare to say,” he began as soon as he could find his tongue and his legs, for in the exercise of his congressional functions these extreme members supported each other,—“do you mean to say,” he stammered84 in rising rage, “that you have dared to deceive an American lawgiver into legislating86 upon a measure connected with a capital offense87? Do I understand you to say, sir, that murder stands upon the record—stands upon the record, sir,—of this cause to which, as a representative of Remus, I have lent my official aid? Do you mean to say that you have deceived my constituency, whose sacred trust I hold, in inveigling88 me to hiding a crime from the Argus eyes of justice?” And Mr. Gashwiler looked towards the bell-pull as if about to summon a servant to witness this outrage89 against the established judiciary.
“The murder, if it WAS a murder, took place before Garcia entered upon this claim, or had a footing in this court,” returned Wiles blandly90, “and is no part of the record.”
“You are sure it is not spread upon the record?”
“I am. You can judge for yourself.”
Mr. Gashwiler walked to the window, returned to the table, finished his liquor in a single gulp91, and then, with a slight resumption of dignity, said:
“That alters the case.”
Wiles glanced with his left eye at the Congressman. The right placidly92 looked out of the window. Presently he said quietly, “I've brought you the certificates of stock; do you wish them made out in your own name?”
Mr. Gashwiler tried hard to look as if he were trying to recall the meaning of Wiles's words. “Oh!—ah!—umph!—let me see,—oh, yes, the certificates,—certainly! Of course you will make them out in the name of my secretary, Mr. Expectant Dobbs. They will perhaps repay him for the extra clerical labor required in the prosecution93 of your claim. He is a worthy young man. Although not a public officer, yet he is so near to me that perhaps I am wrong in permitting him to accept a fee for private interests. An American representative cannot be too cautious, Mr. Wiles. Perhaps you had better have also a blank transfer. The stock is, I understand, yet in the future. Mr. Dobbs, though talented and praiseworthy, is poor; he may wish to realize. If some—ahem! some FRIEND—better circumstanced should choose to advance the cash to him and run the risk,—why, it would only be an act of kindness.”
“You are proverbially generous, Mr. Gashwiler,” said Wiles, opening and shutting his left eye like a dark lantern on the benevolent94 representative.
“Youth, when faithful and painstaking95, should be encouraged,” replied Mr. Gashwiler. “I lately had occasion to point this out in a few remarks I had to make before the Sabbath school reunion at Remus. Thank you, I will see that they are—ahem!—conveyed to him. I shall give them to him with my own hand,” he concluded, falling back in his chair, as if the better to contemplate96 the perspective of his own generosity97 and condescension98. Mr. Wiles took his hat and turned to go. Before he reached the door Mr. Gashwiler returned to the social level with a chuckle:
“You say this woman, this Garcia's niece, is handsome and smart?”
“Yes.”
“I can set another woman on the track that'll euchre her every time!”
Mr. Wiles was too clever to appear to notice the sudden lapse99 in the Congressman's dignity, and only said, with his right eye:
“Can you?”
“By G-d, I WILL, or I don't know how to represent Remus.”
Mr. Wiles thanked him with his right eye, and looked a dagger100 with his left. “Good,” he said, and added persuasively101: “Does she live here?”
The Congressman nodded assent102. “An awfully103 handsome woman,—a particular friend of mine!” Mr. Gashwiler here looked as if he would not mind to have been rallied a little over his intimacy104 with the fair one; but the astute Mr. Wiles was at the same moment making up his mind, after interpreting the Congressman's look and manner, that he must know this fair incognita if he wished to sway Gashwiler. He determined105 to bide106 his time, and withdrew.
The door was scarcely closed upon him when another knock diverted Mr. Gashwiler's attention from his proofs. The door opened to a young man with sandy hair and anxious face. He entered the room deprecatingly, as if conscious of the presence of a powerful being, to be supplicated107 and feared. Mr. Gashwiler did not attempt to disabuse108 his mind. “Busy, you see,” he said shortly, “correcting your work!”
“I hope it is acceptable?” said the young man timidly.
“Well—yes—it will do,” said Gashwiler; “indeed I may say it is satisfactory on the whole,” he added with the appearance of a large generosity; “quite satisfactory.”
“You have no news, I suppose,” continued the young man, with a slight flush, born of pride or expectation.
“No, nothing as yet.” Mr. Gashwiler paused as if a thought had struck him.
“I have thought,” he said, finally, “that some position—such as a secretaryship with me—would help you to a better appointment. Now, supposing that I make you my private secretary, giving you some important and confidential109 business. Eh?”
Dobbs looked at his patron with a certain wistful, dog-like expectancy110, moved himself excitedly on his chair seat in a peculiar111 canine-like anticipation112 of gratitude113, strongly suggesting that he would have wagged his tail if he had one. At which Mr. Gashwiler became more impressive.
“Indeed, I may say I anticipated it by certain papers I have put in your charge and in your name, only taking from you a transfer that might enable me to satisfy my conscience hereafter in recommending you as my—ahem!—private secretary. Perhaps, as a mere85 form, you might now, while you are here, put your name to these transfers, and, so to speak, begin your duties at once.”
The glow of pride and hope that mantled114 the cheek of poor Dobbs might have melted a harder heart than Gashwiler's. But the senatorial toga had invested Mr. Gashwiler with a more than Roman stoicism towards the feelings of others, and he only fell back in his chair in the pose of conscious rectitude as Dobbs hurriedly signed the paper.
“I shall place them in my portman-tell,” said Gashwiler, suiting the word to the action, “for safe keeping. I need not inform you, who are now, as it were, on the threshold of official life, that perfect and inviolable secrecy in all affairs of State”—Mr. G. here motioned toward his portmanteau as if it contained a treaty at least—“is most essential and necessary.”
“No, no,” said Gashwiler hastily; then, correcting himself, he added: “that is—for the present—no!”
Poor Dobbs's face fell. The near fact was that he had lately had notice to quit his present lodgings117 in consequence of arrears118 in his rent, and he had a hopeful reliance that his confidential occupation would carry bread and lodging116 with it. But he only asked if there were any new papers to make out.
“Ahem! not at present; the fact is I am obliged to give so much of my time to callers—I have to-day been obliged to see half a dozen—that I must lock myself up and say 'Not at home' for the rest of the day.” Feeling that this was an intimation that the interview was over, the new private secretary, a little dashed as to his near hopes, but still sanguine119 of the future, humbly120 took his leave.
But here a certain Providence121, perhaps mindful of poor Dobbs, threw into his simple hands—to be used or not, if he were worthy or capable of using it—a certain power and advantage. He had descended122 the staircase, and was passing through the lower corridor, when he was made the unwilling123 witness of a remarkable124 assault.
It appeared that Mr. Wiles, who had quitted Gashwiler's presence as Dobbs was announced, had other business in the hotel, and in pursuance of it had knocked at room No. 90. In response to the gruff voice that bade him enter, Mr. Wiles opened the door, and espied125 the figure of a tall, muscular, fiery-bearded man extended on the bed, with the bedclothes carefully tucked under his chin, and his arms lying flat by his side.
Mr. Wiles beamed with his right cheek, and advanced to the bed as if to take the hand of the stranger, who, however, neither by word or sign responded to his salutation.
“Perhaps you are,” said Red Beard dryly.
Mr. Wiles forced a smile on his right cheek, which he turned to the smiter127, but permitted the left to indulge in unlimited128 malevolence129. “I wanted merely to know if you have looked into that matter?” he said meekly130.
“I've looked into it and round it and across it and over it and through it,” responded the man gravely, with his eyes fixed131 on Wiles.
“I've read every paper, every speech, every affidavit133, every decision, every argument,” said the stranger as if repeating a formula.
Mr. Wiles attempted to conceal134 his embarrassment135 by an easy, right-handed smile, that went off sardonically on the left, and continued: “Then I hope, my dear sir, that, having thoroughly136 mastered the case, you are inclined to be favorable to us?”
The gentleman in the bed did not reply, but apparently nestled more closely beneath the coverlids.
“Hev you a friend within call?” interrupted the recumbent man gently.
“I don't quite understand!” smiled Mr. Wiles. “Of course any name you might suggest—”
“Hev you a friend, any chap that you might waltz in here at a moment's call?” continued the man in bed. “No? Do you know any of them waiters in the house? Thar's a bell over yan!” and he motioned with his eyes towards the wall, but did not otherwise move his body.
“No,” said Wiles, becoming slightly suspicious and wrathful.
“Mebbe a stranger might do? I reckon thar's one passin' in the hall. Call him in,—he'll do!”
Wiles opened the door a little impatiently, yet inquisitively139, as Dobbs passed. The man in bed called out, “Oh, stranger!” and, as Dobbs stopped, said, “Come yar.”
Dobbs entered a little timidly, as was his habit with strangers.
“I don't know who you be—nor care, I reckon,” said the stranger. “This yer man”—pointing to Wiles—“is Wiles. I'm Josh Sibblee of Fresno, Member of Congress from the 4th Congressional District of Californy. I'm jist lying here, with a derringer into each hand,—jist lying here kivered up and holdin' in on'y to keep from blowin' the top o' this d——d skunk's head off. I kinder feel I can't hold in any longer. What I want to say to ye, stranger, is that this yer skunk—which his name is Wiles—hez bin15 tryin' his d—dest to get a bribe140 onto Josh, and Josh, outo respect for his constituents, is jist waitin' for some stranger to waltz in and stop the d—dest fight—”
“But, my dear Mr. Sibblee, there must be some mistake,” said Wiles earnestly.
“Mistake? Strip me!”
“No! No!” said Wiles, hurriedly, as the simple-minded Dobbs was about to draw down the coverlid.
“Take him away,” said the Hon. Mr. Sibblee, “before I disgrace my constituency. They said I'd be in jail afore I get through the session. Ef you've got any humanity, stranger, snake him out, and pow'ful quick, too.”
Dobbs, quite white and aghast, looked at Wiles and hesitated. There was a slight movement in the bed. Both men started for the door; and the next minute it closed very decidedly on the member from Fresno.
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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diverging
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| 分开( diverge的现在分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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garish
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| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
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cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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sequestered
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| adj.扣押的；隐退的；幽静的；偏僻的v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 )；扣押 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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scant
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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pittance
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antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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standing
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idiotic
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expediency
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cowardice
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cleanse
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scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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infancy
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valor
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constituents
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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tempted
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rudiments
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varied
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37
custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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38
disburser
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| n.支付者，付出者 | |
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39
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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40
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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41
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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42
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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43
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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44
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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45
adherence
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| n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着 | |
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46
patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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47
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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48
fecundity
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| n.生产力；丰富 | |
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49
rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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50
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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51
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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52
incompetency
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| n.无能力，不适当 | |
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53
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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54
conspiring
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| 密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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55
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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56
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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57
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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58
calamitous
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| adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重 | |
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59
seclusions
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| n.隔绝，隔离，隐居( seclusion的名词复数 ) | |
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60
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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61
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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62
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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64
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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65
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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66
unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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67
goblet
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| n.高脚酒杯 | |
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68
aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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69
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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70
Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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71
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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72
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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73
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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74
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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75
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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76
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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77
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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78
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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79
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
thatcher
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| n.茅屋匠 | |
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81
bungled
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| v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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82
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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83
apoplectic
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| adj.中风的；愤怒的；n.中风患者 | |
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84
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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86
legislating
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| v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 ) | |
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87
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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88
inveigling
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| v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的现在分词 ) | |
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89
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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90
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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91
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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92
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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93
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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94
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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95
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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96
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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97
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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98
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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99
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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100
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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101
persuasively
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| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
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102
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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103
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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104
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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105
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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106
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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107
supplicated
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| v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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108
disabuse
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| v.解惑；矫正 | |
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109
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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110
expectancy
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| n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额 | |
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111
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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112
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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113
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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114
mantled
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| 披着斗篷的，覆盖着的 | |
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115
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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117
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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118
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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119
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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120
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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121
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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122
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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123
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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124
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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125
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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127
smiter
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| 打击者 | |
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128
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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129
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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130
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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131
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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132
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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133
affidavit
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| n.宣誓书 | |
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134
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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135
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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136
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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137
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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138
insinuatingly
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139
inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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140
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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