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肩書を与える: Silas Bradford's Boy
Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
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eBook No.: 0200231h.html
Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd:  June 2018
Most 最近の update: June 2018

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Silas Bradford's Boy

by

Joseph C. Lincoln

Contents

一時期／支部 1
一時期／支部 2
一時期／支部 3
一時期／支部 4
一時期／支部 5
一時期／支部 6
一時期／支部 7
一時期／支部 8
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一時期／支部 19
一時期／支部 20
一時期／支部 21
一時期／支部 22
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一時期／支部 25

一時期／支部 1

Late on a late autumn afternoon in the year 1903 the Village of Denboro, in the 連邦／共和国 of Massachusetts, was を受けるing 査察 and 評価. It did not know that it was を受けるing anything of the 肉親，親類d, nor would it have been in the least troubled if it had known.

Denboro was 満足させるd with itself. "Not a city—no! Not a （人が）群がるd metropolis, teeming with riches and poverty, its gilded palaces rubbing 肘s with its sin-soaked slums—not that indeed. But a community of homes, the homes of God-恐れるing men and noble women, a town with churches and schools, of 繁栄する shops and a 井戸／弁護士席- patronized 広まる library, whose sons have sailed the seven seas, whose daughters have 後部d their children to be true Americans—in short, my friends, perhaps as 罰金 an example of what a town should be as may be 設立する between the 殺到するing 大波s of the 大西洋 upon the one 手渡す and the blue bosom of the 太平洋の upon the other." (See the 演説（する）／住所 of the Hon. Alonzo Pearson, 配達するd at the 祝賀 of the two hundredth 周年記念日 of the 合併／会社設立 of the 郡区 of Denboro, and on とじ込み／提出する in the office of Abel Snow, town clerk.)

No, Denboro would not have 恐れるd 査察, it would have welcomed it; the more perfect the diamond the purer its glitter beneath the magnifying glass. If it had been aware that Banks Bradford, as he strolled 負かす／撃墜する Main Street toward home and supper that afternoon, was looking it over with amused condescension it would not have cared at all. Several of its 国民s looked young Mr. Bradford over as he passed, and their comments were singularly 解放する／自由な from awe or uneasiness.

"Who did you say?" queried Ebenezer Tadgett, peering through the panes of the window of his secondhand shop. "Who did you say 'twas, Joe?"

Jotham Gott, the cards of the euchre 手渡す which had just been dealt him clutched in his 抱擁する 握りこぶし, answered casually. "Oh, it's that boy of Margaret Bradford's," he said. "Cap'n Silas Bradford's son. He belongs here in town, but he's been away so much, up to college and studyin' 法律 and the like of that, that I guess you ain't seen much of him since you come to Denboro to live, Ebenezer. His first 指名する's Silas, same as his father's was, but they always call him by his middle one—Banks. Lord knows why! If my old man was as smart as Cap'n Silas was in his day and time I'd be proud to use his 指名する even if 'twas Judas; yes"—with a chuckle—"even if 'twas Eliab— and that's stretchin' things up to the 限界 of eyesight, you'll have to give in."

The third member of the euchre party was a tall, raw-boned, stoop- shouldered individual with a long 直面する, the most 目だつ feature of which was nose. His surname was Gibbons and his Christian 指名する Eliab. He 匂いをかぐd through the 目だつ feature just について言及するd and turned on his heel.

"Humph!" he growled. "If my eyesight was so poor I played the king thinkin' 'twas the 権利 bower I'd keep still, seems to me. Come on, boys; come on! You 借りがある me seven cents so fur, Jotham, and I'm cal'latin' to make it ten in a couple more 手渡すs, which is all we've got time for."

The game of "cutthroat" euchre was 再開するd in the 支援する shop, and Banks Bradford was for the time forgotten. 一方／合間 Mr. Bradford himself had turned the corner by the 地位，任命する office and was walking, more 速く now, along the Mill Road on his way to the house in which he was born and where he knew his mother and his supper were を待つing him.

The Bradford home was 据えるd on the slope of Mill Hill, upon the crest of which still stood the old windmill where, years before, the dwellers in Denboro brought their corn and rye to be ground. Capt. Silas Bradford had bought the land when he was a very young man, unmarried and in 命令（する） of his first ship. He had bought it because of the 見解（をとる）, which was 広範囲にわたる. From the Bradford porch one looked out over the little harbor, with its wharf and fish houses, the dories and catboats, across the bay to the lighthouse and lifesaving 駅／配置する at Loon Point, and beyond to the waters of the Sound. The house was not large, nor architecturally beautiful, 裁判官d by the 基準 of to-day. When Captain Silas built it there was a strong fancy for mansard roofs, and jig-sawed ornamental work about the piazza 中心存在s and 辛勝する／優位ing the eaves. It was painted white, its window blinds were green, and surrounding the 所有物／資産／財産 was a picket 盗品故買者, also spotlessly white.

It was, in spite of the jig-sawing, an attractive house with a homelike, comfortable look. Not by any means, said Trumet, the sort of house Silas Bradford would have built in his later days when he was a member of the Boston shipping 会社／堅い of Trent, Truman & Bradford. And distinctly not to be compared with the mansion on the Old Ostable Road which his partner, Elijah Truman, also a Denboro man, did build when, an old man, having made his pile, he married, retired from 商売／仕事 and （機の）カム 支援する to his native town, bringing his bride, many years younger than he, with him. Elijah had been dead for some time; but his 未亡人 still 占領するd the big house—that is, when she could forego European travel and California winters long enough to settle 負かす／撃墜する anywhere.

Elijah Truman was a smart man, so Denboro cheerfully 認める. And old Benjamin Trent, the 上級の partner of the 会社／堅い, had been smart, too, although he was foolish enough to choose Ostable rather than Denboro as his がまんするing place. But the community was 事実上 全員一致の in agreeing that neither Trent nor Truman was ever, for cleverness and acumen and general 優れた ability, a "patch" upon Silas Bradford. "If Captain Silas had lived he would have made a 指名する for himself, not only in Ostable 郡 but in Boston and all over. Yes, he would!" But he did not live. In 1883, when only thirty-five, he died in San Francisco, as the result of an 事故—careless 扱うing of a gun or ピストル or something. And Margaret Bradford—she that was Margaret Banks, one of the Bayport Bankses—was left a 未亡人, with a boy five years old. Margaret was a good enough woman, there was nothing to be said against her, but— the older 長，率いるs in Denboro had wagged over this many times—she was not good enough to be the wife of a man like Captain Silas. In fact—more 長，率いる-wagging here—his marriage was—you might 同様に say it as think it—the one mistake of the captain's life. "Only twenty-five when he married," said Denboro. "Too young, altogether too young. If he'd waited—"'

Silas Bradford had been dead twenty years and now his son was twenty-five, the exact age of his father at the time when the latter committed the "one mistake." And during those twenty years, seafaring and ship-owning had gone out of fashion as means of 暮らし for ambitious men. Silas Banks Bradford had never trodden a deck except as 乗客. Instead, he had …に出席するd college, then 法律 school; and now, after a summer's visit with a college friend in the West, he was at home again, a freshly 育てる／巣立つd member of the Massachusetts 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. He had no 意向 of remaining at home, however; far from it.

He opened the 味方する door of the house—味方する doors were in New England, in those days, still the 規則 family 入り口—and entered the sitting room. Upon the 塀で囲む above the mantel hung the portrait of his father, a crayon enlargement of the latter's last photograph, taken when he was thirty-three. The crayon enlargement was a gift from Abijah Bradford, Silas's younger brother. Abijah had two enlargements made. One he gave to Margaret, the 未亡人; the other he kept. It hung in his bachelor apartment in the Malabar Hotel on Main Street.

Banks 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd his hat upon the sofa and went on into the 隣接するing room, the dining room. The supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was laid and ready, and in the Salem rocker by the 工場／植物-filled window sat his mother reading the morning Advertiser. She dropped the paper and rose as he entered.

In her 青年, when the handsome and dashing Silas Bradford （機の）カム a-法廷，裁判所ing and with his customary 強烈な 支配 押し進めるd all 競争相手s from his path, Margaret Banks had been a pretty girl. Now her hair was white and her 人物／姿／数字 matronly, but as her 直面する lighted with a smile of welcome for her son she was good-looking still.

"井戸／弁護士席, Banks," she said, "I had begun to wonder what had happened to you. Where have you been? Sit 権利 負かす／撃墜する. Supper has been ready a long time."

She brought the teapot and the plate of cream-o'-tartar 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s from the kitchen and they seated themselves at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"Where have you been?" she asked again, as she 注ぐd the tea.

"Nowhere in particular, Mother. Just walking around, looking things over, that's all. Sorry I'm late; I didn't mean to be."

"Oh, that's all 権利. You weren't late—very. Then"—she hesitated an instant—"then you 港／避難所't been in to see your uncle? I thought perhaps you had and that was what kept you so long."

"No, I 港／避難所't called on Uncle Bije yet. I will to-morrow. I've been just tramping about, 負かす／撃墜する by the wharf and up and 負かす／撃墜する Main Street. Sort of sizing up Denboro, you know. I've been away from it so long that I thought I would see how it looked."

"井戸／弁護士席," said his mother, 手渡すing him a brimming cup, "how did it look? Natural, I suppose?"

"Oh, yes, natural enough. Precious little change, so far as it is 関心d. The change is in me, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know—yes, I do too. Denboro is a nice old town, but Lord, it is sleepy and dead and one-horse! I like it—that is, I like to come 支援する to it once in a while and—井戸／弁護士席, shake 手渡すs with people and places I used to know when I was a kid. I suppose every man feels that way about the town he was born in, if he has any 感情 at all." He spoke as if he were at least an octogenarian.

His mother smiled. "Yes," she agreed.

"Yes. But honestly, Mother, it is funny the way one's ideas change. I remember I used to think Mill Hill here was only a few feet lower than Mont Blanc and the town hall about as 抱擁する as the （ワシントンの）連邦議会議事堂 at Washington. They've shrunk. The whole place has shrunk; I give you my word it has."

Margaret Bradford's smile was broader. There was a twinkle in her 注目する，もくろむ. "Banks," she 観察するd, "you speak as if you had been away from Denboro for twenty years instead of three months."

"Do I? 井戸／弁護士席, I feel as if I had. And, of course, I really have been away for a long time. Four years at college and then the 法律 school. Home for vacations, but I was too busy having a good time then to notice much. Now, when I'm through getting ready to earn my living and am thinking of making a start at the 正規の／正選手 職業, I— 井戸／弁護士席, I've come to realize things as they are. I've broadened, I guess. That's the answer."

"I see. Then you don't like Denboro?"

"Like it? Of course I like it. I just said I did."

"I mean you wouldn't like it as a place to stay in—to live and work in?"

The young man's laugh was answer 十分な. "I should say not!" he 宣言するd, with derisive 強調. "How does anybody live in Denboro?"

"They manage somehow. Your Uncle Abijah has lived here all his life."

"Yes, and so has Cousin Nellie, for that 事柄. 井戸／弁護士席, you won't have to live here much longer, Mother. I told you that the other day. Just as soon as 法案 Davidson gets 支援する to Boston, after he finishes his trip around the world and arranges about my having a chance with his father's 会社／堅い. It won't be much of a 職業, so far as 支払う／賃金 is 関心d—not at first, but I'll …に出席する to that end of it in time. I'll get ahead, if hard work will do it."

"I am sure of that, Banks."

"Yes; why not? Other fellows get on, with いっそう少なく start than I'll have. Father didn't have a cent when he began. He went to sea as cabin boy when he was fourteen or so, and look what he was when he died. What?"

"I didn't speak. At least, I didn't know that I did."

"Oh, I thought you did. 井戸／弁護士席, what I'm trying to say is that you and I will shut this house up. Oh, not sell it—I wouldn't do that any more than you would. We could rent it, though, if we really need the extra money. You and I will go up to Boston. You will keep house for us both in some nice apartment, say. I'll go in with Davidson's father, and the 残り／休憩（する） of it is up to me. Sounds good enough, doesn't it?"

"Yes, yes, Banks, it sounds very good indeed."

"井戸／弁護士席, then," a trifle impatiently, "why, every time I について言及する it, do you look so queer? Why, Mother, what in the world—you're not crying, are you?"

"No. No, Banks, I hope I'm not crying. Why should I cry?"

"Lord knows, but I 断言する I believe you are! Mother, don't you want to go to Boston to live—with me? You would be happy there, I know you would."

"I should be happy anywhere with you, dear."

"Then, what—"

"Hush! Don't get so excited. Banks, I—I wish you had gone in to see Uncle Abijah this afternoon. He asked you to come. I am afraid he may have waited, 推定する／予想するing you."

"Really? I'm sorry if he did, but I didn't think it made any difference whether I went to-day or to-morrow. I will go the first thing in the morning. But look here, you 行為／法令／行動する as if my seeing him was important. It isn't, is it? What does he want to see me about?"

Mrs. Bradford hesitated. Her look, as she regarded her son across the supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, was anxious and troubled. "I think he wants to talk with you about—about your 計画（する）s for the 未来. The sort of thing you have just been talking about to me."

Banks was surprised. "He does!" he exclaimed. "Why?"

"He is 利益／興味d. He is fond of you, you know."

"I'm fond of him, so far as that goes. Uncle Bije is a good old sport. Pretty stubborn and always ordering people about as if he were their 船長／主将 and they were foremast 手渡すs, but all 権利, just the same. He's forever bragging about Denboro and the Bradfords and all that, but I don't mind. Probably I should talk the same way if I had never been anywhere else and was as 古代の as he is."

"He is only three or four years more 古代の than I am. And as for his never having been anywhere, 井戸／弁護士席, he has made two 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-the- world voyages that I know of. Before he gave up the sea I don't suppose he had spent more than three months at a time in Denboro since he was a boy."

"Now, Mother, you know what I mean. And what is all this, anyway? Is this—er—会議／協議会 that I am to have with Uncle Abijah so terribly serious? You 行為／法令／行動する as if it was."

"Why yes, dear, it is."

"The ジュース you say! And it is about me and my 計画（する）s for the 未来?"

"Yes. That, and money 事柄s."

"Money 事柄s! Our money 事柄s—yours and 地雷? Mother, what's gone wrong? What has happened?"

"Nothing has happened. But you see—"

"Wait! Have we—have you had losses or—or things like that?"

She shook her 長，率いる. "No, Banks," she said, "I 港／避難所't had any losses. You see, I never had a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to lose."

He leaned 支援する in the 議長，司会を務める, but before he could speak a step sounded upon the walk outside. His mother heard it and turned.

"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed. "Some one is coming. I do hope it isn't Hettie."

Banks rose to his feet. "Bother!" he growled. "Mother, can't you tell whoever it is that we're busy?"

She did not have time to answer, for the 味方する door had opened. Capt. Abijah Bradford stood on the threshold of the dining room.

"Hello, Banks!" he あられ／賞賛するd. "Evenin', Margaret. Sorry to break in on your supper, thought you'd be through by this time."

Captain Abijah was tall, 幅の広い and bulky; scarcely a gray hair; blue 注目する，もくろむs, with the sailor's pucker about their corners. He rolled when he walked, like a ship in a seaway. He was by no means handsome, as his older brother had been, but he had the Bradford nose and chin—Banks had these—and the Bradford 空気／公表する of 保証／確信 and 命令（する）. He was a bachelor, a member of the board of selectmen, a director in the Denboro 国家の Bank, a Past Grand Master in the Masonic 宿泊する—altogether a person of importance in Denboro, and aware of the fact.

Mrs. Bradford and her son had risen. They bade him good evening.

"You 港／避難所't broken in on our supper," Margaret 保証するd him. "We were 事実上 through. Sit 負かす／撃墜する, Abijah."

Banks was already bringing 今後 a 議長，司会を務める, but his uncle 拒絶する／低下するd it. "Don't believe I'll sit, Margaret," he said. "井戸／弁護士席, young fellow"—演説（する）／住所ing his 甥—"you didn't get in to see me this afternoon. Too busy, eh?"

Banks fancied he （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd a slight tinge of sarcasm in the question. He colored. "No, Uncle Bije," he answered, "I wasn't too busy."

"Then why didn't you come? I gave up a 委員会 meetin' waitin' for you."

"I'm sorry. I just—井戸／弁護士席, I—"

His mother helped him out. "Banks didn't realize that it was a 限定された 任命 for to-day," she explained. "He ーするつもりであるd to come to-morrow, didn't you, Banks?"

"Yes."

"All 権利, all 権利. Only—井戸／弁護士席, I don't know how it is in the 法律 商売／仕事, but 船内に ship it's pretty 一般に a mistake to put to-day off for to-morrow. The men who sailed under your father learned that in a hurry. Margaret, have you talked with him about what you and I have talked so much lately?"

His sister-in-法律 sighed. "No," she 自白するd, "I 港／避難所't, Abijah— not yet."

"Why not? You and I agreed that it せねばならない be talked about, didn't we?"

"Yes. But—井戸／弁護士席, he has been at home only a day or two. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 us both to be happy as long as we could."

"Happy! Humph! I don't see any 推論する／理由 why you shouldn't be happy if my 計画／陰謀 goes through. A whole lot happier, accordin' to my judgment, than you'd be likely to be any other way. Look here, Margaret, you're not backin' water, are you? You're not lettin' your soft-heartedness over this one chick of yours 影響する／感情 your ありふれた sense?"

"No, Abijah."

"You mustn't. And if this boy of yours has got his 株 of ありふれた sense, which, bein' a Bradford, he せねばならない have, he'll—"

But Banks interrupted. "Wait! 持つ／拘留する on a minute, Uncle Bije," he ordered, in a トン which although pleasant was crisp enough to 原因（となる） his uncle to turn and 星／主役にする at him. "Now that you are speaking of ありふれた sense, don't you think it might be more sensible to stop calling me a boy? I'm twenty-five years old."

Margaret Bradford smiled. She ちらりと見ることd from her son to her brother- in-法律 and the smile broadened.

Captain Abijah rubbed his chin. "Humph! So you are, that's a fact," he 認める grudgingly. "I know it, too, but it's hard to realize. You've just got through goin' to school. I belong to another 世代 and I'm old-fashioned, I guess. When I was twenty-five I'd 命令（する）d a ship for two years. When your father was twenty-five he—"

And again his 甥 interrupted. "Oh, let's 削減（する） out the family history," he 示唆するd impatiently. "明らかに you and mother have been discussing me and my 事件／事情／状勢s and you 港／避難所't thought it 価値（がある） while to let me in on the 事柄 at all. What is all this about, anyway? Don't you think it is time I knew? After all, it might be as 利益／興味ing to me as any one, I should imagine."

Abijah Bradford's red 直面する turned redder. People in Denboro were not in the habit of using sarcasm when 演説（する）／住所ing him—young people 特に. He had 中央の-Victorian 有罪の判決s 関心ing the 尊敬（する）・点 予定 by 青年 to age. He might have 表明するd those 有罪の判決s, but Margaret, catching her son's 注目する，もくろむ, shook her 長，率いる ever so わずかに.

Banks' トン changed. "I'm sorry, Uncle Bije," he went on quickly. "I didn't mean to be fresh. I only— Wait, Mother, please; I know what I'm doing. I only want to make you both understand that I think it high time you took me into your 信用／信任. Mother has just told me that I made a mistake in not calling on you this afternoon as I ーするつもりであるd to do. She says you and I were to have a very serious talk about something or other. If she had told me that at first I should have been on 手渡す, but she didn't. However, we can have it now, can't we?"

Uncle Abijah looked at Margaret. Their 注目する，もくろむs met. She rose.

"I must （疑いを）晴らす the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and do the dishes," she said. "Banks, if you and your uncle will go into the sitting room I'll join you by and by."

Banks turned toward the sitting-room door, but Captain Bije hesitated. He drew a 激しい, old-fashioned gold watch from his pocket and looked at the dial.

"It's pretty likely," he growled, "that a couple of the selectmen may 減少（する） in on me to-night. I せねばならない be on deck if they do. You come to my rooms to-morrow mornin' about nine, boy, and we'll have our talk. 合間, Margaret, if you want to—井戸／弁護士席, break the ice to him, which seems to me you せねばならない have done before—you can do it...To-morrow mornin' at nine, then. That won't be too 早期に to fit in with your college habits, will it?" He grinned as he asked the question.

Banks did not even smile. "No, sir," he replied. "It won't be too 早期に. I think it will be a good 取引，協定 too late. I'd like to get through with this to-night, Uncle Bije."

"Oh, you would, eh? 井戸／弁護士席, I'm sorry, but I can't stay here any longer to-night. I've told you why."

"Yes, sir, I know. But I can go with you to the hotel. If your friends do come our talk will have to be 延期するd, I suppose. If they don't we can get on with it. Good night, Mother. I'll be home as soon as I can, but don't sit up for me."

He went into the sitting room and took his hat from the sofa. His uncle, after a moment's perplexed chin rubbing, followed Mrs. Bradford to the kitchen.

"Humph!" he grunted. "What 始める，決める him out this way all at once? What have you said to him, Margaret?"

"Nothing much. I did tell him that you 手配中の，お尋ね者 to talk 本気で with him about his 計画（する）s for the 未来 and about—money 事柄s. That is all I said. The 残り／休憩（する） of it you said yourself. You weren't very 外交の, Bije."

"外交の! What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, never mind!...Yes, Banks, he is coming...Abijah, do please be as careful as you can. Make him understand just why you think this will be best for him in the end!"

"Best for him! How about somethin' bein' best for YOU, for a change?"

"I don't really count, and I mustn't. Oh, Abijah, do be considerate with him. He is going to be dreadfully disappointed."

"Bosh! Some 失望s are good for young fellows his age. All 権利. Then we'll get it over with to-night, 供給するd those selectmen don't turn up. Margaret, don't you worry. I tell you the day's coming when he's goin' to thank us all. It's a 広大な／多数の／重要な chance for a young lawyer. I'll do my level best to make him see it. You go to bed and to sleep. You will, won't you?"

"I'll go to bed...There, there, Abijah; run along. Good night."

During the walk 負かす／撃墜する Mill Road to the 地位，任命する office neither Banks nor his uncle was conversational. Captain Abijah perfunctorily 観察するd that it was a 罰金 night and Banks agreed with him. Other than this, little was said. The captain's dignity was still わずかに ruffled by what he considered freshness on the part of his 甥, and the latter's mind was 占領するd with disquieting guesses. What was this secret 商売／仕事 between his mother and his uncle? It 関心d him, but how? And what did his mother mean by 説 that money 事柄s were 伴う／関わるd?

The Malabar Hotel was an 古代の hostelry on Main Street. It was built in the late sixties by Capt. Rinaldo Bassett when, having made money in New Bedford 捕鯨, he retired from the sea. His son, also 指名するd Rinaldo, was its 現在の proprietor and 経営者／支配人. In the dingy ロビー, with its settees and armchairs and 厚かましさ／高級将校連 cuspidors, a trio of loungers sprawled smoking and watching two others who, in their shirt sleeves, were playing pool on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in the corner. Behind the 反対する, where the 登録（する） lay open, its page for the day blank except for the date, Mr. Bassett was dozing over a newspaper.

Captain Bradford 停止（させる）d momentarily at the foot of the stairs. "Anybody been here to see me, Rinaldo?" he asked.

Mr. Bassett started, blinked and sat up in his 議長，司会を務める. "Eh?" he queried. "Oh! No, Cap'n Bije, not a soul."

"All 権利. If anybody does come I'll be up in my room. Come on, boy."

He led the way to the 最高の，を越す of the first flight, then along the 回廊（地帯）, feebly illumined by two kerosene bracket lamps, to the second door from the end of the building. This door he 打ち明けるd.

"Stay where you are, son," he ordered, "till I light up." Banks, blinking in the 影をつくる／尾行するs of the musty-smelling 回廊（地帯）, heard the sound of a striking match. "Heave ahead!" called his uncle. "Come 船内に."

Captain Abijah 占領するd the two corner rooms, perhaps the best 控訴 in the hotel. The one on the corner was his bedroom. The other, that which his 甥 now entered, was his sitting room. It was of good size, neat and comfortably furnished—a walnut 中心 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with a marble 最高の，を越す, two comfortable armchairs, a big 木造の rocker, a walnut 長官 desk, its lid open and heaped high with letters and papers, a haircloth sofa. On the 塀で囲む between the windows was a ship's 晴雨計 in gimbals. Opposite, by the door, hung a sextant and a silver-plated speaking trumpet. On the third 塀で囲む were two oil 絵s of square-rigged ships, and over the mantel was a third, of a bark this time, and 側面に位置するd by a chronometer. On the mantel itself were a pair of 鯨's teeth and a pie-crust "crimper" made of 鯨 ivory. Standing in the corner was a polished narwhal's horn. Over the sofa, in the place of 栄誉（を受ける）, hung the crayon enlargement of Silas Bradford, a replica of the one in the house 占領するd by Silas Bradford's 未亡人. The room smelt 堅固に of タバコ, a pleasant contrast to the smells of the 残り／休憩（する） of the Malabar.

Captain Abijah hung his hat upon the 支援する of the rocker and pointed to an armchair by the 中心 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "Sit 負かす／撃墜する, Banks," he said. Banks took the armchair. His uncle pulled open one of the drawers of the 長官 and took out a box of cigars. "I'm goin' to smoke," he 観察するd. "I 一般に talk easier when I'm under steam. You 港／避難所't taken up smokin' yet, I 推定する likely."

Banks smiled. "Thank you, sir, I'll smoke," he said. His uncle was rather taken aback. He himself had learned to smoke—and chew—when he was fifteen, but he had forgotten that, just as he 固執するd in forgetting that his 甥 was twenty-five.

"Oh," he grunted, "I— Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, help yourself."

Banks took one of the cigars—big and 黒人／ボイコット they were—from the box and lighted it with an 平易な nonchalance which 原因（となる）d his 親族 to 星／主役にする at him. Captain Abijah lighted his own and sat 負かす／撃墜する in the other armchair. The pair looked at each other through the smoke.

"井戸／弁護士席," 観察するd Abijah.

"井戸／弁護士席, Uncle Bije?"

"I suppose likely we might 同様に get under way, hadn't we?"

"I should say so, sir, decidedly."

"Yes...Humph!...All 権利. You're through studyin' 法律; you're a lawyer now, ain't you?"

"Yes, I suppose I am. Ready to be one, anyhow."

"Um-hum. Have you made any 計画（する）s where you're goin' to begin to be one?"

"Yes, sir. Hasn't mother told you?"

"She's told me a little—nothin' very particular. Suppose you tell me over again."

Banks was やめる willing to tell. His 広大な／多数の／重要な 計画（する）, 伴う／関わるing the desk in the office of the 法律 会社／堅い in Boston, his 適切な時期s there, the の近くにing of the house on Mill Hill, his mother's …を伴ってing him to Boston, their living together in some nice apartment in the 支援する Bay or in that 近隣—all these were 完全に mapped in his mind and had 占領するd his thoughts for months. He grew enthusiastic as he 広げるd the prospect. His uncle listened, not speaking a word until he had finished.

"So," 結論するd Banks, "those are my 計画（する）s. They look good to me. What do you think, Uncle Bije?"

Capt. Abijah Bradford knocked the ashes from his cigar into the 厚かましさ／高級将校連 cuspidor which he had thoughtfully kicked into position on the 床に打ち倒す between them. He did not say what he thought; he asked a question of his own.

"Have you told Margaret—your mother all this, same as you're tellin' it to me?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"And she didn't raise any 反対s?"

"No. Why should she?"

"No 反対s at all? Just sat up and gave three 元気づけるs when you told her, eh?"

Banks 紅潮／摘発するd. "Just what does that mean?" he asked hotly. "Look here; Uncle Bije, it's plain enough that you and mother have something up your sleeve. I wish you'd get it out where I can see it. I'm tired of hints—yes, and sneers. Why not say what you have to say and get it over with?"

Abijah crossed his 膝s. Again this 甥 of his was 演説（する）／住所ing him in a トン to which he was unaccustomed; but this time he did not appear to resent it. To the young man's surprise, he chuckled grimly. "You've got more sand in your craw than I thought you had," he 観察するd. "You ain't all Banks, I guess. There, there! Keep your hair on. Now about this big 計画／陰謀 of yours. It sounds good enough; for another fellow it might BE good enough; but for you it won't do."

Banks sat up in the armchair. "Won't do!" he repeated in amazement. "What do you mean? It's one chance in a hundred."

"There, there! Let me talk a （一定の）期間. I mean what I say. For you it won't do, that's all."

"Why won't it do? Don't you understand—"

"I understand, all 権利. You're the one that doesn't. There are a half dozen 推論する／理由s why, accordin' to my notion, this 計画（する） of yours might not work out 同様に as some others but we won't bother with but one just now. That one is important enough. It is that you can't afford it."

Banks had 推定する／予想するd almost anything, but this he had not 推定する／予想するd. To his mind again flashed that puzzling phrase of his mother's— "money 事柄s." He caught his breath.

"Why—why, Uncle Bije," he gasped, "what is it? What has happened? Has—has mother lost money?"

Abijah shook his 長，率いる. "You can't very 井戸／弁護士席 lose what you 港／避難所't got," he said. "Your mother hasn't got any money to speak of, and"—with 強調—"she never has had much of any, not since Silas died."

Banks was 完全に dumfounded. His mother that very evening had told him that she had little to lose, but he had not taken the 声明 literally. There had always been money 来たるべき to 支払う／賃金 his 法案s at college and at 法律 school. His allowance was not large, but it was 十分な. He had taken for 認めるd the 明らかな fact that his mother was in comfortable circumstances—not rich by any means, but 解放する／自由な from 財政上の worries. And now— Oh, there was a joke in this somewhere, even if it was a poor one and in bad taste. His uncle was watching him intently, and now he 小衝突d his expostulations aside with a brusque wave of a big 手渡す.

"Don't waste time, boy," he ordered. "What I'm tellin' you is the truth, and if you had been my son you'd have known it long ago. I've told your mother so more times than a few—but no, you were her baby and you must have this and that, do what young fellows with ten times your money did, and have your 適切な時期 with the best of 'em. That's what she was always preachin' to me, 適切な時期s and advantages—you must have 'em and you were goin' to have 'em and Hettie and I must keep our mouths shut. 井戸／弁護士席, I've kept 地雷 shut; you've had your 'advantages.' Now even your mother agrees that you must understand just how things are. Maybe she'd never have told you on her own hook. Most likely she'd have gone on scrimpin' and sacrificin', goin' without 着せる／賦与するs and 雇うd help, starvin' herself and livin' on next to nothin', so that you could—"

But Banks had heard enough—for the moment, at least. He broke in. "Nonsense!" he cried in 猛烈な／残忍な 憤慨. "You're talking nonsense. Of course you are. Mother—why, mother would have told me if there had been anything like this."

"No, she wouldn't. I'd have told, if I'd had my way, but she wouldn't. She was too soft-長，率いるd over you to do anything of the 肉親，親類d. Your father, if he had been alive, would have told you. He was as sensible as he was smart. But not your mother. She was a Banks and they're different. There, there! WILL you sit 負かす／撃墜する in that 議長，司会を務める and listen to me? Don't keep puttin' in your oar. You were all on 辛勝する／優位 to find out what I had up my sleeve. It's out of my sleeve now, part of it. Listen and you'll hear the 残り／休憩（する）."

But Banks Bradford put in his oar once more; he could not help it. "I'll listen, sir, of course," he said. "But honestly, Uncle Bije, I am sure you're 誇張するing, trying to 脅す me for some 推論する／理由 or other. Ever since I've been old enough to understand anything I've heard what a brilliant man father was—brilliant as captain, and in 商売／仕事 and everything. You just called him smart yourself. 井戸／弁護士席 then, if he was so smart, is it likely he would leave mother with nothing? Hardly, I should say."

Captain Abijah's brow clouded. "I didn't say he left her nothin'," he explained. "I said he didn't leave much. He died just when his 会社／堅い was in some trouble and—井戸／弁護士席, we won't go into that. It wasn't Silas' fault, of course. Now—"

"Wait! Father's partners—Mr. Trent and Captain Truman—they were rich men. Mrs. Truman is very rich now. How is it that they had so much money and he had so little? Oh, come, Uncle Bije—"

"Sh-h-h! I tell you we 港／避難所't got time to waste on all that to- night. Trent and Truman made the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of their money afterwards, in Chicago real 広い地所, lucky 憶測 and the like of that. But never mind them and never mind how much or how little Silas left. What we're talkin' about now is you, and this 計画（する） of yours. As I understand it, your 計画／陰謀 is to shut up the house here, take your mother to Boston with you, 雇う some expensive flat or somethin', and she is to keep house for you in it while you sit around in that Boston lawyer's office, waitin' till you're of importance enough to earn a dollar. And while you're waitin' her money supports you both, same as it has so far. That's it, isn't it?"

His 甥 squirmed in the armchair. Although bluntly and 残酷に put, and distorted and 誇張するd, as he saw it, にもかかわらず this was essentially his 計画（する）. And it was a good 計画（する）. Yes, it was. If this stubborn, arrogant old sea dog would only use 推論する／理由 instead of prejudice—

"You don't get it, sir," he 抗議するd 熱心に. "You don't get it at all. This Mr. Davidson, the 長，率いる of the 会社／堅い, is the father of one of my best friends."

"持つ／拘留する on! 持つ／拘留する on! Let's stick to the channel. You won't be paid much 給料 for the first year or so, will you?"

"Why no, not a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 probably. I 港／避難所't gone into that yet. In fact, the whole thing is rather up in the 空気／公表する until 法案—that's my friend—gets 支援する from the other 味方する."

"Yes, yes. 井戸／弁護士席, in the 空気／公表する's a good place for it to be, accordin' to my judgment. It had better stay there. Now, son, here are the plain facts. You and your mother can't 雇う any flat or house in Boston. You 港／避難所't got the wherewithal to 支払う／賃金 Boston rents. You could, maybe, stick her into a room in a one-horse boardin' house and she could keep on stintin' and doin' without and sacrificin' herself for you. She probably will, too, if you are that 肉親，親類d of a fellow and will let her. But you're not, I hope. If you are your father's son I know you're not...Wait again! I tell you she can't afford to live in the city as her 肉親，親類d せねばならない live. She can't, and 支払う／賃金 your 法案s too. I know, because I've been her 助言者 in money 事柄s since Silas died. She's taken my advice about everything—except you. If she'd taken my advice in your ４半期/4分の1 things would be easier sailin' for all 手渡すs this minute."

Banks tried to 抗議する その上の, to do more explaining, but words were hard to find. "井戸／弁護士席—井戸／弁護士席," he 滞るd, "I—oh, I don't know what to say. Of course, if all this is true, and mother has been doing these things for me, I—井戸／弁護士席, I didn't know it and I'm sorry."

"That's the trouble. You せねばならない have known it. She せねばならない have told you."

"And I wouldn't think of taking her to the city unless— Hang it all, Uncle Bije, this is a devil of a thing you're telling me! I can't give up a chance like this one. I won't. I could leave mother at home and go up there by myself, couldn't I? _I_ could live in a one-horse 搭乗 house if I had to."

"Yes, so you could. Might not do you any 害（を与える） either. But she'd be payin' your 法案s even then and sacrificin' herself for you same as she always has. Thunderation, boy, can't you see? It's high time you did somethin' for HER. And"—leaning 今後 and speaking with careful 審議—"I think I've got the way for you to do it."

His manner was impressive, so impressive that Banks' curiosity 影を投げかけるd, for the instant, his 猛烈な／残忍な 失望.

"How?" he blurted.

"That's おもに what I got you here to tell you. I've got a chance for you to practice 法律 権利 here at home. In your own town."

"In Denboro! Me—practice 法律 in Denboro? Oh, for heaven's sake!"

"No, for your mother's sake. And for your own sake, too, in the end. There have been good lawyers in Denboro. One of the best of 'em, 裁判官 Blodgett—you knew him; everybody in Ostable 郡 knew and 尊敬（する）・点d him—has just died. He didn't leave anybody to carry on where he left off. There's a chance there, and a good chance for somebody. My proposition is that you be that somebody. Most of the 裁判官's （弁護士の）依頼人s won't, of course, care to 信用 their important 事件／事情／状勢s to a green 手渡す like you—not at first, anyhow. But they may be willin' to throw the little ones your way. Some of 'em, I know, will 危険 that much for the sake of your father's son and my 甥...Now, now, lay to! There's more. I've been doin' a good 取引，協定 of thinkin' lately on your account, young man, and I want you to hear the 残り／休憩（する）."

He went on to 公表する／暴露する the results of his thinking. The late 裁判官 Blodgett's 法律 offices in the 地位，任命する-office 封鎖する opposite the hotel were still 空いている. The Blodgett furniture and 影響s had been 除去するd, of course, but so far no one had taken over the rooms.

"You won't need any such layout as the 裁判官 had," he said. "He had three rooms; one'll do you, I guess. Unless you're busier than most beginners, you won't be （人が）群がるd in that for a （一定の）期間. And I've made some 調査s and I've got a halfway 選択 on one of the 支援する rooms—the big room in 前線 is too expensive—at a rent that won't break anybody. So far as that goes, I'll 請け負う to be 責任がある that rent myself, for the first year. I'll 雇う that room for you, buy you a desk and a couple of 議長，司会を務めるs, or whatever's necessary, and get you started. I'll do that much; after that it's up to you. You won't be lapped in 高級な, as the 調書をとる／予約するs tell about; you won't look as important and high-トンd as you might if those Boston lawyers gave you a desk in their office. But you'll be 船長／主将 of your own 大型船, you'll be makin' a を刺す at earnin' your own livin' and, if your mother and I do have to 支払う／賃金 your 法案s a while longer, they won't be city 法案s. There, that's my proposition to you. It's a good one, I honestly believe. I want you to think it over—and think hard."

He stopped. His cigar had gone out; he threw it into the cuspidor and, taking another from the box on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, lighted it. Banks Bradford's cigar was out also, but he was unaware of the fact. He was leaning 今後 in the armchair, 星／主役にするing at the carpet. His world was spinning in circles.

"井戸／弁護士席?" queried Captain Abijah after a moment.

Banks looked up. He smiled feebly. "I—I— By George, you've knocked me over, Uncle Bije!" he blurted. "Of course I realize that you're trying to help me, and—and I'm much 強いるd to you, but—but honestly, I—"

"井戸／弁護士席? What?"

"Honestly, I can't believe things are as bad as you say they are. によれば you, mother and I are paupers, we always have been paupers."

"Bosh! I never said you were paupers. Your mother's got a little money, although she could have consider'ble more if she'd used ありふれた sense with you instead of spoilin' you. You ain't in the poorhouse, or anywhere nigh it. What I'm tryin' to 大打撃を与える into your 長，率いる is that it is high time for you to be a man and begin to take the 負担 off her shoulders."

"But you say she has been—been 餓死するing herself all these years."

"Sh-h-h! If I said she was starvin' I didn't mean that 正確に／まさに. I wouldn't have let her 餓死する, so far as that goes. She was my brother's wife, and Silas Bradford's 未亡人 wouldn't 餓死する while 'Bijah Bradford was alive, I'll tell you that. Your father was a man, my boy. We were all proud of him. And we're proud of his memory—mighty proud."

"Yes, yes, of course. But mother—"

"Oh," broke in Captain Bije impatiently, "your mother's all 権利 in her way. I tell you I ain't findin' fault with her."

"No"—はっきりと. "And you're not going to."

"Don't worry. Look here, Banks, this talk of 地雷 to you has been pretty straight. I 港／避難所't muffled it 負かす／撃墜する. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see how much of Silas Bradford there was in you. If there's any consider'ble 量 of him in you you'll 直面する the music. I know you're all upset and disappointed, but 失望s are good 薬／医学 when you're young. Your father had a lot of 'em in his time."

Banks 転換d in the armchair. "Yes, yes, sir, I know," he broke in curtly. "But it's mother I'm thinking of just now. I can't understand—I can't believe—"

His uncle struck the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with his palm. "Ask her, then," he ordered. "Ask her yourself and see what she says."

"I shall. Be sure of that."

"All 権利...Eh? Yes? What is it?"

Some one had rapped at the door. Now it opened and the bald 長，率いる of Mr. Rinaldo Bassett was thrust between it and the jamb.

"Cap'n Beals and Emulous Higgins are 負かす／撃墜する below, Cap'n Bije," he drawled. "Emulous says you and them had an 任命 or somethin'."

"Yes, so we did. Tell 'em to come along up...井戸／弁護士席, Banks," rising to his feet, "it looks as if this was all we'd have time for to-night. Maybe it's enough for the first dose. You ask your mother anything you want to. Then you think over my proposition. Only remember this, because I mean it: If you don't 落ちる in with it, if you go ahead with this Boston foolishness, you'll do it on your own hook. And whatever happens to you and your mother afterward, you'll be responsible—and sorry, I shouldn't wonder. Come and see me when you've thought it out. Good night."

He held out his 手渡す. Banks took it listlessly, said good night and left the room. On the stairs he met the two members of the board of selectmen on the way to the 会議／協議会 with his uncle.

一時期／支部 2

The windows of the sitting room of the Silas Bradford house were faintly illumined as Banks （機の）カム up the walk to the 味方する door. A peep beneath the shade, however, showed him that although the lamp, its wick turned 負かす／撃墜する, was 燃やすing upon the 中心 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, his mother's 議長，司会を務める beside that （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was empty. Evidently she had done as he requested and had not waited up for him. He was thankful; he did not feel equal to another trying interview that night. There were so many questions he must ask and which she must answer, but for those questions and answers his brain must be （疑いを）晴らす.

He took the lamp from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and turned toward the door at the foot of the stairs. He passed the sofa above which, on the 塀で囲む, hung the portrait of his father. He paused an instant. From the でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる the 直面する looked 負かす／撃墜する at him, keen 注目する，もくろむd, 命令（する）ing, 確信して, dignified. To Banks his father was but a shadowy memory. Silas Bradford had died when his son was five years old, and during those years Captain Silas was at home only at infrequent intervals.

But all his life Banks had heard his 賞賛するs 詠唱するd, not only by Uncle Abijah and Cousin Hettie—who were, of course, Bradfords by birth—but also by Denboro in general. Banks had 株d the family pride. It was a 罰金 thing to be Capt. Silas Bradford's son, even though, in boyhood, occasionally a trifle wearing to be reminded that that son must 熟考する／考慮する hard and do this and not do that if he hoped ever to be as 広大な／多数の／重要な a man as his father.

Now, as he stood there before the portrait, his thoughts were strange enough. For the first time there was a 疑問, an unanswered question, in his mind. If Silas Bradford was so clever, so able, so very successful, how could he have left his family, as Uncle Abijah 宣言するd he did leave them, with almost no money? And if the other things he had just heard were true—but pshaw, they could not be true! Uncle Bije 率d his native town, the town he had always lived in, as a sort of 郊外 of heaven, and an 適切な時期 現在のing even the faint hope of 後継するing the late 裁判官 Blodgett as that town's 合法的な 助言者 would seem to his mind the special 免除 of a 肉親，親類d Providence. The old chap realized that his 甥 might not 株 this 有罪の判決 and so he was trying to 脅す him into it. That was it, of course.

It must be. For if the stories of his mother's economies and sacrifices were true, if they were only half true, what a careless, selfish, blind cub he, Banks Bradford, had been all these years.

Lamp in 手渡す, he tiptoed up the stairs. As he passed the door of Margaret Bradford's room her 発言する／表明する spoke his 指名する.

"Banks," she called.

"Yes, Mother. I hoped you were asleep before this."

"I'm not. Aren't you coming in?"

"No, I guess not. It is late and I'm tired. Good night."

"Banks."

"Now, Mother, go to sleep, please."

"Just one minute, dear. Did—did you have your talk with Uncle Abijah?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you—"

"He told me a lot of things. I'll tell them to you in the morning. Good night."

"Banks, you're not—oh, my poor boy, I am so sorry!"

"Now, Mother, forget it. I am all 権利. Don't worry about me. Go to sleep; that's what I am going to do."

He の近くにd the door of his own room before she could say more. He undressed and went to bed, but not to sleep. It was almost daybreak before he 後継するd in doing that.

He （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する to breakfast a trifle haggard and 激しい 注目する，もくろむd, but his good morning was cheerful and he 発表するd that he was hungry. Margaret, anxiously watching him, noticed that in spite of this 勇敢に立ち向かう 宣言 he ate very little. She ate even いっそう少なく. He did not について言及する the 会議／協議会 with his uncle and it was not until the meal was almost over that she broached the 支配する.

"Banks," she sighed, putting 負かす／撃墜する the spoon with which she had been stirring her untasted coffee, "I just can't wait any longer. You must tell me about it. Please do."

He smiled across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "After breakfast," he said.

"We 港／避難所't either of us eaten any breakfast. You know it. How could I eat when you— Oh, my boy, you don't 非難する me too much, do you?"

He threw 負かす／撃墜する his napkin and rose. "Leave the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する just as it is, Mother," he ordered. "Come into the sitting room and we'll have it out together. Shall we?"

They went into the sitting room. She took the rocker and he the armchair. They looked at each other. Her fingers were nervously 新たな展開ing and untwisting in her （競技場の）トラック一周 and her gaze was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon his 直面する.

"Banks," she pleaded, "please! Don't keep me waiting any longer. All night I—"

"I know. 井戸／弁護士席, I had rather a night myself. A fellow who is all 始める，決める to be 手渡すd a bouquet and gets a punch in the 注目する，もくろむ instead doesn't get over the surprise, not in an hour or two. 特に when he isn't sure whether it was meant to be a real punch or a bluff. Now I'm going to tell you the whole 商売／仕事. This is what happened."

He told of his interview with Captain Abijah, told it succinctly, without elaboration, but omitting nothing of importance. Margaret would have interrupted at 確かな points, but he would not let her do so.

"There!" he said in 結論. "That is what Uncle Bije said to me and what I said to him. I didn't say much; I was pretty dizzy after that first 粉砕する. Now I want to say a good 取引，協定, and what I want you to do, Mother, is to answer me yes or no. Yes, if it should be yes, and no if it shouldn't. Will you do that?"

"Yes, Banks. But first, do let me say that what your uncle said— oh, so much of it—was only partly true. He made mountains out of molehills."

"Did he? I imagined he did, but I want to be sure. Now, Mother, first of all, is it true that we 港／避難所't any money?"

"No, of course it isn't. We're not rich—you know that."

"I'm beginning to think I have never known much of anything. によれば Uncle Abijah, you have taken 苦痛s that I shouldn't know. How much money have you? How much did father leave?"

Margaret hesitated.

"Come, Mother. You must tell me. We're going through with this, you know. How much?"

"Why—why, not a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定, dear. Not as much as most people suppose. There was a time when Silas was—when we all thought he was on the way toward 存在 very 井戸／弁護士席 off indeed. Then"—she hesitated once more—"then his 会社／堅い had 激しい losses."

"Yes, so Uncle Bije said. And he died just at that time."

"Yes."

He nodded reflectively. "Mother," he said, "last night when I was lying awake upstairs there, I got to thinking things over and it seemed to me that what I do know about father I learned from Uncle Abijah and Cousin Hettie and the people in town. I tried to remember what you had told me about him and I couldn't remember much. That seemed queer to me as I thought of it; it seems queer now. Maybe it is my imagination—I did a lot of imagining—but it 始める，決める me to wondering if there was any 推論する／理由 why you didn't like to talk about father—to me, anyhow. Is there any such 推論する／理由?"

"No," was the agitated 抗議する. "Oh, no, no, Banks! You mustn't say that. Please don't say it, or think it. Don't! You make me feel—oh, wicked."

"Do I? I don't mean to. It just seemed to me—"

"You imagined it, dear. You mustn't think such things. Your father was—why, the whole town knows what he was. They talk about him still—all the older people. He was one of the most able captains that ever—"

"Yes, yes, I've been told all that a thousand times. Do you suppose I have listened to Cousin Hettie's hymns of 賞賛する for twenty years without learning how smart he was? Uncle Abijah was glorifying him last night. It just seemed to me, as I thought it over, that you yourself never told me as much about him as other people have. Look here, Mother, there is no real 推論する／理由 why you 港／避難所't, is there?"

"Banks, please don't say such things."

"He was always good to you, wasn't he?"

"He was always a 肉親，親類d, generous husband. I was a very proud girl when I married him. You see, most people thought he was marrying beneath his 駅／配置する. He was a Bradford, and the Bradfords have always been 目だつ in Ostable 郡; and besides, even then he was counted a clever, rising man. I was a Banks, and my people, most of them, have been just everyday folks. Perhaps," she 追加するd, smiling tremulously "that may be why I 港／避難所't 賞賛するd him as much as Abijah and Hettie are always doing. I may have been a little jealous, you see. I have heard it said that his marrying me, when we were both so young, was a mistake on his part. Perhaps I didn't want my son to think of his mother as—as a mistake."

Banks's 注目する，もくろむs snapped. "They'd better not call you a mistake while I'm around," he growled. "井戸／弁護士席, all 権利, Mother. It was just my fancy probably. But now about father. I knew about his going to sea when he was fourteen and 存在 a captain when he was twenty- two, and 存在 taken into the 会社／堅い of Trent, Truman & Bradford before he was thirty. I knew all that. But last night Uncle Bije started to tell me about things I hadn't known. He told me only a little; those selectmen （機の）カム just as he got started on that part. I wish you would tell me the 残り／休憩（する）. About those losses the 会社／堅い had, and—and that sort of thing."

Margaret Bradford was silent for a moment. Her fingers as they lay in her （競技場の）トラック一周 were trembling. But her 発言する／表明する, when she spoke, was 静める.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, dear," she said. "I will try and tell you what I know. The 会社／堅い of Trent & Truman was very successful indeed in the 50's. Then （機の）カム the Civil War and the privateers, and they lost some ships, just as so many 会社／堅いs did. 商売／仕事 was ever so much better after the War, and when your father was taken into 共同 every one thought it a wonderful thing for him. But it wasn't so wonderful. The shipping 商売／仕事—with sailing 大型船s, I mean— was の近くに to its end, although of course 非，不，無 of us realized it. Freights grew scarcer, the steamers were taking most of them, there was a 難破させる or two, and—井戸／弁護士席, there （機の）カム a time when the 会社／堅い was in a 批判的な 状況／情勢. I don't know all the 詳細（に述べる）s—Abijah knows them better than I do—but at any 率, your father and his partners were terribly worried; there were 公式文書，認めるs to be met and all sorts of things like that. Finally Silas decided to take 命令（する） of one of their ships himself to go to sea again. The 大型船 was the Golconda, and she sailed from New York around the Horn to San Francisco. She caught 解雇する／砲火／射撃 off the California coast and 燃やすd. The officers and 乗組員 took to the boats and landed 安全に. Your father went to San Francisco and a month later he—died there."

"Yes. By 事故, something to do with a gun he was 扱うing. Of course, I know that much."

His mother drew a long breath. "It wasn't a gun, it was a ピストル," she said. "No one knows 正確に／まさに how it happened. He was in his room at the hotel, きれいにする the ピストル or 扱うing it in some way, and it went off. The mate wrote that to Mr. Trent. His 団体／死体 was sent home and—井戸／弁護士席, that is all, Banks. I have told you this before. I don't talk about it unless I have to. You can understand why, dear."

He nodded absently. "Yes," he said, "I understand that, I guess. But there is a lot I don't understand. Why did father decide to go to sea again; take 命令（する） of this ship—what was her 指名する?"

"The Golconda. Why, to save money for the 会社／堅い, I suppose. And it was a very important voyage; her 貨物 was very 価値のある. Uncle Abijah will tell you all about it, if you ask him."

"I'll ask him いつか. You see, Mother, what still puzzles me is this money 商売／仕事. Trent, Truman & Bradford were in a bad way before this Golconda 燃やすd. They must have been a lot worse off afterward. She was a total loss, wasn't she?"

His mother hesitated. "Not 正確に／まさに," she said. "She and the 貨物 were insured."

"I see. But this is what gets me: Old Benjamin Trent, over at Ostable, was a very rich man when he died; so was Elijah Truman, and his 未亡人 is rich now. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, it doesn't 事柄 much. I remember Uncle Bije did say something about their making fortunes afterward, out West, somehow. But here we are again, just where we started. How much money did father leave you?"

Margaret looked up. Again she tried to smile. "井戸／弁護士席," she said slowly, "he left me this house and land and another piece of land in South Denboro. I sold that afterward. And his life was insured for five thousand dollars. Then—oh, there was more than that, of course!"

"How much more?"

"There was his 利益／興味 in the 会社／堅い. I got something from that later on. And he had some 投資s—some 鉄道／強行採決する 在庫／株 and some 社債s."

"Mother, you are just dodging. What I want to know is just how much money we have had to live on since father died. You must tell me. If you don't Uncle Abijah shall."

Margaret sighed. "I have had an income of about sixteen hundred a year, most of the time. Oh," she 追加するd あわてて, "it was enough. We have got along. It doesn't cost me much to live here."

He was 星／主役にするing at her, aghast and incredulous. "Sixteen hundred a year!" he gasped. "And with that you have paid my 法案s at college and in 法律 school and kept this house? Mother, you're crazy!"

She shook her 長，率いる. "No, no, I'm not," she 抗議するd. "What I got for the South Denboro land paid your college 法案s, or most of them. That was an extra, you know."

"But the 法律 school?"

"井戸／弁護士席," she 滞るd, "I—I have used a little of the 原則 for that. Not a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定, but some. You see, dear, you had to have your education. You always 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be a lawyer, and I was 決定するd you should be."

His 直面する was 紅潮／摘発するd. "Had to have my education," he repeated slowly. "And I had it. And you have been 餓死するing yourself and— and— My God, Uncle Bije was 権利. He was 権利!"

"Oh, no, no, he wasn't! If he told you I was 餓死するing, or any such ridiculous thing as that, he せねばならない be ashamed. Do I look as if I 餓死するd?"

"Hush! Let me think this out, if I can. And here I have been sponging on you and taking your money, going to California on a vacation."

"It was to be your last long vacation. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 you to remember it always. Don't you see?"

"I see"—激しく. "Mother, I—oh, how could you? If it hadn't been for Uncle Abijah I suppose you would have let me go on for a year or two more; let me drag you to Boston."

"No, no, Banks, I ーするつもりであるd to tell you that I didn't think I could do that."

"But you would have let ME go."

"I would have let you do anything that was best for you. You are the one 利益／興味 I have in life and nothing—NOTHING shall stand in your way if I can 妨げる it. If you are sure that this place in your friend's father's office is your best chance to get on in the world, you must take it. You must, Banks. And you mustn't worry about me. I am 有能な of taking care of myself, perfectly 有能な. I am almost sorry I let you talk with Abijah last night. He told you a lot of foolish things, as I was afraid he might."

He was not listening. He was thinking, and now he spoke his thoughts aloud. "I wouldn't have believed it," he 公約するd. "I wouldn't have believed that a fellow as old as I am could have been such a blind jackass. To think that I have never even 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd; never asked a question. Just taken it for 認めるd that we were comfortably 直す／買収する，八百長をするd and—and 微風d along, while you— Sixteen hundred a year! Good Lord!"

He turned away and began pacing the 床に打ち倒す. His mother, anxiously watching him, saw him stop in his stride and look toward the window. She, too, looked.

"Who is it?" she cried あわてて. "Is it—oh, I hope it isn't! Now, of all times!"

He groaned. "Your hopes are wasted," he muttered in utter disgust; "it is. Mother, you'll just have to excuse me. With all I've got on my mind this minute I can't stay here and listen to her chatter. I'm going out."

She 解除するd a 手渡す. "Please don't, Banks," she begged. "She'll hear you go and she'll 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う that you are running away. And I shall have to answer more questions. Stay a little while."

He was still hesitating when the 味方する door opened. There was a swish of skirts, a きびきびした step, and Cousin Hettie marched into the sitting room.

Marched is the only fitting word. The 進歩 of 行方不明になる Henrietta Bradford was always 戦争の. She was the daughter of Abner Bradford, younger brother of the father of Abijah and Silas Bradford. Uncle Abner earned his first dollar when he was eleven years old; that 同一の dollar was in his 所有／入手 when he died. His daughter 相続するd it and she had it yet. She 相続するd also the house on the 押し寄せる／沼地 Road where, except during the 落ちる and winter months, when she rented her upstairs 前線 room to the school-teacher or some other lodger, she lived alone.

She was fifty-eight and a spinster. "Outside of father and Abijah— and poor dear Cousin Silas, of course—I've never seen a man yet I'd give twenty-five cents for," was her scornful 宣言. The male 全住民 of Denboro was not 深く，強烈に humiliated by this low 見積（る）. "Show me somethin' Hettie Bradford will give twenty-five cents for," sneered Jotham Gott, during one of the euchre games in Ebenezer Tadgett's 支援する room, "and I'll show you a 取引 at seventy-five. And I've 一般に understood," he 追加するd with a grin, "that it took two to make a 取引."

Cousin Hettie marched into the sitting room and, as Margaret had risen from the rocker, she 敏速に sat 負かす／撃墜する in it. "There!" she exclaimed, with a sigh of satisfaction. "I got here finally. Such a morning as I've had! Don't say a word! My soul!"

The request—or 命令（する）—was 完全に superfluous. Neither Banks nor his mother had made any 試みる／企てる to say a word. Margaret was regarding her with an 表現 of 疲れた／うんざりした 辞職 which changed, as she caught a glimpse of her son's 直面する, to one of 静かな amusement.

"Don't say a word!" repeated Cousin Hettie with even more 強調. Then, an instant later, "井戸／弁護士席? Are you struck dumb, both of you? What on earth's the 事柄? You 港／避難所't opened your mouths since I （機の）カム in."

Margaret opened hers then. "What is the trouble this time, Hettie?" she asked.

"Trouble! Don't say a word! Is there anything BUT trouble in this vale of 涙／ほころびs for most of us? I 港／避難所't 設立する much else. You read your Bible, I suppose, Margaret? I hope you do. Of course"— turning toward the other member of the trio—"I don't 推定する to ask you that, Silie. If half of what I see and hear tell of young folks nowadays is true they don't waste much time on the scriptures. No, indeed! they want livelier reading than that. I've just read—I had to read it, 存在 on the choosing 委員会 for the library; さもなければ than that I never would have 国／地域d my eyesight with such a thing, you'd better believe—I've just finished a novel that was sent in on 是認 by some 調書をとる／予約する-printing people in New York or Boston or somewhere. And really— Written by a woman 'twas, too, and of all the brazen things she must be! About a man who was married to the wrong one, and there was somebody else, of course, who was the 権利 one. And—but there! いつか when we're alone, Margaret, I'll tell you the 残り／休憩（する） of it, though I shall be ashamed to. When I'd read the last word of that 調書をとる／予約する, thinks I to myself, '井戸／弁護士席, if—' Eh? you're not going away, are you, Silie? I've just got here and I （機の）カム partly to see you."

Banks was 堅固に tempted to reply that her getting there was the 推論する／理由 for his leaving. He did not like Cousin Hettie. He considered her the family pest. She 主張するd upon calling him Silie—because Silas had been his father's 指名する and it was his 指名する, too, and he せねばならない be 感謝する for it and proud to use it. As a small boy she made him ridiculous in the 注目する，もくろむs of his playmates by 叫び声をあげるing "Silie! Silie!" at him from the window when he passed her house. Juvenile Denboro 敏速に changed this 呼称 to "Silly," and it had cost him several 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs and many bruises to 妨げる 存在 tagged with the 愛称. His earliest recollections, the disagreeable ones, 中心d around Cousin Hettie—her preachments about his 行為 in Sunday school, about taking care of his 着せる／賦与するs, sitting up straight, like a little man, and not gobbling his food at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. At Christmas she gave him "useful" 現在のs. 爆竹s on the Fourth were wicked wastes of money, and dangerous besides.

And, always and forever, she told him what a wonderful man his father had been and how far short of such perfection he was likely to be. If any one could have made him regard his father's memory with detestation instead of pride that one would have been Cousin Hettie Bradford.

"Why, yes," he 認める, not too graciously, "I was going out. At least I was thinking of it."

"What for, this 早期に in the morning?"

"Oh, I—I had errands uptown."

"どの辺に uptown?"

Margaret （機の）カム to his 救助（する）. "You said you were in some sort of trouble, didn't you, Hettie?" she 示唆するd.

"Did I? Yes, I guess likely I did. 井戸／弁護士席, as I started to say in the beginning before you two put me off, if you read your Bible, as I hope and 信用 you do, you'll remember it tells us that man born of woman is of few days and 十分な of trouble. It doesn't tell us that woman is fuller. Didn't think 'twas necessary, I 推定する likely; anybody—every woman, anyhow—knows that without 存在 told...I'm not going to have my new sitting-room stove put up after all."

"You're not? Why, I thought you had bought it already."

"So I had. For mercy sakes, Silie, come 支援する here and sit 負かす／撃墜する! You make me nervous. Those errands of yours can wait a minute or two, can't they?"

The errands 存在 純粋に fictitious, Banks had no 満足な answer ready. He sat, though with 不本意, and in a 議長，司会を務める の近くに by the kitchen door. Cousin Hettie went on.

"No," she 宣言するd, "I've decided not to put that stove up yet awhile. For much as a year I've been looking 今後 to buying it and setting it up and enjoying my Item and my library 調書をとる／予約するs in 慰安, 冷淡な winter nights. The old airtight I've got there now is the one father bought years and years before he died, and it 漏れるs smoke all around the 麻薬を吸う and the grate keeps 落ちるing 負かす／撃墜する and—and I don't know what all. I've had it 直す／買収する，八百長をするd and 直す／買収する，八百長をするd and 直す／買収する，八百長をするd, but the last time Zenas Hubbard （機の）カム to look at it he said, 'Hettie,' he said, '直す／買収する，八百長をするing that stove again would be like putting アイロンをかける hoops on a 割れ目d 木造の 脚; 'twould cost more than to buy a new one and would be a waste of time besides.' So finally I went in and saw Ebenezer Tadgett and he had a real nice second-手渡す gas burner, and after かなりの （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing 負かす／撃墜する—you never want to 支払う／賃金 that man his first price for anything—I bought it. And now I can't put it up after all. Do you wonder I'm sick and disgusted?"

It was evident that she 推定する／予想するd her hearers to say something, so Margaret said it was too bad. Banks was silent. His thoughts were far away from 空気／公表する-tights and gas burners and his ちらりと見ること wandered toward the kitchen door.

"I should say 'twas," agreed Cousin Hettie. "And it's all on account of that Mr. Payson, the high-school 主要な／長／主犯. He's had my upstairs 前線 room for a year now and he's takin' it again for this coming winter. It's a real nice comfortable room; my own father passed through his last sickness in it, as you know, Margaret, and that shows what sort of room it is, for nobody on earth was more particular about his 慰安 than father was. Mr. Payson rented it all last winter and never complained about it and— 井戸／弁護士席, it just goes to show you can't be too careful about keeping your 事件／事情／状勢s to yourself. Last night I happened to tell him I'd bought the new gas burner, and what do you think he said? Said that was nice, because now I could put the old airtight up in his room. The Franklin grate that's there now, he said, was no good— those were the words he used, no good—and most of the evenings last winter he had to go to bed to keep warm. Did you ever in your born days!"

Mrs. Bradford said she never did. There was a twinkle in her 注目する，もくろむ as she ちらりと見ることd at her son. He did not notice the twinkle; his 議長，司会を務める had been hitched perceptibly nearer the door.

"I GUESS you never did!" agreed Cousin Hettie. "井戸／弁護士席, you can imagine I didn't sleep much after I had that said to me. I just laid awake thinking and thinking, and I （機の）カム to the 結論 there was only one thing to be done—I must do without my new stove for this winter. Perhaps Ebenezer Tadgett will take it 支援する—I don't know, but anyhow, I must do without it and get along best I can with the old 空気／公表する-tight."

Margaret looked puzzled. "But why?" she asked.

"Why? I should think it was plain enough why. That 空気／公表する-tight can't be 直す／買収する，八百長をするd for いっそう少なく than seven dollars. Zenas Hubbard 指名するd seven and a half as his 人物／姿／数字, and it can't be used at all unless it is 直す／買収する，八百長をするd. If I wouldn't have it 直す／買収する，八百長をするd for myself, is it likely I'll do it for that Payson man—and 支払う／賃金 for a new stove besides? I shall tell him I've decided I can't afford the new gas burner, and that I'll get along with the 空気／公表する-tight and he must get along with the Franklin. It's a shame, but that is how it always is. I'm a 孤独な woman and every man in this town knows it and would take advantage of me, if I was soft-minded enough to let 'em. But you can't imagine how disappointed I am about that gas burner. It is such a nice stove, and hardly worn at all. Why, the hot-water urn on 最高の，を越す isn't even 割れ目d."

She was out of breath by this time, and she finished the recital of her grievances with a groan and a shake of the 長，率いる.

"井戸／弁護士席, there," she 追加するd a moment later. "That's all of that, I guess. I just had to come and tell you about it. It's a dreadful thing to be alone in the world and have to do your own planning and 人物／姿／数字ing and—and all like that. You can be thankful you had such a husband as you did have, Margaret Bradford, even though an all- wise and seeing 力／強力にする took him away from you. If Silie here only turns out to be half as— Oh, that reminds me! It was what I （機の）カム here to talk about, おもに. Silie, what in the world were you and your Uncle 'Bijah up to last night?"

Banks, started out of his reverie by this 予期しない question, 星／主役にするd at her. "Up to?" he repeated.

"Why, yes. I've been told that you and he were shut up together in his room at the hotel for much as an hour. That's the story; perhaps it isn't true."

Banks said nothing. If 行方不明になる Bradford was 推定する／予想するing him to ask the 指名する of her informant she was disappointed. He opened his lips as if to speak, then frowned and の近くにd them tightly. He and his mother 交流d looks. Cousin Hettie went on:

"Of course," she said, with a 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする of the 長，率いる, "it isn't any of my 事件／事情／状勢s. I was a little surprised to hear it, that's all. Considering that so far, since you （機の）カム 支援する home, you 港／避難所't as much as dropped in to say howdydo to any of your relations, I— Ah, hum! never mind. It will be my turn some day perhaps. When your father got home from a voyage one of the first things he always did was to run 権利 around to my house. But times change, and manners change with 'em, I suppose. It's all 権利. I'm not jealous; I 港／避難所't got a jealous disposition, I'm thankful to say."

"It wasn't a social call, Hettie," Margaret explained. "Banks and his uncle talked over a 商売／仕事 事柄, that's all."

"商売／仕事 事柄? Dear me! That sounds terribly important."

Banks put in a word. "It was important," he said curtly.

"I want to know! What sort of 商売／仕事 did you talk about?"

"Oh—井戸／弁護士席, the 法律 商売／仕事."

"法律 商売／仕事! Goodness gracious! Nobody in our family is going to 法律, is there?"

"Yes; I am."

It was a perfectly innocent if not very illuminating reply, but it had a curious 影響. 行方不明になる Bradford caught her breath and leaned 今後 in her 議長，司会を務める.

"You are!" she repeated はっきりと. "YOU are? What's all this? What has Abijah Bradford been 説 to you? Has he— What are you talking about? Come! I want to know."

Banks and his mother gazed at her in amazement. Her 手渡すs were clenched and her トン was shrill and insistent.

"Why, Hettie!" 抗議するd Margaret. "What—"

"I want to know what is going on behind my 支援する. That's what I want to know."

"There, there!" It was Banks who interrupted. "Hush, Mother, I'll tell her; it isn't any secret. Nothing is going on behind your 支援する, Cousin Hettie. Uncle Bije and I were talking over 計画（する）s for my practicing 法律. I'm a lawyer now, and the important question is where I shall begin to practice, or try to. That's all. There is no 共謀, and nothing for you to get excited about, so far as I can see."

Cousin Hettie's 半端物 and, to Margaret and her son, inexplicable agitation, 疑惑—whatever it might be—was 明らかに not yet 完全に 静めるd. She regarded her young 親族 刻々と for a long instant. Then she turned to Margaret and looked at her.

"Humph!" she mused. Then 演説（する）／住所ing Banks, "So that's all 'twas, eh? Just about you practicing 法律? You're sure there was nothing else?"

"Of course I'm sure," he said impatiently. "What else could there be? No one is trying to put anything over on you, if that's what you're afraid of."

行方不明になる Bradford's thin bosom rose and fell with a long sigh, 明らかに of 救済. "井戸／弁護士席, all 権利," she said. "Only—井戸／弁護士席, it does seem 肉親，親類d of funny that I never heard a word about all this planning, or whatever 'twas, that's been going on between you and Abijah. I'm a Bradford as much as the 残り／休憩（する） of you, or I always supposed I was. Why didn't I know?"

"Oh, because nobody knew it. I didn't know myself, until last evening, that Uncle Bije had any 計画（する）s for me. Mother, I'm going now."

He rose, but Cousin Hettie 解除するd a 手渡す. She was smiling now, after a fashion. "Oh, dear!" she groaned. "Dear, deary me! You both think I'm queer in the 長，率いる, I guess. I don't wonder. It's my poor 神経s. Doctor Brand keeps dosing 'em and fussing with 'em but they don't get any better and I'm about 辞職するd to it. It takes next to nothing to get me all upset, and if one thing is surer to do it than anything else it's the very 指名する of a 訴訟. Ever since that パン職人 man 告訴するd father for not 支払う／賃金ing for that cow he never bought and I had to stand up over in that Ostable 法廷，裁判所 and 証言する before everybody, I— Oh, dear! I'm sorry if I 脅すd you. I'm all 権利 now...Yes, yes, Silie, of course I know you're a lawyer, a real lawyer, and it makes me proud to think of it. But it's so hard to realize that you're a grown-up man and— and all like that...So you and Abijah were making 計画（する）s together? That's awfully 利益／興味ing. What did you decide? Do sit 負かす／撃墜する again and tell me all about it, that's a nice boy."

But the nice boy 辞退するd to sit. "We didn't decide anything," he replied. "When anything is decided you shall know about it; so will every one else. Mother, I'm going out. I may be 支援する at dinner time or I may not. I'll be all 権利, wherever I am, so don't fret."

"But Banks, where are you going?"

"I don't know 正確に／まさに. Just out around—somewhere by myself. See you later. Good morning, Cousin Hettie."

He walked to the hatrack in the 入ること／参加（者）. 行方不明になる Bradford called after him to say that if he were going uptown she was going that way herself in a minute or two. 明らかに he did not hear her, for the outer door の近くにd behind him.

一時期／支部 3

At two o'clock that afternoon Mr. Ebenezer Tadgett, in what he called the "other 支援する room" of his place of 商売／仕事 on Main Street, was ひさまづくing before a 乱打するd piece of furniture and humming a tune. The other 支援する room in Mr. Tadgett's shop must not be 混乱させるd with the 支援する room; they were separate and やめる individual apartments. The 支援する room was small; the other 支援する room was of good size.

The former was Mr. Tadgett's office. His flat-topped desk and desk 議長，司会を務める were there; also a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, two other 議長，司会を務めるs and a small and 古代の アイロンをかける 安全な. Ebenezer had bought the 安全な of its former owner several years before, but at the time of its 購入（する） the 重要な could not be 設立する, nor had it been 設立する since. When asked, Mr. Tadgett was accustomed to say that he had been meaning to fit another 重要な to that 安全な, but that he hadn't got 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to it yet. その結果, the 安全な was never locked.

The desk—it, too, like every other article of furniture on the 前提s, was secondhand—was heaped high with papers piled higgledy-piggledy, except for a small space in the 中心 where the papers were 押し進めるd 支援する to leave room for an 署名／調印する-stand, a pen or two and a can of smoking タバコ. The 議長，司会を務めるs were of different patterns, one of them mended with cod line. The （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was of the "tip up" variety and it was upon it that Ebenezer and Jotham Gott and Eliab Gibbons played cutthroat euchre at their 正規の／正選手 Wednesday afternoon 開会／開廷／会期s.

The 支援する room opened from the shop itself, and the shop was crammed with 商品／売買する in さまざまな 行う／開催する／段階s of dilapidation—議長，司会を務めるs, （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs, glassware, trunks, sea chests, lamps, dory 錨，総合司会者s, pictures, 調書をとる／予約するs, rowlocks, clocks, garden 道具s, whatnots, crockery, oars, 世帯 and 航海の discards of all sorts. When a Denboro 国民, male or 女性（の）, 願望（する）d to get rid of something which had outgrown use or fashion the invariable custom was to find out what Tadgett would give for it. If he would give nothing for it it was 燃やすd or thrown away. A thing he would not buy at some price was worthless indeed.

The other 支援する room was at the 後部 of the 支援する room. Its two windows looked out upon the 支援する yard; across that yard was the garden gate of the Tadgett cottage, which 直面するd on Mill Road. In the other 支援する room Ebenezer kept his treasures. If you liked 罰金 old things—really liked them and understood them, and showed that you liked and understood them—you might be 認める to that room. The craze for antiques was young yet, but Mr. Tadgett, although far from young, was a 苦しんでいる人 from it. He sold what he called junk to any one, but ーするために get him to part with, or even to 展示（する） a really 罰金 piece the would-be purchaser must 所有する tact and 証明する knowledge. Making believe helped very little. "It don't take me very long to 位置／汚点／見つけ出す a 偽の," 誇るd Ebenezer, "whether it's dressed up in mahogany or diamonds."

He spent a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of his spare time in the other 支援する room, doing what he called resurrecting. He was resurrecting now. He was ひさまづくing before a small 減少（する）-leaf （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and 捨てるing carefully at one of its 辛勝する／優位s with a sharp knife. The （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was of a pleasing 形態／調整, but it was scarred and dented and had at some period of its 存在 been painted a hideous blue green. The 辛勝する／優位 from which Mr. Tadgett was so carefully 捨てるing the green paint was beginning to show dully brown, and this brown surface was bisected with a line of はしけ 支持を得ようと努めるd.

Ebenezer paused in his labor, sat 支援する upon his heels, 検査／視察するd the space he had just 捨てるd, and smiled 明らかに with satisfaction. The tune he was humming grew louder, acquired words and became the 詩（を作る） of a song:

"Stick to your mother, Tom,
When I am gone,
Don't let her worry, lad,
Don't let her 嘆く／悼む.
Remember how she watched you
When I was far away—"

The singing stopped, for the bell 大（公）使館員d to the Main Street door to the shop jingled, 発表するing the 入り口 of a 訪問者. Mr. Tadgett reluctantly laid the 捨てるing knife on the 床に打ち倒す and turned his 長，率いる to listen. Then he slowly and stiffly rose from his 膝s to his feet.

"Stick to your mother
When her hair turns gray,"

he finished deliberately. Then he dusted his 手渡すs on his trousers and strolled into the shop.

The person standing there was a young man. Ebenezer, blinking behind cloudy spectacles, did not at first 認める him. "Yes, sir," he 観察するd cheerfully.

"Mr. Tadgett, is it?"

"The same. Yes, sir."

"My 指名する is Bradford."

"Eh? Bradford? Oh! Yes, yes, of course."

It was the young fellow who had passed the shop the previous afternoon; Jotham Gott had called him "Margaret Bradford's boy." Any long-time 居住（者） of Denboro would have 認めるd him. Ebenezer Tadgett was a comparative newcomer, having migrated from South Harniss only three years before.

"Bradford," repeated Ebenezer. "Oh, yes, yes. 井戸／弁護士席, it's a good ある時節に特有の day for this time of year, Mr. Bradford."

Banks Bradford agreed that it was. Then he said, "Mr. Tadgett, I noticed that card in your window."

"Did, eh? 井戸／弁護士席, that's comfortin'. I 肉親，親類d of hoped somebody might notice one of 'em いつか. Which one did you notice?" It was a fair question, for there were no いっそう少なく than seven lettered bits of cardboard hanging in the shop windows.

"The one about the rooms to let in the 地位，任命する-office 封鎖する; 裁判官 Blodgett's 法律 offices, they used to be. That one."

"O-oh!" Mr. Tadgett shook his 長，率いる. "Too bad, too bad," he 追加するd mournfully.

"Too bad?"

"Yes, sort of too bad, in a way. I had hoped 'twas the one about that secondhand mackerel sieve I've got for sale. I'd like to get rid of that seine. It takes up consider'ble space and it don't smell like lemon verbena, neither...But I have got the 重要な to 裁判官 Blodgett's rooms. Like to look at 'em, would you?"

"Why," said the other with an apologetic smile, "I have looked at one of them already."

Ebenezer 星／主役にするd at him. Then he took a bunch of 重要なs from his pocket and 星／主役にするd at that. "Humph!" he grunted. "You must have 注目する，もくろむs like a pair of gimlets. Or did you peek through the window?"

"No, I went into the building, just to see where the rooms were 位置を示すd, you know, and the door of the 支援する room was open."

Mr. Tadgett regarded the bunch of 重要なs thoughtfully. "Humph!" he grunted once more. "I'd have swore I locked that door yesterday forenoon, when Cap'n Bije Bradford and me went over to look at them rooms."

"Yes. 井戸／弁護士席, you see the 重要な had been turned, but the door wasn't shut tight."

Ebenezer nodded several times; then he put the 重要なs in his pocket. "I do see," he 観察するd. "Yes, yes, I see. 井戸／弁護士席, I 約束d when they put those rooms in my care that I wouldn't forget to keep 'em locked up; but I don't remember promisin' to shut the doors afore I locked 'em. Half a loaf is better than no bread; they can't 推定する／予想する too much for three dollars a week, now can they?...So you looked the 前提s over on your own hook, eh?"

"I looked at one room, the smaller one."

"Sho, that one isn't for rent—not 正確に／まさに. Cap'n Abijah Bradford has took a sort of what he calls 選択 on that room for a week or so."

"Yes, I know. He told me. He thinks it will make a good office for me. I am his 甥."

"Eh?...Why, yes, so you are. Yes, yes...Humph! That makes you Hettie Bradford's 甥, too, don't it?"

"No"—敏速に. "She is my cousin, that's all."

"Cousin, eh? First or second?"

"Why, second or third, I guess, if that makes any difference."

Again Tadgett nodded. "'Twould to me," he said with 強調. "However, that's neither here nor yonder, as the feller said. 井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Bradford, what about them rooms? You've seen 'em and Cap'n Bije has seen 'em. Cal'latin' to （問題を）取り上げる the 選択 on the one in 支援する, are you?"

Banks hesitated. "I don't know whether I can do that or not. You and my uncle have discussed rent, I suppose?"

"Yes."

"Would it be all 権利 to ask what the rent of that 支援する room, the smallest one is?"

Ebenezer rubbed his chin. "Why, it would be all 権利 to ask," he 観察するd.

"I see. 井戸／弁護士席, that 事柄 is between you and Uncle Abijah, of course. I beg your 容赦."

"Sho, sho! Nothin' to beg about. And considerin' who you are, I don't see why I shouldn't tell you the 人物／姿／数字. That room can be 雇うd by Cap'n Bije, or anybody he stands 責任がある, for twelve dollars."

"Twelve dollars—a week?"

"Week! Good Lord, no! Twelve dollars a month."

The young man looked tremendously relieved. "Why, that's awfully cheap, isn't it!" he exclaimed.

"It would be cheap for a yoke of oxen, or a sealskin cape, but for that room it's a plenty. However, it's what Nathan Blodgett told me was the lowest I could sublet it for. Goin' to take it?"

A long breath, then a nod. "Yes, I am," said Banks Bradford. Then he 追加するd, "And now, Mr. Tadgett, there is something else. I suppose I shall have to have a little furniture."

"井戸／弁護士席, it is a pretty general habit to have a little, that's a fact."

"Yes. I must have a desk and—and a 議長，司会を務める or two."

"Two's more convenient; unless you're cal'latin' to play solitaire."

"I thought perhaps I might try to find what I want here in your place." He looked about the 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集めるd 集まり of 半端物s and ends in the shop.

The proprietor of the shop looked also. "Uh-hum," he drawled. "You never can tell till you do try. I'm willin' to 保証（人） you can find what you DON'T want; I make it a p'int to keep a good- sized 在庫／株 of that on 手渡す. But let's have a look. Desk first, eh? Humph! Now there's somethin'." He pointed to an 古代の 廃虚, half hidden by a roll of musty rag carpet.

Banks pulled aside the carpet. "Is that a desk?" he asked dubiously.

"The folks I bought it of seemed sartin 'twas one once...Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, there せねばならない be more somewheres."

There were several more, 変化させるing from a 抱擁する ugly walnut 長官 to pine （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs with drawers 行方不明の or minus a 脚. As the search proceeded Banks Bradford's 表現 grew more and more 暗い／優うつな.

"Are these all you have, Mr. Tadgett?" he asked. "Just these here?"

"Just about...Eh? What's the 事柄?"

The door of the other 支援する room was open and Banks was standing on its threshold looking in. "Why, there is a desk," he exclaimed— "that one in there."

Ebenezer peered over his shoulder. "Yes," he 認める. "That's a desk, of a 肉親，親類d. It's about as seedy, though, as the one I showed you first."

"Yes, but it is such a corking 形態／調整."

"Think so, do you?"

"You bet!" said Banks enthusiastically. "May I go in and look at it?"

"Yes, if you want to. It ain't for sale, though."

His 訪問者 did not appear to have heard the last 宣告，判決. He was standing before the desk, regarding it with rapt 利益／興味. It was a small four-legged 事件／事情／状勢; a flat 最高の，を越す covered with ragged faded felt; a drawer beneath, with an 古代の 巡査 扱う hanging by one rivet; a low rack of pigeon-穴を開けるs and tiny drawers, before which 事情に応じて変わる ribbed partitions were 部分的に／不公平に drawn. It had been painted a hideous shiny 黒人／ボイコット, but most of the 向こうずね had disappeared and the paint itself was peeling in patches.

"Some derelict, ain't it?" 観察するd Tadgett, standing by the Bradford 肘. "'一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合 ready for the kindlin' pile, eh?"

Banks did not answer. He bent 今後 and pulled gently at a tiny 厚かましさ／高級将校連 knob. One of the ribbed partitions slid さらに先に across the 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of pigeonholes.

"A tambour desk!" he cried enthusiastically. "And look at those 脚s! And that 扱う! Why, it's the 初めの 扱う—with the eagle and the thirteen 星／主役にするs. Yes, sir, it is!...Lord, what a pity the other one is lost! But perhaps it isn't lost. Have you got it, Mr. Tadgett?"

Ebenezer pulled open a drawer. The second 扱う was within. "Don't suppose it's hardly wuth while puttin' it on," he said. "A 難破させる like that must be pretty nigh past 海難救助, wouldn't you say?"

Bradford turned on him. "What are you talking about!" he cried. "It's a peach of a thing. I 港／避難所't seen so good a one for ever so long."

"井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席! You don't tell me! So you like it, do you?"

"Like it! Who could help liking it?"

"Lots of folks, and without no trouble at all. Your Cousin Henrietta, now, she see it yesterday and what she said about it was pretty discouragin'. I told her the old codger I 貿易（する）d with for it had it out in the barn to keep seed potatoes in, and she said he couldn't have 始める，決める much 蓄える／店 by the potatoes."

"No? 井戸／弁護士席, Cousin Hettie is—"

"Yes?...What did you say she was?"

"She is Cousin Hettie."

"Um-hum; maybe that's enough. She did 申し込む／申し出 to take it off my 手渡すs, though. If I'd take 支援する a gas-burner stove I sold her last month, she'd agree to take that old desk as a dollar's 価値（がある） of part 支払う／賃金."

"She didn't really!"

"She did. I was the one that didn't. But I'm 肉親，親類d of surprised you like that desk—all painted up in mournin' so."

"That paint doesn't 量 to anything. I'll bet if you 捨てるd that paint off you'd find— What are you smiling at?"

By way of answer Mr. Tadgett pulled the desk from the 塀で囲む. For six インチs along the 最高の，を越す at the 支援する a space had been 捨てるd clean of paint.

"Mahogany!" cried Banks Bradford. "I knew it. And look at that 穀物!"

"Good old San Domingo. You can't always tell what's underneath paint, on women or furniture. For instance, look at that （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する behind you. I'm resurrectin' it now."

Banks turned, saw the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and 急いでd to 診察する it. His enthusiastic exclamations seemed to please Ebenezer Tadgett 極端に.

"There's a 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうd highboy over in the corner," he said. "Cap'n Seth Lamon see it a （一定の）期間 ago and 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know if I 選ぶd it up on the beach when that schooner 負担d with junk （機の）カム 岸に."

The highboy—it was a 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なう—was 診察するd and 高度に 賞賛するd. Bradford looked about the other 支援する room.

"Look at that 議長，司会を務める—and that lamp," he cried, pointing. "This place is 十分な of wonderful stuff. Why do you keep it all shut up in here?"

Ebenezer の近くにd one 注目する，もくろむ, opened it, and の近くにd the other. "We-ll," he drawled, "if you keep the 難破させるs out of sight the reg'lar 顧客s—them that buy the 取引s in the 前線 room—have more 信用／信任 in your judgment...See here, you seem to know consider'ble about old things—good things. And you ain't by no means an antique yourself. How did you catch the 病気? Wasn't born with it, was you?"

"I don't know," replied the other with a laugh. "I have it, I'm sure of that. I have a friend whose family are—sort of collectors, you know, and every time I visit their house I have an 激烈な／緊急の attack. I've got one now, and you are responsible, Mr. Tadgett."

"Sho, sho! 井戸／弁護士席, I suppose I'd せねばならない try and cure you, if I can."

"You needn't mind; I don't want to be cured. Gee, Mr. Tadgett, you've got some 罰金 stuff! I suppose there is a lot more I 港／避難所't seen."

"井戸／弁護士席, there's some. That's the only tambour desk, though."

"Of course"—this with a sigh and a longing look at the tambour desk. "And that would be too expensive for me, even if it was for sale. And you said it wasn't."

"Did I? 井戸／弁護士席, it ain't for sale to your Cousin Henrietta, that's a fact."

"I should say not; nor to any one else who didn't 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it, I hope. I musn't take any more of your time, Mr. Tadgett. You were working on that （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する when I interrupted you, I suppose."

"Yes, I was."

Bradford turned to go. Then he paused. "Would you mind if I stayed and watched you work a little while?" he asked. "I'd like to. I don't know what there is about old furniture and—and glass and all that, but there must be something. It gets me, that's all I can say."

For the first time during their interview Ebenezer Tadgett showed 本物の enthusiasm. He slapped his 膝. "That's it!" he 公約するd heartily. "That's what it does, it gets you. It got me more'n twenty years ago and it's got me for keeps now. Maybe it's the things themselves—maybe it's because each one of 'em is a sort of storybook, you know, and you get to wonderin' who made it in the fust place, and whose houses it had been in, and what it's seen, if it could see, and the like of that. I'd give more for one old bureau that had the 権利 stuff in it and was made by a feller that knew how and cared, you understand, than I would for all the new factory-built stuff there is in Boston this minute."

He 選ぶd up his 捨てるing knife and turned to the 減少（する）-leaf （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する," he ordered. "運ぶ／漁獲高 up one of them 議長，司会を務めるs over there and 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する. I'd like to have you, Banks. Banks is your first 指名する, ain't it?"

"Yes."

"Sartin. Sit 権利 負かす／撃墜する, Banks. You just let me scratch away here for a （一定の）期間, and by and by maybe we'll see what we can do about locatin' a desk and a couple of 議長，司会を務めるs for you. Oh, not out yonder"—with a contemptuous wave toward the 前線 shop; "in here, amongst the storybooks...That's it—comfortable, be you? Good! 井戸／弁護士席, there! I've preached, my sermon. In a couple of minutes, unless this service is different from most of 地雷, I'll be liable to start in on a hymn. Know anything about music, do you?"

"Not much."

"That's good. Then you'll 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる my singin'."

He bent over the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and 再開するd his resurrecting. A few minutes later, in exact 一致 with his prophecy, he broke into song.

"The ボレー was 解雇する／砲火／射撃d at sunrise,
Just at the break of day.
And while its echo ぐずぐず残るd
A soul had passed away—

"Humph! That's a nice line of holly inlay comin' out now. See it? Oh, I was pretty sartin 'twas there: I've run acrost this 肉親，親類d of （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する afore.

"Into the 武器 of its 製造者
There to 会合，会う its 運命／宿命.
A 涙／ほころび, a sigh, a sad good-by;
The 容赦 （機の）カム too late!"

Just before suppertime that evening Capt. Abijah Bradford threw open the 味方する door of his sister-in-法律's house on Mill Hill and strode through the sitting room and dining room into the kitchen. Margaret Bradford was busy at the cook-stove.

"Why, hello, Bije!" she said. "Going to have supper with us, are you?"

Captain Abijah snorted. "No," he 宣言するd. "I'm too mad to eat. Where's that durned boy of yours?"

"Banks?"

"He's the only boy you've got, ain't he? And enough, too—of the 肉親，親類d. Where is he?"

"Upstairs in his room, 令状ing a letter, I believe."

"Call him 負かす／撃墜する here. I want him." Margaret opened the oven door and peeped inside. "Call him yourself, Bije," she said calmly. "I'm busy."

Her brother-in-法律's red 直面する grew redder, but as Mrs. Bradford seemed to consider the 事柄 settled he 産する／生じるd. Striding 支援する to the foot of the stairs 主要な from the sitting room, he roared his 甥's 指名する. "Banks?" he あられ／賞賛するd. "You up aloft there, are you?"

"Yes. Is that you, Uncle Bije?"

"Sounds like me, doesn't it?"

"Yes, sir, very much."

It certainly did, but the captain was a trifle taken aback, にもかかわらず. "井戸／弁護士席, come 負かす／撃墜する this minute," he 命令（する）d. "I want to see you."

Banks descended 敏速に. His uncle met him in the sitting room.

"Look here," he 需要・要求するd, "what's this I've just heard about you?"

"I don't know, I'm sure."

"I guess you can guess, if you don't know. You spent かなりの time with Ebenezer Tadgett this afternoon, I understand."

"Yes sir, I did."

"But that's all I understand about it. Accordin' to Tadgett, you told him you'd take that 支援する office of 裁判官 Blodgett's."

"He told me that you had a week's 選択 on it and I told him the 選択 was taken on my に代わって. That is what you told me yourself last night, Uncle Abijah."

"Humph! Yes, it was. But look here, boy, does this mean that you have decided to give up your Boston 計画／陰謀 and stay here for good?"

"Yes, sir."

"Stay here and do your lawyerin' in Denboro, same as I told you you'd せねばならない do?"

"Yes, sir."

Captain Bradford shook his 長，率いる. It was evident that he was gratified, also that he was surprised and puzzled. "井戸／弁護士席," he 認める, "I'm glad to know you've got that much ありふれた sense in your manifest. Changed your mind some in twenty-four hours, 港／避難所't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why?"

"I have been thinking, as you asked me to."

"Is that so! Did you do the thinkin' for yourself, or did your mother do it for you?"

Margaret would have spoken but her son spoke first.

"I thought a good 取引，協定 last night after I left you," he replied はっきりと. "This morning I asked mother a lot of questions. Then I walked up and 負かす／撃墜する the beach for two or three hours, thinking again. Then I went in and looked at the room you had 選ぶd out for me. After that I called on Mr. Tadgett."

"So I heard. Why didn't you call on me? As I recollect, you were to see me as soon as you'd thought this 商売／仕事 through."

"I did call on you, but you were out and Mr. Bassett said you told him you probably wouldn't be 支援する before five."

This was true, and the captain's guns were spiked for the moment. But only for a moment. "井戸／弁護士席, all 権利," he growled. "Nobody's neck would have been broken if you'd waited till five—but that's only part of it. Here's the main thing. Tadgett says you and he 選ぶd out furniture for that room and that you went ahead and bought it. Considerin' that I'll be 推定する／予想するd to 支払う／賃金 for that furniture it seems to me I might have some say in the buyin'. What's your answer to that?"

Banks' answer was very 誘発する. "Mr. Tadgett didn't tell you that you were 推定する／予想するd to 支払う／賃金 for it," he said.

"How do you know he didn't? And what difference does that make? Who will 支払う／賃金 for it, if I don't? Your mother? No, she won't. She can't afford it, for one 推論する／理由; and for another, I won't let her."

"It is paid for already. I paid for it myself."

Uncle Abijah was speechless. He turned to look at his sister-in- 法律. She was smiling. The captain swung 支援する to glare at his 甥. "You paid for it?" he repeated. "With whose money?"

"My own. I had a little, about a hundred and twenty dollars. Some of it I saved from my allowance; of course that part was mother's really. The 残り／休憩（する） I earned this summer while I was out West. I looked up some 合法的な 記録，記録的な／記録するs and things—oh, they didn't 量 to much—for Mr. Davidson, my college friend's uncle. He was going to have his lawyer do it, but I told him I believed I could, so he let me try. I wouldn't let him 支払う／賃金 me, but he 主張するd on giving me seventy-five dollars for what he called my traveling expenses. I meant to send it 支援する to him, but—井戸／弁護士席, this morning I decided to keep it. I paid for the desk and （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and two 議長，司会を務めるs I bought of Mr. Tadgett."

Captain Abijah 星／主役にするd. Then once more he turned to Mrs. Bradford. "Margaret," he 需要・要求するd, "did you know about this?"

"No, Abijah; not until a little while ago, when Banks （機の）カム home. Then he told me what he had done."

Banks himself broke in here. "Nobody knew about it, Uncle Bije," he said. "I thought it out for myself and I did it. I've rented the room in the 地位，任命する-office building and I've paid the first month's rent in 前進する. You may have to lend me enough to 支払う／賃金 the second; I hope you won't, but you may. And mother, I suppose, will have to board and 宿泊する me gratis for a while. I'm ever so much 強いるd for your 親切 and your 利益／興味 and your telling me the truth about things. I only wish you had told me sooner. 井戸／弁護士席, I know now. I've given up my Boston 計画（する）; I'm going to try my luck here at home. And," he ended very 真面目に, "I'm going to get along just as 急速な／放蕩な as I can, and as much on my own hook as I can. You can depend on that, both of you."

Captain Bradford did stay for supper, after all. On his way home he dropped in—it was a sort of 義務 visit he paid once a week—on Cousin Hettie at her home on the 押し寄せる／沼地 Road. He told her of their young 親族's 計画（する）s for a career as an 弁護士／代理人／検事 in Denboro. Cousin Hettie was tremendously 利益／興味d but somewhat spiteful.

"So that's what you and he talked about, Abijah," she 観察するd. "Why you hid it from me all this time is your own 事件／事情／状勢s, I suppose, and I don't complain; I'm used to 存在 押し進めるd into a corner. When poor dear Silas was alive he always—"

"Oh, bosh! Nobody's 押すd you into a corner. They'd have a lively time keepin' you there, if they did! And speakin' of Silas, I'm beginnin' to believe that boy of his won't make us so everlastin' ashamed of him as I was afraid he might. Margaret's done her best to spoil him, of course—"

"Certainly she has. Did you 推定する／予想する anything else from one of her family? Oh, dear, why a Bradford, and the very best of the Bradfords except dear father—oh, yes, and you and me, Abijah—why Silas ever married so beneath him I can't see. And never could. But the best of us have our weak 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs. I 推定する likely I've got some of my own, if I knew what they were."

Abijah, at that moment, looked as if he were tempted to enlighten her. He resisted the 誘惑, however.

"井戸／弁護士席, anyhow," he said with 決定／判定勝ち（する）, "I'm easier about that young fellow than I have been before since his father died. I can look his portrait—Silas', I mean—in the 注目する，もくろむ tonight and feel better. The boy may never be as smart a man as his father—"

"Nobody could be that."

"Probably not. But he's beginnin' to show 調印するs that he is a man, and that's somethin'. I tell you this, Hettie—no 事柄 how much Banks there is in him there's some Bradford along with it."

一時期／支部 4

The に引き続いて day the 後部 room of what had been the Blodgett 控訴 of offices in the 地位，任命する-office building was scrubbed and swept. Eliab Gibbons did the scrubbing and 広範囲にわたる. Mr. Gibbons was 定期的に 雇うd for three days of the week about the grounds of the Truman 広い地所 on the Old Ostable Road, but during the other three working days he was open to 約束／交戦 for 半端物 職業s. He was a の近くに friend of Ebenezer Tadgett, and it was the latter who 召喚するd him for this particular 職業. Banks Bradford, watching the きれいにする 過程, 示唆するd that washing the windows might be an 改良.

Eliab regarded the windows with languid 利益／興味. "I don't know but you're 権利!" he drawled thoughtfully. "You could see out of 'em better, I suppose, if some of the crust was rubbed off."

So the crust was rubbed off and the little room became much はしけ in consequence. The furniture 購入（する）d of Mr. Tadgett was carried in and, after thought and several changes, finally placed. The desk—Ebenezer had 明らかにするd it in a forgotten corner of his other 支援する room—was a walnut 事件／事情／状勢, old and rather shabby, but solid, roomy and convenient enough.

"'Tain't the tambour, by no means," said Tadgett, "but maybe you can make out with it for a （一定の）期間. And you can have it for fourteen dollars, if you think that's fair enough."

Banks thought it altogether too fair, and said so. "Why, that's a ridiculous price, Mr. Tadgett," he 抗議するd. "You can't be making a cent on it."

"Yes, I am. I took it in 貿易（する） from Heman Bearse, over to the Neck. Swapped a 議長，司会を務める and a clam 売春婦 and an old pair of steelyards for it. Oh, yes—and he was to give me a dollar その上. When he does, or IF he does, I'll have made money afore you come in on the dicker at all, Banks. You scratch along with it now, and maybe by and by, when you get 繁栄する, we'll make another 貿易（する） for the tambour, eh?"

Bradford shook his 長，率いる. "That tambour desk will have gone long before that happens," he said.

"Maybe not. I ain't in any hurry to sell it. Want to 直す／買収する，八百長をする it all up first and then keep it for a （一定の）期間 to look at and—er—gloat over, you might say."

Uncle Abijah （機の）カム in while the furniture was 存在 placed. He 示唆するd the need of another 議長，司会を務める and a few 棚上げにするs. "You might かもしれない have more than one （弁護士の）依頼人 at a time, boy," he said with a grin. "Probably not at first, but later on. And you'll want a shelf or two to put your 法律 調書をとる／予約するs on. Got some 法律 調書をとる／予約するs of your own, I 推定する likely?"

"Yes, sir. A few."

"井戸／弁護士席, stack 'em up around. You せねばならない look like an able 船員 even if you are a green 手渡す. Tadgett and I will paw over his 捨てる pile together and see if we can't find a little more stuff to help you out. Oh, I'll take care of the cost. You can 支払う／賃金 me 支援する after you 勝利，勝つ your first 事例／患者 for the New York, New 港／避難所 and Hartford 鉄道／強行採決する. Anyhow, I'd like to feel I'd given one 押す to help get your （手先の）技術 off the ways."

He gave several such 押すs. One was to （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 Jacob 爆撃する, the 地元の boat and wagon painter, to letter the glass door of his 甥's office. "S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律" was the result of Mr. 爆撃する's labors. The new 弁護士／代理人／検事 would have preferred "Banks" to the "S. B.," but as long as his uncle had paid for the lettering he felt that he should not 非難する.

Cousin Hettie, when she saw it, did the 非難するing for him. "If I was a young man with an 栄誉（を受ける）d 指名する such as you've got," she 公約するd, "I wouldn't 行方不明になる a chance to put it up where folks could see it. I'D have had 'Silas Bradford' there; but if you must have something in the middle, why not 'Silas Banks Bradford'? I don't believe Mr. 爆撃する would have 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d one cent more, and you might 同様に have got your money's 価値（がある）."

Another 出資／貢献 of Captain Abijah's was 配達するd a week later. The captain （機の）カム into the office 耐えるing a large flat 小包. He ripped off the wrapping paper and 展示（する）d a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd photograph of the crayon-大きくするd portrait of Capt. Silas Bradford, copies of which hung in the Bradford sitting room and on his own 塀で囲む at the Malabar.

"We'll 装備する that 権利 up over yonder opposite your desk, Banks," he 発表するd. "Every time you 解除する up your 長，率いる you'll see it. It'll be a 肉親，親類d of channel light for you. Keep your 注目する，もくろむ on that father of yours, boy, and you won't be liable to get far off the course."

Margaret Bradford, of course, was の中で the very first to 検査／視察する the new office. Her son would have liked her to come every day.

"It's going to be lonesome enough here for a while, Mother," he said. "Do run in any time you are out and 元気づける me up."

"I'll come いつかs, Banks, but not too often. I don't want Hettie and Abijah—no, nor any one else—to have an excuse for 説 I'm trying to keep you tied to my apron strings. When you come home for dinner and at night you must tell me everything that has happened, every 選び出す／独身 thing. Be sure you do, for"—with a little smile—"I shouldn't wonder if I were as 利益／興味d in all this as you are."

When he told her of his uncle's gift of the portrait and the …を伴ってing counsel to keep his 注目する，もくろむ on it, she seemed about to speak.

"Yes?" he asked, as she hesitated.

"It was very thoughtful of Abijah," was her only comment.

Banks laughed. "Uncle Bije 明らかに doesn't think I can be 信用d unless there is another Bradford to keep watch over me," he 観察するd. "If I could afford it I'd have your portrait there, too, Mother. Maybe I will some day."

She shook her 長，率いる. "I'm afraid my picture wouldn't bring you many （弁護士の）依頼人s—in Denboro," she said.

Her son did not 圧力（をかける） the point. He remembered her 自白 during their conversation the morning に引き続いて his fateful interview with Captain Abijah. She really was a little jealous of his father, he decided. That was silly, but natural, too, everything considered. He had a number of snapshots of her which he had taken from time to time. One of these he had でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd and placed it on his desk.

On the occasion of her second call at the office he showed it to her. She laughed and made fun of her 外見 in the photograph, "with that old dress on and my hair every which way." But he could see that she was pleased, にもかかわらず.

And now began the 疲れた／うんざりした days, the long discouraging days of sitting alone in the little room overlooking the 支援する yards of the shops on the first 床に打ち倒す of the 地位，任命する-office building, waiting for （弁護士の）依頼人s who did not come. He read diligently in 法律 調書をとる／予約するs of his own and others which had belonged to 裁判官 Blodgett and which his uncle had 購入（する）d for him at 取引 prices. Between readings he looked out of the windows.

At first, every step in the 回廊（地帯） outside his door 原因（となる）d his hopes to rise; but as they almost invariably passed the door or, when they did pause and the door opened, 証明するd to be the steps of Captain Abijah or Cousin Hettie or Ebenezer Tadgett, or Eliab Gibbons in 追求（する），探索（する） of another 半端物 職業, he 中止するd to regard them. There might be, as Uncle Bije had 宣言するd, plenty of work for a lawyer in Denboro, but it was ますます obvious that that work was not brought to S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律.

Captain Abijah counseled patience. "It's the first days of the voyage that's always longest," he said. By way of 激励 he ゆだねるd his 甥 with the 製図／抽選 of a 行為 to a woodlot which he had sold to a neighbor. Banks got through this ordeal without mistake; and the captain, who had been 明白に nervous, seemed much relieved and gratified. "Eben Caldwell, who owns the 金物類／武器類 and general 蓄える／店 at the other corner," he said, "was talkin' with me about some old accounts he'd had on his 調書をとる／予約するs for a long （一定の）期間. Said he didn't know's he wouldn't give 'em to a lawyer to try and collect. Seein' as you've 扱うd this 行為 of 地雷 all 権利, maybe I'll 示唆する his trustin' 'em to you. Think you could manage 'em without snarlin'? I wouldn't want you to run 座礁して and get me in bad with Eben."

Banks replied that he guessed he could.

"Um-hum. 井戸／弁護士席, I'll について言及する you to him. Don't get the notion that it's goin' to be an 平易な 職業. Any 法案 that Caldwell can't collect himself is liable to be a 堅い one."

They were all 堅い. And as a 実験（する） of a young lawyer's 外交 and tact they left little to be 願望（する）d. The delinquent debtors were scattered throughout the 辺ぴな 地区s, one or two of them had moved away, and each one had a plausible excuse for nonpayment. Some of the excuses were good and others were not, but Banks was made aware of one thing, the New Englander's 尊敬（する）・点 for the 法律. To each letter he wrote （機の）カム a reply, and each call he made 設立する the 受取人 anxious not to 直面する a 控訴. "I've been cal'latin' to 支払う／賃金 that 法案, Mr. Bradford. It's worried me so's I couldn't sleep nights. But my wife's been ailin', and two of the children have been laid up with the measles, and the fishin' ain't 価値（がある） a darn this 落ちる"—and so on.

The worst of it was that most of these people were honest and did mean to 支払う／賃金 いつか or other. Banks 設立する himself 尊敬（する）・点ing some of them a good 取引，協定 more than he did the しっかり掴むing Caldwell.

He collected a little here and a little there. In two instances the entire 法案 was paid. Six 証明するd to be やめる hopeless. At the end of a fortnight he laid the results before his 雇用者. The latter seemed to be 満足させるd. "I don't know but you've done 十分な 井戸／弁護士席 as I could 推定する／予想する," he 認める. "Those there"—pointing to the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of six—"nobody could get a cent out of without holdin' 'em over a hot 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and not enough then to 支払う／賃金 for the kindlin'. I imagine," he 追加するd with a grin, "that all this hasn't made you any too popular in some ４半期/4分の1s, eh? Never mind, 商売／仕事 is 商売／仕事, and a lawyer can't 推定する／予想する to be popular with all 手渡すs if he …に出席するs to his 職業."

Banks laughed and agreed that he supposed not. As a 事柄 of fact, he had lost little 人気. He was far too new to be popular or 人気がない as yet, and he tried hard to be just, to show a disposition to make allowances and to 差別する between poverty-stricken honesty and plausible crookedness. 事実上 all the unpopularity 付随するing to the collecting 過程 中心d about Eben Caldwell. "That feller wouldn't kill a skunk for 恐れる of losin' a scent," 宣言するd one individual disgustedly.

This burst of activity was like a puff of 勝利，勝つd on a 静める day in summer—it was refreshing while it lasted, but it did not last long. Then followed another 開会／開廷／会期 of idleness, with nothing to do but read the 法律 調書をとる／予約するs or look out of the window.

By way of relieving the monotony and コースを変えるing his thoughts, Banks had formed the habit of dropping in on Mr. Tadgett and watching the latter 捨てる and polish and "resurrect" in his other 支援する room. These calls were always made late in the afternoon, after the door of the 法律 office was locked for the day. He and Ebenezer had become good friends. The love for antiques which they 株d in ありふれた was the basis for this friendship, but before long Banks had learned to like the eccentric little man for himself.

Tadgett, he discovered, was a shrewd philosopher; he 所有するd a 乾燥した，日照りの humor and a faculty for appraising his fellow man and woman which was の近くに to genius. Ebenezer liked Banks. During one of their conversations he gave some of his 推論する／理由s for the liking, and gave them in a characteristic way.

"Banks," he said, "you belong to what you might 井戸／弁護士席 call the sheep, did you know it?"

"Sheep? Why, no, I don't know it. If that's a compliment it doesn't sound like one."

"I don't know whether it's a compliment or not; that depends on how you look at it. On the day of judgment, so Scriptur' gives it to us, the sheep are goin' to be shooed one way and the goats t'other. I don't 始める，決める myself up to part all 創造 権利 and left—off my own 前提s I don't—but in here I'm a sort of secondhand Saint Peter, as you might say. There's nobody but sheep gets into this other 支援する room of 地雷, and only the 権利 肉親，親類d of them are asked to stay in it."

Banks laughed. "I see," he said. "井戸／弁護士席, if this particular sheep gets to pasturing in this room too often, you just—"

"There, there! I've been beggin' you for the last ten minutes to pull off your coat and 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する, 港／避難所't I? The first time you come in here I was pretty sartin you was my 肉親，親類d of mutton. After you made a fuss over that tambour desk I was sure of it. Soon as I 設立する you didn't like Hettie Bradford, I knew it."

"Here, 持つ／拘留する on! I never told you I didn't like her."

"No, so you didn't. And I never told you that I didn't like this rheumatiz that gets holt of my 膝s every once in a while. If you've seen how I 行為／法令／行動する when I have a twinge you don't need to be told. Accordin' to my experience, there's times when one look is 価値（がある） a バーレル／樽 of talk."

"Come, Mr. Tadgett, you mustn't get the idea—"

"No, now, don't let your 良心 fret you. 病気s and relations are laid の上に us; we didn't ask for 'em, so we ain't to 非難する if we have 'em...And see here, I've told you no いっそう少なく than twenty times that my 指名する is Ebenezer, and I answer my friends quicker if they remember to あられ／賞賛する me by it."

As he （機の）カム to know the little man better Banks grew not only to like but to 尊敬（する）・点 him. Underneath his veneer of 商売／仕事 acumen, his sharpness in 貿易（する） when 取引，協定ing with one trying to get the better of him, his absent-mindedness and 乾燥した，日照りの humor, were other 質s 奮起させるing 尊敬（する）・点. His 治療 of his wife was one of these.

Banks had heard of Mrs. Tadgett's peculiarities. He had heard Cousin Hettie contemptuously 言及する to her as "that 割れ目d Tadgett woman." Stories of her weird habit of dress, of things she had said, of her "見通しs"—she was a devout Spiritualist—had come to his ears while at home on holidays or vacations during the years of the Tadgett 住居 in Denboro. But until Ebenezer 招待するd him to his house and to dinner one day he had never seen or met her. It was a 会合 to be remembered.

Mr. Tadgett had in a 手段 用意が出来ている him for it. "Banks," he said, as he "washed up" in the 支援する room 準備の to their short walk through the yards to the cottage, "you've never been introduced to Sheba—my wife, I mean—have you?"

"No."

"I know you ain't. 井戸／弁護士席, you've heard about her, of course. She's—hum—queer, 肉親，親類d of. You knew that?"

Banks, much embarrassed, stammered that he supposed every one was queer, in one way or another.

"Yes. But Sheba's queerer. When I married her she was teachin' downstairs school over to Trumet. Smart girl—my soul! How she ever come to marry me nobody could make out, and I ain't made it out since. Educated, 広大な／多数の／重要な reader, knew more about history and 地理学 and all that in a minute than I'd know in a lifetime. She reads a whole lot now; got a 調書をとる／予約する in her 手渡す most of her spare time, fur's that goes...Ah, hum! 井戸／弁護士席, about eleven years ago she was took 負かす／撃墜する awful sick. What they used to call brain fever 'twas; they call it somethin' else now. All 手渡すs cal'lated she'd die, and I was afraid she would and that I wouldn't. She didn't die, though. She got 井戸／弁護士席, all but her 長，率いる—that never got same as 'twas. Since then she's been queer. Now, as it's gettin' on toward 冷淡な 天候, she'll be most likely wearin' her hoods. You've heard about her wearin' them hoods?"

Banks had heard many stories, all wildly absurd. He murmured something, he was not やめる sure what.

Tadgett paid little attention. "Course you have," he went on. "They're town talk. You see, a year or so after she got up from the brain fever she 開始するd to complain that her 長，率いる was 冷淡な. 'Twan't, of course, but she thought 'twas, which 量d to the same thing. Finally she made herself one of them old-fashioned quilted hoods same as our grandmarms used to wear. She wore that pretty reg'lar and it seemed to help some, but not enough; so she made another and wore that on 最高の，を越す of the fust one. Since then she's made four more. She'll probably have 'em all on when you and me get there...Say, you'll try not to laugh when you see her, won't you—so she'll know you're laughin' at her, I mean?"

"Certainly I shan't laugh. Ebenezer, do you think I'd better dine with you, after all? Perhaps—"

"I want you to. So does she; 'twas her own idea, askin' you. I tell you honest," he 追加するd with a one-味方するd grin. "I shan't 非難する you for wantin' to laugh, not one bit. All them hoods do make her 長，率いる look like a punkin on a stick."

It was an apt comparison. Mrs. Tadgett was tall—she towered above her diminutive husband; she was thin, and her neck was long. At the end of the long neck her 長，率いる 列d in 層 upon 層 of quilted silk, waved 支援する an 前へ／外へ like a sunflower on its 茎・取り除く, to use another simile.

She seemed 完全に unaware of her strange 外見. She 迎える／歓迎するd their guest with dignified solemnity. The dinner—she had cooked it herself—was good. During the first half of the meal she said very little, sitting in 明言する／公表する at the foot of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and gazing fixedly at the 塀で囲む above her husband's 長，率いる. Then all at once she began to talk. Banks dutifully listened, but he 設立する her discourse hard to follow. She had a habit of beginning with some simple 声明, drifting from that into a long-winded wandering peroration and finishing with a question or another 声明 miles away from the starting point and having no discernible 耐えるing upon it.

"The winter is almost on us, Mr. Bradford," she 布告するd. "Yes, it's 製図／抽選 nigh. The melancholy days have come, the saddest of the year. There are three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. And four seasons—spring, summer, autumn and winter. Four is an even number, and divided by two equals two, without 残りの人，物. Two is a pair. We each have a pair of 注目する，もくろむs and a pair of shoes and— and this makes it a 完全にする whole. Don't you feel that way, Mr. Bradford?"

Banks, very much bewildered, was struggling for a reply, but Ebenezer saved him the trouble.

"Sure, sure, Sheba," he said あわてて. "That's the way we all feel. Now I guess likely Banks'll have another 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器, if you'll 手渡す across the plate."

On the way 支援する to the 地位，任命する-office building he tried to explain. "You see how 'tis," he said apologetically. "She's apt to get this way when strangers are around. When she and I are alone there's long stretches when she's just as sensible as anybody; but when she gets nervous over havin' company or anything she's liable to get moonin' on, same as she used to when she was teachin' the seven- year-olders in the schoolhouse. I don't mind. You see, I remember her as she used to be, clever and 十分な of 調書をとる／予約する learnin'. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, it's a 堅い old world...But she ain't crazy—you can see she ain't that, can't you, Banks?" with pathetic 切望.

Banks said of course he could see it. Ebenezer nodded. "Yes," he said. "井戸／弁護士席, the general run of folks don't understand her. I do. She's my wife and I wouldn't 交換（する） her for anybody on earth." Then after a momentary hesitation he 追加するd, "I'm much 強いるd to you for not laughin', Banks."

It was on the afternoon of the に引き続いて day that he broached a 支配する which was to result in the new 弁護士／代理人／検事's first real 事例／患者. He entered the office just after five, when Banks, 疲れた／うんざりした of reading 法律 and looking out of the window, was thinking of locking up and going home to supper. 存在 招待するd to sit 負かす／撃墜する, Ebenezer did so and took from his pocket a packet of letters and papers.

"Banks," he began, "you done pretty 井戸／弁護士席 with them accounts Eben Caldwell give you to collect, didn't you?"

"Why, I managed to collect some of them. Half a dozen or so stuck me 完全に."

"Um-hum. That needn't fret you. If Eben hadn't been pretty sure they were all stickers he'd never have 危険d havin' to 支払う／賃金 you ten per cent for collectin'. He don't separate from money 平易な, Eben don't. The last time Doc Spear pulled a tooth for him, the only time he groaned—this is Spear's story—was after 'twas over and he was reachin' into his pocket for the dollar to 支払う／賃金 for the 職業. He was really sufferin' then."

He chuckled and then lapsed into silence, shuffling the papers in his 手渡すs.

"What have you got there?" 問い合わせd Bradford after a moment.

"Eh? Why—井戸／弁護士席, I've got a sticker of my own. A pretty bad one, too, I'm afraid. I was gettin' 肉親，親類d of desperate about it and the notion struck me to run in here and ask your advice. I don't know's I'd better, though, after all."

"Why not?"

"Oh, because I ain't sure it's a thing you せねばならない be mixed up in— for your own sake, I mean. You've just started to paddle your own canoe here in Denboro and it might not help you much to begin by heavin' 激しく揺するs at the 船長／主将 of one of the biggest （手先の）技術 in the same channel."

"What's all this? Canoes and channels and 激しく揺するs! What are you talking about, Ebenezer?"

Tagdett was still hesitating. Then he drew a long breath. "I guess," he said slowly—"yes, I guess I will tell you about it. Seem's if I must tell somebody. It'll be just between us two, and when you hear it I shouldn't wonder if you thought that was where it better stay."

He began his story, at first について言及するing no 指名するs. In May of that year he sold a sideboard to a 顧客. This 顧客 had （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限d him to find an American board, a good one, Sheraton type preferred. It must not be too long, nor too high; it must be a 本物の antique, and of course of 罰金 mahogany and pattern and in good 条件. Price was to be a 第２位 consideration. He had been on the 警戒／見張り and at last discovered what seemed to him 正確に the article 要求するd. He had brought the sideboard to his shop; the 顧客 had seen it and liked it. He had spent another two months "resurrecting" it and at last had 配達するd it to his patron. He had paid the 初めの owner with his own money.

"That sounds all fair and square so far, don't it, Banks?" he went on. "井戸／弁護士席, it sounded good to me—then. I'd 設立する and 配達するd what my 顧客 had been terribly anxious to get for a long （一定の）期間, and what I thought—and still believe—is about the best sideboard of its 肉親，親類d I ever see. I had to 支払う／賃金 two hundred and eight dollars for it, and I sold it to her—to this 顧客—for three hundred. Considerin' my two months' work on it and the 二塁打 cartin' and all, I don't think that's a big 利益（をあげる）; now, do you?"

"No. I should say it was a very reasonable one."

"Um-hum. So I figgered. 井戸／弁護士席, then this 顧客 of 地雷 she went away, shut up her house and （疑いを）晴らすd out for all summer. She hadn't paid my 法案, but that didn't worry me much, though I could have used the money. Fur's that goes," he 追加するd reflectively, "I can usually use money. I'm funny that way—don't hardly ever have to 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する and look at a fifty-cent piece and 緊張する my brain wonderin' what I'll do with it...井戸／弁護士席, now comes the trouble. Three weeks ago, this 顧客 havin' come 支援する home and opened up her house, I got 無謀な enough to 令状 and ask if 'twould be convenient to send me the three hundred. And the next day after that I got a letter. Seems she doesn't want the sideboard after all. It's there at her house, or out in her barn where's she put it, and all I've got to do is send a cart up there and 運ぶ／漁獲高 it away again. Sounds simple enough; if the three hundred was in one of the drawers and I could 運ぶ／漁獲高 that away, too, 'twouldn't be."

"But—but she saw it in your shop, you say, and liked it and bought it at your price. I don't understand."

"Don't you? Neither did I, but I didn't lose much time tryin' to find out. I went 権利 up to see her. And there's where I got my heaviest 揺さぶる. She explained everything—that is, everything but what would explain the explanation. She had decided that the board I sold her wasn't a 本物の antique. She had strong 疑問s about it; always had had so—"

"Wait a minute. Did she 表明する those 疑問s when she agreed to buy the board?"

"No. I told her then, just as I told her again when I went to her house after gettin' the letter, that I knew who had owned it, the house it was in and how long it had been there. She seemed 満足させるd; yes, and said she was."

"And you do know, don't you?"

"Know 同様に as a man in the secondhand 商売／仕事 can know anything. I'll bet my Sunday go-to-meetin' 着せる／賦与するs, hat and all, that that board is real all the way through, and all of a hundred year old besides."

"And you told her so again?"

"I spent two solid hours tellin' her. I might have been there yet if she hadn't called her 雇うd girl to show me where the 前線 door was, in 事例／患者 I got lost tryin' to find it. And after that I put in a lot of time tryin' to get the real 推論する／理由 for her shovin' the board 支援する on my 手渡すs. I guess I have 設立する that 推論する／理由; yes, I guess I have."

"What is it?"

"She's bought another board, bought it up in Boston. It 控訴s her better'n 地雷 does. That's the meat in the clamshell."

Banks laughed. "If that's all," he said, "you're 安全な, Ebenezer. She may have bought a dozen others, but she'll have to 支払う／賃金 for the one she bought of you."

Mr. Tadgett shook his 長，率いる. 明らかに this 確信して 保証／確信 did not hearten him 大いに. "Um-hum," he grunted, "maybe so; but she 公約するs she won't 支払う／賃金. The board's a jim-dandy. I could take it 支援する into 在庫／株 and hang on to it for a couple more year and then sell it, perhaps. But I need the money. Puttin' out the two hundred for it in the first place made my bank account 縮む like a new flannel shirt in a 暴風雨. I've been short as that shirt ever since. And that ain't all—no, sir, it ain't half all. The real point I stick on is away one 味方する of the money part. She says, or as much as says, that I sold her a 偽の article. I never sold a 偽の, except as a 偽の, in my life. It 傷つけるs me to have her say such a thing and—and get away with it. I—井戸／弁護士席, I'm a secondhand junk 売買業者, I know; but by 雷鳴 mighty, I'm an honest one!" He struck the arm of his 議長，司会を務める with his 握りこぶし. His 直面する was red and his 発言する／表明する shook with earnestness.

Bradford was stirred to indignation. "It's a shame, Ebenezer," he 宣言するd hotly. "She shan't get away with it. You let me 扱う this for you. I believe I can collect your three hundred."

Another shake of the 長，率いる. "No," said Tadgett. "No; I'm much 強いるd to you, Banks, but you can't afford to meddle with it."

His friend misunderstood. "Don't worry about that," he said. "I'll be glad to do it for you for nothing. It sounds as if it might be fun; I think I shall enjoy it."

"No, no. You don't understand what I mean. You can't afford to meddle with it for your own sake. You don't know who this 顧客 of 地雷 is."

"I know who you are—yes, and what you are. That is enough."

"No, it ain't," said the other with a rueful grin. "Not in Ostable 郡. I'm a—井戸／弁護士席, I'm a pretty small herrin' in these waters and she's one of Denboro's pet 鯨s. 'Twouldn't help you much, as a brand-new lawyer, to start in by fightin' Mrs. Cap'n Elijah Truman."

Bradford whistled. "Mrs. Truman!" he repeated. "Is that who it is?...Whew!"

"That's who. She's the 鯨. 井戸／弁護士席," 結論するd Ebenezer, rising to his feet, "the herrin' must be swimmin' home to supper. Much 強いるd to you for listenin' to my woes and tribulations, Banks. Good night."

He was at the door when Banks spoke again. "Ebenezer," he said, "I want a little time to think this over. In the morning you come in here again, will you?"

"No, I shan't. You keep 権利 out of this, Banks. I shan't let you do anything but keep out of it."

"Then you won't come here to-morrow morning?"

"No."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, then I'll be in to see you. Good night."

That evening, for the first time, he did not tell his mother all that had happened at the office during the day. He said nothing of Tadgett's call and the latter's 公表，暴露s 関心ing the sale of the sideboard. Ebenezer had asked that the 事柄 be kept secret and of course it must be for the 現在の.

He did, however, ask some questions about Mrs. Truman. He knew the lady, as did every one in Denboro. Her house on the Old Ostable Road was one of the finest in the village. He remembered when it was built and he dimly remembered pompous old Captain Elijah, his strut, his tall hat and gold-長，率いるd 茎.

Captain Truman had died two years after the house was built and his 未亡人 had gone abroad almost すぐに. Abroad or in Florida or California she had lived much of the time since. Banks himself had been away at college and 法律 school and, although he had often seen the Truman （期間が）わたる and brougham on the street and occasionally had noticed Mrs. Truman's velvet bonnet and diamond earrings in the Truman pew at church on Sunday, he and she had not spoken.

Once, since his return to Denboro to live, he had met her by the door of the 地位，任命する office and had 投機・賭けるd to 屈服する. His 屈服する was 定評のある by a stiff little nod, but it was evident that she had no idea whatever as to his 身元. There was a young woman in the brougham with her, and he had seen them together once or twice since. Mrs. Truman's granddaughter, he was told. Her 指名する was Cartwright, so his informant said. Banks, with the appraising 注目する，もくろむ of 青年, decided that she was a very pretty girl.

"Mother," he said at the supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する that evening, "do you know Mrs. Elijah Truman 井戸／弁護士席? You せねばならない, I should think; her husband was father's partner."

Margaret looked up. "I know her, yes," she replied.

"You don't know her very 井戸／弁護士席, I take it?"

"Not so very. She was Captain Elijah's second wife and he married her after your father had been dead a year or two. She and I don't call on each other, if that is what you mean."

"Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know. She doesn't call on many people here in Denboro. She is friendly with the Lathrops and the Badgers and Capt. Gustavus Hall's people."

"The rich （人が）群がる. I see."

"And she has some friends の中で the summer cottagers. She has been away so much that most of us 港／避難所't had many chances to be sociable with her."

"What sort of a woman is she?"

"I don't know 正確に／まさに what you mean, dear."

"I guess you do. Sort of a newly rich, is that the idea? Who was she before she married Captain Truman?"

"Why—井戸／弁護士席, I don't know so very much about her, really. There are stories, of course. によれば them she （機の）カム from the South somewhere. Her first husband's 指名する was Rodgers; he was killed in the Civil War. She married Captain Elijah in 1885 or thereabouts. The story is that she was keeping a sort of high-class 搭乗 house in Boston. Elijah was one of her lodgers and he met her there. He was an old man when he married her. She was years younger than he."

"Humph! She must be sixty herself."

"About that; but the captain has been dead seventeen years or so."

"She has a バーレル／樽 of money, hasn't she?"

"She must have a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定; Elijah Truman was 率d a very rich man—in his later years."

"Who is this girl I've seen with her, at church and out 運動ing?"

Margaret smiled. "Now I begin to see why you are so 利益／興味d."

Banks shrugged impatiently. "You are away off, Mother," he 宣言するd. "I am rather 利益／興味d in the old lady—I'll tell you why some day, perhaps—but the girl isn't mixed up in it. I just wondered who she was."

"She is Maybelle's—that is, Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman's granddaughter. She had a daughter by her first husband. Their daughter—seems to me her 指名する was Daisy—"

"Maybelle and Daisy! Ran to flowery 指名するs in that family, I should say."

"—this Daisy married a man 指名するd Cartwright. Mrs. Cartwright died when her own baby girl was born. Then after two years or so Mr. Cartwright died. Mrs. Truman—she was a 未亡人 for the second time then—took her granddaughter to live with her."

"And she is the one I've seen with the old lady. What is her 指名する?"

"Elizabeth—Elizabeth Cartwright."

Banks whistled. "There!" he exclaimed, with the 空気／公表する of one who has solved a puzzle, "I knew I had seen her before—long ago, I mean. Elizabeth Cartwright! Why, of course, I remember now. Don't you remember, Mother? Years and years ago it was. I was a kid—nine or ten, I should say—and you and I were 負かす／撃墜する at the beach one Sunday afternoon. There was a little girl there with somebody, a foreign woman as I remember—a French nurse she was, probably—and this little girl was out on the end of Seth Nickerson's boat 上陸 and fell off. I was on the pier, too, and I ducked over 長，率いる first, as far as my waist, and fished her out by the scruff of her neck. That girl's 指名する was Elizabeth Cartwright. You said it was, afterward."

"Yes. I remember it 井戸／弁護士席 enough."

"So do I"—with a chuckle. "And I remember that the nurse had hysterics first, and then gave the girl fits for 落ちるing in."

"Yes. She—the nurse, I mean—was very much 脅すd; principally, I guess, because of what Mrs. Truman would do and say to her when they got home. We all （機の）カム 支援する here to this house and 乾燥した，日照りのd Elizabeth's 着せる／賦与するs and アイロンをかけるd her dress and made her as good as new. I 疑問 if her grandmother knows to this day what happened."

Banks was still chuckling. "She has grown up since then," he 宣言するd. "When I saw her the other day in the Truman carriage she was what the fellows would call a peach. Is she as snobbish and high and mighty as the old lady?"

"I don't know, I'm sure. She doesn't know me now, of course. But then, she knows very few Denboro folks. She has been away at school and all over the world with her grandmother. They're going to stay here all winter this time, I believe—unless Mrs. Truman changes her mind."

Banks asked many more questions. Elizabeth Cartwright's 指名する was not again について言及するd, but Mrs. Elijah Truman's was. When Margaret went up to bed she left her son in the armchair in the sitting room, smoking and 明らかに 深い in thought. She bent over him and touched his shoulder.

"What is it, Banks?" she asked. "What have you got on your mind? What 始める，決める you to cross-尋問 me about Mrs. Truman? Come, tell me."

He shook his 長，率いる. "Mother," he said, "I suppose anybody in Denboro who dared to say 'Dum' when Mrs. Captain Elijah said 'Dee' would be regarded as the 完全にする darned fool, wouldn't he?"

"Why, what in the world—"

"Yes, he would. Still—I don't know. A lot of people must have 手配中の，お尋ね者 to say it and didn't dare and they might sympathize with the chap who did dare, 特に if he （機の）カム out on 最高の，を越す. Anyway"—he gave a short laugh—"they would know who he was by the time the 説 was finished." Then he laughed again and 追加するd, 引用するing a スローガン which was almost new at the time. "It 支払う／賃金s to advertise, so I've heard. This would certainly be advertising of one 肉親，親類d or another...No, no, Mother, I shan't tell you what I mean—now. Besides, I'm not 確かな yet that I do mean it. Good night."

一時期／支部 5

At three o'clock the next afternoon Mrs. Elijah Truman, in the second-床に打ち倒す sitting room of the big house on the Old Ostable Road, was reclining in an 平易な-議長，司会を務める, pampering a slight 頭痛 and listening to her granddaughter, Elizabeth Cartwright, who was reading aloud. The novel 行方不明になる Cartwright was reading was one of half a dozen which the Boston bookseller, who knew Mrs. Truman's taste in literature, had sent 負かす／撃墜する. It was a romance just then receiving かなりの attention by newspaper reviewers. The 大多数 of Denboro would have considered it decidedly daring.

Mrs. Truman was wearing an (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する negligee. Her brown hair was carefully waved and arranged. The jewels in her ears and upon her soft plump fingers were expensive. Her stockings—she had always been proud of her ankles—were of 罰金 silk. There were tiny wrinkles about her 注目する，もくろむs and at the corners of her mouth, but her cheeks were smooth and rosy. She did not look her age, nor did she ーするつもりである to look it. It was one of her 所有／入手s of which she was not proud.

There was a knock at the door and Mary, the housemaid, appeared to 発表する that a young man had called and wished to see her mistress on a 事柄 of 商売／仕事.

Mrs. Truman's 頭痛 had not helped her temper. "I can't see any one, Mary," she snapped. "You know it perfectly 井戸／弁護士席. Who is he, anyway? What is this 商売／仕事 of his?"

"I don't know, ma'am. He said it was important. His 指名する is Bradford."

Mrs. Truman appeared to forget her 頭痛. She sat up in the 議長，司会を務める. "Bradford!" she repeated はっきりと. "Bradford, did you say?"

"Yes, ma'am. He—"

"What Bradford? Do you know him, Mary?"

The maid was a Denboro 製品. She had lived in the town all her life. "Yes, ma'am," she replied. "I know who he is. He's that young lawyer that's just moved into 裁判官 Blodgett's room 負かす／撃墜する in the 地位，任命する-office buildin'. Mrs. Silas Bradford is his mother. Him and her live—"

But Mrs. Truman was on her feet by this time. She did not wait to hear more. "Silas Bradford's son," she cried almost shrilly. "What has he come here for?"

行方不明になる Cartwright put in a word. "Why, Grandmother," she begged, "what is the 事柄? Your 長，率いる—"

"Hush!...Where is he now?"

"負かす／撃墜する in the library, ma'am. I told him I didn't think you could see him, but he—"

"Be still. Tell him I'll be 負かす／撃墜する at once. Elizabeth, help me to 直す／買収する，八百長をする my wrapper; it must be a sight."

"But Grandmother, don't you think I had better see him for you?"

"No, I don't. I shall see him myself. Mary, don't stand there like an idiot. Go and tell him."

The maid 出発／死d. Elizabeth, very much puzzled by her grandmother's agitation, 補助装置d her in tidying her negligee. They descended the stairs together. Halfway 負かす／撃墜する Mrs. Truman paused.

"It might be better for me to see him alone," she said. "If I knew what on earth brought him here, I— Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! you may come with me, Elizabeth. If I want you to go later I'll let you know."

Banks Bradford rose to 会合，会う them as they entered the library. It was a good-sized room with many 調書をとる／予約するs in it; the only 私的な library worthy the 指名する in Denboro. Mrs. Truman 検査／視察するd the 報知係 through her gold and tortoise-爆撃する eyeglasses.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Truman," said Banks.

"How do you do?" she 定評のある curtly. "井戸／弁護士席, sir, what is it?"

She did not ask him to sit 負かす／撃墜する again, nor did she sit, or introduce her granddaughter. She 星／主役にするd so 刻々と that Banks' nervousness—for he was already more than a little nervous— 増加するd.

"I （機の）カム to see you," he said, stammering わずかに, "on に代わって of— er—of a friend of 地雷. He isn't a （弁護士の）依頼人 正確に／まさに—not yet; but he has asked my advice in a 事柄 in which you are 関心d, Mrs. Truman."

"What are you talking about? What 事柄? What friend?"

"The 事柄 of an antique sideboard which you bought of him last spring. Mr. Tadgett says he sold you that sideboard and that at the time you liked it and 受託するd it. Now recently, so he says, you tell him that you have changed your mind and don't want it. This puts him in an embarrassing position, Mrs. Truman. He paid for the sideboard when he bought it for you—after you had 受託するd it and it had been 配達するd here—with his own money. It was a good 取引，協定 of money, more than he can spare."

Mrs. Elijah Truman interrupted. She had listened to this explanation intently and with the same searching, 尋問 星／主役にする in her keen 注目する，もくろむs. Now her 表現 changed.

"Wait!" she ordered. "One moment, please. Am I to understand that you are Ebenezer Tadgett's lawyer and that he sent you here to collect what he says I 借りがある him?"

"Why, not 正確に／まさに, Mrs. Truman. He didn't send me. I （機の）カム because I thought a friendly talk, an explanation of his 味方する of the 事件／事情／状勢, might save a lot of trouble."

"Trouble? For whom?"

"For both Mr. Tadgett and—yourself, Mrs. Truman."

"Hum! And if I don't 支払う／賃金 he will go to 法律 about it? And you will help him? Is that it, Mr.—er—Bradford? Bradford is the 指名する, isn't it?"

"Yes, Mrs. Truman. I am Banks Bradford. As for going to 法律— 井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Tadgett would prefer not to do that, of course. On the other 手渡す—"

"On the other 手渡す he will unless I 支払う／賃金 for his old sideboard. 井戸／弁護士席, I shall do nothing of the 肉親，親類d and you may tell him so...No, Elizabeth, you needn't go; perhaps you had better hear the 残り／休憩（する） of this. Now, Mr. Bradford, is Ebenezer Tadgett's sideboard the 事柄 of 商売／仕事 you （機の）カム to see me about?"

"Yes, Mrs. Truman."

"The only one? There was nothing else?"

"Why, no. As I tried to explain, I—"

"Yes, yes. 井戸／弁護士席 then, if that is all, you may tell Mr. Tadgett I don't like the board he tried to 軍隊 on me. It is out in my carriage house now and he may have it any time he cares to send for it. Are you his lawyer?"

"Why—井戸／弁護士席—井戸／弁護士席, yes, I am."

"Then I shall 言及する you to my lawyer, Mr. Oscar Brooks, of Ostable. He will look out for my 利益／興味s and you and he may quibble and squabble to your heart's content, so long as you don't trouble me. That is all we need say on that 支配する, I think, Mr. Bradford."

She 配達するd this 事務的な 声明 in a 事務的な way but—or so it seemed to him—with far いっそう少なく sharpness of トン and manner than she had shown in the beginning. He smiled. "It would seem to be all that needs to be said—to-day, Mrs. Truman," he agreed pleasantly.

He turned to go, but she 拘留するd him. "Wait," she said. "That 存在 settled, 一時的に at least, I am still a little curious. How does it happen that you are 代表するing that old 詐欺— Tadgett, I mean?"

"He isn't a 詐欺, Mrs. Truman."

"That is a 事柄 of opinion. But why did he ask you to help him?"

As a 事柄 of fact, Ebenezer had never asked for help, except in the way of advice. He was not aware of Bradford's visit to the Truman house; Banks, having made up his mind, was 事実上の／代理 完全に on his own 責任／義務. This, however, he みなすd unnecessary to explain.

"Mr. Tadgett is, as I said, a friend of 地雷. I am practicing 法律 in Denboro now and my office, like Mr. Tadgett's shop, is in the 地位，任命する-office building."

"I see. You are Silas Bradford's son, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Truman."

"That is 利益／興味ing. It is 半端物 that you and I have never met. Your father was my husband's partner in 商売／仕事 at one time."

Banks might have replied, and truthfully, that they had met several times in the course of years but that the lady had never deigned to remember him from one 会合 to the next. Instead, he said 簡単に, "Yes, Mrs. Truman."

"Hum! So you are Silas Bradford's son. You look like your father, did you know it?"

"So people say, I believe."

"Yes. 井戸／弁護士席, looks like his won't do you any 害（を与える）. And you are living here in town—with your mother, I suppose?"

"Yes."

"Why did you decide to 位置を示す in this countrified place?"

Banks, 抑えるing a 願望（する） to tell her that he considered that no one's 事件／事情／状勢 but his own, explained 簡潔に. He had finished 法律 school, was of course compelled to begin practice somewhere, and had decided to 受託する the 適切な時期 which his uncle had called to his attention.

She nodded. "So Abijah Bradford was responsible," she 観察するd. "He would be. This town is his idea of perfection. Your father was—different."

This 存在 a 声明 and not a question, Banks made no comment. "Is there anything else, Mrs. Truman?" he asked.

"No, I think not. Considering that you are ーするつもりであるing to drag me into 法廷，裁判所 and all that sort of thing, it is やめる enough, I should say. However, we all make mistakes—and 利益（をあげる） by them, if we have brains enough to 利益（をあげる） by anything. If you have your father's ability 同様に as his good looks, you will get along, I imagine, even in Denboro—that is, 供給するd you are not— 井戸／弁護士席, good day, Mr. Bradford."

Banks was at the door, but 行方不明になる Cartwright happened to be standing in his path and they almost 衝突する／食い違うd. Elizabeth, having been ordered by her grandmother to remain during the interview, had done so. Beyond giving her that order Mrs. Truman had ignored her utterly and the girl was feeling decidedly ぎこちない and out of place.

"I beg your 容赦," stammered Bradford.

Elizabeth murmured something. Mrs. Truman spoke. "Oh," she said carelessly. "Mr. Bradford, this is my granddaughter, Elizabeth Cartwright. If you put me in 刑務所，拘置所 for stealing your beloved Tadgett's sideboard you'll have to put her there too. She goes wherever I do."

The young people 屈服するd. Mrs. Truman rang the bell, and a moment later Banks was shown to the 前線 door by the maid. His feelings as he walked the mile between the Old Ostable Road and his office were 変化させるd. He stood committed now, without 令状 from Ebenezer himself, and whether the 事件／事情／状勢 would or would not 証明する to be the first 広大な／多数の／重要な mistake of his life remained to be seen. 井戸／弁護士席, no 事柄—he was in for it.

Mrs. Truman had surprised him. She had 扱う／治療するd his 原因（となる） and his （弁護士の）依頼人 cavalierly enough, but she had been polite, almost friendly, to him 本人自身で. Condescending, yes—but pleasant. She must have known his father 井戸／弁護士席. That was 半端物, for によれば his mother's story old Captain Elijah's second marriage had not taken place until after Silas Bradford's death. No 疑問 though Elijah had told her about his former partner; 賞賛するd him, probably, as did all who had known him.

At any 率, Elizabeth Cartwright was a mighty pretty girl. He should like to know her better. Not much chance for の近くに acquaintanceship now that he was to bring 控訴 against her grandmother for nonpayment of 負債.

In the library of the big house, after the 出口 of their 報知係, Mrs. Truman stood for a moment in silence by the window.

"Dear me," she sighed, turning away. "I shall begin to believe in ghosts after this. When I walked into this room and saw him standing there I could have sworn Silas Bradford had come to life."

Elizabeth, too, was thinking. "I am almost sure I have met him before," she mused. "Have I, Grandmother?"

"No, you 港／避難所't"—はっきりと..." And he is going to live here in Denboro! Tut, tut! I'm sorry."

"But why, Grandmother? You're not afraid that he or that funny old Mr. Tadgett can make you 支払う／賃金 for a sideboard you didn't buy?"

"Humph! I imagine he ーするつもりであるs 証明するing that I did buy it. But that doesn't trouble me. I don't like ghosts, that's all...Oh, dear, my poor 長，率いる is beginning to ache again. Get me upstairs, child; come! Careful—don't step on that ruffle. I like this wrapper; it 控訴s my complexion and I don't want it 廃虚d."

Banks' scene with Tadgett, when he told the latter what he had done and what he 提案するd doing, was not so difficult as the young man had 心配するd. Ebenezer seemed more stunned than 反抗的な, and most of his 苦悩 appeared to be rather on his friend's account than his own.

"You hadn't せねばならない have done it, boy," he 宣言するd over and over again. "And it's all my fault for runnin' to you with my troubles. Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? Now look at the mess you're in!"

"It's the other 味方する that are in a mess. This is going to be fun— for you and me, Ebenezer."

"I want to know! I'm old man Tadgett, the junk 売買業者, and she's Elijah Truman's 未亡人. Fun! Um—yes! Dan'l in the lion's den was nothin' to it, fur's fun is 関心d."

"That's all 権利. Daniel had all the fun there was in that 捨てる, if I remember 正確に. Now I want you to tell me all about this sideboard 商売／仕事—who you bought it of; what you and they know about it; every last thing."

Tagdett told him. Banks made many 公式文書，認めるs, jotting 負かす／撃墜する 指名するs, 演説（する）／住所s and 人物／姿／数字s.

"If you're not mistaken and we can 証明する all this," he 宣言するd gleefully, "the 対立 hasn't got a 脚 to stand on. I 疑問 if they ever let it come into 法廷，裁判所 at all. Don't talk about it to 部外者s, Ebenezer."

"Needn't worry, I shan't. But if this whole yarn, with extra trimmin's and ruffles, ain't washed, rinsed and hung up to 乾燥した，日照りの in every 支援する yard from South Denboro to Poket Neck afore this week's over, then I 行方不明になる my guess. Wait till Cap'n 'Bijah knows what I've got his 甥 into! And third cousin Hettie! My grief!"

一時期／支部 6

Before another week had ended all Denboro was chuckling over the joke. Eb Tadgett had sold some of his secondhand junk to Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman and when she got the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, or bureau or sideboard or whatever it was, home and had a chance to look at it in a good light, 自然に she didn't want it and wouldn't 支払う／賃金 the 法案. So Tadgett—ha, ha!—was calculating to 告訴する her in 法廷，裁判所, and he'd 説得するd young Bradford into 扱うing the 事例／患者 for him. Did you ever in your born days! Ebenezer Tadgett trying to make Mrs. Elijah Truman do something she didn't want to do! And the Bradford boy 選ぶing his chestnuts out of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 for him! Nice way for a new lawyer to start in, wasn't it?

Most people professed to be sorry for Banks. They 非難するd Abijah Bradford for letting the young fellow make such a fool of himself. Several 井戸／弁護士席-meaning friends dropped in at the Malabar Hotel and hinted to the captain that he use his 影響（力） to have the 事柄 quashed. "Let the boy 支援する out before Lawyer Brooks kicks him out," was their counsel. Captain Bije shrugged in pretended 無関心／冷淡.

"A green 手渡す has to learn by experience," he said. "If Banks had come to me in the beginnin' I'd have most likely said '手渡すs off.' He didn't come, so now he's got to steer his own course. It'll do him good in the long run. And he might make port—you can't tell. Trouble with you folks is that you've lived around here so long that you're 脅すd to death of the 指名する of Truman. When Cap'n Elijah was alive all he had to do was hoist his 旗 and every last one of you 運ぶ／漁獲高d yours 負かす／撃墜する. Banks has got a pretty good 指名する of his own; a Bradford doesn't have to 下落する his colors to anybody. The boy may be foolish and cocky—that goes with his age—but he's got 勇気 enough to put up a fight, and it would tickle me to death to see him 勝利，勝つ it."

In conversation with his 甥, however, he sang a different tune. "You're makin' yourself the town goat," he 宣言するd indignantly. "All 手渡すs are laughin' at you behind your 支援する—and at me, too, I 推定する likely. Here I've been puttin' in a good word for you, braggin' about what you did for Caldwell, and you have to go and upset the kettle. Gettin' in wrong with Maybelle Truman and her tribe! Suin' your father's partner's 未亡人 and makin' a laughin'- 在庫／株 of yourself just to help out a half-割れ目d tin peddler like Eb Tadgett."

"Tadgett isn't 割れ目d, Uncle Bije."

"井戸／弁護士席, his wife is; and he's lived with her so long he has probably caught the 病気."

"Now wait a minute, Uncle. I know all about this （人命などを）奪う，主張する of Ebenezer's and it is a good one."

"Huh! And all for a 事柄 of—what is it?—forty or fifty dollars. I 宣言する I'd almost rather have paid Tadgett's 法案 myself."

"It's a good 取引，協定 more than fifty dollars. And it isn't the money altogether. Mrs. Truman 告発する／非難するs Ebenezer of selling her a 偽の for a 本物の article. He doesn't do that sort of thing. His 商売／仕事 評判 is at 火刑／賭ける and I'm going to （疑いを）晴らす it for him. You are going to be surprised, sir."

"Humph! I'm surprised already, to find out that Silas' son has got so little of his dad's ありふれた sense. Hettie told you her opinion of it yet, has she?" In spite of his irritation his lip twitched as he asked the question.

Banks laughed 完全な. "Oh, yes!" he answered. "Cousin Hettie is sure I'm 飛行機で行くing in the 直面する of the Lord's anointed. She all but prays over me."

Abijah snorted and snatched his hat from the 最高の，を越す of the desk. "You're a young jackass," he 宣言するd, "and as stubborn as the four-legged 肉親，親類d...Now what are you grinnin' at? What's funny now?"

"Oh, lots of things. There is one thing I 港／避難所't told you, Uncle Bije. Mrs. Truman's lawyer was in here to see me this morning."

His uncle's 注目する，もくろむs and mouth opened. "What!" he cried. "Oscar Brooks （機の）カム here—to see you? Why?"

"I suppose because I wrote him I was too busy to go to Ostable and see him. He didn't say so 正確に／まさに, but I have an idea that Mrs. Truman is not anxious to have this 事例／患者 tried in open 法廷，裁判所. Mr. Brooks hinted—or he would if I had let him—that some sort of 妥協 might be possible."

"What's that? If you had let him! Do you mean to say—"

"I don't want it 妥協d. I told Brooks that."

"You told— My Lord A'mighty!"

"Yes. He 示唆するd that we agree to a 審理，公聴会 before a 審判（をする）. 井戸／弁護士席, I don't mind that; 供給するd, of course, that the 審判（をする） is 満足な to our 味方する. I told him that I would 協議する my （弁護士の）依頼人. If Tadgett agrees—and I guess he will if I say so—I am going to 示唆する that 裁判官 Bangs, of Bayport, be the 審判（をする）. He is a good lawyer and a square man, so everybody says. He is, isn't he?"

Captain Abijah's feelings were too 深い for coherent 表現. "Why—why, you—" he spluttered.

"I shall see Ebenezer pretty soon and then get in touch with Mr. Brooks. When it is decided whether we go before a 審判（をする） or the 法廷，裁判所 I'll let you know, of course. It is all 権利 either way, so far as our 味方する is 関心d. Don't you worry, Uncle Bije."

His uncle strode from the office. "Either you need a keeper or I do," was his parting 観察.

A week or so later Denboro was discussing a fresh news item. The 事例／患者 of Tadgett versus Truman was not to go before the 法廷，裁判所 at Ostable, after all. Instead, there was to be a 審理，公聴会 before 元，前 裁判官 Freeman Bangs, who was coming over from Bayport to 行為／法令／行動する as 審判（をする）, and the 裁判官's 決定／判定勝ち（する） was to be final. The 審理，公聴会 was to take place in the big and still 空いている 前線 room of what had been 裁判官 Blodgett's 控訴 in the 地位，任命する-office building on Friday afternoon. So far no notice had been given that the public were 閉めだした from 出席, and unless such notice was given a fair 株 of the public meant to be on 手渡す.

Captain Abijah made one more call upon his 甥. The time was Thursday, the day before the 死刑執行, so to speak, and the captain's call was in the nature of a 別れの（言葉，会） visit to the 非難するd.

Banks seemed glad to see him. "Going to 減少（する） in on us to-morrow, sir?" he asked cheerfully. "I hope you will. I may need all the family support."

Abijah groaned. "I'll be there," he said. "Every loafer in town is plannin' to come, and a few respectable folks せねばならない be '一連の会議、交渉／完成する to keep the place smellin' 甘い. I don't know as you know it, but the general notion is that tomorrow's 解放する／自由な show will be better than the circus. They're countin' on watchin' Oscar Brooks 割れ目 the whip while you and Tadgett hop through the hoops. Heavens and earth, boy, have you got a chance or are you just bluffin'?"

"I've got all the chance in the world, sir. Wait and see."

"I'm waitin'. Look here, every time I talk with your mother she's as serene as a flat 静める in a mill pond. That is, she is to me. How does she talk to you?"

"Oh, she is nervous, of course. She is afraid the Truman money and 影響（力） may be too much for me. But she is sure Mr. Tadgett is an honest man and that I am doing the 権利 thing in making his fight for him."

"Ye-es," was the sarcastic comment, "I don't 疑問 it. She'd think 'twas all 権利 to 告訴する the 大統領 of the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs if you thought so first. Is she comin' to the circus?"

"No. She says she doesn't want Denboro to say that I can't move unless my mother tags after me. That is silly, of course. Perhaps there is some other 推論する／理由, but if so I don't know what it is."

"Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, probably she realizes that everybody would be starin' at her and grinnin' at me. I never wished more than I do this minute that your father was alive to take the 責任／義務 for you off my 手渡すs. By 雷鳴, if you only could pull this off I'd—I'd— Say, don't you 沈む without a fight, boy. Remember you're a Bradford and give 'em all you've got."

The eighteen-by-twenty room which had been the Blodgett 前線 office held twenty or thirty people that Friday afternoon. It would have been （人が）群がるd had seats been 供給するd for 観客s, but as the 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of 議長，司会を務めるs by the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する were reserved for 原告／提訴人, 被告, 証言，証人／目撃するs and counsel, and as standing room was uncomfortable, the 出席 苦しむd. Captain Abijah and Cousin Hettie were 供給するd with 議長，司会を務めるs; Banks brought them in from his own room.

Cousin Hettie had called at the Malabar, without 招待, and had 主張するd upon …を伴ってing the captain to the 審理，公聴会. She had arrived at the hotel in what she would have called a 明言する／公表する. Abijah, who was far from placid himself, lost patience.

"Oh, do shut up!" he ordered. "I 宣言する to man you make me feel as if I was goin' to the boy's funeral! Suppose he does take a lickin' from Oscar Brooks and Maybelle Truman, what of it? And maybe he won't. Why, for 雷鳴 sakes, don't you look on the 有望な 味方する once in a while?"

Cousin Hettie wiped her 注目する，もくろむs. "If you'll show me any 有望な 味方する to this mortifying 商売／仕事 I'll be only too glad to look at it," she wailed. "Just think of it—only just think of it! Making enemies of the most 影響力のある folks in this town. And his father's partner's own 未亡人. A Truman! Where will us Bradfords go to hide our 減らすd 長，率いるs when this day's over, Abijah? You tell me that."

The captain's teeth snapped together. "It takes all my main strength to keep from tellin' one Bradford where to go this minute," he 公約するd. Cousin Hettie was 感情を害する／違反するd and shocked. The conversation ended there and then and was not 再開するd during the short walk to the room in the 地位，任命する-office building.

White-haired 裁判官 Bangs made his 外見 正確に at two o'clock. He took his seat behind the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and peered over his spectacles. He rapped for order. "You 代表する Mr. Ebenezer Tadgett in this 事柄, I believe, Mr. Bradford," he said.

"Yes, sir."

"I see. I believe you and I have never met before, Mr. Bradford. Capt. Silas Bradford was your father, I understand. A very 罰金 man."

得点する／非難する／２０ one for the Bradfords. Those 近づく Cousin Hettie heard her stays creak as her bosom 拡大するd with family pride.

"Will you 明言する／公表する your （弁護士の）依頼人's 事例／患者, Mr. Bradford."

Banks 明言する／公表するd it. He told the whole story of the （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 to find a sideboard such as Mrs. Truman 願望（する）d, its 発見 by Ebenezer, its 購入（する） by Mrs. Truman. Then of the lady's belated 拒絶 to 受託する and her 表明するd 不信 in its genuineness. Mr. Tadgett, he said, had spent much money of his own for the board, which he would not have done had not Mrs. Truman definitely agreed to 購入（する） and at a price agreed upon by them both. Also he had given two months' labor to its 復古／返還. The loss of money and time were 第２位, however, so he said in 結論, to the 損失 done his （弁護士の）依頼人 by the 中傷する upon his character as an honest 商売／仕事 man. To （疑いを）晴らす the Tadgett character from stain was the 最初の／主要な 推論する／理由 for this 審理，公聴会.

裁判官 Bangs listened thoughtfully. "That is all, Mr. Bradford?" he asked.

"All that I have to say at 現在の, sir. We shall call 証言，証人／目撃するs."

"Yes, yes; of course. Mr. Brooks, is it your 意向, on に代わって of Mrs. Truman, to 否定する 購入（する）ing the sideboard?"

Mr. Brooks rose. He was a stout 年輩の man, rather pompous; a lawyer of the old school. His manner of speech was inclined toward the oratorical. Just now he was not in the best of humors. He had neglected, in arranging with Banks for the 審理，公聴会, to 主張する that it be 厳密に 私的な. Mrs. Truman was irritated because of the presence of 観客s and had 表明するd her 不賛成 はっきりと.

"My only 推論する／理由 for wanting it kept out of 法廷，裁判所," she snapped, "was to 妨げる 存在 made part of a public show. And here is a good 株 of the town riffraff standing around with their mouths open. If you ask my opinion I don't mind calling it poor 管理／経営. I will not be made a spectacle before all 創造— I'll 支払う／賃金 the 法案 first."

So Mr. Brooks was unhappy. にもかかわらず, after （疑いを）晴らすing his throat and adjusting his glasses, he smiled respectfully upon 裁判官 Bangs and condescendingly upon Banks Bradford.

"Your 栄誉（を受ける）," he began, "my young friend here"—with a gesture toward Banks—"has, I 恐れる, 急落（する），激減（する）d into this 事柄 with the—er— impetuosity of 青年. There is a 井戸／弁護士席-known proverb which tells us that a—er—井戸／弁護士席, a 確かな type of individual 急ぐs in where angels 恐れる to tread. Not that I am 分類するing my young brother in the profession as that sort of individual; but he has 急ぐd. Indeed he has!" He paused, blandly smiling acknowledgment of chuckles from the 後部 of the room.

裁判官 Bangs broke in before he could 再開する. "I was not, of course, asking you to begin your 弁護 just yet, Mr. Brooks," he said. "I thought it might 促進する 事柄s to have you tell us what line that 弁護 提案するd to take. Does your （弁護士の）依頼人 否定する 購入（する）ing the sideboard? Or does she 辞退する 受託 and 支払い（額） because the board is not what Mr. Tadgett 代表するd it to be when he sold it to her?"

"Why—er—principally the latter, your 栄誉（を受ける）. We feel that my （弁護士の）依頼人 has 推論する／理由s, strong and 適する 推論する／理由s, for 疑問ing the age and 質 and その結果 the value of the board 配達するd at her house during her absence by the man Tadgett."

"I see. Thank you, Mr. Brooks. You may go on, Mr. Bradford."

Banks turned to Ebenezer, who was sitting next him. "Mr. Tadgett," he said, "will you tell us how you 設立する the board for Mrs. Truman— at her request, I mean—and about selling it to her?"

Ebenezer rose and took the 議長，司会を務める which had been 始める，決める apart for the use of 証言，証人／目撃するs. He was dressed in his Sunday 控訴, which did not fit him very 井戸／弁護士席, and his hair, what there was of it, was carefully "悪賢いd." He nodded to the 審判（をする）.

"How are you, 裁判官?" he said pleasantly.

There was more laughter from the 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of standees in the 後部. 裁判官 Bangs rapped for order. "Mr. Tadgett and I are old 知識s," he explained, smiling. "Go on, Mr. Tadgett."

Ebenezer turned toward his 弁護士／代理人／検事. "What was it you said I'd better tell fust, Banks?" he 問い合わせd.

More and louder laughter. 裁判官 Bangs rapped はっきりと. "We must have order here," he 発表するd. "Tell the whole story in your own way, Mr. Tadgett."

"All 権利, 裁判官. This is how she started." He told of Mrs. Truman's 召喚するing him to her house and （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限ing him to find a sideboard for her. "I didn't have what she was lookin' for in 在庫／株," he said. "I can't afford to keep them 肉親，親類d of things on 手渡す, 一般に speakin'—not in Denboro, I can't. Course once in a while I get 持つ／拘留する of a good thing—get it cheap, you understand— but most of my 貿易（する） is in what I call junk. The heft of what I buy is junk and most of my 顧客s are junk 顧客s, as you might say."

"Haw, haw! That's a good one!" It was Jotham Gott who had spoken, and now he was 努力するing to efface himself behind the 支援する 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of 観客s.

裁判官 Bangs looked in his direction. "One more 突発／発生 of that 肉親，親類d," he 発表するd, "and the room will be （疑いを）晴らすd. Go on, Mr. Tadgett."

Tadgett went on. He had known for a long time where-about such a sideboard as Mrs. Truman 願望（する）d was 位置を示すd, but he had never tried to buy it because he was not sure it was for sale at any price and certainly at no price such as he could afford to 支払う／賃金.

"The folks that owned it, they—井戸／弁護士席, they knew 'twas pretty good," he drawled. "Or if they didn't, they would know it soon's I or anybody else tried to buy it. You see, 裁判官," he went on, leaning confidentially across the arm of his 議長，司会を務める, "buyin' antiques is a funny 肉親，親類d of a game. You've got a 議長，司会を務める, say, that's been up attic so long that a 団体／死体 can't hardly tell where the cobwebs leave off and the 破産した／（警察が）手入れするd 急ぐ seat begins. It ain't no good to you and you'd have chopped it up long ago only it's hardwood and 'twould cost more to get your ax ground afterwards than the 価値（がある） of kindlin' you'd get out of it. But"—he 解除するd a finger—"but you let ME get up into that attic and say I'll give you fifty cents for it and all to once you wouldn't sell it short of a dollar and a half. And if I'm crazy enough—course I wouldn't be buyin' secondhand stuff if I 病弱な't crazy—if I'm loony enough to say I'll give you the dollar fifty, you jump your price to three. And THEN you won't sell it. Why? Lord A'mighty knows. It's human nature, I 推定する likely."

Even 裁判官 Bangs laughed now. "No 疑問, Mr. Tadgett," he agreed. "井戸／弁護士席, go on. Make it as 簡潔な／要約する as you can."

"All 権利, 裁判官. These folks that owned this sideboard, they had it 蓄える／店d up in their 支援する loft, where they kept stuff they didn't use but couldn't 耐える to part with. 事柄 of fact, they ain't the 肉親，親類d that part 平易な from anything they've got. About the only thing I've ever heard of their GIVIN' anybody was the mumps; and that was a good many year ago."

Bangs rapped the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "Order!" he 命令（する）d. "Mr. Tadgett, you must keep to your 支配する or keep still...Mr. Bradford, unless your 証言，証人／目撃する tells his story in a proper manner I shall 辞退する to hear him."

Ebenezer わびるd. "I'm sorry, 裁判官," he said 真面目に, "I am so. When I get a-goin' I'm liable to think out loud, I guess. 井戸／弁護士席, this is how 'twas."

He went on, still rambling a good 取引，協定, but in the main, and 誘発するd by Bradford, sticking to his text. His story was a repetition and 拡大 of that told by Banks in his 声明 of the 事例／患者.

"There!" he said in 結論, "that's about all, I guess. You see how 'tis with me, don't you, 裁判官? Sorry I was so long- winded, but—"

"Yes, yes," あわてて. "Mr. Bradford, have you any questions you wish to ask the 証言，証人／目撃する?"

"No, sir."

"And you, Mr. Brooks?"

Brooks rose ponderously. He stepped in 前線 of Ebenezer and leveled a finger at the latter's nose. "Mr. Tadgett," he began, "of whom did you buy the sideboard which you sold—that is, which you 試みる／企てるd to sell to Mrs. Truman?"

"Eh? Oh, I told her all about that."

"Never mind what you told her. You told her a good many things, I should imagine. Where did you get that sideboard?"

"Got it of Mrs. Abial Simpkins. She'll tell you all about it. She's sittin' 権利 there." He pointed toward the occupant of the 議長，司会を務める next to that 占領するd by Banks. "There she is," he repeated. "She'll tell you—won't you, Susannah?"

Mrs. Simpkins bounced to her feet. She was a small thin old woman, and just now she was very much agitated. "I should say I would tell!" she cried in shrill indignation. "If I ever get the chance, that is. How much longer have I got to 始める，決める here? Dragged away from my 家事, dinner dishes not done, and comp'ny comin' to- morrow. A 団体／死体'd think all I had to do was listen to you men talk."

裁判官 Bangs' rapping and Banks Bradford's 説得／派閥s 軍隊d her 支援する into the 議長，司会を務める and a 一時的な silence. Mr. Brooks again leveled his finger at the Tadgett nose.

"Now, Mr. Tadgett," he ordered imperiously, "answer this. Speak up, so every one can hear what you say. What price did you 支払う／賃金 Mrs. Simpkins for her sideboard?"

"Eh? What price?"

"Price—yes. It is a plain word, isn't it? Will you tell us, or won't you?"

"I'd just as soon tell as not. Only I 約束d Susannah I'd 肉親，親類d of keep it to myself, and—"

"Answer the question," 命令（する）d Bangs.

"Just as you say, 裁判官. Stand between me and Susannah, that's all I ask. There was かなりの hagglin' and higglin' 支援する and 前へ／外へ, but finally I paid her two hundred and eight dollars and done my own cartin'."

"Two hundred and eight dollars!" Mr. Brooks looked triumphantly about the room. "You paid her two hundred and eight dollars and you 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d Mrs. Truman three hundred. Three hundred! Do you consider that a fair 利益（をあげる）, Mr. Tadgett?"

"No, I don't know's I do."

"What? Oh, you don't! You 収容する／認める then that it was an 不公平な one."

"肉親，親類d of 不公平な to me. I put in two months resurrectin' and scrapin' and polishin'. Cartin' cost me four dollars more—that's two twelve; leaves eighty-eight. Divide that by eight again—I put in all of eight weeks on it; that's an 普通の／平均（する） of eleven dollars a week. I don't hardly call that a fair 利益（をあげる）. You get more'n that out of Mrs. Truman yourself, just for comin' over here and pickin' a fuss with me, Oscar. Come now, don't you?"

During the 騒動 which followed this 予期しない retort Mr. Brooks and his （弁護士の）依頼人 held a 簡潔な／要約する 協議. The former turned 支援する. He was red in the 直面する.

"We'll leave the 支配する of price for a moment," he answered snappishly. "Now, Tadgett, answer this: When you tried to sell Mrs. Truman this sideboard did you or did you not tell her that it was a 本物の old one? A 罰金 見本／標本 in every way?"

"Um-hum. That's what I told her."

"And you told her that it was 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） three hundred dollars?"

"No. I told her 'twas 価値（がある） a darned sight more'n that. And 'tis, too, the way prices for them 肉親，親類d of boards are runnin' these days."

"Yes"—sarcastically. "Your 栄誉（を受ける）," he said, turning to 裁判官 Bangs, "Mrs. Truman has 協議するd 専門家s—Boston 専門家s in old furniture—and they 保証する her that three hundred dollars is a ridiculous price for a sideboard like this. Even if it were genuinely old, and what this man 代表するd it to her to be, it—"

But Ebenezer Tadgett 削減（する） in here. "It is old," he 宣言するd loudly. "There ain't a dowel in it that ain't old."

The 審判（をする）'s overworked gavel was called into 活動／戦闘 once more. "That will do," he 命令（する）d. "You will have an 適切な時期 to disprove its genuineness later, Mr. Brooks. Have you finished with Mr. Tadgett for the 現在の?...Very 井戸／弁護士席...That will do, Mr. Tadgett. Go on, Mr. Bradford."

Banks was smiling. "裁判官 Bangs," he said, "I should like to ask Mr. Brooks if he and Mrs. Truman have one of those Boston '専門家s' here 現在の to 証言する as to the 質s of the sideboard."

"Have you, Mr. Brooks?" 問い合わせd the 裁判官.

Brooks shrugged impatiently. "We have not, your 栄誉（を受ける）," he replied. "They are very busy men, and 率直に we did not consider it necessary to bring them 負かす／撃墜する from the city on such a trivial 事柄."

Banks' smile broadened. "Your 栄誉（を受ける）," he said, "we are 用意が出来ている to 証明する that the '専門家s' are partners in a Boston house which 取引，協定s in antiques and that they sold Mrs. Truman a sideboard from their own 在庫／株 after she had agreed to buy this one of Mr. Tadgett. The sideboard she bought of them is in her dining room now. That is true, isn't it, Mr. Brooks?"

"Why— Your 栄誉（を受ける）, the gentlemen are 定評のある by all connoisseurs to be—"

裁判官 Bangs 削減（する） him short. "All that must come later," he said. "Have you any more 証言，証人／目撃するs, Mr. Bradford?"

"Yes, sir. Mrs. Simpkins, we are ready for you now."

Mrs. Simpkins was herself more than ready. She flounced into the 議長，司会を務める vacated by Ebenezer like a chicken 飛行機で行くing to roost. "Now what do you want me to say?" she 需要・要求するd crisply. "Hurry up, '原因（となる） it's high time I was home attendin' to somethin' 価値（がある） while."

"We should like to have you tell us what you know about the sideboard Ebenezer Tadgett bought of you last May."

"Know about it? I know everything about it. The only thing I didn't know was that anybody would 支払う／賃金 three hundred dollars for it. If I had, Ebenezer Tadgett would never have wheedled it out of me for two hundred and eight."

"Yes, of course. Now please tell us what you know of its history."

"I know all the history it's got. Man alive," she continued, 演説（する）／住所ing 裁判官 Bangs, "I've known that sideboard ever since I was 膝-high to it. It belonged to my grandfather fust—my grandfather on my mother's 味方する, that is to say. He was a Snow. One of the Wapatomac Snows. Wapatomac's where them 肉親，親類d of Snows come from. There's Snows over there yet, fur's that goes. My grandfather married a Bassett; she was his first wife—he married her afore he married his second, you understand. She was a 未亡人 when she married him; a 未亡人 with two—no, seems to me 'twas three children. I ain't just sure about that because she was dead when he married her—I mean, of course, when he married my own grandmother. 井戸／弁護士席—"

By this time the room was in a tumult. When 裁判官 Bangs had 後継するd in 回復するing order and a 部分 of his own composure he broke in upon the flow of the Simpkins family history. Mrs. Simpkins had been talking straight on and was at 現在の wandering in 追跡 of cousins and stepcousins many times 除去するd.

"Yes, yes. Wait, Mrs. Simpkins," he shouted. "Wait—please. About this sideboard. It belonged to your grandfather, you say. You know that to be a fact?"

"Course I know it. 港／避難所't I been tellin' you?"

"Wait. How do you know it?"

"How do I know I'm seventy year old next January? '原因（となる） I ain't やめる a fool, that's how. That sideboard was part of Grandfather Snow's weddin' outfit of furniture. His first weddin' outfit, I mean—the Bassett one. Land sakes, don't I remember him tellin' me how he scrimped and saved to get married? He was a 船長／主将 of a little mite of a codfish schooner when he was cruisin' after this Hepsy Bassett—she was the one with the children. He didn't own but one or two 株 in her—in the schooner, I mean."

"Wait—wait, Mrs. Simpkins. Your grandfather bought this board as part of his wedding outfit, you say?"

"I didn't say he bought it. He had it made for him. A man 指名するd Sylvanus Blount made it. Folks used to have their furniture made for 'em in those times. This Blount had learned his 貿易（する） up to— to Providence, seems to me 'twas, and he was a real 罰金 cabinetmaker. So Grandfather Snow he says to himself, says he: 'It's liable to take about the last 発射 I've got in the locker, but Hepsy she's a dreadful 罰金 woman.' He 病弱な't so everlastin' sartin of it after he'd been married to her a （一定の）期間, or so my own grandmother give me to understand, but that's what he said then. Anyhow—"

"A moment, Mrs. Simpkins. We must keep to the 支配する. You know that this is the board your grandfather had made by the Blount man? You're sure of it?"

"Mercy on us! Of course I'm sure. It's never been out of our family since. We used to use it when I was a young woman. After me and Abial bought the marble-最高の，を越す one we've got now—or I've got; Abial's been in the 約束d Land for nineteen years—we put this one up garret. It's been up there ever since, or was up to the time when I was weak-minded enough to let Ebenezer Tadgett wheedle me out of it for two hundred and eight dollars. I thought he was loose in the upper story to 支払う／賃金 any such price, although a year ago a summer man from New York 申し込む／申し出d me a hundred for it. But if I'd known Ebenezer was goin' to get three hundred—"

"Yes, yes. And you are perfectly sure—"

"Sure! Tut, tut! Why, I've got the 法案 for it."

"What 法案?"

"Sylvanus Blount's 法案 for makin' it for Grandfather Snow. 'Twas in his trunk there in the loft. When Banks Bradford （機の）カム to me tellin' me there was all this touse goin' on I went up and 追跡（する）d through all the old papers and I 設立する it."

There was a new sensation in the room. Banks stepped 今後. "Here is the 法案, 裁判官 Bangs," he said. "You will notice that it is 時代遅れの October 10, 1804."

Bangs 診察するd the time-yellowed paper. "Humph!" he 公約するd. "This seems authentic. Have you or Mrs. Truman seen this 法案, Mr. Brooks?"

It was evident that Mr. Brooks had neither seen it nor hitherto been aware of its 存在. He took the 法案 from the 裁判官's 手渡す. "Why—why—" he stammered.

Mrs. Truman called to him. "Let me see that, please," she 命令（する）d. He 手渡すd her the 法案. She and 行方不明になる Cartwright 診察するd it together.

"That is all, Mrs. Simpkins," said Banks. "Thank you very much."

Mrs. Simpkins bounced to her feet. "Can I go home now and do my dishes like a decent Christian?" she 需要・要求するd.

"So far as I am 関心d—yes."

"Much 強いるd to you, Susannah," put in Ebenezer.

Mr. Oscar Brooks stepped to the 前線. "One minute, Mrs. Simpkins," he ordered. "That 法案 may or may not be what it—ahem—趣旨s to be, but even if it is it does not 証明する that the board について言及するd in it is the one which Tadgett tried to sell my （弁護士の）依頼人. Mrs. Simpkins, have you any other proof—any real proof—that the sideboard you had in your loft is the one made for your grandfather by this—er—Blount?"

Susannah Simpkins 星／主役にするd at him. "There now," she exclaimed, "if I didn't forget the very thing I'd せねばならない have said in the first place. If you 運ぶ／漁獲高 out the second 前線 drawer and turn it over you'll find Sylvanus Blount's 指名する and 'October, 1804' 燃やすd into the drawer 底（に届く） with a hot poker. Course I wouldn't 断言する 'twas a poker he done it with, but it's there, anyhow. And always has been there, too...Now can I go home?"

She went. Mr. Brooks had nothing その上の to say to her. Mrs. Truman had 召喚するd him to her 味方する and was whispering volubly in his ear. He seemed to be arguing and expostulating.

"Anything more, Mr. Bradford?" asked the 審判（をする）.

Banks looked along the 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of 議長，司会を務めるs. "I should like to ask Mrs. Truman a few questions," he said. "Mrs. Truman—"

But Mrs. Truman paid no attention. She and her lawyer were still 深い in argument. Elizabeth Cartwright occasionally put in a word.

"Mrs. Truman," said Banks again.

Mr. Brooks （機の）カム to the 前線. He looked very much 乱すd. "Your 栄誉（を受ける）," he stammered, "I—I—er—ahem—my （弁護士の）依頼人 wishes me to say that she does not care to—er—to continue this—er—審理，公聴会. All this—er—publicity is 極端に distasteful to her. She— 井戸／弁護士席, she 主張するs upon my 説 that she will—er—支払う／賃金 the Tadgett 法案 for—for the sideboard."

And now there WAS a sensation.

"Order! Order!" cried 裁判官 Bangs. "Mrs. Truman, is this 訂正する? Do I understand—"

Mrs. Truman interrupted. "I hope you do," she said crisply. "I will 支払う／賃金 the 法案. I'll 支払う／賃金 it now, if that will end this ridiculous 事件／事情／状勢."

More sensation. Bangs looked at Bradford. "Is this 満足な to you and Mr. Tadgett?" he asked.

Banks was standing. Ebenezer was pulling excitedly at his sleeve but he did not turn.

"Not 完全に," he said. "My （弁護士の）依頼人 will not be 満足させるd with any 解決／入植地 other than 支払い（額） of 負債, 利益／興味 and costs. Also he 需要・要求するs a written acknowledgment from Mrs. Truman that the sideboard he sold to her is in every 尊敬（する）・点 正確に as he 代表するd it to her."

Oscar Brooks gurgled. "Outrageous!" he blustered. "Under no circumstances will I 許す—"

But again Mrs. Truman spoke. "He shall have his acknowledgment," she said, "and his 利益／興味 and whatever else he wants. I'll see that they are 手渡すd to him at his shop to-morrow morning. If I had known—if I had had a lawyer with ordinary ありふれた sense, I should never have— But there! I 推定する I'm not needed here any longer. Come, Elizabeth."

一時期／支部 7

If, as Captain Abijah had 宣言するd, Banks Bradford began that 審理，公聴会 as the town goat, he ended it as the town lion. Not a 円熟した and majestic lion, of course—the 事例／患者 of Tadgett versus Truman was scarcely important enough for that—but certainly a lion cub, for whom growth and majesty were prophesied. He had made a monkey of Oscar Brooks, and Denboro, the greater part of it, chuckled.

Banks' 勝利 was, 一般に speaking, a popular one, even though 完全に 予期しない. Mrs. Elijah Truman was not loved in Denboro. She was 尊敬（する）・点d because of her money and social position, but she had snubbed or ignored too many 国民s, male and 女性（の）, to be a favorite.

Denboro took off its hat when she passed, but it whispered behind her 支援する. "Stuck up"; "Thinks herself too good for ありふれた folks"— these were 批評s often 表明するd in 私的な. And the 評価 was likely to end with, "Humph! If what they say is true she wasn't so much before she married Cap'n Elijah and his money." So the 倒す of her 原因（となる） at the 審理，公聴会 was a source of gleeful cackles at many Denboro supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs that night.

The buttons of Captain Abijah's expansive waistcoat were, fortunately, securely fastened or they must have burst from their moorings. He was blown up with pride. But his manner, as he 迎える／歓迎するd his 甥 after 裁判官 Bangs had 発表するd the 審理，公聴会 at an end, was elaborately careless and 平易な. Any one watching him could see that he had always been perfectly 確かな of the 結果.

"井戸／弁護士席, boy," he said, in a 発言する／表明する 十分に loud to be heard in the 回廊（地帯） outside the room, "you did a good 職業, just as I knew you would. 扱うd everything first 率. Can't find any fault at all...井戸／弁護士席—er—I may 減少（する） in 負かす／撃墜する to the house by and by, if I ain't too busy. So long."

This was all, but the handshake which …を伴ってd the "So long" made Banks' fingers numb for several minutes.

Cousin Hettie did not 申し込む／申し出 congratulations—just then. She looked as if she were thinking of doing so and several times she moved in Banks' direction, but each time she 停止（させる）d, ちらりと見ることd nervously toward Mrs. Truman, and remained where she was. Finally she went away without joining the group surrounding her young 親族.

She called at the Mill Hill cottage that evening, however. 早期に as it was—Banks and his mother had not finished supper—Captain Abijah was already there. The captain was making no 成果／努力 to repress his feelings now; they were 泡ing over.

"Oh, my! Oh, my!" he crowed, 激しく揺するing 支援する and 前へ／外へ in his 議長，司会を務める and 続けざまに猛撃するing his 膝 in ecstasy, "if I 港／避難所't had a good time for the last couple of hours. And if I won't have a better one to- morrow! I walked into the ロビー over at the hotel and Bassett was sittin' astern of his desk, pretendin' to read the paper. I tried my best to look 負かす／撃墜する in the mouth. '井戸／弁護士席, Cap'n Bije,' he says, makin' believe he wasn't really 利益／興味d, 'how'd it go?' 'I'm 肉親，親類d of disappointed, Rinaldo,' I told him. 'Oh!' says he. 'Oh, 井戸／弁護士席—er—you mustn't mind. A young fellow like Banks can't hardly 推定する／予想する to 勝利，勝つ against an old-timer like Oscar Brooks; it's too 激しい 半端物s.'

"I turned around to 星／主役にする at him. 'What are you talkin' about?' says I. 'Banks won, all 権利.' His mouth flopped open like a henhouse door in a 強風. 'Wha—what!' says he. 'He won, you say?' 'Sure thing,' I said. 'He won—事例／患者, 利益／興味s and costs. I told you he'd 勝利，勝つ, didn't I?' 'But—but I thought you said you were disappointed,' he stuttered. 'So I am,' I said; 'it took him 十分な half an hour longer than I 推定する／予想するd.' 売春婦, 売春婦, 売春婦! Dear me! I wish you could have seen his 直面する."

He smote his 膝 again and whooped hilariously. Banks laughed also; he was 紅潮／摘発するd and excited. Margaret smiled; she had said very little, but the pride and happiness in her look as she listened to her brother-in-法律's 賞賛する of her son were やめる as expressive as his words. Cousin Hettie's laugh was rather 軍隊d. Abijah turned upon her.

"井戸／弁護士席, Hettie," he 需要・要求するd, "how about us Bradfords havin' to 追跡（する） up a 穴を開ける to stick our 長，率いるs into? If you know where there is that 肉親，親類d of a 穴を開ける I shouldn't wonder if Oscar Brooks would be glad to have you point it out to him. Looks as if he needed it more'n we do. 売春婦, 売春婦!"

Henrietta smiled, or tried to. "He did look pretty foolish, that's a fact," she 認める. "I wouldn't be in his place for something. He's been the Truman 助言者 ever since Cap'n Elijah's last days, but the way Mrs. Truman looked at him when that 審理，公聴会 was over must have made him guess he wouldn't be much longer. If I was her I'd get a new lawyer 権利 straight off."

"井戸／弁護士席," chuckled Captain Bije, "we know where there's a good one handy by—eh, Banks?" he 追加するd with a wink. "Boy did pretty 井戸／弁護士席 for a beginner; even you'll give in to that much, won't you, Hettie?"

Cousin Hettie bristled. "Don't you suppose I know Silie is real smart 同様に as you do?" she 需要・要求するd. "I only hope it will do him more good than 害（を与える）, that's all—in the end, I mean."

"害（を与える）! For mercy sakes, what 害（を与える） can it do him?"

"Oh, 'Bijah, be still; you know what I mean. Will Mrs. Truman 持つ／拘留する a grudge? That's what I'd like to be sure of."

"She won't; but suppose she does, what of it?"

"What of it? A 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of it. Her husband and poor Silas were の近くに dear friends and partners. Would you like to see a quarrel between Elijah's 未亡人 and Silas' son? I shouldn't."

Banks put in a word. "I don't think there will be any quarrel, Cousin Hettie," he said. "It was all perfectly fair. Mrs. Truman bought that sideboard; she knew she bought it. Three or four hundred dollars, more or いっそう少なく, will make little difference to her. Why should she 持つ／拘留する a grudge—against me, anyhow?"

"Don't 非難する her if she 持つ／拘留するs it against Brooks," chuckled Abijah.

Cousin Hettie shook her 長，率いる dubiously. "I dread the thought of any trouble between the Trumans and the Bradfords," she said. "All sorts of dead bygones would be raked up and talked over."

"What of it?" This from Abijah, the irrepressible. "The Bradfords could stand the rakin', I guess likely. We 港／避難所't buried anything we need to be ashamed of. Come now, Hettie, what's all this? YOU 港／避難所't got a pet 骸骨／概要 工場／植物d 負かす／撃墜する cellar, have you? 売春婦, 売春婦!"

It was ーするつもりであるd as a joke, but Cousin Hettie did not take it as one. Her thin cheeks 紅潮／摘発するd crimson and she swung about to glare at the （衆議院の）議長. Then she rose to her feet. "You talk like an 絶対の fool, Abijah Bradford," she sputtered. "And I don't want to hear another word from you."

"Here, here, Hettie! Don't get mad. Where you goin'?"

"I'm going home. You're enough to make a saint mad." And home she went forthwith, in spite of family remonstrances and urgings.

The captain shook his 長，率いる. "Now what in the world touched her off like that?" he queried. "Funny, ain't it? And yet maybe it ain't so funny, if you knew her and knew her father before her. The Trumans have got money, and to buck up against folks with money is committin' sacrilege—'tis to Hettie, and it always was to Uncle Abner when he lived. Hettie's idea of heaven is a place where the angels are all dead millionaires and the streets are 覆うd with gold so they'll feel at home when they get there. Don't let what she says fret you, Banks. He needn't, need he, Margaret?"

Margaret said "No." にもかかわらず, at bedtime that evening, as Banks kissed her good night, she put an arm about his shoulder. "Banks," she said.

"Yes, Mother; what is it?"

"Banks, dear, you won't go out of your way to …に反対する Mrs. Truman, will you? Any more than you can help, I mean."

"Why, of course not. I 港／避難所't got anything against her. She tried to play Tadgett a mean trick and I made up my mind she shouldn't get away with it."

"Yes, I know. You did 正確に／まさに 権利 and I am so proud of you. But—oh, I do hope this ends it, so far as you and she are 関心d."

He laughed and drew her to him. "Mother," he remonstrated, "you mustn't be like Hettie, afraid of Mrs. Truman."

"Afraid!" This with sudden 軽蔑（する）. "Of her?"

"Of her money and 影響（力） in town, and all that, I mean. Mother, you don't like Mrs. Truman, do you? Honestly, now?"

"Not very 井戸／弁護士席, Banks."

"That's queer. I thought you and she scarcely knew each other...Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, it doesn't 事柄. She and I are through—or will be to-morrow, when I get her check for Tadgett's 法案 and costs. She can't 傷つける me. Just forget her, Mother."

Margaret turned away to take her 手渡す lamp from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "Yes," she said slowly. "Yes—forget her."

The next afternoon Banks walked into the Tadgett shop, 召喚するd its proprietor into the 支援する room, and laid the Truman check upon the desk in the middle of the （疑いを）晴らすing between the piles of papers.

"And there you are!" he 発表するd.

Ebenezer 選ぶd up the check, adjusted his spectacles and 星／主役にするd at it. "Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blessed," he intoned reverently. "Whew! Banks, I—I'm goin' to thank you in a minute, soon's I get my breath."

"The thanks are all on my 味方する. You gave me the chance, you know."

"Chance! Chance for what? Don't talk foolishness. First of all, how much do I 借りがある you?"

"You don't 借りがある me anything. The only expenses were the rent of that room for half a day and 裁判官 Bangs' 料金. The other 味方する paid those."

"Don't talk foolish, I tell you. How much do I 借りがある you?"

"Nothing. Look here, you don't understand. If I had taken a 十分な page in the Item for four weeks I couldn't have got the advertising this thing has given me. When I was in the 地位，任命する office this noon at least half a dozen people （機の）カム up to shake 手渡すs and 続けざまに猛撃する me on the 支援する. They know I'm alive now. I'm 満足させるd, Ebenezer, if you are, so we'll call it square."

"Banks Bradford, I want to know—"

"Oh, be still! Talk about something else. What did your wife say when you told her?"

Tadgett, of course, 辞退するd to be still. He 抗議するd and argued and pleaded, but his friend only laughed. At last the little man 産する／生じるd 一時的に. "All 権利," he sighed. "Have it your own way—till it's time for me to have 地雷. Only don't you ever tell me again that Hettie Bradford is any relation to you at all. I know better."

"Why?"

"Why?...Did I ever tell you how Hettie 設立する the pocketbook on the first of April? Some of the town kids had a wallet laid out on the sidewalk up on the 押し寄せる／沼地 Road, with a string tied to it. The string was covered up with sand and whenever anybody tried to 選ぶ up the wallet they yanked it out of the way and hollered 'April Fool.' They tried it on Hettie and she stepped on the string and walked off with the pocketbook. Then she stopped in here and sold it to me for fifteen cents. It'll take a smarter lawyer even than you are, boy, to make me believe there's any of her 血 in you...Now come in the other 支援する room and see how the tambour desk is gettin' along. I've been resurrectin' it some consider'ble lately."

One morning a week later Banks was dumfounded when he opened his office door to find that his own desk had disappeared. The resurrected tambour 占領するd its place. He 急いでd 負かす／撃墜する to the Tadgett shop, 需要・要求するing an explanation. It was 敏速に given.

"I put it there myself," said Ebenezer. "I gathered from what you told me that you 肉親，親類d of liked it."

"Liked it! I'm crazy about it. It's perfectly 素晴らしい, of course. I can't afford it, that's all."

"Nobody's asked you to 支払う／賃金 for it, as I know of."

"広大な／多数の／重要な Scott, man! You don't suppose I'll let you give me a thing like that?"

"No givin' about it. It cost me next to nothin' in the beginnin', and I figger that the advertisin' I'll get from your tellin' folks it come from my shop will be 価値（がある）—what was it you said about that sideboard 事例／患者 of 地雷?—oh, yes! a page in the Item for a month. I'm 満足させるd if you are, Banks. Remember I told you then you could have your own way till 'twas time for me to have 地雷?"

So the tambour desk remained in the Bradford office, an article of furniture both useful and ornamental. Banks, やめる aware of its beauty and 価値（がある）, felt 有罪の in 受託するing such a gift, but as Ebenezer 堅固に 辞退するd to take it 支援する or to listen to 拒絶s or remonstrances, he was 強いるd to 産する／生じる.

"If you won't you won't," he said at last. "But you shouldn't. You told me yourself that you ーするつもりであるd to keep it awhile to gloat over. That is what you said."

"I can gloat over it in here just 同様に as I could any place, can't I? Sartin sure I can—and better, '原因（となる） there's more room. Say, Banks, would it be all 権利 if I fetched Sheba in here some day so's she can see you usin' it? I'll fetch her when you're alone. She'll probably be wearin' her hoods, you know, and—井戸／弁護士席, some of your 顧客s might not understand same as you and I do."

He brought her the very next day, just as Banks was on the point of leaving for home. The hoods, all of them, were very much in 証拠 and their wearer very 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な and dignified. She 表明するd 是認 of the desk and thanked Bradford for his labors on her husband's に代わって. Her language was いつかs pedantic and いつかs flowery, but her conversation was perfectly 合理的な／理性的な. Banks was relieved and it was evident that Mr. Tadgett was more so. The call was almost at an end and the 報知係s had risen to go when Banks became aware that the lady had 中止するd speaking and was 星／主役にするing at him. Ebenezer, too, noticed it.

"Now, Sheba," he said nervously, "you and I must get under way. It's nigh suppertime for all 手渡すs of us. Come!"

His wife was still 星／主役にするing fixedly at the 塀で囲む above Banks' 長，率いる. Now she 解除するd a 手渡す. "Hush!" she ordered dreamily. "Be still and listen. The （一定の）期間 of 見通し is on me. The time of light has come."

Banks turned to look at Mr. Tadgett. The latter met his ちらりと見ること of puzzled bewilderment with one of anxious 控訴，上告. "It's all 権利— it's all 権利," he explained あわてて. "I'll …に出席する to her. Now, Sheba—"

Mrs. Tadgett's 解除するd 手渡す moved slowly up and 負かす／撃墜する. "Peace; be still," she 命令（する）d. Then, lowering her 発言する／表明する to a sort of graveyard whisper, she 追加するd, "I see—in my 見通し I seem to see a young man. He is climbing—climbing."

"Sure, sure!" This from the frantic Ebenezer. "I know who 'tis. It's Sam Cahoon—he's been shinglin' our ell roof, Banks—and you've been watchin' him, ain't you, Sheba? The way he gallops up and 負かす／撃墜する them ladders is—"

"Hush!" The graveyard whisper continued. "I see a young man climbing—up and up. He is on his way to the 高さs. There is a young woman helping him. They go up 手渡す in 手渡す."

"No, no, they don't. You're wrong there, Sheba. Sam's married, and he wouldn't take his wife up no ladders. They'd have to be extra strong to 持つ／拘留する her. Why, she 重さを計るs all of two hundred and a ４半期/4分の1."

"They rise—they rise. And then—then there is a 衝突，墜落. They separate—he 落ちるs—"

Ebenezer 掴むd her arm in desperation. "Sh-h-h, Sheba!" he begged, gently shaking her. "Don't talk no more. Come, let's go."

"He 落ちるs—落ちるs—"

"Sartin he does! 井戸／弁護士席, 'twon't 傷つける him 非，不，無. Now you just— That's it, that's it."

The graveyard whisper was dying away. "落ちるs," repeated Mrs. Tadgett uncertainly. Then, with sudden cheerfulness, "The 落ちるs of Niagara are one hundred and sixty-seven feet high. Feet—yes. All quadrupeds have four feet and—and— Did you speak to me, Ebenezer?"

Her husband sighed in 抱擁する 救済. "Yes, sure I did, Sheba," he agreed with unction. "I was just remindin' you that 'twas suppertime and I was hungry. Say good night to Mr. Bradford and we'll trot 権利 along."

The lady's good night was 静める and not in the least out of the ordinary. 明らかに she was やめる unconscious that she had said or done anything peculiar. "I'm real glad you have got such a nice office, Mr. Bradford," she 観察するd. "And I can't begin to tell you how thankful Ebenezer and I are to you for helping him get his money. Do come and see us real often, won't you?"

Banks 約束d to do so. The 訪問者s 出発／死d. A moment later Tadgett 再現するd.

"Left my hat," he explained in a loud トン. Then, leaning across the desk he whispered. "Don't 支払う／賃金 no attention to it, Banks. She's 罰金 now. Be just the same as anybody for two or three days, most likely. Thank you for—for understandin'; 'tain't everybody that would, I know. So long."

Banks impulsively 延長するd his 手渡す. "Ebenezer," he said with feeling, "you're a brick."

"Eh? What? Oh, no, no; I just— Yes, Sheba, I've 設立する it; I'm comin'. By-by, Banks. See you to-morrow probably."

When Banks dropped in at the secondhand shop next day Mr. Tadgett referred to the 出来事/事件 of the "見通し." "They're 肉親，親類d of a new wrinkle with her," he said confidentially. "I was foolish enough to take her over to the Harniss Spiritu'名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） （軍の）野営地，陣営 meetin' two summers ago, and 権利 after that she 開始するd to be took with 'em—the 見通しs, I mean. Of course I don't take much 在庫／株 in what she thinks she sees. I had my fortune told when I was eighteen or so and 'twas 予測（する） that I was goin' to be awful rich and marry a beautiful woman with gold hair. I'm edgin' up to sixty and poorer than a 発射 herrin's 影をつくる／尾行する, and Sheba's hair is 黒人／ボイコット, so I'm off fortune tellin' for keeps. It's 肉親，親類d of worryin', though, this 見通し 商売／仕事," he 追加するd. "I can't never be just sure what she'll see. She had a 見通し about the new Methodist 大臣 when he was to our house a fortni't ago and what she started to tell him was—井戸／弁護士席, he ain't spoke to me since. Say, Banks—"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Why, nothin'—only—井戸／弁護士席, you won't tell about it—about her— outside and around, I mean?"

"Of course not, Ebenezer. You can depend on me."

"I know it. Dear, dear! I used to be so proud of her...井戸／弁護士席," he 結論するd stoutly, "I'm proud of her yet, and I shall be long's I live...Now let's talk about some of the 残り／休憩（する） of the neighbors."

Banks did not see him again for several days. A new bit of professional 商売／仕事 had come to the young 弁護士／代理人／検事. He was inclined to think it the result of his success in the 事柄 of the Tadgett-Truman sideboard, but whether this was true or not it was welcome for its own sake. Nothing 重大な nor very profitable, 単に the 事柄 of a 肩書を与える search for old Mr. Hezekiah Bartlett, who lived in West Denboro; but as the old gentleman was a 目だつ 国民, 井戸／弁護士席-to-do, an ex-director in the 地元の bank and retired 大統領，／社長 of the 板材 company, and his 評判 that of an 極端に careful not to say cranky man of 事件／事情／状勢s, Banks could not help feeling elated by this 証拠 of 信用／信任 on his part. He made several trips to the office of the registrar of probate in the courthouse at Ostable, and it was not until the に引き続いて Wednesday that he 設立する time to 減少（する） in at the Tadgett shop.

Ebenezer was in his 支援する room—not the other 支援する room, but the office this time—and the little （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する was （疑いを）晴らすd and ready for the 週刊誌 game of euchre with Jotham Gott and Eliab Gibbons.

"Hello, Banks!" he あられ／賞賛するd. "Glad to see you. Thought maybe you'd been made 裁判官 or somethin', way you've kept out of the way of everyday folks lately."

Banks explained that he had been busy. Tadgett was carefully counting two 戦う／戦い-scarred decks of cards and singing, as he did so:

"Oh, the moonlight's fair to-night along the Wabash;
From the fields there comes the breath of new-mown hay—

"Thought I'd make sure all the エースs and bowers was 現在の and accounted for afore the ギャング（団） got here," he 観察するd. "Last time we played Jotham had a 手渡す that looked as if 'twas goin' to make much as four or five cents for him and then Eliab 設立する the jack of hearts on the 床に打ち倒す. My soul to Betsy, there was a time. I thought Jotham was goin' to break 負かす／撃墜する and cry. 'Twas the first good 手渡す he'd had for an hour. I don't know what he'd have done, only we was makin' such a noise that he got 脅すd somebody'd hear us and fetch the constable. Jotham was brought up strict, and although he loves to play for a ４半期/4分の1 of a cent a point he's all of a tremble for 恐れる he'll be caught at it...

"Through the sycamores the candlelights are gleaming
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

"Say, Banks, who do you suppose was in here to see me yesterday afternoon?"

Banks 示唆するd Cousin Hettie.

"No. 'Twan't so bad as all that. And 'twant the constable, neither. Though," he continued with a chuckle, "when I see who 'twas I wouldn't have been too much surprised to see the 郡保安官 cruisin' 権利 astern. 'Twas old lady Truman, that's who 'twas."

Banks whistled. "Mrs. Truman!" he exclaimed. "What is the trouble now?"

"That's what I kept askin' myself for ten minutes after she hove in sight. But fur's I could make out there 病弱な't any trouble at all. She just happened in to see if I had an old maple lowboy that would fit in to her second-best upstairs spare room."

Banks was more surprised than ever. "She （機の）カム to buy—from you?" he cried.

"Oh, I know! I felt the same way. I kept watchin' the 手渡す she held behind her 支援する to see if there was a brickbat in it. But there wasn't—she didn't seem to 持つ／拘留する any grudge at all; was good- natured and folksy as could be—as she could be to a mud worm like me, I mean."

"And did she really buy anything?"

"She bought that lowboy I had in the other 支援する room. That is, she agreed to buy it 供給するd her granddaughter, the Cartwright girl, liked it 同様に as she did. She's goin' to fetch Elizabeth— that's the girl's 前線 指名する—in to see it in a day or so. Don't that （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 all your goin' to sea?"

"It certainly does."

"It （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 地雷. I kept sayin' to myself, 'Now what in the world are you really here for?' 井戸／弁護士席, afore she left I began to have a 微光 of a notion. I think the lowboy was just more or いっそう少なく of an excuse. If I had to make one guess to keep from goin' under for the third time I'd guess she （機の）カム here to talk about you."

"About me! Ebenezer, you're dotty."

"That's no news; half of Denboro's been sartin of that for a long （一定の）期間. But I 断言する I believe I'm sane enough this time. The old lady kept fetchin' your 指名する into the talk. I was haulin' the drawers out of the lowboy and pointin' out the old-fashioned 手渡す dovetailin' and one thing or 'nother, and she'd say 'Yes,' and 'Very interestin',' and then she'd ask me more about you. Oh, they 病弱な't what you might call downright out and aboveboard questions, you know, but they was questions just the same."

"What sort of questions?"

"Oh, all sorts of 肉親，親類d. How old you was and where you learned 法律 and why you ever decided to open up shop in a place like Denboro— that 肉親，親類d of stuff."

"But what for? Why should she be 利益／興味d in me?"

"Give it up. I've been goin' over it ever since, and the only answer I can get is that she may be thinkin' of signin' you on as 法律 操縦する instead of Oscar Brooks. She and him had an awful 列／漕ぐ／騒動 after that hearin' of ours and she's given him his walkin' papers— at least that's the town talk."

Banks laughed aloud. "When that happens I'll believe in Santa Claus," he 宣言するd. "Guess again, Ebenezer."

The little man shook his 長，率いる. "You can't never tell," he said sagely. "Some 肉親，親類d of folks think a whole lot more of you after you've 攻撃する，衝突する 'em square on the nose. They figger that anybody able to 扱う／治療する them that way must be mighty smart. I have the notion Maybelle Truman may be that 肉親，親類d. She's a sharp old girl, or I don't know a かみそり 辛勝する／優位 when I see it. Don't know why I keep callin' her old," he 追加するd. "事柄 of fact she can't be much older than I am."

Banks laughed again. The idea that Mrs. Truman should be considering him in a professional sense struck him as 高度に ridiculous. The fact that she had questioned Tadgett 関心ing him was 半端物, however.

"She used to know father," he mused aloud. "She told me so that day when I called at her house, I remember. I imagine her 利益／興味 in me wasn't very keen, Ebenezer."

"'Twas 利益／興味, I'll 断言する to that...Mind countin' that pack for me, Banks? I've counted it myself three times, and every time it's come different. You try it."

Banks was counting when the bell 大（公）使館員d to the street door rang. Ebenezer grunted. "That's Jotham, on the 跡をつける of the four cents," he 観察するd. "he's ahead of time, but that's to be 推定する／予想するd, I 推定する likely...Eh? No, don't sound like his step, though, does it?"

He went out into the shop and Banks heard him speaking with some one. A moment later he returned. "It ain't Jotham after all," he whispered. "It's Sarah Hubbard, and she wants me to go 負かす／撃墜する to her house and look at a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する we've been dickerin' about. I guess likely I せねばならない go, for I've been after that （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する for a year, off and on, and if I don't 得る，とらえる this chance she's liable to change her mind for the fortieth time. Say, Banks, if you ain't in any hurry, would you mind stayin' here and tendin' shop till Eliab or Jotham come? They'll be here most any minute; then you can leave the place in their 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金. Tell 'em I won't be but a little while."

Banks said he was in no hurry, so Mr. Tadgett, あわてて 掴むing his coat and hat, hurried out. Left alone, the young man recounted and arranged the packs of cards and then, 選ぶing up the copy of the 週刊誌 Item from the litter on the desk, sat 負かす／撃墜する to read the "Denboro 地元のs." They were anything but exciting and the time dragged. He was growing impatient. At last, however, the doorbell again rang.

"All 権利," he あられ／賞賛するd. "That you, Ebenezer?" There was no answer. 明白に it was not Tadgett; and Gott or Eliab, whichever it might be, had not heard him. "Come along!" he shouted. "It's perfectly 安全な. The constable isn't here."

Footsteps crossed the 床に打ち倒す of the outer shop and paused at the threshold of the 支援する room. A 発言する／表明する said, "I beg your 容赦."

Banks turned. Then he dropped the paper and rose あわてて. The person standing in the doorway was not one of the euchre players, but a young woman. The light in the 支援する room at that time of day was not brilliant, and Banks did not for the moment 認める her.

"I beg your 容赦," she repeated. "Is Mr. Tadgett in?...Oh! Why, how do you do, Mr. Bradford?"

He 認めるd her then. She was Elizabeth Cartwright, Mrs. Truman's granddaughter. Banks was surprised and not a little embarrassed. "Why, 行方不明になる Cartwright!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know—I wasn't 推定する／予想するing—井戸／弁護士席, I wasn't 推定する／予想するing you."

She laughed. "I guessed you weren't," she said. "And yet I wasn't やめる sure. When you について言及するd the constable I thought perhaps Mr. Tadgett wasn't 満足させるd and grandmother and I were 犯罪のs again. Where is Mr. Tadgett?"

Banks explained the Tadgett absence and his own excuse for tending shop. He 追加するd a word 関心ing the 推定する／予想するd arrival of the euchre players and his 言及／関連 to the constable. "That was ーするつもりであるd as a joke," he 自白するd ruefully. "Of course, it didn't take; most of my jokes don't...Won't you sit 負かす／撃墜する, 行方不明になる Cartwright? Tadgett will be 支援する soon, I'm sure."

She hesitated. "I don't believe I had better wait. I told grandmother I was going 負かす／撃墜する to the 地位，任命する office, just for the walk—for the 演習, you know. If I stay too long she will be sending the carriage for me. Grandmother doesn't 認可する of 演習; 明らかに it wasn't considered genteel when she was a girl."

"Ebenezer said he would be gone only a few minutes. He has been gone more than that already."

"Ebenezer? Oh, you mean Mr. Tadgett. Ebenezer Tadgett! Isn't it a perfectly gorgeous 指名する? Tell me, does he live up to it? I'm sure he does. I heard him 証言する at that 審理，公聴会 the other day. He and old Mrs. Simpkins were too funny for words. The whole 事件／事情／状勢 was awfully funny, as far as that goes." She ended with a trill of laughter.

Banks rather resented her amusement. To him that 審理，公聴会 had been a very serious 事柄. "I suppose it was," he said すぐに. "But if it had ended the other way it wouldn't have been so funny for Ebenezer. That three hundred dollars meant a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to him."

"Did it really? You and he weren't just pretending, then?"

"Pretending?"

"Yes. You are a lawyer and it is a lawyer's 商売／仕事 to pretend— to make believe—be dreadfully in earnest no 事柄 whether he really is or not. Isn't that true?"

"Perhaps so; but there wasn't any make-believe at that 審理，公聴会—on our 味方する, anyway. If Tadgett had lost that money it would have been a hard blow."

"井戸／弁護士席, he didn't lose it, thanks to you and that funny Mrs. Simpkins. I am glad he didn't."

"You are glad!" Banks exclaimed incredulously.

"Yes. Why not? Grandmother didn't really care about the money; it was a 事柄 of 原則 with her. She thought she had been cheated, and she won't stand that from any one. I don't 非難する her."

Banks could have retorted that Mrs. Truman's 態度 seemed to him to 示す a 欠如（する） of 原則 rather than its 所有／入手. He did not, however. "It was a 事柄 of 原則 on Tadgett's part," he 宣言するd. "He prides himself on 存在 an honest man. And he IS an honest man—as square as a brick; one of the finest fellows I ever met."

His earnestness seemed to amuse her. She sat 負かす／撃墜する in the 議長，司会を務める which she had 辞退するd when he 申し込む／申し出d it. "I believe I will stay a minute or two," she said impulsively. "All this is terribly 利益／興味ing. You like this Mr. Tadgett—really like him, don't you?"

"I do, very much."

She nodded. "I think I should like him too. That was my real 推論する／理由 for coming in here. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 会合，会う him and talk with him and hear him talk. I was sure it would be 広大な／多数の／重要な fun."

"Fun? Oh, yes—I see."

"No, you don't see at all. I didn't mean to make fun OF him. I took a fancy to him when he sat in that 議長，司会を務める and told his story the other day. I like the way he talked to 裁判官 Bangs—just as if he was a neighbor, you know, not a bit ぎこちない or afraid, just— just real."

"That is what he is."

"Yes. And that is why I was glad when he （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 pompous old Mr. Brooks. I never did like him."

This time Banks could not resist speaking his thought. "Was Mrs. Truman glad, too?" he asked dryly.

She laughed again. Hers was a pleasant laugh, not in the least 軍隊d or 人工的な. "Grandmother was cross," she 認める. "She was cross at Mr. Brooks for making such a fool of himself and of her. But I don't think she was angry at Tadgett or at you. In fact, I know she wasn't, for she said to me that very night that you were a clever boy, and if you kept on as you had begun you would make a smart lawyer. She has talked about you a good 取引，協定 since, and always in the same way. That is the truth, really it is."

Banks smiled. "I am much 強いるd to her," he said. "She is a good loser, anyway."

"Yes. And as for Mr. Tadgett—井戸／弁護士席, when she （機の）カム home yesterday she told me she had been in at this very shop and had looked at a maple lowboy which she thought she might buy. That doesn't sound as if she were very spiteful, does it?"

"No; it doesn't, that's a fact."

"That lowboy was my excuse for coming in here just now. Of course my real 推論する／理由 was, as I told you, to 会合，会う Mr. Tadgett himself, but the lowboy was the excuse. Grandmother said she was going to bring me with her the next time she （機の）カム to look at it. I ーするつもりであるd telling her that I had been in to look at it on my own account. 井戸／弁護士席," she finished, rising, "I can come again, of course."

Banks rose also. "I can't imagine what is keeping Ebenezer," he said, "but so far as the lowboy is 関心d, I know where it is and I should be glad to show it to you."

She hesitated; then she ちらりと見ることd at her watch. "Will you?" she exclaimed. "Why, if you could— You see, grandmother will want to know where I have been—she 推定する／予想するs me to account for my time as if I were a child—and if I could say that I have been 検査／視察するing that lowboy it might save a lot of questions. But I don't like to trouble you."

It was no trouble, of course. Banks led the way to the other 支援する room, dragged the lowboy from its corner and 展示（する）d it. She was enthusiastic.

"Why, it is lovely!" she 宣言するd. "And"—looking about the room— "there are so many other lovely things in here. Why does Mr. Tadgett keep them hidden where no one can see them? His shop is 十分な of the most awful trash, but this—why, it is a treasure chest."

Banks repeated Ebenezer's 推論する／理由s for 隠すing his beloved pieces, 引用するing his friend's words. She listened at first, but when he finished he was aware that she was looking at him rather than at the antiques.

"What is it?" he asked.

He was standing in the late afternoon light as it （機の）カム in through the dusty window panes, and her gaze was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon his 直面する. There was a little pucker between her brows.

"Mr. Bradford," she asked suddenly, "港／避難所't you and I met before, somewhere? Oh, I don't mean when you called at our house or the other day at the 審理，公聴会, but before that—a long time ago?"

He smiled; she did not wait for him to reply. "I am almost sure we have," she 宣言するd, the pucker a little deeper. "That day when you called, when grandmother was scolding you and Mr. Tadgett about the sideboard and keeping me standing in the corner as if I were an image, I kept thinking, 'I know him; I am 確かな I do.' But grandmother was perfectly sure I didn't know you and never did. And yet—井戸／弁護士席, I believe she is mistaken. Is she?"

His smile broadened. "I wondered if you would remember," he said. "I had the same feeling about you and I couldn't remember either, at first. And then I did. It was a long time ago. You were a very little girl and I was a kid too. You and your nurse—I suppose it was the nurse—were 負かす／撃墜する at the shore, on Nickerson's pier. And—"

She clapped her 手渡すs. "Of course! Of course!" she cried. "I fell into the water and you fished me out."

"Yes."

"And we went to your house and they 乾燥した，日照りのd my things, and Suzette and I went home and never told grandmother a word. Suzette made me 約束 I wouldn't; I suppose because she was afraid of losing her place. Grandmother doesn't know of it to this day. Why, this is wonderful! You were my hero for ever so long, just think of that! Whenever I read, or was read to, of the noble 青年 saving the life of the 苦しめるd maiden I put you in his place. Oh, this is too perfectly romantic."

They laughed together. Just then 発言する／表明するs became audible from the 壇・綱領・公約 outside the street door, masculine 発言する／表明するs all talking at once. The door banged open.

"I can't help it, I tell you," 抗議するd Ebenezer. "How did I know it would take so long? You fellows needn't have waited outside; you could have come in here and 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する just 同様に as not."

Eliab Gibbons' slow chuckle broke it. "_I_ didn't mind where I waited," he drawled. "'Twas Jotham made all the fuss. He was so fidgety that I thought he'd have a fit."

"And no wonder," retorted the third 発言する／表明する, that of Mr. Gott. "I don't know how many folks see us standin' on the corner, and I bet you every one of 'em was の上に who we was waitin' for and what was goin' on. I keep tellin' you fellows that I've heard talk about us playin' cards in here; the last time I went to church meetin'—"

"Eh?" This from Eliab. "How long ago was that, Jotham?"

"Never you mind. I've been to church since you have, I'll bet, and a darned sight oftener. And the last time the 大臣 preached about gamblin' and he never took his 注目する，もくろむ off me from beginnin' to end. Maybe you didn't see in the Item how the 郡保安官 （警察の）手入れ，急襲d Rounce's barber shop over to Harniss and caught that ギャング（団） playin' seven-up for money. I don't want to be 運ぶ／漁獲高d into no 法廷，裁判所, and the surest way to fetch that around is for us to be seen standin' outside this shop and lookin' secret. If I'd suppose you and Sarah G. was goin' to spend half the evenin' together, Ebenezer, I'd— Who's that?"

It was Banks; he had 現れるd from the other 支援する room. "It's all 権利, Gott," he said. "Ebenezer, there is some one here to see you. Here is Mr. Tadgett, 行方不明になる Cartwright."

She was standing behind him. "How do you do, Mr. Tadgett?" she said. "I stopped in a moment to look at that lowboy grandmother is 利益／興味d in. Mr. Bradford showed it to me and I like it ever so much...No, I mustn't stop any longer now; she and I will come again—to-morrow, very likely. Good night." Then, soberly but with a twinkle in her 注目する，もくろむ, she 追加するd, "I hope you have a nice game."

Jotham's horrified gasp was distinctly audible. Gibbons looked uncomfortable. Even Ebenezer Tadgett was nervous. "Why—er—" he stammered.

"Good night," she said again and walked briskly past them to the outer door. Banks impulsively followed her to the 壇・綱領・公約. There she broke into another 泡 of laughter.

"The poor things looked 脅すd half to death," she said. "A 有罪の 良心 is a terrible thing, isn't it? Thank you ever so much for showing me the lowboy, Mr. Bradford. Good night."

He hesitated. "Do you think you せねばならない walk home alone?" he 示唆するd. "It—it's getting rather dark; shan't I—"

"No indeed. It isn't dark enough for that. Besides, I am sure your supper must be ready and waiting. I know 地雷 is."

"But—oh, confound it, I—I— There are so many things I should like to talk about. About that Nickerson pier 商売／仕事, and all. Why, I remember—"

"Yes, so do I. We must talk about it some day, of course."

"井戸／弁護士席, when?"

"Oh, I don't know; pretty soon. Why don't you call some evening?"

"I? Oh, certainly. Your grandmother would be overjoyed, wouldn't she?"

"I don't think she would 反対する. She has talked about you a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 since the 審理，公聴会 and never unpleasantly. In fact, as I told you, she rather admires you for your cleverness."

"But for me to call on you!"

"井戸／弁護士席, it isn't such an unheard-of thing. Other people call on me occasionally." She stepped from the 壇・綱領・公約 to the walk. "I shall tell grandmother I met you," she went on. "And I think I shall tell her of our life-saving adventure. It will amuse her, I know. Of course, if she does 反対する to your calling—"

"Yes? If she does?"

"井戸／弁護士席, then I shall remind her that I have a mind of my own. I have to do that occasionally."

"By George, I believe I will come up some evening!"

"Why not? Good night, Mr. Bradford."

一時期／支部 8

At supper that evening Banks told his mother of his 会合 with Elizabeth Cartwright in the Tadgett shop. Also he told of Mrs. Truman's visit to that shop and her conversation as repeated by Ebenezer. Her 明らかな 利益／興味 in him—Banks Bradford—and Tadgett's guess that she might be considering him as a 後継者 to Brooks as her 合法的な 助言者 he 扱う／治療するd as a joke.

Margaret was inclined to agree with him there. "I imagine she will want some one a little older and more experienced than you for that," she said.

"Of course she will. That is just Ebenezer's nonsense; he thinks I am King Solomon the Second nowadays. But why do you suppose she asked him all those questions about me? She did ask them; that much is true, at least."

"What sort of questions were they?"

"Oh, about how old I was, and why I 選ぶd out Denboro as a place to practice 法律 and—井戸／弁護士席, that sort of thing. When I went up to her house that time—the only time I have ever been there—she gave me to understand that she used to know father. She said I looked like him, I remember." His mother made no comment; she was （疑いを）晴らすing the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "It must have been before she married Truman. Father had been dead several years when that happened, hadn't he?"

"Yes, Banks."

"And somebody—was it Tadgett or Uncle Bije?—told me the gossip was that she was keeping a 搭乗 house in Boston when Captain Elijah fell in love with her. Father was never one of her boarders, was he?"

"Your father's home was here—in this house."

"Yes, I know. But after he was made a member of the 会社／堅い he must have had to stay in Boston part of the time, I should think...Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, it doesn't 事柄. What have you been doing all day, Mother?"

"The usual things. 広範囲にわたる and cooking and きれいにする house. Cousin Hettie dropped in for a minute this afternoon."

"I'll bet. Dropped in for a minute and stayed an hour. Some day, Mother, I hope to earn enough so that we can keep a servant."

"In a little house like this I shouldn't know what to do with a servant if I had one."

"I should. But we won't argue about that now. Better wait until I'm sure of 収入 enough to 支払う／賃金 my own way before I begin 支払う／賃金ing 給料 to some one else."

"How did you like the Cartwright girl? Is she as nice as she looks?"

"She's a corker—that is, I mean she seems to be nice enough. She—"

"Yes? What were you going to say?"

"Nothing. What did Hettie have on her mind? Has her spare-room lodger frozen to death yet?"

He had been about to について言及する 行方不明になる Cartwright's 招待 to call on her at the Truman house, but changed his mind suddenly. In the first place, he was not やめる sure that the 招待 was 本気で given, and far from 確かな that he should 受託する it if it were. Then, too, he knew his mother did not like Mrs. Truman; she had 自白するd as much. Why trouble her? In mother-fashion she might begin to fancy all sorts of silly things.

His 法律 practice was 選ぶing up a little. The 肩書を与える search for Hezekiah Bartlett having been brought to a 満足な 結論, the old gentleman ゆだねるd him with other （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限s—minor 事柄s themselves, but encouraging as possible 約束s of more important ones later on. Bartlett was supposed to have retired from active 商売／仕事, but he still kept an 利益／興味 in the 板材 company and several other 商業の 企業s in Ostable 郡. Also he was 行政官／管理者 of two good-sized 広い地所s, and their 投資s and his own were かなりの. He was cross-穀物d, eccentric and crochety, but his 評判 for shrewd judgment and 絶対の honesty was of the best. Captain Abijah knew him 井戸／弁護士席, of course, and counseled his 甥 to work hard to please the old fellow.

"He's got more 肉親，親類d of queer quirks than a 特許 windlass," 宣言するd Uncle Bije, "and when he 始める，決めるs out to be he's stubborn as a balky horse, but he's straight as a 基準 and square on all four 味方するs. Lots of folks lose patience with him—I do myself every little while—but nobody ever （刑事）被告 him of bein' dishonest. He was one of 裁判官 Blodgett's best （弁護士の）依頼人s and if he should take a fancy to you, Banks boy, it might mean a lot. If I had to 選ぶ out some one man more than another in Denboro to have on my 味方する in a town rumpus I guess likely I'd 選ぶ Hezekiah. Yes, I guess I would."

It was during one of his たびたび（訪れる） calls at Banks' office that he made this 宣言. Having made it, he turned toward the door, but paused and turned 支援する again. "Banks," he said.

Banks looked up from his seat at the tambour desk. "Yes, Uncle Bije."

His uncle was rubbing his chin reflectively. "I was just goin' to say somethin'," he 観察するd, "but I mustn't—yet. I'll tell you this much, though: You know I am a director in the Denboro 国家の Bank, of course? Um-hum. 井戸／弁護士席, Hezekiah Bartlett used to be another. And we bank fellows are liable to put out an 告示 pretty soon that'll make not only Denboro but three or four other towns sit up and take notice. If we do get it off the ways it'll be a pretty big thing in Ostable 郡 bankin'. I'll tell you the minute I can tell anybody, but 合間 you stand in with old Hez Bartlett. Mum's the word, though. Keep your main hatch の近くにd till I open 地雷."

Banks paid little 注意する to this 厳密に confidential tip from （警察，軍隊などの）本部. With the superciliousness of 青年 he was inclined to grin at the importance of the little Denboro 国家の Bank in the 注目する，もくろむs of its officers and directors. He was more heedful of another item of advice given him by his uncle.

"You want to get out and around more, son," Captain Abijah had said. "Get out and into town doin's and 事件／事情／状勢s. You don't want word to spread that you're citified and too big for your boots. Join the Masons—you せねばならない do that anyway; greatest thing in the world, bein' a 解放する／自由な Mason is. Go to 宿泊する meetin's and 会合，会う folks. And why don't you join the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 company? Got a first-class new 化学製品 engine now and lots of good men in the 乗組員. Get popular. 人気 is 広大な／多数の／重要な for lawyers and doctors and 大臣s. When you've been here a year longer I'm goin' to have you 指名するd for some 肉親，親類d of town office, no 事柄 if it's only poundkeeper. But that can wait. Folks must know you better before that happens."

So Banks すぐに after this did join the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 company and later the 地元の Masonic 宿泊する. The former was more of a social organization than a public 公共事業（料金）／有用性, for 解雇する／砲火／射撃s in Denboro were rare indeed. The company met every Tuesday evening in the room above Caldwell's 蓄える／店 and the 集会s were almost always lively and amusing. Men of all ages and classes belonged, 含むing both the Methodist and Universalist 大臣s, the druggist, the 地元の clam and fish peddler, storekeepers, fishermen and sailmakers. Tadgett's 指名する was on the roll and so, too, were those of his cronies, Jotham Gott and Eliab Gibbons. Samuel Hayman, the undertaker, was foreman of the company.

A day or two after Banks' 会合 with Elizabeth Cartwright in Tadgett's shop, Ebenezer 知らせるd him that Mrs. Truman and her granddaughter had called again and had ordered the lowboy sent home.

"Sorry, Banks," said Ebenezer, "but I'm afraid there ain't goin' to be anything in this 貿易（する） for you. Maybelle paid cash 負かす／撃墜する on the nail and unless her money turns out to be 偽造の I can't see that I'll need a lawyer. Don't seem hardly fair, considerin' that if you hadn't licked her in 法廷，裁判所 she most likely never'd have had anything to do with me again, but that's how it stands. Don't lay it up against me, will you?"

Nearly a week passed before Banks Bradford and 行方不明になる Cartwright again met. This time it was in the 地位，任命する office. He had called at the window for the family mail—that day it consisted of an advertising circular and the Item—when, moving toward the door, he （機の）カム 直面する to 直面する with her. They shook 手渡すs.

"Tadgett tells me that the lowboy is your 所有物／資産／財産 now," he said. "I'm glad, not only because I think it is a beauty, but on Ebenezer's account. It is very seldom that he has the chance to sell as expensive a piece as that at this time of year. Honestly, I think it was pretty 罰金 of Mrs. Truman not to 持つ／拘留する a grudge."

"Oh, grandmother doesn't 持つ／拘留する grudges—at least, not little ones. She has known about that lowboy for ever so long; Mr. Tadgett has had it for more than a year. Grandmother always gets what she wants, in the end. Besides, as I told you the other day, she isn't a bit spiteful so far as Mr. Tadgett and you are 関心d. With Mr. Brooks, now—井戸／弁護士席, that is different."

"It wasn't his fault really. We had him in what my Uncle Abijah would call a clove hitch."

"I don't know what that is, but 裁判官ing by what grandmother said to Mr. Brooks it must be something very unpleasant. I told her I met you in the Tadgett shop, and that I 招待するd you to call."

"What did she say to that?...Oh, you needn't tell me, if you had rather not."

"Why shouldn't I? She said—井戸／弁護士席, to tell the exact truth, she said she wondered if you would have the courage to do it."

"Courage? Oh, yes, I see—courage meant cheek, I suppose."

"I don't think so. I think it meant 正確に／まさに what it sounded like. Grandmother isn't afraid of much of anything or anybody—or I have never known her to be—and so she likes courage in other people...Good afternoon, Mr. Bradford. Tell Mr. Tadgett that I am coming in again soon to see all his lovely things."

That very evening Banks Bradford rang the Truman doorbell. The maid who answered the （犯罪の）一味 was the same who had 認める him when he called in the 事柄 of the sideboard. She looked surprised and a little 脅すd to see him now.

"Is 行方不明になる Cartwright in?" he asked.

"I—I don't know."

"井戸／弁護士席, will you find out, please?"

"Yes—yes, sir. If you'll wait."

He did not have to wait long. The maid was 支援する in a minute or two, looking more surprised than ever. "You are to come into the library," she 発表するd. "行方不明になる Elizabeth will be 権利 負かす／撃墜する."

She took his hat, but she did not ask him to 除去する his overcoat. She 勧めるd him into the library and he sat 負かす／撃墜する on the 抱擁する upholstered davenport. A moment later he heard Elizabeth's step on the stairs.

"井戸／弁護士席!" she exclaimed, as she entered. "Here you really are."

"Here I am—cheek, courage and all."

"I am ever so glad you （機の）カム. And so is grandmother. She will be 負かす／撃墜する in a few minutes. But why don't you take off your coat? Aren't you going to stay long enough for that?"

He hesitated. "Why, now that you ask me—" he said.

"Ask you? Didn't that stupid Mary ask you to take it off? No, of course she didn't. She looked 脅すd to death when she told us you were here. I don't know what sort of orders she 推定する／予想するd. She is so ridiculous." She rang the bell and Mary, still nervous, appeared in the doorway. "Take Mr. Bradford's coat," ordered 行方不明になる Cartwright. "Why in the world didn't you take it when he （機の）カム?"

"Why 行方不明になる Elizabeth, I—I didn't know's you'd want me to. 存在 as who it was, I—"

"There, there! Don't make it any worse. Go away."

The maid 出発／死d with the overcoat. Elizabeth and Banks looked at each other. Both burst out laughing.

"She thinks, of course, that I have come here to drag you into 法廷，裁判所 again," said Banks. "She couldn't imagine any other 推論する／理由. Nobody in Denboro could, after that 審理，公聴会."

"No, I suppose not. And she lived in Denboro all her life until grandmother 雇うd her. What a funny old town it is. They take little things so 本気で. Any one might think we had been through a 裁判，公判 for 殺人."

"That isn't it 正確に／まさに. Your grandfather was one of our biggest guns, you see. So far as I can learn, the village took off its hat when he walked 負かす／撃墜する the street. And his 未亡人 相続するd the 栄冠を与える. But Tadgett's just Ebenezer Tadgett and I am Capt. Silas Bradford's boy—and shall be till I'm ninety. For us to dare to bring 控訴 against your grandmother was—井戸／弁護士席, it was lese majesty and more."

"Oh, nonsense! From what I've seen of Denboro I should call it very democratic indeed. And as for 指名するs, I have heard your father's 指名する について言及するd ever so many times and always with reverence. I gathered that he was a sort of 地元の idol. When I asked Eliab—Mr. Gibbons, I mean; he 作品 for us three days in the week, you know—when I asked him about your father I thought he would 落ちる on his 膝s to worship. He did 減少（する） his shovel; 明らかに he needed both 手渡すs to do the 支配する 司法（官）." Her laughter was contagious and Banks laughed too. "Grandmother used to know your father," she went on. "She said so. I wonder when and how."

"So do I. Hasn't she told you?"

"No. She hasn't told me anything."

"I can't imagine when it could have been. Of course my father and your grandfather were partners in the shipping 商売／仕事 at one time. Your grandfather—"

"He wasn't my real grandfather—Captain Truman, I mean. Grandmother was his second wife. My mother was her daughter by her first husband. She was very young—only seventeen or eighteen, I think, when she first married. Her husband—my grandfather Rodgers, that is—was killed in the Civil War. My mother's 指名する was Daisy Rodgers and she married my father, George Cartwright. Mother died when I was born and I lived with father in Philadelphia until I was nine. Then he died and I （機の）カム to live with grandmother and Captain Truman; they had been married the year before. There! that is my family history, and why I am boring you with it goodness knows. But it doesn't explain how grandmother and your father （機の）カム to know each other, does it?"

"No, it doesn't. I asked mother and she didn't seem to know, either. 井戸／弁護士席, it isn't very important."

"No, I suppose it isn't, but like any other puzzle, it is fun to guess. Perhaps grandmother will tell me some day, when she is in the mood. She can be very 隠しだてする, and for no 推論する／理由 at all, if it 控訴s her to be. Now tell me something about yourself—why you decided to practice 法律 in a little town like this. Your uncle, Captain Bradford, was responsible, I think you said when grandmother asked you, that afternoon when you （機の）カム 脅すing to put us in 刑務所，拘置所."

He was telling her a little of the truth—not all of it; he omitted all 言及／関連 to money 事柄s—when Mrs. Truman （機の）カム into the room. She was, as usual, becomingly if rather youthfully gowned; her 直面する, in the shaded lamplight, showed scarcely a wrinkle; and her speech and manner were almost vivacious. It would have been much easier to believe her to be Elizabeth's mother than her grandmother. She was certainly what people called a 井戸／弁護士席-保存するd woman, he decided, even if the preservatives might be to some extent 人工的な.

She 迎える／歓迎するd him graciously but cordially. "Good evening, Banks," she said. "You don't mind an old lady—I know that is what I am— calling you by your Christian 指名する, I hope?"

Banks murmured that he did not mind in the least. She smiled and sank rustling into a 議長，司会を務める—the most comfortable in the room, by the way.

"Elizabeth told me she had asked you to run in and see us," she said. "She seemed to think you might not care to do so because of our—what shall I call it?—our little 不一致 the other afternoon. I told her I hoped you wouldn't hesitate on that account. Oh, and I せねばならない congratulate you, oughtn't I? Congratulations from a loser are not always sincere, but 地雷 are. You made me feel like a perfect ninny, but I admired you even while I writhed. They tell me that was almost your very first 事例／患者; I can scarcely believe it. Was it really?"

Banks smiled. "There isn't any almost, Mrs. Truman" he said. "It was my only 事例／患者 so far, and not much of one at that."

"Is it possible? One might have thought you were an old 手渡す—that is, if so very young a 手渡す could be old. The way in which you made an 展示 of me and that idiot, Brooks, was やめる 熟達した. 井戸／弁護士席, I am through with him, I 信用."

Her 注目する，もくろむs snapped and her white teeth—very white and pearly they were, and remarkably even—clicked together as she uttered the 指名する of her ex-弁護士／代理人／検事. Banks could not help feeling a trifle sorry for his brother in the 合法的な profession. He must have had an unpleasant time after that 審理，公聴会 ended.

Elizabeth put in a word. "Poor old Mr. Brooks," she said. "I should have pitied him if I hadn't felt that he deserved it. He was so pompous and so sure of himself at the beginning. He wouldn't listen to a word from grandmother or me. He knew it all."

Mrs. Truman's pearly teeth clicked again. "He listened to several words from me before we parted company," she 宣言するd, with a nod so emphatic that it 始める，決める her diamond eardrops twinkling. "I never liked the fool. He was a 遺産／遺物 from Elijah—Captain Truman, I mean. The captain swore by him and so I have permitted him to 扱う my 事件／事情／状勢s—some of them, that is—ever since. 井戸／弁護士席, he will 扱う no more, thank goodness. But there! why should we waste time on him? He is past history. Now you children—that is what you are, you know—must go on talking just as if I weren't here. By the way, what were you talking about when I interrupted?"

Elizabeth answered. "We were talking past history, too, Grandmother. We were speaking of Mr. Bradford's father and trying to guess where and when you knew him. Of course you didn't marry Grandfather Truman until after Captain Bradford died, so you couldn't have met him here in Denboro."

Mrs. Truman turned to Banks. "How did you know I knew your father?" she asked quickly. "Who told you I did?"

Again it was Elizabeth who answered. "Why, you did yourself, Grandmother," she said in surprise. "Don't you remember? That very first day, when Mr. Bradford （機の）カム about the sideboard, you said you used to know his father and that he looked like him. You said the same thing to me after he had gone."

Mrs. Truman had leaned 今後 in her 議長，司会を務める. Now she slowly sank 支援する into it. "Did I?" she queried. "Oh, yes! I believe I did. So that was how you knew. No one else would speak of it, of course...No one did?"

She was 演説（する）／住所ing Banks, and it was he who replied. "No, Mrs. Truman. No one else would know about it, would they?"

"Why—why, no; probably not. Of course, your mother—"

"Oh, mother doesn't know. She seemed surprised when I told her what you said—about knowing father, I mean."

Mrs. Truman smoothed the 向こうずねing 前線 of her silk skirt. She laughed lightly. "Now let me see," she mused. "When did I 会合，会う Captain Bradford? Oh, yes! of course; Captain Truman introduced us. He was in the shipping 商売／仕事 then in Boston and he and your father were partners. That was it. We met several times—at my house. No 疑問 Captain Bradford never について言及するd it at home here. Probably he didn't consider it 価値（がある） while, and it wasn't, of course. Did I say you looked like him? That was presumptuous, and yet I think you do—as I remember him, which isn't very 明確に. Now tell me about yourself—how you are getting on with your practice. I am 利益／興味d, truly I am. It isn't all idle curiosity. I have a 推論する／理由 for asking—or perhaps I may have by and by."

Banks, remembering her 利益／興味 in him as 表明するd to and 引用するd by Ebenezer Tadgett, could not help feeling a thrill of excitement. What did this 利益／興味 mean? To dream that he might fill the position vacated, on compulsion, by Brooks was too silly even for a dream. But there must be something behind it all.

He told her what he had told Elizabeth; now, as then, omitting any 言及／関連 to his mother's straitened circumstances. She listened, asking questions occasionally—a more experienced lawyer might have considered them 主要な questions; and without 存在 aware of it he told a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定—of his college and 法律 school, of his abandoned 計画（する） for a career in Boston, of his uncle's 利益／興味 and advice, of his life at home with his mother. She asked several questions 関心ing Margaret Bradford.

"What did she think of your taking up the cudgels for poor 乱用d Ebenezer Tadgett?" she asked. "She 認可するd, I suppose?"

He smiled. "She knows Ebenezer 井戸／弁護士席," he said. "And she was sure he would not do anything which wasn't perfectly straight and honest. So she 認可するd so far. But I 疑問 if she 完全に 認可するd my daring to bring a 訴訟 against any one as 影響力のある as you, Mrs. Truman."

"Bless me! how flattering. She advised you not to have anything to do with the 控訴—or me, I suppose?"

This, 存在 so 近づく the truth, embarrassed Banks わずかに. "Why— er—井戸／弁護士席, you should have heard Uncle Abijah and Cousin Hettie on the 支配する," he said. "They were sure I was committing professional 自殺."

"Think of that! I am flattered...Yes, Mary, what is it?"

The maid was at the doorway. "It's Mr. Trent, ma'am," she said. "He's in the parlor—the 製図／抽選-room, I mean."

"Is he?" Mrs. Truman rose. "You children must excuse me for a little while," she 発表するd. "And glad enough to do so, I imagine; I have done 絶対 all the talking, I know. Don't go just yet, Mr. Bradford. I want Mr. Trent to 会合，会う you. Don't let him go until I come 支援する, Elizabeth, dear."

She rustled from the room and the young people, left alone, fell to chatting of this and that. They discussed town happenings, drifted from these to Ebenezer Tadgett and his antiques, from these again to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 company—Banks had not yet joined it but was planning to do so—to Captain Abijah and his pride in his native town.

"How do you like living in Denboro?" asked Banks. "This will be your first winter here, won't it?"

She nodded. "I am not やめる sure yet that I shall like it," she 認める. "It has been pretty dull so far. Last winter we were in Pasadena and the winter before that at Cannes. Denboro is—井戸／弁護士席, it is different."

"Yes. There can't be much 疑問 of that."

"It is. At first I thought it might be fun to live here in the country, in this house—I have had some wonderful summers in this house—and with just the country people and the 静かな and the snow and everything. But I am beginning to wonder. We don't see many of the all-year-一連の会議、交渉／完成する people. And then grandmother herself is so— so unhappy."

"What do you mean? Unhappy—why?"

"Perhaps discontented would be a better word. She minds the 静かな and the dullness a good 取引，協定 more than I do, I think. いつかs it seems as if she hated the place."

"Hates Denboro, you mean? Why does she stay here then?"

"I don't know. She never has before—all the year, that is. We have been abroad or in California or in the South every winter, except this one, since I left school. And she was always away somewhere while I was at school. Grandmother is sixty, but she loves gayety and society and all that sort of thing. I can do without them much better than she can. We had planned to go to Paris and after that to Italy, but all at once she changed her 計画（する）s and decided to stay here."

"Why, I wonder?"

"Goodness knows. One of her moods, I suppose. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, I don't really mind. Perhaps I shall like Denboro when I know it better. I wish I knew the people in it as you do. If I were a man I could get out and 会合，会う them. I am glad I met Mr. Tadgett. He is jolly and he says such funny things. I like him."

Which brought them 支援する to Ebenezer once more and they were still talking of him when Mrs. Truman returned. に引き続いて her was a tall man whom Banks 認めるd as Christopher Trent, of Ostable, grandson of the Benjamin Trent who had been Silas Bradford's 上級の partner in the old days.

Banks and Trent had never met, but Captain Abijah had pointed the latter out to his 甥 one day at the 入り口 of the Denboro 国家の Bank. Trent was a 銀行業者 himself—that is, he was 大統領，／社長 of the little Ostable Bank, as his father had been before him. He was one of the 郡's rich men. A bachelor, middle- 老年の, he lived alone, except for two servants, in the old Trent house in Ostable. Other than his bank 大統領／総裁などの地位 he had no active 商売／仕事 or profession, but he was 報告（する）／憶測d to have 利益／興味s in さまざまな 企業s scattered throughout New England. He owned and drove several 急速な／放蕩な horses, was one of the very first in his section to 購入（する） that new contraption, an automobile, and he lived the life of a country squire, so far as that life could be lived in America. He dressed smartly and his scanty graying hair was carefully 徹底的に捜すd 今後 to cover his bald 位置／汚点／見つけ出す.

Mrs. Truman introduced him to the 訪問者.

"Chris," she said, "this is Banks Bradford. It is perfectly amazing that you and he 港／避難所't met before, but I know you 港／避難所't. Banks, Mr. Trent's grandfather and your grandfather and my husband were partners 支援する in the dark ages. You knew that, of course. And here tonight is a Trent and a Truman and a Bradford together again. Isn't it a coincidence! Aren't you thrilled by it, Elizabeth? I am, but when I was a girl it was 流行の／上流の to be sentimental."

Banks and Trent shook 手渡すs. They looked each other over, Banks with an idle curiosity, Trent with a longer and more appraising 星／主役にする.

"How are you, Bradford?" he said cordially enough. "It is queer that we 港／避難所't run into each other before now. I have heard about you, though. Been making a sensation in Denboro lately, so they tell me. You gave Maybelle here a spanking the other day. 売春婦, 売春婦! that must have been fun; sorry I 行方不明になるd it."

Banks scarcely knew what answer to make. The idea of spanking Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman was rather shocking to his sense of propriety. But the lady herself laughed gayly and Elizabeth was smiling, so he too smiled and said that he was lucky, that was all.

"No luck about it," 宣言するd Mrs. Truman. "Just ありふれた sense and smartness, that is what it was. You'll 収容する／認める I took my spanking gracefully, won't you, Banks?"

"You've been awfully nice, Mrs. Truman. Making trouble for you was a pretty nervy thing for me to do. I realize it 井戸／弁護士席 enough."

Christopher Trent was still chuckling. "I'll say it was," he agreed. "But that's all 権利. Maybelle's a good sport. She 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるs 神経 when it 勝利，勝つs. So do I. How is the 法律 game going, Bradford? Getting ahead, are you?"

Banks said he supposed he was doing 同様に as he せねばならない 推定する／予想する, everything considered.

"It's a slow race and a long pull, I guess. But from what I hear, you are on the 権利 跡をつける. I may be able to throw something your way once in a while; will if I can. If you ever get over to Ostable run in and see me. If I'm not at the house you'll probably find me at the bank, or out around somewhere. 井戸／弁護士席"—turning to Elizabeth—"how's the girl? 港／避難所't seen you for a week; that's a long seven days—altogether too long."

Banks left the Truman mansion with a pretty 会社／堅い 有罪の判決 that he did not like Christopher Trent. He was too cocky, too self- 満足させるd, too patronizing and off-手渡す to him, and altogether too familiar and disrespectful to Elizabeth Cartwright. A man as old as he must be should not take advantage of his age to pat a girl's shoulder and look at her as if—as if she were his 所有物／資産／財産 or something. But he also realized that he must not 許す Mr. Trent to perceive his dislike. That might be bad 政策 for a struggling young lawyer. Trent had repeated his 招待 to call the next time he, Bradford, visited Ostable. And as Banks was leaving he 追加するd something even more expressive of real 利益／興味.

"I may 減少（する） in at your shop myself some time or other," he said. "Just for a chin, and a smoke perhaps. By the way, you don't know much about-er—bank 法律, I suppose? 港／避難所't had any experience with that sort of thing, of course?"

Banks did not understand 正確に／まさに. "I—I don't know what you mean by bank 法律, Mr. Trent," he replied. "If you mean 契約s and 貸付金s and 会社／団体 法律, why, I 熟考する／考慮するd that sort of thing, of course, but I 港／避難所't had any practical experience."

"No 推論する／理由 why you should have—yet. 井戸／弁護士席, I'll see you later, here or over my way, probably. Good night."

Mrs. Truman, as she bade him good night, said, "We have enjoyed your call very much, Banks. Elizabeth will tell you that I do love to have young people about me. So you must come again, and soon."

The maid brought him his coat and hat, but it was Elizabeth who …を伴ってd him to the door. "There!" she said impulsively, "I have had a really pleasant evening for the first time in ever so long. You see, I was 権利—grandmother doesn't 持つ／拘留する any grudge and she did want you to call. So you must come again. Good night."

一時期／支部 9

Margaret Bradford was in the sitting room, in the 激しく揺するing-議長，司会を務める by the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with the lamp upon it, when Banks （機の）カム up the walk. The window shade was 部分的に／不公平に raised and he could see her plainly.

A 調書をとる／予約する was propped up on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する beneath the lamp and she was reading, the needles in her busy fingers flashing, for she had had what she would have called an old-fashioned bringing up and was one of the 遂行するd few who could read and knit at the same time. She was knitting a sock and he knew perfectly whose sock it was to be. On the 塀で囲む he could see his father's portrait.

Like most healthy young men, Banks despised sentimentality, but the sight of the little 国内の tableau in the sitting room gave him a thrill of warm-hearted affection. She was a pretty 罰金 woman, that mother of his; by George, she was!

She looked up from her knitting as he entered.

"Hello, Mother," he あられ／賞賛するd cheerfully. "You're up late, aren't you?"

"Why, perhaps I am. I have been busy, reading and knitting, and I don't believe I know what time it is. Where have you been all the evening, son?"

"I? Oh, just out and around."

"I see. Did you have a good time?"

"Yes, I did." He hesitated; then, with a laugh which was not as 解放する／自由な from 当惑 as he ーするつもりであるd, he 追加するd, "Mother, I'll bet you can't guess where I have been. Come, now."

She put 負かす／撃墜する her knitting and looked at him. "Perhaps I can," she said 静かに. "I guess you have been calling on—井戸／弁護士席, on Elizabeth Cartwright."

He gasped in utter astonishment. "For heaven's sake," he 需要・要求するd, "how did you know that?"

"I didn't know it. You dared me to guess and I did, that's all. It was a good guess, too, wasn't it?"

"It certainly was. But—why did you guess that? Who told you? Come now, Mother, you're laughing at me. How did you know?"

Her smile broadened. "I didn't really know, Banks, but Hettie dropped in this evening after 祈り 会合, and she told me that about eight o'clock she saw you hurrying along up the Old Ostable Road. At least, she was almost sure it was you, but as she was fifteen minutes late for 会合 she didn't call after you to make sure. She couldn't imagine where you were going and so she stopped in on her way home."

"To find out, of course. 井戸／弁護士席, you couldn't tell her; I'm glad of that."

"I didn't tell her; but as the Truman house is on that road I guessed you were going there."

"Humph! It's a wonder she didn't guess. Not that I should have cared if she had."

"Oh, she did! She was very much excited about it. I think she was afraid you might be going to bring another 訴訟 against Mrs. Truman. She hasn't やめる got over her shivers at your daring to bring the other one. She gave me a good talking to about your choice of friends—taking up with a Tadgett against a Truman was foolish if not wicked. I pacified her, I think; told her you were probably just taking a walk. That was what you told me you were going to do, if I remember."

Her son blushed and was uneasily conscious of it. He sat 負かす／撃墜する upon the sofa beneath his father's portrait. "Hettie is a darned nuisance," he 宣言するd pettishly. "But hang it all, Mother, I don't understand yet. How did you know I was going to call on Elizabeth—on the Cartwright girl?"

"井戸／弁護士席, you were rather carefully dressed, for just a walk. And によれば Hettie you were on the Old Ostable Road. 行方不明になる Cartwright is the only young woman living on that road, so far as I know."

"Mother, you are too smart altogether. Dad must have had to watch his step; he couldn't have put much over on you, I guess, even if he had 手配中の，お尋ね者 to." She did not answer; she 選ぶd up her knitting and bent over it. "You were 権利, anyway," he went on. "I did go up to call on her. She asked me to come—asked me two or three times, as a 事柄 of fact. And when she said she had told her grandmother about asking me and the old lady didn't 申し込む／申し出 any 反対s, I—井戸／弁護士席, I went."

Margaret had dropped a stitch and she 選ぶd it up with care. "Did you have a pleasant call?" was her next question.

"Why, yes. Just sat around and talked, of course."

"That is about all that is 推定する／予想するd of a 報知係, isn't it? Did you see Mrs. Truman?"

"Yes. She was with us most of the time. Then that Trent man （機の）カム, and I met him."

"Trent? Christopher Trent, from Ostable?"

"Yes."

"He calls there a good 取引，協定, doesn't he?"

"Does he? I don't know; but I shouldn't wonder. He and Mrs. Truman seem to be pretty good friends. It was 半端物, wasn't it—a Trent, a Truman, and a Bradford 存在 together again? The three 指名するs in father's old 会社／堅い, you know. Mrs. Truman spoke of that."

"Did she? What else did she speak of?"

He told as much of Mrs. Truman's conversation as he could remember. At the end he について言及するd Trent's 明らかな 利益／興味 in him and his practice. "He hinted—or it seemed to me that he did—at his 存在 able to throw some work my way by and by. And Mrs. Truman said as much or more, on her own account, before he （機の）カム. Trent is a pretty big man in the 郡—大統領，／社長 of the Ostable bank and all that. If he should take a fancy to me—he and Mrs. Truman—why, it might mean a lot, you know."

Margaret looked up. Her 直面する was very 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な. "Banks," she said impulsively, "be careful, won't you?"

"Careful! Careful of what?"

"Of—of—井戸／弁護士席, I don't know."

He laughed. "I'm sure I don't," he 宣言するd. "If 影響力のある people like Mrs. Truman and Christopher Trent should take a fancy to me and throw practice my way, it would be about as 罰金 a bit of luck as a fellow could have, I'd say. What in the world is there to be careful about, Mother?"

She knit for a moment without speaking; then she said, "Why, nothing, dear, I suppose. Now tell me a little about the Cartwright girl. She is very pretty, I know. And she is nice? You like her?"

"Yes," said Banks with rather (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する nonchalance. "I like her. She's good fun and sensible, and she can talk about something besides the 天候 and the neighbors. I think you would like her, too, Mother; she is your 肉親，親類d, I shouldn't wonder. She's good company, and good company of my age isn't any too plentiful in Denboro—in the winter months anyhow."

"Why, Banks! That sounds a little snobbish, doesn't it?"

"Snobbish! What in 炎s have I got to be snobbish about? And it isn't snobbish, it's the plain truth. There is scarcely one of the fellows and girls I used to know when I was a little chap who stays in this town all the year. Every one of 'em—those that aren't married—are away at work in Boston or somewhere. You know it 同様に as I do, Mother."

She did know it and she did not 否定する him. Her next 発言／述べる had to do with his work at the office, and Elizabeth Cartwright's 指名する was not について言及するd again until they parted for the night. Then it was he who について言及するd it.

"Look here, Mother," he said 真面目に, "you don't mind my 存在 friendly with Elizabeth, do you? Calling once in a while and—and that sort of thing?"

"Mind dear? Why should I mind?"

"I don't think you should, but she's Mrs. Truman's granddaughter and I know you are prejudiced against Mrs. Truman, goodness knows why. To be honest, I think the old lady has been pretty decent to me, considering everything. And Elizabeth is a nice girl. I like her a lot. Oh, nothing serious; I'm not やめる an idiot, I hope. I just like her, that's all."

"I understand...Mr. Trent likes her pretty 井戸／弁護士席, too, doesn't he?"

He turned to 星／主役にする. "Trent?" he repeated. "What do you mean, likes her? Trent is an old man; he must be の近くに to forty. Almost old enough to be her father."

"Yes, I suppose he is...Good night, my boy."

"But Mother, what sort of ridiculous idea have you got in your 長，率いる? Trent! Why, he's a typical old bachelor, a 正規の／正選手 old sport. Chris Trent and Elizabeth Cartwright—good Lord—that sounds like Cousin Hettie."

"Does it? Then I am ashamed of myself. Good night—pleasant dreams."

He and Elizabeth met the next day at the 地位，任命する office and again a few days later in Tadgett's shop, where she had dropped in to see more of Ebenezer's "lovely things." He walked home with her that afternoon and called at the Truman house the に引き続いて evening. Mrs. Truman was 限定するd to her room with one of her たびたび（訪れる） sick 頭痛s and Trent did not put in an 外見, so the young people had the library to themselves. During their conversation it developed that 行方不明になる Cartwright liked 演習 and frequently took long walks across the country or along the beach, so it was agreed that they should take one together on Sunday afternoon. They did, and as it was a （疑いを）晴らす, snappy 早期に winter day they walked far and had a 完全に enjoyable tramp—so enjoyable that they agreed to repeat it the next Sunday. And in the 暫定的な he called again at the Truman mansion.

This call was not やめる as 満足な, for Mrs. Truman was in good health and 株d the library with them. She was her vivacious chatty self and 事実上 独占するd the conversation. As before, she seemed 大いに 利益／興味d in Banks' 進歩 as a lawyer, 特に when he chanced to tell her of his 商売／仕事 取引 with old Hezekiah Bartlett. When at ten he said good night, it was she who bade him be sure to come again.

"It is so nice to have young people about," she 宣言するd. "いつかs when I 運動 downtown it seems as if there wasn't a soul in this forsaken place who will ever see fifty again. Oh, I mean of our class, of course; there are fishermen and shop clerks and that sort of thing. Ah, me! It is wonderful to be young. I was young myself once, though I suppose that seems やめる unbelievable to you two children," she ended with a titter.

During their Sunday walk Elizabeth referred to her grandmother's 明らかな liking for their 知識.

"She has taken a real fancy to you," she said. "She 会談 about you a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定, and seems very much 利益／興味d to learn how you are getting on with that fussy old Mr. Bartlett. I wonder why? She doesn't know him at all herself. She said so when I asked her. Chris—Mr. Trent, I mean—asked about that, too, the last time he called."

"He calls pretty often, seems to me."

"Yes, I suppose he does. Two or three times a week. He and grandmother are 広大な／多数の／重要な friends. Which reminds me that we mustn't walk far to-day, for I 約束d to ride with him late this afternoon. He has beautiful horses—he's going to have one brought over for me to use."

Banks had no comment to make on this 声明. He was rather glum during the 残りの人，物 of the short walk. However, when he made his next call at the house on the Old Ostable Road, Mrs. Truman was out and Mr. Trent did not appear, so the evening was perfectly 満足な.

This sort of thing could not go on long in Denboro without attracting some notice. And, notice having been attracted, gossip followed. Nothing serious—単に hints and laughs—and as usual, neither hints nor laughs reached the ears of the parties most intimately 関心d.

But one evening in the Bradford house on Mill Road there was a sort of impromptu 会議／協議会; its 支配する was the growing friendship between Silas Bradford's son and Maybelle Truman's granddaughter. Cousin Hettie was 現在の—she had just happened to 減少（する） in, she said; and a little later Captain Abijah （機の）カム. Banks was out; he had not said where he was going, but, as Hettie 観察するd with a 重要な smile, anybody was 特権d to guess. It was this 発言／述べる which turned the 集会 into a family 会議.

"What do you mean by that, Hettie?" 需要・要求するd Abijah. "You look sly as a stuffed tomcat. What are you hintin' at?"

Cousin Hettie bridled. "Hinting isn't one of my habits," she said crushingly. "What I have to say I speak 権利 out. I'm plain- spoken, if I'm nothing else."

"井戸／弁護士席, I'll call you somethin' else if you don't stop winkin' and bobbin' your 長，率いる up and 負かす／撃墜する. Speak out now. Come!"

Hettie smiled. "I guess Margaret knows what I mean without my speakin'," she 観察するd. "Don't you, Margaret?"

Margaret looked up from her sewing. "I suppose you mean that Banks has probably gone to call on the Cartwright girl," she answered.

"There, there, don't 行為／法令／行動する so innocent; it doesn't fool anybody. You know just 同様に as I do that that's where he's gone."

"We don't either of us know, Hettie."

Captain Abijah's big laugh made the little room echo. "Good Lord!" he exclaimed. "Is that all the mystery? I 裁判官d he must have gone to steal somebody's chickens and had 約束d Hettie one for keepin' her mouth shut. Chicken is expensive these days, Hettie, and you're 広大な／多数の／重要な for savin' money, you know." He laughed again.

Cousin Hettie turned her 支援する upon him. "I do wish you hadn't been born with the notion that you were funny," she sneered. "Everybody knows by this time that Silie is chasing up to Maybelle Truman's two or three times a week. And he and Elizabeth 会合，会う 負かす／撃墜する to the 地位，任命する office and in Ebenezer Tadgett's junk shop. And they go to walk by themselves every Sunday."

"By themselves? What did you 推定する／予想する—that they'd take the 禁止（する）d and the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 company along and make a parade out of it? Young folks don't do that, Hettie. You never had much experience, maybe"—with a wink at Margaret—"but you can take my word for it they don't."

Henrietta's 支援する was more rigid than ever. "The whole town is talking about it," she said. "Not that that worries me, of course."

Margaret would have spoken, but the captain was enjoying himself and he spoke first. "井戸／弁護士席, what of it?" he 需要・要求するd. "If they talk about that it may give some other folks' 私的な 商売／仕事 a 残り／休憩（する）. And as for bein' troubled, why should any of us be troubled? So long as the girl and her grandmother don't 反対する, why should we? It'll all 量 to nothin', probably; young folks like to be with young folks, that's all. I was chasin' around with a dozen different girls when I was Banks' age."

The 適切な時期 was too tempting for Hettie to resist.

"Nothing ever （機の）カム of any of your chasing, that's sure," she put in tartly. "Chasing is one thing and catchin's another."

Abijah ignored the thrust. "And suppose somethin' should come of it," he went on, in earnest this time, "what of that? If Banks and this Cartwright girl should decide to get married いつか it wouldn't be what us Bradfords could call a shipwreck fur's our end of it is 関心d. She's a good enough girl, I guess, and a darned pretty one, too, or I've lost the judgment I used to have. The boy 選ぶs 'em 井戸／弁護士席, I'll say that for him."

Another 匂いをかぐ from Cousin Hettie. "There's no fool like an old fool," she 観察するd with 明らかな irrelevance.

"Glad you feel that way; 自白's good for the soul, or so they tell."

Margaret 削減（する） in hurriedly. "Abijah, stop teasing; don't mind him, Hettie. I can't think there is anything of consequence in Banks' friendship for Elizabeth. He is just beginning his career. He has nothing as yet of his own. Is it likely he would consider anything—serious? Or is it the least likely that she would consider him?"

Abijah grinned. "Boys and girls their age don't stop to do much considerin'," he said. "And if it should be serious by and by, when Banks gets his feet under him—again I ask you, why should we worry? Marryin' Lije Truman's granddaughter—or step-granddaughter, or whatever she is—wouldn't be bad luck for your boy, Margaret. Eh? That's so, isn't it?"

Margaret was silent. It was Cousin Hettie who spoke. "It would be too good luck for me to believe could ever happen," she 宣言するd. "I guess likely Mrs. Cap'n Truman may have a few 計画（する）s of her own. And I 疑問 if your Silie's 指名する is written 負かす／撃墜する in 'em, Margaret; I 疑問 it very much."

Margaret's sewing slipped from her （競技場の）トラック一周 to the 床に打ち倒す. "If I thought it was serious I should be wretched indeed," she said with sudden emotion. Her brother-in-法律 and Cousin Hettie looked their astonishment.

"井戸／弁護士席, that's pretty tart, I'll tell the neighbors!" exclaimed Abijah. "What's all this, Margaret? Course I know you've got a spite against Lije's 未亡人 and always have had, for no 推論する／理由 I could ever see. But I didn't think you'd let it stand in Banks' way."

"I should let nothing stand in his way—if I thought it the 権利 way."

"Maybelle Truman's a 肉親，親類d of perky old 投票 parrot, I 認める you; I'm not very strong for her myself. She's pompous and toplofty, and it makes me sick to see her riggin' herself up to look thirty- five when she's sixty-半端物. But that don't made me blind to what Banks' marryin' her granddaughter might mean. She's 負担d to the gunnels with money, and Elizabeth's the only nigh relation she's got. If the boy should 逮捕する the girl 'twould be a pretty good joke on the old woman. Yes, and a mighty good 取引，協定 for him too. I believe Hettie'll agree with me, for once. You feel that way, don't you, Hettie?"

Hettie's 協定—her 表現 of it, at least—was only 部分的な／不平等な. "It's the 'if' that's the sticker there," she 布告するd. "Of course," she 急いでd to 追加する, with sudden recollection of many previous 布告／宣言s, "to marry Silas Bradford's son would be a good marriage for anybody's granddaughter, in one way, but—井戸／弁護士席, it is all too foolish even to think about. There is Christopher Trent, for one 推論する／理由."

Abijah nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "I guess you're 権利 there. At least, everybody seems to think he's steerin' pretty 安定した in that direction." He seemed to 反映する for a moment and then 追加するd with a nod, "I shouldn't like to see any 列／漕ぐ／騒動 develop between Chris Trent and my 甥—not just now. There's too much of importance hangin' in the 勝利，勝つd. If I get a chance I must tell Banks to keep as friendly with Chris as he can, for all our sakes."

Hettie, of course, すぐに 需要・要求するd what he meant by that. "What is it that's hanging in the 勝利，勝つd, as you call it?" she asked 熱望して. "Margaret, do you know what he's talking about?"

"No, Hettie."

"He's got something more that he's hiding from us. If it has anything to do with our family I have a 権利 to know it."

Captain Abijah rose from his 議長，司会を務める. "It hasn't," he snapped. "Nothin' to do with Banks or you or Margaret or any other Bradford except me. Everybody'll know it pretty soon, if it goes through. 合間 they'll have to wait till the bombshell bursts. That won't be very long—or I hope it won't," he finished with a gesture of impatience.

"But Abijah—"

"Oh, be still! I'm going now. Good night, everybody."

"'Bijah, you wait. I'll walk along with you. Wait till I get my things on." She hurried to the rack in the 入ること／参加（者）.

The captain turned to his sister-in-法律. "That woman is a 正規の／正選手 dogfish," he growled. "You can't heave a calico rag overboard but she jumps to 得る，とらえる it and find out if it's good to eat. What in time did I let my tongue slip for? I've had this thing on my mind for a month and it makes me think out loud. せねばならない have had more sense. She'll pester me from here to the corner of the 押し寄せる／沼地 Road."

Which was 正確に what she did. Banks and Elizabeth Cartwright 完全に forgotten, she begged and pleaded until they reached that very corner. And there, as they parted, her curiosity was still unsatisfied.

"I think you are real mean, Abijah Bradford," she 公約するd spitefully. "You've got a secret and you won't tell your own relation what it is. There aren't many of us Bradfords left, and when they begin hiding things from each other it's a pretty 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s, I must say."

"Oh, run along home to bed. I ain't hiding anything except what I've got to hide—for a （一定の）期間. If anything comes of it you'll hear and so will everybody else."

"Oh, you 刺激するing thing! I'll bet that I—your own cousin—won't hear it a bit sooner than everybody else, either."

Her tormenting 親族 patted her shoulder. "See if you can't place that bet somewheres, Hettie," he said with a chuckle. "It sounds like a 勝利者 to me."

一時期／支部 10

Margaret Bradford sewed no more that evening. After her 訪問者s went she sat in the 激しく揺するing-議長，司会を務める, thinking, thinking. It was nearly eleven when she went to her room and almost midnight when she heard Banks の近くに the outer door and come tiptoeing up the stairs.

During breakfast she was very 静かな, and her son noticed it. "What's the trouble, Mother?" he asked. "Didn't you sleep 井戸／弁護士席?"

"Not very—no."

"Not sick, I hope?"

"No."

"Worried about something? Tell your troubles to the family lawyer. What's the use of having one in the house if you don't use him?"

She smiled. "I may do that some day," she replied.

"井戸／弁護士席, why not now? 本気で, Mother, you are not really worried, are you?"

"Why—yes, dear, a little."

"It isn't about money, is it? I せねばならない have a small check almost any day now. Crowell 借りがあるs me a little, and so does old Mr. Bartlett. They are good 支払う／賃金, or they are supposed to be."

"Banks, you—you are getting on with your practice? You are 伸び（る）ing a little?"

"A little, yes. I was 人物／姿／数字ing yesterday that during the past three weeks I had 現実に earned expenses and a little over. By expenses I mean not only my office rent but enough to 支払う／賃金 you some of the 支援する board I 借りがある. Of course I shall 支払う／賃金 it just as soon as I am able to collect."

"You don't 借りがある me anything."

"Don't I? I think I 借りがある you almost everything—you and Uncle Bije."

"Your uncle was here last night."

"Was he? Sorry I 行方不明になるd him. He hasn't been in at the office for two or three days. He seems to have something on his mind, some 商売／仕事 事柄 that he occasionally hints about, but won't—or can't—speak of 率直に."

"Is Mr. Trent 関心d in it, do you know?"

"Mr. Trent? Not that I know of. Did he について言及する Mr. Trent?"

"Yes. We were speaking of 行方不明になる Cartwright—Elizabeth, I mean. Hettie said something—"

"Hettie? Oh, yes, yes! She was here too? Then I'm glad I wasn't. They 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know where I was, I suppose?"

"No. They seemed to be やめる 確かな where you were."

He put 負かす／撃墜する his cup. "How should they know?" he 需要・要求するd. "Why, you didn't yourself, Mother. I don't remember telling you where I was going."

She smiled. "Was it necessary, dear?" she asked 静かに.

He 紅潮／摘発するd. "Necessary?"

"Why, yes. You have been there a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of late. And you and— and—Elizabeth have been walking together every Sunday."

"How on earth did you know that? Not that we have been hiding it from any one. Confound it, there is nothing to hide!"

She ignored the latter part of this indignant 爆発. "によれば Hettie every one in Denboro knows it," she said 静かに. "And are talking and joking about it. They would, you know. Denboro isn't a very large place."

He struck the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with his 握りこぶし. "This town makes me sick," he blurted 怒って. "Just because she and I are—are friendly, and are 利益／興味d in the same things and enjoy each other's company, they think— Here! tell me, what DO they think?"

"I don't know; they don't tell me, of course. What do you think yourself, Banks?"

"I? I think they are snooping, gossiping busybodies. That is what I think of them. They—why, they'll be having us engaged next."

She looked at him across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "井戸／弁護士席, are you?" she asked.

"Are we?" he gasped. "Are we what?"

"Are you and she engaged?"

He 押し進めるd 支援する his 議長，司会を務める. "Mother," he cried 怒って, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Do you think I— Oh, for heaven's sake, what 肉親，親類d of a fellow do you think I am?"

"I think you are the dearest fellow in the world. And I don't see how any girl can help thinking the same thing."

"Oh—oh, this is ridiculous! This is what you are worried about, of course. 井戸／弁護士席, I am not engaged, and I have no thought of 存在. She and I are just—just—"

"I know, my boy. You 港／避難所't either of you considered where this friendship of yours may lead. As your uncle said last evening, young folks don't stop to consider, as we older ones have learned to do. And that is what troubled me and why I have dared to speak to you now. Don't you think you せねばならない consider, Banks, dear— before it is too late? People are talking already—oh, I know you don't care what they say, but perhaps you せねばならない a little. You せねばならない think of yourself and of her—and now is the time to do it—now while you are, as you say, just good friends."

"That is all we shall ever be."

"Are you sure? Oh, I know! I was very young when I married, and your father was only a few years older."

"Good Lord! Why do you say that? You're not sorry you married father, are you?"

She sighed. "I shan't say much more," she went on. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said so much. But Banks, do be careful. You are a poor man's son, with your own way to make. She is the granddaughter of a rich woman."

"But Mother, Mrs. Truman knows I am friendly with Elizabeth. She likes to have me call—she says so."

"Yes," agreed his mother with a troubled frown, "I know; and that is what I 特に don't understand. There, dear, that is all. I shall never について言及する this again. But do please think it all over very carefully. I am sure you 港／避難所't thought at all as yet. Try and think, not only for your sake but for hers, just what your feelings for Elizabeth are or may be. Think whether it is wise to see her as often as you do. Think whether it is wise for you and wise—and やめる fair—to her...You're not too cross with me? Try not to be, please. Perhaps I am, as you say, ridiculous; but"— with a sudden catch in her 発言する／表明する—"I am your mother."

He laughed, patted her shoulder, and 保証するd her that he was not cross in the least. "Of course," he 追加するd, "you are taking this whole thing too 本気で. You are worrying when there is nothing to worry about; but that is natural, I suppose. Women," said he, speaking from his long experience, "are that way, I know. It's all 権利, Mother; I'll behave."

"And you will think—and you will be careful?"

"Oh, sure! Don't fret. I've got a 穀物 of ありふれた sense, even if Cousin Hettie won't believe it."

On his way to the office he reviewed the interview at the breakfast （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and decided that it was all nonsense, his mother's 苦悩 and 警告を与える. Nonsense 誘発するd, of course, by that pest, Cousin Hettie. At his desk, however, although he tried to 転換 his thoughts to other 支配するs, they did not 転換 easily. He had had a pleasant call the previous evening. Mrs. Truman was out—out at some 協議 about 商売／仕事 with Trent, he remembered Elizabeth had told him—and the young people were alone and their chatter 連続する.

They were やめる confidential now; he spoke 率直に of his 計画（する）s and ambitions, and her 利益／興味 in them seemed very 本物の. She liked Denboro ever so much better than she had at first, she said. She was beginning to understand why he, ambitious and clever and—井戸／弁護士席, different, you know—had been willing to live and work in such a little place.

"It is home to you," she said. "That is something I have never had, a real home. I used to say I didn't care, travel was ever so much more fun than 存在 tied to one place; but now I'm not sure. I am getting to be countrified, I guess. Grandmother （刑事）被告 me of that the other day, when I told her I had a perfectly wonderful time at the church sociable."

Banks had …に出席するd that sociable and he, also, had had a wonderful time. His opinion of Denboro had, like hers, changed for the better. Now, as he sat in his office, his mother's 警告 fresh in his mind, he began to consider why it had changed. The answer to the question was 否定できない: It had changed since he knew Elizabeth Cartwright. 事前の to that it had been 単に a town, a community to which he had been 宣告，判決d by 運命／宿命 and where, for the 即座の 未来 at least, he must do 同様に as he could and pretend to like it. Now he did like it, without any pretense. And as long as she was there he should continue to like it. But suppose—next summer, next winter, any time—her grandmother took her away again. She almost surely would do that very thing. And suppose, while away, Elizabeth should 会合，会う some one else.

Here is where his cogitations brought up with a sudden and 乱すing 揺さぶる. The shock shook his serene complacency to the 創立／基礎s. He began for the first time to wonder just what his feeling for Mrs. Truman's granddaughter had come to be. It was 平易な to call it friendship and just as 平易な to say, as he had said to his mother, that the idea of any other feeling was absurd. But—

He 掴むd his hat and went out. His work must wait awhile; he could not 直す／買収する，八百長をする his attention on it just then. He had no 限定された 目的地 in mind, but he was going somewhere where the 空気／公表する was （疑いを）晴らす and a fellow could get away from fool ideas. He walked as far as the 前線 door of the Tadgett secondhand shop, and as the ideas seemed to be walking with him he went into that shop to shake them off. Ebenezer was not in the other 支援する room this time; he was seated at his desk in the little office, his spectacles on his nose, and humming a ditty. He looked up when the bell rang.

"Yes," he shouted; "here I be—in here...Oh, hello, Banks! What fetched you out so 早期に in the forenoon? Ain't come to serve a subpeeny or anything on me, have you? I was just lookin' over my first of the month 法案s, and whenever I do that I always shiver if the doorbell （犯罪の）一味s. 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する—始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing at all—that is, nothing in particular. I—er—just ran in. Don't mind me; keep on with your 法案s."

"Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, all 権利, maybe I will, till I finish addin' up this one. It's Caldwell's last month's grocery 法案, and I never feel 安全な to 支払う／賃金 it till I've 追加するd it two or three times. Eben's bookkeeper's got a system, and it's a pretty good one—for Eben. I 裁判官 her motto is, 'Never make mistakes, but when you do, be sure there's a little 利益（をあげる） in 'em.' Have a cigar while you're waitin', Banks. There's a couple yonder on the corner of the shelf. No, no! not that one, for the land sakes! Jotham gave me that; I'm savin' it for the 税金 collector. Try the other one; that's made of タバコ...Now just let me 追加する this thing again."

He bent over the desk, his stubby finger moving 負かす／撃墜する the lines of 人物／姿／数字s and his lips moving in song:

"We'll have beefsteak and sparerib stew
And nice 胆汁d onions dipped in dew,
Sing a hally-hally-hally-hallelujah!
In the morn-in', in the mornin' by the 有望な light,
When Gabriel blows his trumpet in the morn-in'."

Banks lighted the cigar and was surprised to find it a very good one. Ebenezer finished his 追加するing and swung about in his 議長，司会を務める.

"That 法案 was 権利," he 発表するd. "Yes, sir, 'twas just 権利. That bookkeeper'll be losin' her 職業 if she ain't more careless. 井戸／弁護士席, how's the cigar? It せねばならない be firstrate, considerin' who gave it to me?"

Banks idly asked who had given it to him.

"Mr. Christopher Trent—Chris Trent, from Ostable, I mean. He's got money enough to buy himself good stuff, and judgin' by the looks of him that's what he does."

Banks took the cigar from his lips. "So Mr. Trent comes in to see you, does he?"

"He's been in two or three times lately. I guess the Cartwright girl's responsible. He's talkin' about buyin' that 始める，決める of 急ぐ- 底（に届く） 議長，司会を務めるs I've got in yonder. Thinks they might do for what he calls a breakfast room he's cal'latin' to 追加する の上に his house. That's what he called it—a breakfast room. What do you suppose he asked me? 売春婦, 売春婦! 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know if I considered they'd be good enough for a breakfast room. I said, 'They'd be too good for 地雷,' I says. 'I 一般に eat breakfast in the kitchen.' You せねばならない have heard that Cartwright girl laugh. She can see a joke every time without a spyglass."

Banks did not laugh; nor did he relight the cigar, which had gone out. "So she was here with him?"

"Oh, sure! She and he are 広大な／多数の／重要な friends, seems so. He and the old lady Truman have always been chummy, but lately he's let his chumminess 支店 out so it takes in the 残り／休憩（する） of the family. He and Elizabeth are around together a whole lot; 港／避難所't you noticed it? Ridin' horseback together and out in his automobile and all."

Banks said nothing. Tadgett went on: "Breakfast room," he chuckled. "Say, you'd think a 孤独な old bach like him could manage to eat breakfast in the same room with dinner and supper and not feel （人が）群がるd, wouldn't you? Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, maybe he's figgerin' not to stay an old bach always. That's what folks are beginnin' to hint, anyhow. He wouldn't be takin' much 危険, I guess. He must have money enough to support as many wives as King Solomon, if he takes the notion...Why, here! You ain't goin' so soon, are you?"

His 報知係 had risen. "I must get 支援する to work," he said すぐに. "See you later, Ebenezer."

When he reached the sidewalk he threw the 部分的に／不公平に smoked cigar savagely into the street and strode up the stairs to his office. There, again seated at his desk, he 設立する work harder to concentrate upon than before he left it. All that forenoon he sat idle, his 手渡すs jammed in his pockets and his brows drawn together in a frown. When at noon he rose to go home for dinner he had reached a 結論 in his thinking. His mother's advice was sound, and it had been given just in time. He would not—he must not—see Elizabeth Cartwright so frequently. He would 中止する calling at the Truman house.

She would think it queer, of course, his 徐々に dropping their acquaintanceship. She would not understand; perhaps she might feel 傷つける at first. Never mind; HE understood. He was a poor man, a struggling country lawyer, and always would be just that. It was his 運命, he could not 避ける it.

But Trent! That conceited, patronizing, forty-year-old rounder! Oh, the devil! THAT was foolishness, anyhow.

When he （機の）カム 支援する from dinner he 設立する a 公式文書，認める tucked under the door. It was from Uncle Abijah:

I was just too late to catch you this noon, Banks, and I must go to Bayport 権利 off. I will be 支援する about four, though, and I will come 権利 over. Wait for me if I'm late. I want to see you about something important.

一時期／支部 11

Just before three Banks heard footsteps in the hall outside his door. He looked up, as the door opened, 推定する／予想するing to see his uncle. But it was not Captain Abijah who （機の）カム in; it was Christopher Trent.

Banks would have been surprised to see him there at any time; just now he was more than surprised. Trent, at the beginning of their 知識, had condescendingly intimated that he might 減少（する） in at the Bradford office some day, when he happened to be in Denboro. Although he had been in the village a 広大な／多数の／重要な many times since then, he never had called. Banks had long since 中止するd to 推定する／予想する him, nor was he in the least disappointed; the contrary, rather.

He had not been 好意的に impressed by the patronizing Christopher when they first met, and nothing he had seen or heard in その後の 会合s had changed that impression for the better. And of late he had been 審理，公聴会 other things—from his mother, from Tadgett, from Captain Abijah; and though these things had nothing to do with him, Banks Bradford, they were—井戸／弁護士席, they were not pleasant to hear.

His thoughts—some of his most 乱すing and irritating thoughts of this 乱すing and discouraging day—had 中心d about Mr. Christopher Trent. He was thinking of him when 誘発するd from meditation by the footstep in the hall. And now, as if these thoughts had been a 召喚するs, which they most distinctly were not ーするつもりであるd to be, here he was in the flesh. 相当な, 井戸／弁護士席- nourished, self-満足させるd flesh it was, too.

He walked briskly in and, pulling a glove from his 権利 手渡す, held out that 手渡す. "How are you, Bradford?" he said carelessly. Then, with an amused smile, "What's the 事柄? 推定する／予想するing some one else, were you?"

Banks rose in 迅速な 混乱 and shook the proffered 手渡す. "How do you do, Mr. Trent?" he stammered. "I—why, yes, I was 推定する／予想するing some one. It's all 権利, though; it's too 早期に for him. Won't you sit 負かす／撃墜する, sir?"

"Don't want to 干渉する with your—er—（弁護士の）依頼人s, of course. Perhaps I should have made an 任命 with a busy man like you, eh? Sorry."

This speech was 厳粛に made, but Banks did not like it. It might not be sarcastic in 意向, but it was in fact. "I wasn't 推定する／予想するing a （弁護士の）依頼人," he 認める rather stiffly. "That is, not just now. Uncle Abijah said he would be in this afternoon, that's all. Sit 負かす／撃墜する, Mr. Trent, please."

Trent did not sit. "So Cap'n Bije was coming, eh?" he 観察するd. "Humph! Anything important? 商売／仕事 事柄, was it?"

"I don't know. He left a 公式文書，認める 説 he wished to see me about something or other. No, it probably wasn't important. Something to do with the bank, perhaps. I don't know what it was, really."

His 訪問者 was regarding him 熱心に. "About the bank?" he repeated. "What bank?"

"Why, the Denboro Bank. He is one of the directors, you know."

Trent was pulling off the other glove. His gaze was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon his companion's 直面する. "See here, Bradford," he 需要・要求するd suddenly, "do you know about it already? Has he told you?"

"Told me? Told me what? I don't know what you mean, Mr. Trent."

Another searching look. "No-o"—slowly—"I guess you don't. Cap'n Bije hasn't let you in on any news connected with the Denboro 国家の, then? How did you happen to guess he might be going to talk about the bank?"

Banks was beginning to resent this brusque cross-尋問. There was no need of it, so far as he could see. "I don't know what you are 運動ing at, Mr. Trent," he said. "Uncle Abijah has hinted once or twice that he might have something to tell me pretty soon, and I remember he gave me to understand that bank 事件／事情／状勢s had something to do with it. I didn't try to find out what it was; I wasn't 大いに 利益／興味d."

Trent nodded. "I see," he said. "井戸／弁護士席, it's a wonder the old rooster could keep his mouth shut so long. I'm glad he has, though. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 the chance to talk first. Yes, I will sit 負かす／撃墜する, thank you—now that you've made me feel easier about taking your 価値のある time."

Again there was no trace of a smile; but the look which he cast about the sparsely furnished little office was ironically expressive. Banks pulled 今後 a 議長，司会を務める; as he was feeling at the moment he would have preferred using it as a club. Trent unbuttoned and threw 支援する his overcoat, seated himself and crossed his 膝s. His hat, which he did not 除去する, was 始める，決める a trifle on one 味方する. His shoes—they had not been 購入（する）d at Eben Caldwell's general 蓄える／店—were brightly polished. His trousers were 正確に creased. His overcoat was of expensive 構成要素 and stylish 削減（する）.

Banks' overcoat, hanging on the hook by the door, was growing rather shabby, and he knew that he could not afford a new one that winter. He could not help asking himself the question, not 正確に／まさに 初めの with him, why some people in this world had everything they 手配中の，お尋ね者, while others could not have even what they needed. Yet this man's grandfather had been his own father's partner and によれば Denboro's 見積（る） was not half the man Silas Bradford had been, at that.

"Here, Bradford," said Christopher Trent, "have a cigar."

Banks 拒絶する／低下するd the cigar. He remembered with wicked satisfaction that he had thrown its mate into the street an hour or two before. There was always something about this man, aside from his impeccable apparel, which 誘発するd his 憤慨. Perhaps it was Trent's 空気／公表する of worldly 知恵, of self-保証／確信 and patronizing, 繁栄する serenity. Or perhaps it was—something else. At any 率, each time they met the struggling young lawyer felt younger and more struggling than ever. He was thinking all this when his 訪問者, his cigar lighted, leaned 今後 and spoke.

"Bradford," he said briskly, "how would you like to work for me?"

Banks, who had been trying to guess the 目的 behind the call, had not guessed anything like this. "Why, what—" he stammered, in amazement. "I—I don't understand—"

"No, no," impatiently, "of course you don't—yet. If you'll listen you will. How would you like to work for me, I say? Or for the Ostable 国家の Bank, which 量s to the same thing? Be the bank's lawyer, that is what I mean. Does that sound good to you? It せねばならない."

It sounded to Banks just then like a poor 試みる／企てる at a joke, too absurd to be anything else. But Christopher Trent was not smiling, nor was there now any hint of sarcasm in his トン or manner. He appeared to be very serious indeed.

"You needn't answer now," he went on. "I don't 推定する／予想する you to. Let me say my say and then you can talk. Here! Perhaps we'd better lock that door first. Don't want your uncle or anybody else butting in till we finish."

He rose and turned the 重要な himself. Then he （機の）カム 支援する to his 議長，司会を務める.

"Bradford," he said. "I told you I might 減少（する） in and see you some day when I happened to be in Denboro—told you that the first time we met, up at Mrs. Truman's. Do you remember?"

Banks remembered. "Yes, sir," he 認める. "I remember you said you might."

Without ーするつもりであるing to do so he had 強調するd the "said" わずかに. Trent grinned.

"But you thought I didn't mean it, of course? 井戸／弁護士席, you're wrong. I did mean it. I've had you in the 支援する of my 長，率いる ever since that day when you gave Maybelle and that windbag, Brooks, such a beautiful trimming in her sideboard 捨てる. That was a smart piece of work. It took a clever youngster to get away with it as you did. Everybody around here considers Elijah Truman's 未亡人 a sort of の近くに relation to the Almighty. You were just a kid, so to speak, and they 推定する／予想するd to see you spanked and stood in the corner in jig time. You fooled 'em. You fooled her, too—and anybody that can do that has to get up before breakfast. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! She's no woodenhead; she isn't spiteful. She knows what I'm going to say to you, and she is for it...Eh? You're listening, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir. I—I'm listening."

"You want to, for your own sake, because this is straight 商売／仕事. Now we'll get 負かす／撃墜する to 厚かましさ／高級将校連 tacks...Oh, just one more question: You are pretty 厚い with old Bartlett these days, aren't you? Old Hez Bartlett, I mean."

"I have been doing some work for Mr. Bartlett. I don't know that I'm 厚い with him."

"He's taken a fancy to you, I know that, for he has been singing your 賞賛するs around the 郡, and he doesn't do that for many of us. For instance, you never have heard the cross-穀物d old skunk waste much music on me, I guess. I'm 権利 there—eh?"

He was. Banks remembered having heard Hezekiah について言及する the Trent 指名する only once, and then but casually; にもかかわらず on that occasion it was not について言及するd with enthusiasm. He made no reply, and his 訪問者 did not wait for him to do so.

"井戸／弁護士席," he grunted, "he likes me 同様に as I like him, anyhow, so we're square so far. Now then, Bradford, here is my proposition to you: I am 大統領，／社長 of the Ostable Bank; you know that, of course."

"Why—yes, sir."

"Everybody knows it. My grandfather was its first 大統領，／社長. The old man—my father, I mean—was 大統領，／社長 of it for awhile. Then, when he died, I took over the 職業. The Ostable Bank is a sort of Trent heirloom, as you might say. It isn't a very big 会・原則; not やめる so big as the Denboro 国家の, as a 事柄 of fact. But it's all 権利. It's my own baby, and I've been nursing it for twelve years or more. Now I'm thinking of 株ing that nursing with somebody else."

His manner became even more earnest. He leaned 今後 and 強調するd his points with a 解除するd finger. The time had come, he said, when it seemed 明らかな that two banks in towns as 近づく each other as Ostable and Denboro were unnecessary. Far better to have one 会・原則 of the 肉親，親類d, and that one strong and 部隊d. He and his directors had felt that way for some time. Within the past few months the officers and directors of the Denboro Bank had come to the same 結論. During those months a 合併 of the two banks had been under consideration; in fact, had been agreed upon. The Denboro Bank, larger and more powerful of the two, was to take over the Ostable Bank.

"It is plain ありふれた sense," he 宣言するd emphatically. "There isn't 商売／仕事 enough for two banks, but there is やめる enough for one sound, strong one. We see it at our end of the line. The Denboro （人が）群がる—your uncle and his bunch—see it at theirs. So we are going to 合併する. That is all settled, 詳細（に述べる）s and everything. It has been kept a の近くに secret so far, though how it has been kept so 静かな in this gabby neck of the 支持を得ようと努めるd is nothing short of a 奇蹟. You say you 港／避難所't heard a word about it, Bradford? Not a word."

Banks shook his 長，率いる. "No," he replied slowly. "By George, that IS a 奇蹟 負かす／撃墜する here."

"I'll say it is! And of course you understand that what I am telling you now is 厳密に confidential—doctor and 患者, lawyer and （弁護士の）依頼人 商売／仕事, you know? You're not to tell a soul until the word is given and public 告示 is made. You'll 断言する to that, eh?"

"Why—why, yes, Mr. Trent. I'll 約束 not to tell what you have told me so far, of course."

"Nor what I tell you afterward, either? All 権利; I'll take the chance. From what I've seen of you I guess you can keep your mouth shut, and Maybelle Truman has been sizing you up and she's sure you can. She's a pretty shrewd 裁判官 of a man. Had more or いっそう少なく experience, I shouldn't wonder," he chuckled.

Banks 転換d in his 議長，司会を務める. "What has Mrs. Truman to do with it?" he blurted.

"Why—nothing"—はっきりと. "Why should you think she had anything to do with it?"

"But you said—"

"I said she had been sizing you up. So she has. So has Elizabeth. They both think you are a clever kid and know which 味方する your bread is buttered."

"Here! Wait a minute! What do you mean by that? Has Elizabeth— has 行方不明になる Cartwright been—"

"There, there! She hasn't been doing anything. She doesn't know anything—about this 取引，協定, I mean. Her grandmother does, because she—oh, 井戸／弁護士席, because the Trumans and the Trents have been pals ever since the beginning and I have looked after her 投資s for her occasionally, when she has asked me to."

"But—but 行方不明になる Cartwright—"

Mr. Trent's foot patted the 床に打ち倒す. He interrupted. "We're not talking about 行方不明になる Cartwright," he snapped. "We're talking 商売／仕事, and she isn't your 商売／仕事—or 地雷 either, just now. We've got to keep on the 跡をつける if we are to reach the 協定 I hope we may, and reach it this afternoon. Now listen again."

He went on more 速く. The 詳細（に述べる）s of the 合併 had all been arranged for some time, he said, but in carrying them into 影響 some 障害s had developed. It was necessary that the 株主s of both banks agree to 交流 their 現在の 在庫／株 for 在庫／株 in the new 会・原則. So far as the 株主s of his own bank, the Ostable Bank, were 関心d, that would be comparatively 平易な. In fact, most of them had already agreed. There were a few scattered 抵抗s, but they could be 説得するd or at any 率 bought up. In the Denboro Bank, however, there were a few who would not, so far, listen to 推論する／理由. Of these Hezekiah Bartlett was the 長，指導者. The old man held a good-sized 封鎖する of 株 and he きっぱりと 辞退するd to 貿易（する） them for 株 in the new combination.

"You see," growled Trent, "the old fool used to be a director in the Denboro 国家の himself at one time, but he was so cantankerous that nobody could get along with him, and finally he was 軍隊d off the board. Then, too, the Denboro （人が）群がる's lawyer is 裁判官 Bangs, the old chap who 統括するd at that 審理，公聴会 of yours. He's a fussy old fogy, によれば my ideas, but he's honest enough and 有能な in his way. The rub is that Bartlett and he had a 列／漕ぐ／騒動 over a 訴訟 at one time, and Bartlett hasn't spoken to him since. So he can't do anything toward making Bartlett come in on the 合併. The whole game is stuck in the mud for the 現在の, and unless there is a brand-new 取引，協定 somewhere, there it will keep on sticking. Every day it does stick the more danger there is of the news 漏れるing out and getting talked about. When it does there are bound to be more 抵抗s looking for fancy 人物／姿／数字s. Something has to be done; we insiders know it. So that's why I've come to you. I want you to be the one who gives us the new 取引，協定. See?"

Banks was beginning to see—a little, but even that very dimly. "You mean," he hesitated, "you mean you want me to—to—"

"I want you—the Ostable Bank wants you to 行為／法令／行動する as its 弁護士／代理人／検事, its 代表者／国会議員 in this 商売／仕事, just as 裁判官 Bangs is 事実上の／代理 for the Denboro 国家の. You're young but you're sharp, and I take it for 認めるd you are ambitious. We've had enough of old-fogyism. Oscar Brooks was our lawyer for years, but we're through with him. The way you showed him up at that 審理，公聴会 証明するd to us, just as it 証明するd to Maybelle Truman, that he is worn out, no good—a plain fool, if you ask me. We need somebody who has go-ahead and brains and won't hem and haw over trifles. We need a chap like you, and the 職業 is yours, if you'll take it. You will take it, of course, unless you're crazy. This 合併 is only the beginning; so far as my personal 事件／事情／状勢s are 関心d, there is likely to be a lot more. Now what do you say?"

Banks was still too bewildered to say much, but he did ask the all- important question. "What will I be 推定する／予想するd to do?" he stammered.

"Everything you can to 押す the 合併 through; that's the first thing. See the 抵抗s—there aren't many—in our Ostable （人が）群がる. Get them into line. Then"—with an impressive wave of the finger— "use your 影響（力） with Bartlett to get him to turn in his Denboro Bank 株.—Now, wait, wait! You are the only one who can do it, I honestly believe. He hates most of us, but he likes you. He has told people I know that he likes you not only because you are Silas Bradford's son but for yourself. You can put the thing straight to him. There's nothing underhand about it. You'll be doing him a good turn, a mighty good turn. You'll be helping your uncle and his （人が）群がる. They are stronger for this 合併 even than we are. And believe me, boy, there is nothing on earth that will make you so solid with the 郡 you've 選ぶd to practice 法律 in as 合併するing those two banks. There, that's what I （機の）カム here to put up to you. And you are for it, of course."

Banks drew a long breath. He passed his 手渡す across his forehead. "広大な／多数の／重要な Scott!" he exclaimed fervently.

Mr. Trent grinned. "Gets 持つ／拘留する of you, doesn't it?" he 観察するd. "I should think it might. Some chance for a young fellow just out of 法律 school."

"You—you are 権利 there, Mr. Trent; it sounds wonderful enough. Only—井戸／弁護士席, honestly, I still can't see why you 選ぶd me out. With all the experienced lawyers in the towns about—"

"Bosh! We don't want experience; we want brains and 押し進める and ambition. For old Bangs and his 肉親，親類d this would be only another 法律 職業; for you it is a paid-up ticket to success in your profession. I didn't do the 選ぶing all on my own 責任／義務. Mrs. Truman was the first to put the flea in my ear. She said, 'Get young Bradford and get him before somebody else does.' And now I have got you, or I hope I have."

Banks sighed. "I guess you have got me, all 権利, Mr. Trent," he 自白するd. "I would be an idiot to say no, I suppose. Only—only just let me think it over a little while—until to-morrow, say. I should hate to say yes and then make a mess of it."

"You won't make a mess of it. I'll bet I know what is worrying you. You think I'm 持つ／拘留するing something 支援する. You are afraid I am trying to pull a trick on Cap'n Abijah and his （人が）群がる. Come now, I'll make you a 冒険的な proposition. When he comes to see you this afternoon I give you leave to tell him about the 申し込む／申し出 I've made and that you have decided to 受託する it. If he says you shouldn't take it—if he doesn't agree that it is a 広大な／多数の／重要な chance for you and that you せねばならない take it—井戸／弁護士席, then you can 支援する out. Fair enough, eh?" He grinned 概して.

Banks, too, smiled. "It sounds fair," he 認める.

"It is fair. And I'm making it because I know he'll tell you to go ahead. The Denboro 国家の is just as anxious to put this 合併 through as we are, and don't you forget it. All 権利, Bradford, it's settled. I'll come in here about ten to-morrow morning, and we'll talk ways and means. You better do a little thinking yourself along that line in the 合間. Good-by."

He 打ち明けるd the door and walked out of the office, a fresh cigar in the corner of his mouth and self-satisfaction in his manner. Banks, left alone, sat in the 議長，司会を務める before the tambour desk and tried to begin the "little thinking." There were so many thoughts, so many 肉親，親類d of thoughts, and all （人が）群がるing for 優先, that he made slow 進歩.

This was—why, if it was what it seemed on the surface to be, it meant 適切な時期, publicity, 進歩—everything. But why was the 適切な時期 given HIM? Trent had said—oh, yes, he had said; but were those his real 推論する／理由s? Mrs. Truman, によれば Christopher, had been the first to 示唆する and 勧める his 選択. Why had she done it? Why should she, unless some one else had made the suggestion to her?

Elizabeth! Was it possible that she— He thrilled from 長，率いる to foot. She might have done it. If she were really 利益／興味d in him and his success, she might. And with this astounding 可能性 as a starting point his thinking drifted far away from bank 合併s.

It was nearly five when Captain Abijah 微風d in. Banks' thoughts descended from the clouds and （機の）カム to earth. His uncle threw himself into a 議長，司会を務める and growled a 迎える／歓迎するing.

"Why in time did you go home so 早期に this noon?" he 需要・要求するd fretfully. "I （機の）カム in here with my mind made up to tell you somethin' that's been on it for more'n a month. When I get that way I don't like to be put off, and your bein' out did put me off. What have you got to say for yourself?"

His 甥 わびるd. He had gone to dinner a little 早期に for no particular 推論する／理由. He was sorry. "I have something to tell you, Uncle Abijah," he 追加するd.

"Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, you'll have to let me do my tellin' first, I guess. I've held it in till my lid's leakin' steam. I don't know's I'd せねばならない tell you—some of the 残り／休憩（する） of 'em might give me the devil if they knew I was cal'latin' to—but I've thought it through, and maybe you can help. If you can't, I don't know who can...See here, boy—you and Hezekiah Bartlett are pretty good friends now, ain't you?...What are you grinnin' at? If you think I'm 割れ目ing jokes you never made a bigger mistake."

"Wait a minute, Uncle Bije. I imagine we may save time if I tell my story first. I have an idea it is very much like yours."

"Like 地雷!"

"Yes. Mr. Christopher Trent has been here this afternoon. He stayed over an hour."

"Chris Trent! What did he want with you?"

"That's what I'm going to tell you. He gave me 許可 to tell. In fact, he ordered me to tell—you, and no one else. Now listen."

Captain Abijah listened, and as the amazing tale developed his florid 直面する was a 熟考する／考慮する in changing 表現s. As his 甥 finished he slapped his 膝.

"Whew!" he puffed excitedly. "井戸／弁護士席, I'll be everlastin'ly sunk! If this isn't balm in Gilead then I'll sell the farm and go to sea! You're dead sure you're puttin' it straight, Banks? He made you a honest-to-God 申し込む／申し出 to be a lawyer for his bank? No 漏れる 穴を開けるs anywhere and no 錨，総合司会者 draggin' astern?"

"I couldn't see any. It sounded straight enough."

"井戸／弁護士席...whew! Boy, I （機の）カム here to-day to tell you about this bank-mergin' 商売／仕事, just the same's he told it. I've 始める，決める my heart on our bank takin' over that 関心 of his, and I've worked my を回避する for it. But until we can get those 抵抗s, as he calls 'em, into line we're hard and 急速な／放蕩な 座礁して. And old Hez Bartlett is the main sticker. Bangs can't do anything with him; he's tried and tried, but the old crank won't even see him, to say nothin' of listenin' while he 会談. I knew he'd taken a 向こうずね to you, and so I decided, all of my own hook, to come to you with the facts and ask you to try your 影響（力）. You couldn't be our reg'lar lawyer—裁判官 Bangs is that—but I was goin' to take it on myself to 申し込む／申し出 you a special 料金 from the Denboro 国家の, 供給するd you won out with Bartlett. And now—now I don't have to. You're 雇うd by the Ostable （人が）群がる, and whatever you do for them will be the same as done for us...広大な／多数の／重要な! 広大な／多数の／重要な!"

"Then you think I should 受託する the 申し込む／申し出?"

"Think! I know you must. It'll be 罰金 for the banks and the depositors and Ostable and Denboro—oh, Lord, yes! But see what it will mean for you! Twenty-six year old, or whatever it is, and 選ぶd out for such an important 職業 as this. Mean? Why, if you pull it off, and there's no good 推論する／理由 why you shouldn't, it'll mean you aren't young Silie Bradford trying to play 法律 any longer— you're a big man in Ostable 郡. By 雷鳴, Banks, it'll make 'em stop talking about who your father was and just remember who you are! That's what it'll mean. It's the chance of a lifetime."

"I suppose it is. But, Uncle Bije, why do you suppose Mr. Trent ever thought of choosing me?"

"Why shouldn't he choose you? You're Cap'n Silas Bradford's boy, aren't you?"

Banks burst out laughing. "That doesn't sound much like the forgetting who my father was that you just prophesied," he said.

Abijah, too, was 強いるd to laugh. "Prophecies don't come true the minute they're made," he retorted. "Moses 率d A. B. as a prophet, accordin' to Scripture, but he sweated through a good many years before he got the Jews into the Land of Canaan...Now you go home and tell your mother the glad tidin's. I'll be 負かす／撃墜する after supper and help with the hallelujahs. My, my! I do hope I get there before Hettie. She'll—why, she'll be so drunk with family pride that she's liable to run straight uptown and spend five cents for peppermints. That's her idea of a spree. 売春婦, 売春婦! 井戸／弁護士席, see you later, '裁判官 Bradford.' 売春婦, 売春婦!"

Banks told his mother the news as soon as he reached home. He did not wait even until supper was on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. The codfish "tongues and sounds"—a time-栄誉（を受ける）d New England seashore dish—grew 冷淡な on the platter as he 明らかにする／漏らすd the 目的 which had brought Christopher Trent to his office that afternoon. Margaret listened, scarcely interrupting, until he finished. Long before the marvelous tale had ended she sank into a 議長，司会を務める, and when her son 結論するd with the recital of Captain Abijah's 是認 and enthusiasm she did not rise but sat there, looking at the oilcloth on the kitchen 床に打ち倒す, her fingers making plaits in her apron. Upon her 直面する an 表現 which Banks did not understand at all.

"Why, Mother!" he cried. "What's the 事柄 with you? Surely you must understand what a tremendous piece of luck this is. I thought you would be happier than any of us. And you just sit there and don't say a word. Aren't you glad for me?"

She looked up then. "It is very wonderful, dear," she said.

"Wonderful! I should say it was! You don't—you can't understand how wonderful it is."

"I think I do, Banks."

"You don't 行為／法令／行動する as if you did. By George, I—I didn't 推定する／予想する this!"

The speech and 失望 in his トン had their 影響. She rose from the 議長，司会を務める, put her 武器 about him and kissed him. "I am glad for you, my boy," she 滞るd. "Truly I am. I—it just troubles me a little, that's all. I don't やめる see—"

"See? What is there to see? It is plain enough, isn't it? Mr. Trent said—"

"Yes, yes; I know. But why did he say it to you? A man with the money he must have could afford to 雇う any lawyer he 手配中の，お尋ね者, I should think. And you are—are so young."

He was losing patience. "No, Mother," he 抗議するd, "I have explained all that. It is on account of my knowing Mr. Bartlett so 井戸／弁護士席, and his liking me. That is the 主要な／長／主犯 推論する／理由, of course. But there is more than that. Mr. Trent said my winning that 事例／患者 for Ebenezer Tadgett 証明するd to him and to Mrs. Truman— Now what is it?"

"Nothing."

He laughed. "I see," he 宣言するd. "Mother, Mother! You are the best woman on earth, and no one knows that 同様に as I do, but you don't like Mrs. Truman, and so you don't like her liking me. That is it, isn't it?"

Margaret shook her 長，率いる. "She couldn't help liking you," she said. "It is just that—that—井戸／弁護士席, do you really 信用 her, Banks?"

"Why shouldn't I? You don't, though, that's evident. For what 推論する／理由?" She was silent. He repeated his question. "Why don't you 信用 her? You scarcely know her. And yet every time I について言及する her 指名する you 行為／法令／行動する this way. Come, Mother; this isn't like you. If you 現実に had any good 原因（となる） for 不信ing and disliking Mrs. Truman, then—" He stopped in astonishment.

She had turned toward him, and on her 直面する was an 表現 he had never seen there before. "原因（となる）!" she repeated, with bitter 軽蔑（する）. "原因（となる）! Oh, don't talk that way! If you do I—I shall—" She left the 宣告，判決 unfinished.

He took a step toward her. "Mother!" he said. "What is it?" She was sobbing on his shoulder. He 一打／打撃d her hair. "There, there, Mother," he begged. "I—I don't know what this is all about, of course. If there is something behind this—something I don't know about—then why not tell me?"

Her sobbing 中止するd. A moment later she 解除するd her 長，率いる and smiled faintly. "What a silly old woman I am getting to be," she sighed. "Kiss me, Banks. It is all 権利, I am sure. Go on; take your big chance and get to be the 広大な／多数の／重要な man we all know you will be. No, son, don't ask me any more questions. I am tired, I guess, and my 長，率いる aches a little. You mustn't 支払う／賃金 any attention to my tantrums and—and prejudices. If I didn't love you so much I shouldn't have them, I suppose. No; no more foolishness. Now we must have our supper and you can tell me more about the bank 合併 and what Mr. Trent 推定する／予想するs you to do."

The supper was pretty 井戸／弁護士席 spoiled by this time, but during the meal she 辞退するd to let him について言及する the little scene through which they had just passed, and when he told again of the Trent 申し込む／申し出 and dilated upon what it meant for him she was as eager and enthusiastic as he had 推定する／予想するd her to be in the beginning.

And later when Captain Abijah and Cousin Hettie （機の）カム and during what the former called the "hallelujah 開会／開廷／会期," she was just as eager and 楽観的な.

The captain's delight was unrestrained. "The boy's got his start," he 公約するd. "He's earned it, too; I'll say that for him. If he 牽引するs old Hez Bartlett into port and the Denboro 国家の takes over the Ostable 国家の, there'll be nothin' in the 郡 too good for him. We'll have him 代表者／国会議員 up in the Boston 明言する／公表する House yet. Ain't you sorry you ain't a man, so's you can 投票（する） for him, Hettie?"

Cousin Hettie 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd her 長，率いる. "It would take more'n that to make me wish I was a man, 'Bijah Bradford," she 匂いをかぐd contemptuously. "I'd rather be a first-class CAT than most any man I've ever run across in my life. That's what I think of men."

Abijah nodded. "We all have pet ambitions, of course," he agreed solemnly "There's a mouse 穴を開ける up in my closet at the Malabar, Hettie. Come up and 始める，決める と一緒に it any time, if it'll make you feel more contented."

一時期／支部 12

Mr. Trent was on 手渡す in the office of S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律, 敏速に at ten the next morning. He was plainly very much pleased to learn that his 申し込む／申し出 had been 受託するd, although he took 苦痛s to 宣言する that he had 推定する／予想するd nothing else.

"No one but a fool would turn it 負かす／撃墜する," he said, "and if we thought you were a fool we shouldn't 雇う you. The next thing for you to do, Bradford, is to get to work on those 抵抗s and hurry up about it. Why not go and see old Bartlett to-day?"

But Banks demurred. He must 小衝突 up on his banking 法律 first, he explained. He must be as 完全に 地位，任命するd on the 法律s relating to consolidations as possible before trying to 影響（力） as shrewd a person as Hezekiah Bartlett.

"And, of course," he 追加するd, "I know nothing at all about the 詳細（に述べる）s of this particular 合併, Mr. Trent. I せねばならない know everything if I am to work intelligently. I must have copies of both banks' 声明s of 条件, the 量 of their deposits, 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s of their 貸付金s and 安全s—everything of that sort. I must be as much on the inside as you and Uncle Abijah are before I 試みる／企てる a 納得させるing argument. Before I can show others I must be shown. You understand that, of course."

Trent nodded. "Certainly I do," he 認める impatiently. "Let's get at it and not waste time, that's the main thing. I've got most of what you want in my pocket now. We'll go through them together. Then, if there is anything more necessary, you can jump in my car and we'll go over to the Ostable Bank or my house and finish up. Come! Lock that door and we'll start in."

It was noon before the 会議／協議会 in the office （機の）カム to an end. Then Banks boarded the Trent automobile and was driven to Ostable. It was not his first ride of the 肉親，親類d, although モーター-driven 乗り物s were still very much of a novelty, and it was a thrilling experience. The car clanked and puffed over the frozen rutted roads at a dizzy 速度(を上げる） of from twelve to twenty-five miles an hour. Horses 後部d as they passed, and excited 居住（者）s of the 辺ぴな 地区s ran to their gates and windows to 星／主役にする and 公約する that you wouldn't catch them riskin' their lives in one of them contraptions— not much you wouldn't. Children shouted "Get a horse!" and dogs howled madly. The car stopped at the foot of one small hill and 辞退するd to 動かす until its owner はうd underneath and 大打撃を与えるd and swore for five minutes.

"There!" exclaimed Trent, as they chugged up to the 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of hitching 地位，任命するs before the Ostable 国家の Bank. "Here we are, Bradford! Sixteen miles in not much over an hour and only had to stop once. That's moving, I guess you'll agree."

They dined together at the Trent house, and Banks was duly impressed by its size and 慰安 and luxurious 任命s. Then they walked 負かす／撃墜する to the bank again and spent two more hours in going over 人物／姿／数字s and 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s. Bradford, his pockets filled with papers, took the evening train for Denboro, tired and hungry but feeling that he had already learned all important particulars 関心ing the 合併 and would soon be 完全に conversant with the minor points.

"Plug up on that bank 法律 you're so fussy about," was Trent's parting order. "And keep in touch with me 権利 along. Time! time! that's what you must think about. This 取引，協定 has hung 解雇する／砲火／射撃 too long already."

All the next day and the next the new 弁護士／代理人／検事 of the Ostable 国家の Bank read 深く，強烈に in his 法律 調書をとる／予約するs and pored diligently over the 詳細（に述べる）s of the 提案するd 取引，協定. Still another day was spent in a 類似の fashion. Captain Abijah dropped in occasionally to see how his 甥 and 被保護者 was 進歩ing, and he would have asked many questions had 尋問 been permitted.

"I can't tell you that, Uncle Bije," Banks explained good-naturedly but 堅固に. "I'm the other 味方する's 雇うd man now, and if they made one point （疑いを）晴らす in 法律 school it was that a lawyer's relations with his （弁護士の）依頼人 were 絶対 confidential, just as secret as the confessional. You mustn't 推定する／予想する me to tell you anything. I can't."

The captain grinned. "That's the way to talk," he agreed. "Anybody that can really keep a secret せねばならない have a monument put up to him when he dies. 負かす／撃墜する here in Denboro it せねばならない be as tall as the （船に）燃料を積み込む／（軍）地下えんぺい壕 Hill one. When I ask you somethin' that's 非，不，無 of my 商売／仕事 I give you leave to tell me to go where Hettie keeps remindin' me I am bound for. Only get 活動／戦闘 as soon as you can; that's all any of us want. There's talk stirrin' around town already—I've heard it. They don't know what's up, but there are 噂するs. Get goin' quick as ever you can."

Banks had so far 固執するd to his 決意／決議 not to call at the Truman home. As a 事柄 of fact, he had had no 適切な時期 to call since Christopher Trent （機の）カム to him with the dazzling proposition. His 熟考する／考慮する and his work had 占領するd the evenings 同様に as the daylight hours.

He had thought of Elizabeth, of course. In the intervals of his labors he thought of her a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. He wondered again if it could have been she who 示唆するd his 雇用 by the Ostable people—示唆するd it to her grandmother, who in turn 示唆するd it to Christopher Trent. He wondered if in spite of Trent's 声明 she did know of his 広大な／多数の／重要な 適切な時期 and if she was glad it had been given him. He wished he might talk it over with her.

His recently 誘発するd jealousy of Trent he had begun to think nonsensical. Trent had said, in that very office, that he and Mrs. Truman were "pals" and had been for years. No wonder they visited 支援する and 前へ／外へ. And Elizabeth was—井戸／弁護士席, after all, compared to the middle-老年の Christopher, she was just a young girl. If they 棒 together and saw a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of each other, why—井戸／弁護士席, what of it? Of course— But, oh, pshaw! what of it?

As for Trent himself, his 反感 toward that self-満足させるd individual had been 軟化するd by this new 関係. Chris Trent had been mighty decent to him, after all. If, as Uncle Abijah prophesied, he was 運命にあるd to be a 広大な／多数の／重要な man in the 郡 it was 完全に 借りがあるing to Trent's 利益／興味 and 影響（力）.

And then, one afternoon 早期に in the に引き続いて week, he dropped in on Ebenezer Tadgett and was given a message. 行方不明になる Cartwright had been in the shop that day, said Ebenezer, and they had spoken of him—Banks.

"Just happened to について言及する your 指名する," said Tadgett solemnly. "Don't know how it （機の）カム up, I'm sure. We was talkin' about antiques and cranberries and the new 新規加入 to the Ostable 刑務所，拘置所 and how little snow we'd had so fur this winter and cows and three- 手渡すd euchre and new hats and the 復活 meetin's they're goin' to have at the Baptist church—one thing 自然に leadin' to another, you know—and pretty soon we was talkin' about you. I don't know whether 'twas the 刑務所，拘置所 or the 復活s that fetched you into it, but anyhow—"

"Oh, 運動 along, Ebenezer!" broke in Banks, with a laugh. "You've got something to tell me, I know. What is it?"

Tadgett rubbed his chin. "Never see such a fellow for bein' in a hurry," he 観察するd. "Who said I had anything special to tell you? Fur's I recollect 'twan't anything so terrible important. Elizabeth she happened to say that she hadn't seen you for a month of Sundays and wondered why. I told her you was busy, maybe, and she laughed—肉親，親類d of knowin', seemed to me—and said that was just it; she had been rather expectin' you to come up and talk that 商売／仕事 over. Perhaps you know what she meant; I don't."

Banks thought he knew, but he did not 明らかにする／漏らす his knowledge. "Was that all she said?" he asked with (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する 無関心／冷淡.

Mr. Tadgett's 注目する，もくろむs twinkled. "No-o," he drawled. "Seems to me she said somethin' more about expectin' you. 行為／法令／行動するd 肉親，親類d of anxious about it. 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know in time to lock up the spoons, or the like of that, perhaps."

The 領収書 of this bit of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） resulted in Banks Bradford's （犯罪の）一味ing the doorbell of the Truman mansion at eight-thirty that evening. He had not told his mother where he was going. If she had asked he would have told her, but she did not ask. He had not forgotten 確かな 決意／決議s made not so long before, but he had managed to 納得させる his 良心 that those 決意／決議s were not ーするつもりであるd to 妨げる his seeing Elizabeth altogether.

He had not seen her for a week. If she were even 部分的に／不公平に responsible he certainly せねばならない see and thank her. His mother did not dislike Elizabeth Cartwright; it was Mrs. Truman against whom she was, for no discernible 推論する／理由, so 激しく prejudiced, and he was not calling upon Mrs. Truman. And so on. ありふれた-sense arguments these were, calculated to soothe any honest 良心.

Elizabeth herself welcomed him in the library. Her grandmother was out, she said; she and Mr. Trent were having another 財政上の 会議／協議会—投資s or something like that; she would be 支援する before long, Elizabeth was sure. Banks bore the news of the loss of Mrs. Truman's society with fortitude and the young people settled 負かす／撃墜する to speak of 事柄s of real importance.

Yes, Elizabeth did know of his 任命 as the Ostable Bank's 弁護士／代理人／検事. She was delighted to know of it. Her grandmother had told her just after it happened, and grandmother was as glad as she was. Didn't he think it a splendid 適切な時期?

"_I_ think it is," she 宣言するd, her 注目する，もくろむs 向こうずねing. "Grandmother says it is a very responsible position for such a young man, but that she is sure you will be equal to it. I am, too. In fact, I—" She hesitated.

"Yes?" he 誘発するd.

"Oh, I was going to say that perhaps I helped a little in getting it for you. I didn't really, of course. My opinion in such things doesn't count; I don't know anything about them. But when grandmother—either grandmother or Mr. Trent, I forget which—first について言及するd to me that your 指名する was 存在 considered I—oh, I said you were a perfectly marvelous lawyer, or words to that 影響. Which had 広大な／多数の／重要な 負わせる," she 追加するd with a trill of laughter, "because 自然に I have had long experience and my judgment is marvelous. Oh, don't mind my 存在 silly, please. I have been longing to congratulate you, Mr. S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律."

This was a good beginning. They shook 手渡すs upon the congratulations.

"I knew you did it for me," cried Banks impulsively. "I was sure you were responsible."

"But I wasn't...How did you know?"

"I—I just felt it somehow. I don't believe it was Mrs. Truman who first thought of me for the place; I believe you gave her the suggestion."

"Oh, no, I didn't! Honestly, I didn't."

"Then you gave it to Mr. Trent?"

It seemed to him that her manner changed, became a little more constrained. "No," she said. "Nor to him, either."

"But he—"

"Oh, don't talk about him! Talk about yourself. Tell me what you have done so far and are planning to do next. What did your mother say when you told her? And your uncle? I have met him several times recently; I like him, too. Grandmother doesn't seem to; I'm sure I don't know why, for she does like you so much. But what did they say? Tell me all about everything."

He told her a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定; not everything—he said nothing 関心ing his mother's 半端物 行為 when he （機の）カム to her with the news and, of course, not a word of her 表明するd 不信 of Mrs. Truman. There was enough to tell without that, and the telling and the answers to her questions took a long time. When at last the 支配する was pumped pretty 完全に 乾燥した，日照りの he began 尋問 of his own account. What had she been doing all the week? It seemed as if he had not seen her for an age.

The mahogany and glass tall clock ticked off the minutes and chimed the hours, but neither of the young people noticed it. The conversation never flagged. A disinterested auditor might have considered it rather trivial, at times almost inane and 十分な of repetitions, but as no such auditor was 現在の this did not 事柄 in the least.

It was only when Banks について言及するd the 指名する of Mr. Christopher Trent that—or so it seemed to him—行方不明になる Cartwright's enthusiasm 病弱なd. 明らかに she was not anxious to talk about Mr. Trent. Late in the evening, when for the third or fourth time his 言及／関連 to that gentleman was ignored, curiosity got the better of his discretion.

"Elizabeth," he asked bluntly, "what is it?"

"What is what?"

"Why do you always change the 支配する every time I say anything about Mr. Trent?"

"Why—why, I didn't know that I did."

"It seems to me you do. I thought you and he were very good friends."

"We are. He is a very good friend of grandmother's."

"Yes, I know. But aren't you and he friendly nowadays? Has anything happened to—to—"

"Happened? Why, how ridiculous! What could have happened?"

"I don't know. Don't you like him 同様に as you did?"

"Why shouldn't I? ...Do YOU like him?"

He hesitated. "I like him a lot better than I did at first," he said slowly. "At first I thought he was—oh, 井戸／弁護士席, supercilious and—and too darned cocksure. He used to make me feel so—so innocent and green, you know. Do you remember the valet in David Copperfield—Littimer, I think his 指名する was? Whenever Copperfield met him he made Copperfield sure he was 説 to himself, 'You are young. You are very young.' 井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Trent used to make me feel just that way. Probably you can't understand what I am trying to get at."

"I think I can. But you don't feel that way now?"

"Not so much. Anyway, considering the chance to make good that he has given me I should be an idiot to feel anything but 感謝."

"Yes, I suppose so. But I know 正確に／まさに what you mean. He is so 確かな that he is 権利. And does he ever make you feel that he ーするつもりであるs to have what he wants and will have it, in the end, no 事柄 what you do or say; no 事柄 what any one says or does?"

"Why, I don't know that he does that. Of course, he is very much older than we are."

"Ye-es, but don't think he considers himself old at all...Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, what difference does it make? Tell me more about Mrs. Tadgett. She must be awfully funny and rather pathetic, too."

When the big clock chimed eleven she turned to look at it.

"Good gracious!" she exclaimed. "Is it as late as that? Banks, I am afraid you must go. The maids are up, I suppose, and they will be wondering and—and 説 things. Where grandmother is I can't imagine; she said she would be home 早期に. That 商売／仕事 会議／協議会 with Mr. Trent must be an important one. She has been a little worried lately and she gave me to understand it was over some of her 投資s. Your coat and hat are in the hall, aren't they? I'll get them for you."

The hanging lamp was turned low, and the パネル盤d hall was in semidarkness. She helped Banks with his coat and they 直面するd each other to say good night.

"I—I can't tell you how 感謝する I am to you," he 滞るd. "I know you helped a lot in this 適切な時期 that has come to me."

"No, I didn't. There was so little I could do. I'm only a girl, and the older people don't 支払う／賃金 much attention to my opinion."

"It is going to mean about everything to me here in Denboro. If I can swing it, I mean."

"Oh, you can! I know you can! I'm just sure of it. And"—with a little gasp—"I am so glad!"

The lamplight happened to be 向こうずねing upon her 直面する as she said it. Banks Bradford's ありふれた-sense 決意／決議s melted as if that light were a white-hot 炎上. He stepped 今後, put his 武器 about her, drew her toward him and kissed her. Then for a long instant their world stood still.

And then—井戸／弁護士席, then the 前線 door latch clicked. Banks' 武器 relaxed; he stepped backward. Elizabeth, pale-直面するd, gazed at the 開始 door. And Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman stood on the threshold.

Mrs. Truman's 注目する，もくろむs, beneath the brim of her 流行の／上流の and youthful hat, took in the tableau. They were keen 注目する，もくろむs, experienced 注目する，もくろむs, and because of their experience they had learned when to become expressionless. She smiled graciously.

"Oh, good evening, Banks," she said. "You were just going, of course. Elizabeth, I'm sure you must have begun to think I had been 誘拐するd—or had eloped, in spite of my age. I had no idea— nor had Christopher—that our talk about money 事柄s would be so 非常に長い. We had to go way over to Ostable to look up important papers—some 社債s I have in the bank 丸天井...Come in, Chris, won't you? Your new lawyer is here."

Mr. Trent （機の）カム up the steps. Elizabeth, her 直面する no longer pale but crimson, stepped 支援する into the 影をつくる／尾行する by the stairs. Banks had 設立する the darkest corner by the door. Trent, fur-coated, hat a-攻撃する, blinked in the lamplight.

"Evening, Elizabeth," he あられ／賞賛するd. "How's the girl?...Oh, hello, Bradford! Humph! You're out late, for Denboro, aren't you? 井戸／弁護士席, so long. See you to-morrow probably."

"Don't hurry, Banks," 勧めるd Mrs. Truman sweetly. "Stay and visit with the old folks a little while—do."

But Banks was already on the step just vacated by his new 雇用者. He stammered something to the 影響 that he must be getting home; his mother would be sitting up for him. The 激しい door banged. If Cousin Hettie, a 目だつ member of the Good Templar Society, had seen him 失敗ing along the dark Mill Road that night she would have been more than ever 確かな that the modern university, 特に when 隣接する to a 広大な／多数の／重要な and wicked city, was no place to which she would ever send a son of hers.

一時期／支部 13

Mr. Christopher Trent remained but a few minutes in the Truman hall after Banks Bradford's 出発. He had a long 運動 before him, he said, and must be on his way. His manner was—or so it seemed to Elizabeth—a trifle いっそう少なく cordial than usual. His 迎える／歓迎するing to Bradford had been curt enough, certainly. He and Mrs. Truman 交流d whispers on the step; the girl caught only a word or two.

"井戸／弁護士席, maybe," she heard him say. "There's getting to be a little too much of it, though, によれば my notion. There's a 限界, you understand...Oh, I know, I know! But there's a 限界, just the same; don't forget that."

Elizabeth heard this, but she paid little 注意する. She scarcely knew whether to be glad or sorry when the door の近くにd behind him. In her 現在の 明言する／公表する of 神経s and emotion she surely did not care to 交流 social amenities with Chris Trent. On the other 手渡す, his going left her alone with her grandmother. What had that shrewd lady seen—or guessed? What would happen now?

Nothing happened. Mrs. Truman's トン and manner were as 平易な and casual as they had been when she left the house after dinner. She was tired, she said; she had discussed 投資s and money until her 長，率いる ached. It was late, and they must both go to bed without waiting another minute. At the door of her room they kissed good night and parted.

Mrs. Truman's breakfast next morning was as usual brought to her room by the maid. Elizabeth ate alone in the dining room and then went into the library, where she tried to 直す／買収する，八百長をする her attention upon the previous evening's Transcript. The attention 辞退するing to remain 直す／買収する，八百長をするd, she gave it up and sat looking out of the window, rapt in a reverie so 深い that she did not hear her grandmother descend the stairs and enter the room.

"Good morning, my dear," said Mrs. Truman pleasantly.

Elizabeth looked up with a start. "Why, good morning, Grandmother!" she exclaimed. "You are up 早期に, aren't you?"

Mrs. Truman's 外見 was as spick-and-（期間が）わたる as usual. She sank into an 平易な-議長，司会を務める with a purr of satisfaction. She was as fond of soft upholstery as a pampered cat.

"I am up 早期に," she 認める. "Far too 早期に for a person of my age who was up so late last night. How are you, my dear?"

"I am all 権利, Grandmother."

"Yes, I suppose you are. At your time of life a girl can be an フクロウ at night and a lark in the morning. Every dog has his day. Hum! I don't know why I am talking so like a Noah's ark, I'm sure...Did you and your—er—friend have a pleasant evening together?"

"Why—yes, Grandmother."

"Stayed later than usual, didn't he?"

"Yes, I'm afraid he did; we didn't notice the time. He was just going when you （機の）カム."

"I imagined he was. He went very soon after I did come, I noticed that. 井戸／弁護士席, my dear, what does it mean? Or what do you think it means?"

"Means? Why, Grandmother!"

"There, there, child! Don't try to pretend you don't know what I mean. The most 完全にする ninny on earth would have known what had been going on if he or she walked in 突然に on you two babes in the 支持を得ようと努めるd as I did last night. If ever a pair looked 有罪の—and funny—you certainly did. I didn't laugh, but I 保証する you I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to."

She was laughing now. Elizabeth's 直面する was white and red by turns. Mrs. Truman went on.

"I saw at once that I had interrupted a tender 別れの（言葉，会）," she said. "Very tender, indeed. It didn't occur to either of you, I suppose, to bolt the door? No, it wouldn't. And yet, under such circumstances, it is always safer."

Elizabeth sprang from her 議長，司会を務める. "Grandmother!" she cried, blushing furiously.

Mrs. Truman 解除するd a 手渡す. "There, there, child, don't lose your temper. I have a sense of humor, I'm glad to say, and you must let me enjoy my joke."

"Joke!"

"Why, yes, it is a joke, isn't it? Surely there can be nothing serious about it." Elizabeth did not answer. Her grandmother smilingly 固執するd. "Which," she said, "brings us 支援する to the question I asked in the beginning. What do you—and he—think it means?"

"I don't know that it means anything. There was nothing—I— How can you sit there and say—and hint! Oh, how can you!"

"There, there, child! Listen to me!"

"I won't. I won't listen while you talk to me in that way."

"I'm afraid you must. Bless you, I don't 非難する you for not caring to talk or to be talked to. One doesn't, under such circumstances; I never did myself. But, Elizabeth, I am afraid we must talk, both of us, and keep on talking for awhile. I am more to 非難する for what has happened than you are. We should have talked sooner. I forgot that when a pretty girl and a nice boy are left to their own 装置s as often as you and young Bradford have been, 確かな things are bound to happen...井戸／弁護士席, are you two engaged?"

"No," said the other ひどく, "of course we are not."

"When I opened the door last night it looked—井戸／弁護士席, as if the 予選s of an 約束／交戦 might have been—er—部分的に／不公平に 完全にするd. He kissed you, didn't he?"

"Grandmother! Oh, I won't listen to you! You—make me ashamed."

"Ashamed? Dear me!"

"Not of myself, but of you. You speak so—so—oh, you sound so—so DREADFUL!"

"Do I? That is too bad. I meant to sound human, that's all. This kissing—it hasn't got to be a habit between you, I hope?"

"Grandmother, I won't hear another word. You talk like a wicked old woman. I shall hate you! No, I won't stay here. I'm going."

"No, you're not. Come, come, child, you mustn't hate me. I don't like to について言及する it, but it does seem to me that I have been at least 公正に／かなり—er—nice to you. Rather indulgent, even generous. Don't you think I have?"

"You know I do. But now—"

"Now I am trying to be 特に nice. And you must be nice to me. I have taken 苦痛s to see that you had 事実上 everything you 手配中の，お尋ね者 since you lived with me. Now it is my turn; _I_ want something. At least you should do me the 好意 of letting me tell you what it is. Sit 負かす／撃墜する, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth still hesitated. For a moment she remained standing. Then she flung herself into the 議長，司会を務める by the window, her hot 直面する turned away from her tormenter and 涙／ほころびs of angry humiliation in her 注目する，もくろむ. Mrs. Truman calmly continued. "There isn't any 約束／交戦, then?"

"No...No!"

"Oh, of course I realize that a kiss—or several kisses—do not やむを得ず mean an 約束／交戦. At least they didn't in my day. But they do 暗示する a 確かな degree of—er—warmth of friendship. Is he in love with you, Elizabeth?"

"I don't know."

"He hasn't told you, then. Are you in love with him?"

"No. That is, I—I don't think—I don't know. At any 率," she 追加するd with a sudden desperate burst of 反乱, "whether I am or not is my own 事件／事情／状勢."

"Not altogether, perhaps, everything considered. You are my granddaughter, and you are—許す me for reminding you of it— 扶養家族 on me. If you had means of your own, then you could tell me to go to the mischief and marry any one you cared to. Your mother did that; though"—with a frown and a sudden snap of the pearly teeth—"goodness knows she was poor enough, and the man she married was poorer still. I did it myself. I ran away and married a man without a penny, and I know what it means to be poor. My second husband was rich, and I know what that means too. It is your Grandfather Truman's money that has paid our way to Europe and California and Florida. It 供給するs this house and the wherewithal to keep it. If it hadn't been for that money I might be taking boarders yet, and you—I don't know where you might be. So you see I have some excuse—perhaps you might call it the 権利—to talk with you like this. Don't you think I have?"

Elizabeth stirred in the 議長，司会を務める. "Oh, Grandmother," she pleaded, "please don't think I am ungrateful."

"Rubbish! I 港／避難所't asked for 感謝. 感謝 is one of those words which sound 井戸／弁護士席 but don't mean anything. In this world every living soul is selfish underneath. I took you to live with me because I was lonesome and 手配中の，お尋ね者 something or somebody to keep me from 存在 bored with my own company. You were a pretty child; if you had been ugly I probably shouldn't have 可決する・採択するd you."

"Grandmother! I never heard such—"

"Hush! I am speaking the truth. I don't, as a usual thing, because it makes trouble and I dislike trouble. But this is the truth, and it sounds scandalous to you because you hear so little of it from any one. Very likely I shouldn't have 可決する・採択するd you if you had been deformed or in any way a fright...井戸／弁護士席, now I am fond of you. I hope you are fond of me."

"You know I am."

"I know you think you are. And perhaps you really are, so long as your own inclinations aren't 干渉するd with. Then you are selfish, like every one else."

"I'm not! Oh, I'm not!"

"No? Then why do you 飛行機で行く up in 武器 when I 示唆する that your 落ちるing in love with this Banks Bradford is partly my 事件／事情／状勢?"

"But Grandmother, I 港／避難所't said I was in love with him."

"You said you didn't know whether you were or not. Very likely you don't know—yet. Probably last night's—er—seizure was 予期しない, like a 冷気／寒がらせる. Or a fever; perhaps fever is the better word. He had it first, and の近くに 接触する spreads contagion...Now, now, don't 飛行機で行く up again. I may not sound as if I were earnest, but I am. This Bradford boy of yours is, so far as I know, a decent, agreeable young fellow. I was willing you and he should be 熟知させるd."

"熟知させるd! Why, Grandmother, you yourself asked him to call here. You said—"

"I know, I know. I asked him to call because I—井戸／弁護士席, for さまざまな 推論する／理由s. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know him better, and so I told you he might call. I forgot—which was silly of me—that there were dangers of that contagion I just について言及するd."

"Grandmother, don't you like Banks?"

"Like him? Certainly I like him. He is good-looking, and I like pretty things—and men; always did. Then he is the image of his father, and I suppose that—"

"Yes? Why do you stop?"

Mrs. Truman shrugged. "Because I was getting away from my 支配する and wasting time. People of my age are likely to be garrulous, I suppose. Elizabeth, you know this Banks Bradford better than I do. Is he—井戸／弁護士席, do you think him the sort of person who might go just so far with anything and then lose his 神経? Is he what young people nowadays call a quitter, do you think?"

"A quitter? A coward, do you mean? No," said the girl indignantly, "he isn't. I am sure he isn't. Why do you ask that? What makes you think such a thing?"

For just an instant Mrs. Truman's self-支配（する）／統制する seemed to slip. "Think!" she snapped, with a savage little laugh. "Think! He is a Bradford, isn't he? Ha! Think, indeed!"

The girl 星／主役にするd at her in utter amazement. "What DO you mean, Grandmother?" she 需要・要求するd.

Her grandmother bit her lip. Then she shook her 長，率いる ruefully. "I AM getting old," she muttered; "I must be. Oh, I don't mean anything, child...Hush! Let me do the talking. I want to get through with all this as soon as I can. Elizabeth, you and I are pretty nearly to the end of our rope."

Elizabeth said nothing. The 声明 meant nothing—to her understanding.

Her grandmother misinterpreted her silence. "Listen!" she ordered impatiently. "For heaven's sake stop thinking about that—that boy and listen to something of importance. Are you listening?"

"Yes"—resentfully. "Of course I am."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, then. I say you and I are pretty nearly at the end of our rope. Our 財政上の 事件／事情／状勢s are in a bad way. I have been extravagant, I suppose. I don't care at all for money itself, but I do care a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 for what it brings me—the things which make life 価値（がある） while. I don't want to die, but I give you my word I had rather die than be poor again. And so would you, if you knew what poverty meant."

"Grandmother, what are you trying to tell me?"

"If you keep on interrupting and asking questions I can't tell you anything. Your grandfather—Captain Truman, of course I mean—left me a good 取引，協定 of money. Oh, not a million nor half a million, but enough to 供給する a very comfortable income. I have lived up to that income, and you have helped. Now that income is—井戸／弁護士席, it is in danger. Unless you are very careful for a while we may be— 井戸／弁護士席, beggars, or the next thing to it."

Elizabeth's attention was not wandering now. She did not understand, of course, but she was beginning to be 脅すd. "Unless _I_ am careful?" she repeated in bewilderment.

"Yes, you. A 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 depends on you. If you get yourself 絡まるd in a love 事件／事情／状勢 with this Bradford fellow, if you are silly enough to get engaged to him just now, you will spoil everything."

"I'm not engaged to him. I told you I wasn't. I—"

"Hush! Do hush! Now don't ask me what this is all about, for I can't tell you. Some day, perhaps, but not for the 現在の. You must take my word for it that our 慰安 in the 未来 depends upon your behaving with tact and ありふれた sense. I want you—it was the 好意 I told you in the beginning that I was going to ask—I want you to 約束 me you won't give Banks Bradford any 激励, any at all. Oh, I don't mean that you are never to see him again. I am not such a fool as to 推定する／予想する that or to ask it. If you two young idiots are in love with each other, if it isn't the 一時的な attack I hope it is, you will come together by and by and no 量 of good advice from sane, sensible people can 妨げる it. All I am asking of you now, so far as he is 関心d, is that for the 現在の you will be very circumspect. There mustn't be any more of those walks together, nor any touching good- bys at the door. I don't ask you to break with him altogether—not now, certainly. You may be friends, but you must keep him—井戸／弁護士席, literally at arm's length. 特に there must be no excuse for jealousy on the part of any one else."

"Jealousy! Grandmother, what are you talking about?"

"I am talking of jealousy at the moment. Last evening I had to answer some 公正に／かなり sharp questions 関心ing your—er—friendship for that young man. I flatter myself that I answered them rather 井戸／弁護士席, but there must be no excuse for my having to answer more."

Elizabeth's color （機の）カム 支援する with a 急ぐ. She straightened in her 議長，司会を務める. "Who asked you questions about me?" she 需要・要求するd hotly. "Who?"

Mrs. Truman smiled. "井戸／弁護士席 now, who do you think would be likely to ask them?" she 問い合わせd. "Use your brain, child; it will save time for both of us."

"Was it Chris Trent? Did he dare—"

"Sh-h-h! Mercy, what a pepper マリファナ you are! Yes, of course it was Chris. He likes you, my dear. Surely you know that by this time."

"Likes me! If you mean— 井戸／弁護士席, I don't like him. He is—he— I won't talk about him. Not in that way, I won't."

"Then I will, for just a few minutes. I am sorry you don't like him—or think now that you don't—because he must not know it. Really, Elizabeth, there are worse men than our Christopher. I know most of his faults, for I have known him for a long time, but he isn't so bad. He is settling 負かす／撃墜する now. And, child, he has money; will have a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 if—if all goes 井戸／弁護士席."

"His money doesn't 利益／興味 me. And he doesn't either. He is nothing to me."

"I know, but I am pretty sure he hopes to be—more. If you married him—"

"Married HIM! Grandmother, you can't be serious. He is an old man."

"Not so very. Only forty-two, I believe."

"That is twenty years older than I am. Don't be so ridiculous!"

"Not in the least ridiculous, young woman. Captain Truman was twenty years older than I, but we got along beautifully. Very much better, I am sure, than if we had been the same age."

"Oh, how can you! When I am forty-two he would be—"

"He would be sixty-two. A very comfortable 協定. At that age a husband must be indulgent to a wife so much younger—he is afraid not to be...There, there! let me have my joke; you children are so absurdly serious. As for ages—I ask you this, Elizabeth: Where will your precious Banks be when HE is forty-two? He will be 権利 here, a country lawyer in a little, 狭くする, bigoted country town. There will be no European trips for his wife, indeed there won't! She can stay at home and do the family mending—oh, there will be a family; there always is in such 事例／患者s! His wife will be washing dishes and 広範囲にわたる 床に打ち倒すs, and for social excitement she can go to circle 会合s and church sociables...There, there! I've said enough—too much, perhaps. Elizabeth, I am not asking you to marry Chris Trent."

"I hope you are not!" was the scornful comment.

"I am not; I'm not even asking you to try and 落ちる in love with him, although I tell you 率直に I should shed no 涙／ほころびs if you did. No, nor even if you married him without 存在 very much in love with him. Love isn't everything, far from it. I have been in love myself more than once, and each time I have been sorry for it afterward. My first marriage was a love match, and the happiness didn't last long. And afterward, when the Lord knew I was old enough to be sane, I nearly made a bigger mistake than that for what I thought was love...Love! Bah!"

She snorted in bitter disgust. Elizabeth shuddered. Mrs. Truman drew a long breath.

"Then," she continued, "I married Captain Truman; as I said, a 安全な, sensible, comfortable 商売／仕事 協定...Ah, hum! Now you are glaring at me as if I were a—a Jezebel. Dear, dear! it is poor 政策 to speak the truth, that's a fact."

She rose, went over and, stooping, kissed the girl's cheek.

"Don't glare," she said soothingly. "And don't hate me, dear; please don't. I am very fond of you in spite of my—er— worldliness. Your 常習的な Jezebel grandmother has her soft 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs, and you are the softest of them. Remember, I am not asking you to commit 殺人 by breaking your precious Bradford boy's heart. And I am not asking you to 落ちる in love with Chris. Keep them both dangling for the 現在の, if you can; that will be best, perhaps. There must not—there MUST not be any trouble between them just now, nor between Chris and ourselves. Will you 約束 me to help to that extent, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth did not reply. Mrs. Truman waited a moment. Then she 追加するd 静かに but with significance, "It might help to 納得させる me that there is a meaning in that word '感謝' you について言及するd a few minutes ago."

It was the 権利 touch, of course, and the girl 答える／応じるd to it. She 掴むd her grandmother's 手渡す. "Oh, I am 感謝する," she said chokingly. "I am. And I—I will try to do what I can. But oh, I don't understand."

Mrs. Truman 一打／打撃d her hair. "Of course you don't, my dear. There," she finished with a sigh of 救済, "the 薬／医学 has been given. Now for the candy. Elizabeth, you need some new 着せる／賦与するs; so do I. We need to get this horrible salt-water 霧 out of our 長，率いるs. Two months of Denboro at this season of the year is enough to make a hermit commit 自殺 from sheer lonesomeness. Shopping, theaters, some good music and company that is alive—those are what we need, and we are going to have them. A fortnight in New York will put us on our feet. We start day after to-morrow."

Elizabeth looked up. For the first time since the beginning of the interview she looked as if she were going to smile in spite of herself. "Grandmother," she said with a shake of the 長，率いる, "I wonder at you. I didn't suppose you could be so transparent."

Mrs. Truman laughed. "Transparent?" she repeated. "Yes, it is partly to get you out of the way of—誘惑, that's true. But it isn't altogether that. I cannot stand this deadness any longer without a 休会. I am going on a spree, and I need you to help enjoy it...Oh, I can't afford the money, of course—just now; but that shan't make any difference. The happiest times of my life have been those I couldn't afford."

一時期／支部 14

That forenoon was a very long one for Banks Bradford. It should not have been, for the new 弁護士／代理人／検事 of the Ostable 国家の Bank had work enough to do, goodness knows. The trouble was that he 設立する it hard to concentrate upon that work, important as it was.

The only 支配するs upon which his mind seemed perversely 決定するd to concentrate had nothing whatever to do with banks or 株主s or 合併s. There were letters to be written and answers to letters to be read and considered, and he would 始める，決める his teeth and square his shoulders over them and then, a few minutes later, his pen would stop moving and his thoughts go drifting away in another daydream—drifting always in one direction, that of a 確かな house on the Old Ostable Road.

He （機の）カム 支援する from dinner to find Christopher Trent を待つing him in the hall outside his office door. It seemed to Banks that his 雇用者's 迎える／歓迎するing was いっそう少なく genial than usual. He took his accustomed 議長，司会を務める by the desk, but although he was smoking he did not 申し込む／申し出 his 弁護士／代理人／検事 a cigar. His 尋問, when he began it, was brusque and to the point.

"井戸／弁護士席?" he asked. "What have you got to 報告（する）／憶測? What have you done since I saw you last?"

Banks told of the letters he had written and the answers he had received.

Trent did not seem 大いに 利益／興味d. "Have you seen old Bartlett yet?" he asked.

"No, sir; not yet."

"井戸／弁護士席, why 港／避難所't you? He is your 主要な／長／主犯 職業. What have you been doing for the past four days—and nights?"

"I have been 令状ing those letters, and yesterday I went 負かす／撃墜する to see Mrs. Henry Gallup about her two 株. She would rather sell, I think, but perhaps—"

Trent struck the 最高の，を越す of the tambour desk a blow with his palm. "Jane Gallup be hanged!" he broke in. "What does she 量 to?"

"But I thought—"

"Who asked you to think? I told you what we 推定する／予想するd you to do, didn't I? Come, come, Bradford! I guess you don't understand, after all. The 推論する／理由 I—the 推論する／理由 my bank 選ぶd out a young fellow like you is because we 人物／姿／数字d you were a hustler who would pitch in and work—days, nights, all the time. Now if all you are going to do is sit around this office daytimes and 'think' and 令状 letters; and"—with a sneer—"spend your Sundays taking walks and your evenings making calls, it won't do, that's all. It isn't what you are paid for."

His 直面する had grown 刻々と redder as he said it. Banks was astonished, but he was more than that—he was angry too. There was a hot retort at his lips, but he choked it 支援する by main strength. Losing his temper was an expensive 高級な that he must not indulge in if he could help it.

"I am sorry you feel that way about it, Mr. Trent," he said stiffly. "I have not meant to waste time. Last night's call was the first I have made since you 雇うd me."

Trent appeared to be rather ashamed of himself. "Humph! Oh, 井戸／弁護士席; that's all 権利, I guess," he muttered. "Sorry, Bradford; I'm 飛行機で行くing off the 扱う, I know. The fact is this eternal wait, wait, wait is getting on my 神経s. What our （人が）群がる and the Denboro ギャング（団） have kept under cover so long is beginning to be whispered around. Over in my own town this morning I was held up and questioned. If it isn't settled soon I'll be fighting with my best friends. When do you think you can see Bartlett?"

"I ーするつもりであるd trying to see him to-morrow. He has been up in New Bedford, I believe, but they 推定する／予想する him 支援する to-day. If I don't catch him the first time I shall keep on trying till I do."

"罰金! That's the way I like to hear you talk. You see, I may have to go away myself, worse luck. There is some 商売／仕事 out in— 井戸／弁護士席, out West a way, that I せねばならない …に出席する to, and I may get a wire any minute. I hate to leave with this bank game still up in the 空気／公表する. If you can nail Bartlett, with the 封鎖する of Denboro 在庫／株 he owns, the 取引，協定 is as good as through. He's your big fish; get after him."

He looked at his watch and rose to his feet.

"I must be on my way," he 発表するd. "I am supposed to go for a ride with—with a young lady friend this afternoon, and she'll be disappointed if I am late. She counts on those rides...You don't ride, yourself; eh, Bradford?"

"No."

"Ha, ha! No, I suppose not. Horses and their keep do cost money, that's a fact. Never mind, you'll come to it in time. That's what I tell Elizabeth. She and I talk about you a good 取引，協定. You and your 職業 are—井戸／弁護士席, sort of pet hobbies of hers just now. It pleases her to think she is helping me give a deserving fellow a chance to make good. Women are like that; they enjoy playing the Lady Bountiful 行為／法令／行動する...井戸／弁護士席, good-by."

At the door he paused. 明らかに there was something else he was considering 説. He did not say it, however. After an instant's hesitation he turned and left the office. Banks gazed after him in a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind divided between 怒り／怒る, 憤慨 and— yes, 勝利. He believed he understood now what was behind Mr. Trent's bad temper, his sneering 言及／関連s to walks and calls.

He was jealous, that was it; jealous of him, Banks Bradford. And— he thrilled again at the memory of that moment in the Truman hall— he had 推論する／理由 to be. Yes, by George, he had!

The next afternoon, すぐに after dinner, he tramped the long three miles to the Bartlett homestead. It was a 冷淡な walk, a 暗い／優うつな winter day, with the 勝利，勝つd 広範囲にわたる in over the drifting ice in the bay and 運動ing ragged clouds before it. にもかかわらず, he enjoyed the 演習, and when he turned in under the 明らかにする, threshing silver-leaf poplars in Hezekiah's 前線 yard he was in a glow.

Julia Bartlett—Cousin Hettie and Uncle Bije would have called her "Julie M."—opened the door in answer to his knock. She was Hezekiah's cousin and his housekeeper. Yes, she 認める a little doubtfully, Mr. Bartlett was at home; he got 支援する from New Bedford the night before.

"But I don't know's he'll want to see you nor nobody else just now," she 追加するd, lowering her 発言する／表明する and speaking behind her 手渡す. "He went up to New Bedford to some 肉親，親類d of meetin' or other. He belongs to a sort of—of 宿泊する, I guess 'tis—of old-timers like him who used to go whalin' when they was young. He goes once a year, when they a doin's—a 祝宴 and the like of that. 'The Sperm Ile Club' is the 指名する of the thing. Lord knows what they do up to them 再会s, but I do know that I never see him come home yet that he wasn't all 頭痛s and dyspepsy and so cranky he ain't fit to live in the house with. He is upstairs in his bedroom now. I'll tell him you're here, Mr. Bradford, but don't 非難する me if he sends word for you to go 支援する home as 急速な／放蕩な as you can travel. He's liable to."

She returned from her trip to the second 床に打ち倒す, looking a trifle surprised and more than a trifle ruffled.

"井戸／弁護士席?" laughed Banks. "Am I ordered home?"

Julie M. 匂いをかぐd. "No, you ain't, for a 奇蹟," she replied. "You're to go up and see him. 井戸／弁護士席"—with a sigh—"you can go, I suppose, if you want to, but _I_ won't be 責任がある what sort of 歓迎会 you get; so be it on 最高の，を越す of your own 長，率いる, as Scriptur' says. Straight through the hall and upstairs."

Mr. Bartlett was seated in a 激しく揺するing-議長，司会を務める by his bedroom window. His scanty gray hair was tousled, he was wearing a flowered dressing gown of the period of the 60's, and 古代の carpet slippers of the same vintage were on his feet. There was a pillow behind his 長，率いる, and a plate of milk toast and a teapot and cup were on a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する beside him. He ちらりと見ることd at his 訪問者 over his spectacles.

"井戸／弁護士席, what fetched you way over here?" he 需要・要求するd. "Anything gone wrong with that 行為 you was handlin' for me?"

Banks 保証するd him that all connected with the 行為 was going 井戸／弁護士席. "Sorry you are under the 天候, Mr. Bartlett," he 追加するd.

The old man snorted. "Who wouldn't be under the 天候?" he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know. "I'd be all 権利 if I had what I'd せねばならない have to eat. I told her"—with a jerk of his thumb toward the lower 床に打ち倒す—"to fetch me a cup of 黒人／ボイコット coffee and a fried salt mack'rel soon's I woke up. Salt mack'rel is what I needed and what I 手配中の，お尋ね者. And look what she fetched," he finished with a scornful gesture toward the toast. "Gape-and-swallow, that's what _I_ call it!"

Banks said it was too bad. "I （機の）カム to talk over a rather important 事柄, Mr. Bartlett," he went on. "Perhaps you don't feel up to that sort of thing just now."

"Up! I feel up to anything but that 爆破d toast. Take off your coat and sit 負かす／撃墜する."

Banks sat. Then he took from his pocket a packet of papers and laid them on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する beside the toast. To his surprise, Mr. Bartlett, after a ちらりと見ること at the papers, began to chuckle.

"I thought so," he 観察するd. "Soon's she said you was downstairs I guessed what 'twas for...井戸／弁護士席, how do you like your new 職業?"

Banks looked up in surprise. "My new 職業?" he repeated.

"That's what I said. How do you like bein' Chris Trent's 雇うd man? That's what you are, ain't you? Or lawyer for that one-horse bank of his, which 量s to the same thing."

"For heaven's sake! Mr. Bartlett, how did you know that?"

Hezekiah seemed hugely amused. His chuckle was long this time. "There, there," he continued, "don't have a shock of palsy. I heard it over to New Bedford. There are a couple of Ostable fellows in that whalin' club of ours, and one of 'em whispered it to me—厳密に confidential, of course."

"But how did he know? Did he know about the—the 残り／休憩（する） of it?"

"The 合併 or whatever you call it? Sure he did! Somebody had told him about that over a week ago; told him in dead secret, which was why he was tellin' it to me. Half of Ostable 郡 knows by this time, and the other half'll know it to-morrow. You can't keep a thing like that hid always; there's been guesses and hints flyin' around for a month. 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席"—irritably—"that don't make any difference. Why did Chris and his （人が）群がる 選ぶ a young green 手渡す like you to be lawyer for 'em? That was what puzzled the Ostable fellow."

Banks shook his 長，率いる. "It is what has puzzled me," he 認める candidly. "I don't understand it yet, Mr. Bartlett."

Hezekiah chuckled again. "Don't you?" he said. "井戸／弁護士席, I cal'lated I understood 権利 off, though I didn't tell that fellow so. I'm your answer to that conundrum—me and my hundred and five 株 of Denboro Bank 在庫／株. Oh, they're shrewd enough, that 乗組員. They knew I'd been puttin' a little mite of 商売／仕事 your way lately; and that, bein' as I used to be a good friend of your father's, I might be soft enough to do for you what I wouldn't do for old Bangs and some of the 残り／休憩（する） of 'em—that is, を引き渡す my 在庫／株 and say 'Go ahead.' They sent you 負かす／撃墜する here to palaver me into doin' just that, didn't they? Yes, course they did...Huh! 井戸／弁護士席, there we are!"

There they were—yes. But just where was that? Banks Bradford's carefully 用意が出来ている 計画（する） of 手続き in this fateful interview was already 不正に 粉々にするd. Bartlett knew why he had come; had been 推定する／予想するing him. Also 裁判官ing by the old man's sneers and scornful chuckles he was in no receptive mood.

Banks drew a long breath. "井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Bartlett," he began; but Hezekiah interrupted him.

"Sho, sho!" he snapped crossly. "Don't waste time. No use goin' over all the arguments that Bije Bradford and half a dozen of 'em have been shootin' my way. I've heard 'em all, and I've give the same answer to every one of 'em. That answer so far is no. I'm 満足させるd with things just as they are. The Denboro Bank is earnin' me good （株主への）配当s on my 在庫／株, and I don't see any use takin' chances. The Ostable Bank may be all 権利, or it may not. Let 井戸／弁護士席 enough alone, that's my motto."

"But Mr. Bartlett, you know 同様に as I do that one strong bank in this 近隣 will be—"

"Sh-h-h, sh-h-h! Don't you suppose I've heard all that before? Look here, boy; what's in them papers you just laid 負かす／撃墜する there? 声明s of 条件 and 資本／首都 and earnin's and all that, I 推定する likely; eh?"

"Why, yes, sir."

"Chris Trent give 'em to you, of course...No, no, I don't want to see 'em. I've seen 'em enough...Humph! Is there amongst 'em a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of the paper his Ostable 関心 is carryin'? 貸付金s, 公式文書，認めるs, and the like of that?"

"Yes, sir"—熱望して. "It is 権利 there."

"Yes—井戸／弁護士席, I've seen that too. Go over there to that 最高の，を越す bureau drawer and you'll find my copy of that 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）, with a memorandum pinned の上に it. Bring it to me, will you?"

The 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） and the memorandum were brought. Hezekiah adjusted his spectacles.

"Now you take that copy of yours off the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and we'll check up for a minute," he said. "You read 'em off. Skip the little fellows and them that are 安全な・保証するd by collateral. Give me the 残り／休憩（する）."

Banks began reading. There were many small 貸付金s, most of them 地元の and amply 安全な・保証するd. Then （機の）カム three which were larger.

"Farraday Liquidation Company," he read. "Four months' 公式文書，認める for twenty thousand dollars, 時代遅れの November first."

Bartlett interrupted. "No collateral behind that, is there?" he asked.

"Why, no, sir, but—"

"Who's it 是認するd by?"

"Christopher Trent and Maybelle Truman. Mr. Trent explained about that. It—"

"I know, I know. The Farraday Company is one that old Benjamin Trent and Elijah Truman started when they was out West in the 80's. Buyin' up 資産s of other 関心s—land and 機械／機構 and that sort of stuff; buyin' em cheap and sellin' 'em afterward high. They made a バーレル／樽 of money out of it, too, I guess. Heave ahead!"

"The 惑星 Developing Company, four months' 公式文書，認める for twenty thousand, 時代遅れの December tenth. It is 是認するd by A. S. Billings; he is a 資本主義者 out there—Mr. Trent について言及するd that to me. And Mr. Trent himself has 是認するd it also."

"Yup, so I notice. What does that 関心 do for a livin'; do you know?"

"Yes, sir, in a general way. It has very large holdings of real 広い地所 and buildings about the city of Blankton."

"Um-hum. All 権利. Go on. There's one more big fellow."

"The Western World Sales Company. That is in another 明言する／公表する. I don't know so much about that, except that Mr. Trent 保証するd me it was a very successful 会社／団体."

"Yes—yes—yes! And that's for another twenty thousand, and Chris and Lije's 未亡人's 指名するs are on the 支援する of it, same as the fust one. What's Maybelle Truman doin' so much endorsin' for? Her notion of fun, is it?"

Banks laughed. "She is a 激しい 株主 in the Ostable Bank," he said. "She has four hundred 株, I believe."

"Yup. And Chris has got six hundred. There's only fifteen hundred in the whole capitalization, and Trent and Truman own a thousand between 'em."

"Yes, sir, but old Mr. Trent—Benjamin I mean—and Captain Elijah 設立するd the Ostable Bank. They were its 組織者s in the beginning."

"Um, hum, so they was. You've got an answer to everything, ain't you? 井戸／弁護士席, I remember when old Cap'n Lije （機の）カム to me asking me to subscribe to some 株 in that bank—that was at the beginnin' too. I wouldn't take a cent's 価値（がある）, by godfreys!"

"But why, Mr. Bartlett?"

"'原因（となる） I'd known them fellows for a long （一定の）期間; knew 'em when they was sailin' ships out of Boston. I wouldn't 信用 either of 'em fur's I could sight 'em with a spyglass."

Banks 強化するd. "They were my father's partners," he said rather crisply. "I don't think father would have associated himself with them if they had not been perfectly honest."

"Humph! 井戸／弁護士席, maybe not. But you notice that he died poor and they died rich."

"They made their money after his death—in this very Farraday Company, and others like it, I understand. But that doesn't make any difference, Mr. Bartlett, does it? It is all past history."

"Sartin 'tis, but you can larn かなりの from history いつかs. 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, I don't care about what's dead and gone. I'll be dead and gone myself afore many years; yes"—with rising indignation— "and a darned sight sooner than that if all I get given me to eat is sick folks' slops like tea and toast. Bah!...There, there," he 追加するd with an impatient wave of the 手渡す, "keep still a minute. I want to think."

Banks obeyed orders and kept still. Hezekiah frowningly looked out of the window. Then he turned to 直面する his 訪問者.

"Boy," he said, "you might 同様に understand that I had made up my mind not to have anything to do with this bank get-together game. I'm collectin' my six per cent on them hundred and five 株 of 地雷 and the 在庫／株 is 価値（がある） a good many dollars more than I paid for it. They can tell me 在庫／株 in the combination bank will climb to the 最高の，を越す of 開始する Ararat, or such 事柄—I don't care. You can't climb like that without takin' some 危険, and I don't have to take 危険s; I can afford not to. They can't do any combinin' without me, and it—井戸／弁護士席, it 肉親，親類d of tickled me to sit still and let 'em blow on their fingers...Humph," he ended with a chuckle, "judgin' by your 直面する you think I'm a selfish old dog in the manger. That's what you are thinkin', ain't it?"

It was; but Banks, of course, 抗議するd that he had not thought anything of the 肉親，親類d.

Mr. Bartlett continued to chuckle. "井戸／弁護士席," he 観察するd, "it's partly my manger, so I've got as much 権利 in it as the 残り／休憩（する） of 'em, I cal'late. Anyhow I be hanged if I was goin' to have Benjamin Trent's grandson crowdin' in on my hay...Humph! Think I'm prejudiced, don't you?"

Banks' answer was more frank than 外交の this time. "Why, yes, Mr. Bartlett," he said. "I do."

Hezekiah did not appear to resent the frankness. "Maybe you're 権利, at that," he 認める. "Still, a fellow my age has to have some fun, and I was havin' it...And now you've come into the mess and changed things all around. Did you know that?"

"Why, I don't see—"

"Never mind," interrupted the other testily. "I say you have. To begin with, you're Silas Bradford's boy, and I thought a sight of Silas. Then, too, I've seen consider'ble of you, and I've took a— a—井戸／弁護士席, a 向こうずね to you for your own sake. This 職業 the Ostable （人が）群がる has given you is your first big one, and it means a lot to you, I know...So"—with an emphatic nod—"I've been thinkin' it all over and I've decided to change my mind. I'll come in on the 取引，協定, 在庫／株 and all—"

Banks could repress his feelings no longer. "You will!" he cried. "Oh, by George, that's splendid! I'm sure you won't 悔いる it, Mr. Bartlett. And I can't begin to tell you how 強いるd I am."

"Hush! Hush, can't you! I 港／避難所't finished yet. I'll come in, I say, 供給するd you can 満足させる me that this paper—them three big 公式文書，認めるs in particular—that the Ostable Bank is carryin' are what they pretend to be. You do that, and bring me proof of it, and I'll 投票（する） to have the Denboro 国家の take over t'other one. But I won't unless you do. See what I mean, boy?"

Banks did not see at all. This seemed 絶対の nonsense to him. The Denboro Bank people had 診察するd all the Ostable 優れた 貸付金s very carefully, he 宣言するd. 裁判官 Bangs and the directors had 認可するd them. The bank examiner—

The old man 削減（する） him short. "Bunkum!" he snorted. "The bank examiner is honest—yes, and 有能な enough, I don't 疑問. And Bangs is a stubborn mule, but he's honest too. Honesty ain't the thing here. 'Cordin' to what I can larn them 貸付金s have been standin' for some time; 公式文書，認めるs been 新たにするd over and over?"

"Yes, sir. But they are the best 肉親，親類d of 貸付金s. The 利益／興味 is always paid 定期的に. As for 安全, why, Mr. Trent's and Mrs. Truman's 裏書，是認s alone are—"

"Here, here! Now you've put your finger on the button. That's just it. In this town, and in Ostable and the whole 郡, when you say Trent or Truman you're sayin' Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Anything with them two 指名するs, or either of 'em, on it has passed for gospel for fifteen years. Nobody—bank examiner nor nobody else—is goin' to 調査する into any 公式文書，認める with those Bible 指名するs on the 支援する of it. Nobody but me; and all 創造 will tell you what a darn crank _I_ am."

"But, Mr. Bartlett, surely you don't mean to 示唆する that those 公式文書，認めるs are not good?"

"I don't 示唆する nothin'. And I don't take nothin' for 認めるd, neither. I want to KNOW. Banks Bradford, you listen: Here's three 公式文書，認めるs tottin' up to sixty thousand dollars made out by 関心s out West somewheres and held and carried by a little shoestring bank 負かす／撃墜する East here. Why? Oh, I know that one of 'em is the Farraday Company, and Chris Trent's grandfather was 利益／興味d in it. But who except Chris himself knows even as much as that about the other two? Sixty thousand is a lot of money. The Ostable 国家の's 資本／首都 is one hundred and fifty thousand, and its 黒字／過剰 is another fifty. That's what 'tis on paper, and it's the basis the Denboro Bank—MY bank—is figurin' on when it takes it over. I've got to be 満足させるd that it's really there and ain't liable to no sixty thousand shrinkage by and by, after it's too late and the 取引，協定's made. I tell you I want to know."

Banks' patience was sorely tried. This perverse old curmudgeon, with his 憎悪 of dead men and envy of and prejudice against living ones, was hard to 扱う／治療する with good-natured 寛容. And yet he must 隠す his feelings; he must appear anxious to please. Everything depended on it.

"I see, Mr. Bartlett," he said. "Now just what do you wish me to do?"

Hezekiah turned to look at him. "I'll tell you," he said 真面目に. "I want you, on your own hook, to get in touch with somebody, or a 始める，決める of somebodies, out in those places where these 公式文書，認めるs come from and have them learn all they can about this Farraday Company and the—what d'ye call it?—All Outdoor Peddlin' Company and t'other one. Get a good inside 私的な 報告（する）／憶測 on 'em, all three. Then you fetch that 報告（する）／憶測 to me. If it's satisfyin' and—and healthy I'll give you my 約束 to turn in my Denboro 在庫／株, and your dratted bank 交換（する） can go through...There! will that do you, young fellow?"

"Indeed it will! Yes, sir. And Mr. Bartlett, I realize you are doing this just to help me, and I—"

"Sho, sho!...You're 権利, though; I AM doin' it to help you. If it 病弱な't for you I'd stay out and stand pat and let the whole lot of 'em whistle. You'll get that 報告（する）／憶測, will you?"

"Certainly, sir. That will be 平易な. So far as that goes I can probably get it from Mr. Trent himself."

"Here, here"—はっきりと. "No, you don't. That ain't in the dicker. You won't get it from Chris Trent. Unless you agree to do this for me on the 静かな the whole 貿易（する）'s off, and we're 権利 支援する where we started from. That's understood, is it?"

Banks hesitated. He did not know how to answer. Christopher Trent and the Ostable Bank were his 雇用者s now, and it seemed to him that a question of professional 倫理学 was 伴う／関わるd. Bartlett was watching him intently, and it may be that he guessed his 報知係's thought.

"See here, youngster," he went on, "Trent and his ギャング（団） ain't bought you 団体／死体 and soul, have they? 'Twan't part of your 協定 with them that you shouldn't take any outside 商売／仕事?"

"Why, no, sir. I don't think it was."

"All 権利, all 権利. You was my lawyer afore they 雇うd you. No 推論する／理由 why you can't be 地雷 now, so fur as this 報告（する）／憶測 職業 is 関心d. You're gettin' it for me, not for them. I'll 支払う／賃金 you for your work and time."

Banks still hesitated. The question of 倫理学 still troubled him. He would not be disloyal. But after all, was it disloyal? Trent's one 圧倒的な 願望（する） was to 押し進める the 合併 through; nothing else counted beside that—he had said so. And Hezekiah Bartlett had made it （疑いを）晴らす that the 得るing of these perfectly needless and superfluous 報告（する）／憶測s was an 必須の to his 同意. Without them he would stand pat in his 拒絶.

Banks made up his mind. "All 権利, Mr. Bartlett," he said with a smile. "You can't 支払う／賃金 me, of course, but I'll do my best to get the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） you want."

"Humph! Good enough!...井戸／弁護士席, I cal'late that's all I can stand just now. This cussed 長，率いる of 地雷 is bangin' like a tin shop. No wonder, with nothin' in my stomach but disappointed hopes. You run along...And say, on your way out you tell that woman of 地雷 to fetch me up that salt mack'rel and coffee and do it on the jump, unless she wants me to come 負かす／撃墜する there askin' why. Tea and toast! Gape-and-swallow! Bah!"

一時期／支部 15

Cousin Hettie called at the Bradford cottage that evening. So, too, as it happened, did Captain Abijah. Banks did not について言及する his call upon old Mr. Bartlett, and he did his best to keep the 支配する of what the latter had so contemptuously called the "bank 交換（する）" out of the conversation.

It would not stay out altogether, of course. Cousin Hettie dragged it in. She had a long tale to tell of more trouble with Mr. Payson, her lodger, and before she finished the 指名するs of Christopher Trent and "our Silie" were について言及するd.

Banks paid little 注意する to the recital of Mr. Payson's outrageous 需要・要求するs and Henrietta's righteous 抗議するs. It seemed that the lodger was still 不平（をいう）ing because the Franklin grate was not 供給（する）ing heat as he thought it should. "Nobody could have been nicer than I was to him. I always try to be genteel and ladylike to everybody—you know that, Margaret—and so when he （機の）カム downstairs on his way out to breakfast I said, '井戸／弁護士席, Mr. Payson,' I said, 'and how are you this winter morning? I hope you slept 井戸／弁護士席.'

"He smiled at me—one of those 悪化させるing smiles of his that don't get up his 直面する any さらに先に than the 最高の，を越す of his teeth—and he says 'Thank you, 行方不明になる Bradford,' he says, 'I slept pretty 井戸／弁護士席. I dreamed I was a polar 耐える, all covered with fur and sitting on a cake of ice. I was sorry when I woke up.' 'Sorry!' I said. 'Mercy me! I shouldn't think anybody'd be sorry to wake up from that 肉親，親類d of dream.' 'I was,' he said, 'I 行方不明になるd the fur.' Now what do you think of such talk as that!"

Captain Abijah broke out with a joyful "Ha, Ha!"

Cousin Hettie glared at him and went on. "And that wasn't all," she sputtered. "Indeed it wasn't! He turned just at the door and said smiling all the time—I do believe he knows there's nothing makes me so mad as that everlasting polite smile of his—'By the way, 行方不明になる Bradford,' he says, 'thank you for sending up the hot water last evening. I used part of it and then 始める，決める the kettle on 最高の，を越す of the stove to keep for morning. That was a mistake.' I didn't know what he meant. 'Why was it a mistake?' I asked him. 'Because it froze,' he said; and went off before I could think up the answer he'd せねばならない have had." Hettie glared at the hilarious Abijah. "You think that—that impudent—er—er—sauce is funny, I 推定する likely. You would! Sit there and laugh!"

"I ain't laughin'. I'm cryin'. Can't you see I'm wipin' my 注目する，もくろむs. You're breakin' my heart, Hettie. Say, that Franklin stove of yours must be what you'd call an all-the-year-一連の会議、交渉／完成する convenience. You can use it for an ice chest in summer."

Banks heard but a little of all this. His thoughts were wandering toward the house on the Old Ostable Road. Tomorrow evening he meant to wander there in the 団体／死体. It was the について言及する of his own 指名する which a few minutes later caught his attention.

"So," Cousin Hettie was 説, "when Susan Badger said that to me, I told her I wasn't at liberty to talk. 'Mr. Trent has 雇うd our Silie to be his lawyer.' I told her. 'There's no use my denyin' that.' And there wasn't either, because the news is all over town and everybody knows it. But when she asked me if I knew the insides of this other talk about the Denboro 国家の buying out the Ostable Bank, I just shook my 長，率いる. 'I know what I know,' says I, 'but my tongue is tied.' She looked so astonished!"

"Humph!" snorted Abijah. "Yes, I should think she might."

"Eh?"—suspiciously. "What was that?"

"Oh, nothin', nothin'. You're 権利, though, Hettie; the news is out. Somebody's told tales out of school, and there's the craziest yarns floatin' around that I ever heard...Humph! It can't be helped, I suppose, but the sooner we're 解放する／自由な to publish the truth in the Item the better 'twill be. Banks, I know you can't answer questions—I don't 推定する／予想する you to; but—hang it all, you're—you're 希望に満ちた, ain't you?"

Banks laughed. "Yes, Uncle Abijah," he said. "I am decidedly 希望に満ちた."

After the 報知係s had gone and he was alone in his own room he sat for hours thinking of the 約束 he had given Bartlett and of how, in the quickest and most 徹底的な manner, it could be carried out. He must communicate at once with some one—some bank or lawyer or credit 機関 in the city of Blankton, where the Farraday Liquidation Company had its offices—and ask for 完全にする （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） 関心ing that company and the two others whose 公式文書，認めるs were carried by the Ostable Bank. And after a time he had an inspiration.

Mr. John Davidson, the uncle of his college friend, the friend whom he had visited in the West the previous summer, lived in Colesburg, which was not so very far from Blankton. It was this Mr. Davidson for whom he had done the bit of 合法的な work which had resulted in his receiving the check for "expenses," the money which he had used in buying his office furniture from Tadgett.

Davidson was, so his friend had told him, a 目だつ 商売／仕事 man in Colesburg. Why not 令状 to him, telling him what he wished to learn? If Davidson could not or did not care to get the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） himself he could turn the 事柄 over to some one whose 商売／仕事 it was to make 研究s of that 肉親，親類d. The more he considered the idea the better it seemed. He 決定するd to 令状 to Mr. Davidson the very next day.

And in his office next morning he did that very thing. He wrote and rewrote the letter several times before it 満足させるd him. When at last it was 調印するd and 調印（する）d he went out to the 地位，任命する office to mail it. And there drawn up by the 抑制（する） in 前線 of the 地位，任命する office, was the Truman （期間が）わたる and carriage, with the driver on the box and Elizabeth Cartwright on the 後部 seat within. She was alone.

He hesitated. Then he stepped across the sidewalk and spoke to her. She had been looking in the opposite direction, but as he spoke her 指名する she turned and saw him standing there, his 手渡す upon the 扱う of the carriage door.

They had not met since that evening—THE evening. Banks' 直面する 紅潮／摘発するd and his breath caught in his throat. There was no 疑問 now as to his feeling. He was madly, wildly in love with her. There had been 簡潔な／要約する intervals since he の近くにd the Truman 前線 gate behind him when remembrance of his mother's advice, of the differences in their worldly position, his poverty and her riches, had 原因（となる）d him to clench his teeth and to decide that he must be crazy to dream she could ever be his. But all these were forgotten now, as he saw her sitting there, dainty, alluring, wonderful. And for a moment she had been his. She had; and she had not resisted.

Through the glass of the door she was looking at him. The color was flooding her cheeks and her 注目する，もくろむs were 向こうずねing. And then she drew 支援する into the 影をつくる／尾行する. He opened the door.

"Elizabeth!" he said again.

Her answer—its words and トン—surprised and disappointed him. "Why, good morning," she said. "How do you do?"

The winter 日光 was very 有望な outside upon the walk, and the 内部の of the の近くにd carriage was dark by contrast. He leaned 今後, trying to see her more 明確に.

"Elizabeth," he said for the third time; and then, anxiously, "Why, what is it? Aren't you— Why, what is the 事柄?"

She did not answer at once. And when she did there was that same 強制, that decidedly unsatisfactory 欠如（する） of 切望 in her reply. "Nothing is the 事柄," she said. "I am waiting for grandmother. She has gone into the 地位，任命する office."

He thought he did understand then. Her grandmother was with her, that explained it. He lowered his 発言する／表明する. "I have been crazy to see you," he whispered. "I had planned to come up to-night. May I? Are you going to be at home?"

Again she seemed to hesitate. "Why, no," she said. "I am not."

"Oh!"—in sharp 失望. "That's too bad. 井戸／弁護士席, I suppose I can wait another twenty-four hours, though I don't know how. I'll come to-morrow night, then."

She shook her 長，率いる. "I am not going to be at home then, either."

"You're not! Good Lord!...Why—井戸／弁護士席, then—Sunday. If it is good 天候 we can have our walk, can't we?"

"No-o, I'm afraid not. You see—"

"Yes? Yes?"

"You see—井戸／弁護士席, you see, grandmother and I— Oh, here is grandmother now!"

Mrs. Truman was rustling 負かす／撃墜する the 地位，任命する-office steps. Banks turned reluctantly toward her. He had never 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see any one いっそう少なく.

"Good morning, Mrs. Truman," he said.

Mrs. Truman peered at him through her eyeglasses. "Oh, how do you do, Banks?" she said graciously. "How is our brilliant young lawyer? And how are the 事件／事情／状勢s in the 財政上の world 進歩ing?"

Banks murmured that he guessed they were 進歩ing, more or いっそう少なく.

"Let us hope rather more than いっそう少なく. Has Elizabeth told you of our little—er—excursion?"

The girl broke in. "I 港／避難所't had time to tell him anything, Grandmother," she said.

"Oh, I see! 井戸／弁護士席, we are going on a little vacation, she and I. We are 逃げるing from the—er—excitements of Denboro to the 静める of the outside world...Mercy! don't look like that. Why are people always petrified when I 試みる／企てる a joke? Elizabeth confided to me that she was 疲れた／うんざりした of socials and sewing circles—just as 疲れた／うんざりした as I am—and so we are running away from them...Yes, Dennis?"

The coachman had got 負かす／撃墜する from the box and now he touched her arm. Mrs. Truman listened to what he had to say.

"Yes, you are 権利," she agreed with a nod. "Dennis reminds me, Elizabeth, that we have several more errands to do and our time is very 限られた／立憲的な."

Dennis 補助装置d her into the carriage. She took the seat nearest the window, her granddaughter, at her suggestion, moving to the other 味方する.

"井戸／弁護士席, adieu, young man," she said. "We leave the 財政上の world in your 手渡すs—yours and Christopher's. He will keep us 地位，任命するd on your 進歩. He is a faithful 特派員. You know that, don't you, Elizabeth?"

The driver would have の近くにd the door, but Elizabeth was too quick for him. She leaned across the seat and 延長するd her 手渡す.

"Good-by," she said.

Banks 掴むd the 手渡す and held it for one 簡潔な／要約する instant. He was struggling for words, but before he could ask the first of the questions which were （人が）群がるing for utterance the 手渡す was 孤立した. Dennis slammed the door, climbed to his seat and clucked to the horses. The Truman carriage moved away from the 抑制（する）, leaving him to 星／主役にする after it in agitated, disconsolate amazement. He watched it turn the corner beyond the Malabar Hotel. Then he slowly 機動力のある the 地位，任命する-office steps, went in and 地位，任命するd his letter.

He 推定する／予想するd a call from Trent that afternoon, but instead （機の）カム a 電報電信. The boy who brought it 負かす／撃墜する from the 鉄道 駅／配置する which was also the telegraph office, seemed very much impressed.

"Jiminy, Mr. Bradford," he said, "there's pretty nigh forty words in that telegrapht. Eph"—Ephraim パン職人 was the 倉庫・駅 master and telegraph 操作者—"Mr. パン職人, I mean, he says he bets that's the longest telegrapht ever come to Denboro. He says nobody but Chris Trent would waste money that way. Anybody else would 令状 a letter, but not him—no, sir! When he does a thing he don't care what it costs. You bet yer he don't. Eph says Trent's motto is, 'If you want anything, git it—and darn the expense.' And he always does git it, too, so Eph says. It's 広大な／多数の／重要な to be rich, ain't it?...Say, Mr. Bradford, it's lucky for you he didn't send that telegrapht collect; eh? You bet yer!"

Trent had wired that—as he had intimated might happen, when he last saw Banks—he had been 召喚するd by his western 特派員 and was leaving すぐに. "Cannot say how long shall be gone. Leaving important 事柄 in your 手渡すs. Shall 推定する／予想する find it all settled on return. Get H. B. in line. That your main 商売／仕事 now. Do not disappoint. Rely on you."

Banks 設立する himself ばく然と wondering if there could be any 関係 between the mysterious vacation which Mrs. Truman had について言及するd and the 出発 of the 大統領，／社長 of the Ostable Bank. No, of course there could not be. Mrs. Truman had said that Christopher would keep them 地位，任命するd—he was a faithful 特派員, as her granddaughter knew. What did that mean? The intimation was that Elizabeth was accustomed to receive letters from Trent. Why should he 令状 her? And did she answer his letters? Elizabeth did not like Mr. Trent. She had hinted as much to him—or he thought she had.

He tried to remember just what she said that evening—that marvelous evening, the last they had spent together. She said—why yes, for one thing she asked if Trent ever made him—Banks—feel as if he ーするつもりであるd to have what he 手配中の，お尋ね者 and would have it, in the end, no 事柄 what any one did or said. Why, confound it, that was 正確に what Eph パン職人 said about him, によれば the telegraph boy! These were not pleasant reflections.

That evening he again rang the Truman bell. His call was a sort of forlorn hope. Elizabeth was going away—yes; but she had not said when she was going. If she and her grandmother had not yet left Denboro she might relent and see him, if only for a few minutes. At any 率 he was going to try to see her.

Mary, the maid, told him that Mrs. Truman and 行方不明になる Cartwright had gone on the afternoon train. No, she did not know where they had gone nor when they would return. No, no message of any 肉親，親類d had been left for him. He turned away with the "hope" 鎮圧するd and nothing left but the "forlorn." There was やめる enough of that.

Strolling dejectedly homeward, he noticed that the Tadgett sitting- room windows were alight, and 事実上の／代理 on the impulse of the moment he turned in at the gate. Ebenezer and his unique brand of conversation might be 一時的な antidotes for the sense of desertion and the 疑惑s which 抑圧するd him.

He was welcome. Mr. Tadgett himself opened the door and あられ／賞賛するd him with delight. "井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席!" he shouted. "Look who's here! Yes, yes; you are to goin' to take off your things and stay a （一定の）期間. Here's Sheba, and we been sittin' here lonesome as the last two crickets in a four-acre lot—nothin' to listen to but our own squeakin'. Come in! Come in!"

Mrs. Tadgett rose to 迎える／歓迎する him. Her 長，率いる, with its 層s of hoods, was as remindful as ever of a pumpkin on a stick. "How do you do, Mr. Bradford?" she said graciously. "We are very glad to see you. I was reading out loud to Ebenezer. I was reading—er— er—yes, I was reading—what was I reading, Ebenezer?"

"Poetry," replied her husband 敏速に. "調書をとる／予約する you got out of the libr'y. Don't you remember?"

"Yes. Yes, of course. Poems by Shelley. They are lovely. Ebenezer likes to have me read to him; don't you, Ebenezer?"

"Oh, sure, sure!"

"Yes, I know you do. What was that poem you liked so much? That one I read first?"

Poor Tadgett looked rather puzzled. "Now let me see," he mused. "Let me see, now, Sheba...Er—er—oh, yes! that one about— about what somebody 借りがあるd to a—a—skylight, was it?"

Mrs. Tadgett received this suggestion rather ばく然と. She passed her 手渡す across her forehead. Banks, catching the 控訴，上告 in her husband's 注目する，もくろむs, （機の）カム to the 救助（する）.

"To a Skylark, perhaps," he put in. "That is a very beautiful poem, Mrs. Tadgett."

"Yes. Oh, yes! It is beautiful. Beautiful...yes."

"Tell you the truth, Banks," said Ebenezer apologetically. "I'm afraid I didn't hear as much of them poems as I meant to when I started in. I've been workin' hard 負かす／撃墜する to the shop to-day, and this settin' room is pretty hot, so I—guess likely I dozed off every now and again...But don't you fret—I got the sense of it, Sheba."

Banks asked about the 商売／仕事. Had he sold any of his treasures recently? Tadgett shook his 長，率いる.

"No, I ain't," he said. "Nighest I （機の）カム to it was yesterday when that Cartwright girl was in. She see that 徹底的に捜す-支援する 議長，司会を務める I 貿易（する）d Noah Davis' wife the 黒人／ボイコット walnut what-not for. She liked that 議長，司会を務める, Elizabeth did. Said maybe, when she got 支援する from where she and her grandmother was goin' she might save up her pennies and buy it. She's a smart girl; she knows what's what."

Banks tried hard to appear only mildly 利益／興味d. "Did she say where she was going?" he asked casually.

"No. No, she didn't. But you know all about it, don't you? Land sakes! I was just goin' to ask you where she was bound to. Supposed you'd know, if anybody did."

The 重要な wink which …を伴ってd this 発言／述べる was 特に irritating to Banks just them. かもしれない Ebenezer noticed that his facetiousness was not received with enthusiasm, for he went on without waiting for a reply.

"Anyhow," he said, "they was off on the afternoon train, the pair of 'em, 捕らえる、獲得する and baggage. Jotham Gott, he was up to the 倉庫・駅, and accordin' to him they was totin' dunnage enough to last 'em as fur as Jericho. Funny, ain't it, how womenfolk can't go nowheres without cartin' two, three trunks. Now a man— Eh? Yes, Sheba, what is it?"

Mrs. Tadgett, who had been listening with a dreamy 表現, was sitting 築く in her 議長，司会を務める, her forefinger 解除するd. "The elephant," she said, with the 空気／公表する of one 配達するing a lecture, "is our largest animal."

Banks 星／主役にするd at her in bewilderment. Even Mr. Tadgett's customary presence of mind, under such circumstances, was 揺さぶるd.

"Now who in time said a word about elephants?" he gasped.

Mrs. Tadgett paid no attention. "The elephant," she continued, "lives in Africa and—and どこかよそで. In—in 中国, I believe...中国. We have 磁器 plates and cups. Cups for our tea. Tea comes from—yes, tea comes from 中国. 中国 is—is where the carved ivory is made. Ivory is made from the tusks of elephants. The elephant is our largest animal."

"Yes, I know. That's where you started, wasn't it, Sheba?"

"The elephant has a trunk—"

Her husband slapped his 膝. "That's it!" he exclaimed in 救済. "Trunks! See, don't you, Banks? I was talkin' about womenfolk havin' to cart trunks wherever they went. Trunks reminded you of elephants, didn't it, Sheba?...Yes, of course; 'twould anybody. Speakin' of tea, now maybe Mr. Bradford would like a cup this 冷淡な night. You've got the kettle 権利 on the stove, Sheba. Won't be no trouble at all, will it?"

Mrs. Tadgett, after the question was twice repeated, 宣言するd that it would not be the least trouble. She could make the tea in a minute. She rose to do so. 明らかに she had forgotten all about elephants, nor did she 言及する to them again.

Banks 拒絶する／低下するd the tea, however. Soon afterward he rose to go. Ebenezer …を伴ってd him to the door. As usual he had a 弁護 for his wife's idiosyncrasies.

"I'm afraid she reads too much," he whispered. "When she ain't readin' to herself she's readin' out loud to me—一般に, same as to-night, somethin' I can't make 長，率いる nor tail of. I try to, but what do I know about this Shellback, or whatever his 指名する is?...Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! she gets so much 慰安 out of it I don't like to find fault. And I realize I'm ignorant, 味方する of her...I don't know"—with a sigh—"but いつかs seems as if all this readin' 病弱な't good for her. 肉親，親類d of mixes her up, you understand? Makes her fetch in—er—outside things like—井戸／弁護士席, like elephants and such."

Banks, who was not 特に 利益／興味d in elephants—or, at that moment, in Mrs. Tadgett's reading—asked a question 関心ing the 事柄 which was to him all-important.

"Did Mrs. Truman and 行方不明になる Cartwright go away alone?" he asked. "That is—I mean, no one was with them?"

Ebenezer scratched his chin. "Not as I know of," he replied. "Jotham never said there was, anyhow. Oh, yes! come to think of it, he did say somethin' about hearin' Mrs. Truman について言及する to Elizabeth that, more'n likely, Mr. Trent might be takin' the same train over at the Ostable 駅／配置する. He was goin' somewhere on a 商売／仕事 trip, she said."

That was enough. In vain did Banks try to 納得させる himself that Trent's 搭乗 that train was a mere coincidence. Each time he 後継するd in doing so he wandered off into その上の 憶測 関心ing the letters which the "faithful 特派員" was 推定する／予想するd to 令状, which in turn brought the unpleasant 思い出の品 that Elizabeth had left no message for him—Banks. She had gone without a word; Trent had gone also—and on the same train. And so, like Mrs. Tadgett in her discourse on the elephant, he was 支援する 正確に／まさに at his starting point.

一時期／支部 16

For several days thereafter he 熱望して looked through his mail, hoping to find a letter or at least a 公式文書，認める from her. But 非，不，無 （機の）カム. Nor did he hear from Trent. Fortunately, there was plenty of work to do, and he labored faithfully from morning till night.

One by one the few 抵抗s の中で the small 株主s of the Ostable Bank were coming into line. If Davidson would 従う with his request for 速度(を上げる） in furnishing the particulars 関心ing the three Western 会社／団体s and if, as of course they would be, those particulars were satisfactorily 安心させるing, then he could 得る Hezekiah Bartlett's proxy, and the 合併 would be a settled thing. His 報告（する）／憶測 to Trent when the latter did return would be proof that the Ostable Bank had made no mistake in selecting its new 弁護士／代理人／検事.

His uncle called frequently, at the office 同様に as at the cottage. Captain Abijah asked few questions, and those he did ask were answered but ばく然と.

"All 権利, all 権利," said the captain. "Course you can't tell me any particulars; I don't 推定する／予想する you to. Only for 雷鳴 sakes don't discourage me, and do hurry up 急速な／放蕩な as ever you can. Everybody in four towns around knows all about the 取引，協定 by this time, and most of what they know ain't so. I get tired of sayin' no, and I ain't 許すd to say yes. It'll be a 慰安, by and by, to be able to call a 嘘（をつく） by its 権利 指名する."

That every one—in Denboro, at least—did know, or thought they did, was ますます 明らかな. Silas Bradford's boy had suddenly become a 目だつ 国民. At the 地位，任命する office or along the Main Road he could not help noticing the winks and whispers which …を伴ってd his 入り口 or 進歩. People who had paid little attention to him heretofore now stopped to shake 手渡すs. Eben Caldwell, proprietor of the general 蓄える／店, slapped him on the 支援する.

"Doin' pretty 井戸／弁護士席, ain't you, Banks?" chuckled Mr. Caldwell. "Bein' 選ぶd out to 扱う Chris Trent's 事件／事情／状勢s せねばならない mean consider'ble to a young fellow your age. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, I ain't surprised. I 選ぶd you before he did, didn't I? To collect those 法案s of 地雷, I mean. Yes; and I said then, 'He'll go far, that boy will. He ain't Cap'n Silas' son for nothin'. You watch him,' I said. Say, Banks"—with a confidential 軽く押す／注意を引く—"don't know where I can get a 持つ／拘留する of a couple of 株 of Denboro 在庫／株, do you? I'd be willin' to take a chance if I could get 'em cheap. If you hear of a chance like that slip it my way, will you? You won't lose nothin' by it," he ended with another 軽く押す／注意を引く.

A week passed, and as yet there was no reply from Mr. Davidson. Then another four days. The next noon, however, the postmaster 手渡すd Banks a long fat envelope postmarked Colesburg and with the Davidson 指名する and 演説（する）／住所 in the upper left-手渡す corner. Banks put the envelope in his pocket. On the office steps he 遭遇（する）d Eliab Gibbons.

"Hello, Banks!" あられ／賞賛するd Eliab. "Ain't seen much of you lately. Don't get in to watch them euchre games of ours. Gee"—with a 幅の広い grin—"you'd have enjoyed the one we had day afore yesterday. Jotham won seven cents on one 手渡す, and he was screechin' over it like a loon when old 裁判官 Bangs （機の）カム into the shop. He'd drove over from Bayport to bank meetin' or somethin', and his wife had asked him to stop in and see if Tadgett had a pair of secondhand andirons.

"井戸／弁護士席, sir, I wish you could have seen Jotham when he realized 'twas the 裁判官. The way he scrabbled up them cards and the money— oh, dear! So 脅すd and excited he dropped a nickel on the 床に打ち倒す, and we had to spend all of ten minutes huntin' for it later on. Course Ebenezer and I told him the 裁判官 had sensed what was goin' on, and he might 推定する／予想する to be 逮捕（する）d any minute. I bet you he ain't slept since. Haw, haw! My soul!

"You ain't very sociable up on the Old Ostable Road nuther, so Mrs. Truman's 雇うd girl told me," he 追加するd with another grin. "Oh, 井戸／弁護士席. I cal'late we all understand the 推論する／理由 for that. 所有する your soul in patience; they'll be 支援する pretty soon, I understand. Chris Trent's been away, too—of course you know that. He got 支援する last night, so the 倉庫・駅 master said he heard. Suppose he'll be over here to-day to find out how his new 手渡す is keepin' ship...Say, Banks— Gosh! you're in a hurry these times, ain't you?"

支援する in the office, Banks locked the door against interruption, seated himself at the tambour desk and tore open the long envelope. From it he took a packet of closely typewritten sheets. Evidently Mr. Davidson had not spared 成果／努力 in 得るing the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） he 手配中の，お尋ね者.

Then he began to read. He read the whole—eight long pages—to the finish. His 手渡すs were trembling when he laid the last page upon the desk. He rose, paced the 床に打ち倒す for a few moments and then, coming 支援する, read them all again.

Some one knocked at the door. His uncle's 発言する／表明する called his 指名する. He did not answer but remained perfectly still until Captain Abijah 中止するd calling and knocking and went away. Then for the third time he read the Davidson 報告（する）／憶測.

At three that afternoon the Trent automobile 先触れ（する）d its approach to Denboro's 商売／仕事 中心 by mighty chuff-chuffs and wheezes. Captain Abijah peered from his window in the Malabar; Eben Caldwell ran to the door of his 蓄える／店; so did his clerks and their two 顧客s. The postmaster left the 月毎の 声明 which he was laboriously filling out for an exacting and overfussy 政府. Ebenezer Tadgett 急いでd to his 前線 windows. Half a dozen dogs burst into excited barking. A small （人が）群がる of 利益／興味d 青年s and boys gathered about the car, to 星／主役にする and point and exclaim.

In the office of "S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律," the chuffing and clanking and squeaking of ブレーキs were faintly audible. Banks heard them and realized that they 先触れ（する）d the arrival of his 雇用者. He had not gone home to dinner that noon but had sent word by a messenger that he was too busy to leave and would get a bite at the hotel. He had not got that bite, however; he had no 願望（する） for food. What should he say to Trent when he （機の）カム? What ought he to say—and do?

And now the 危機! He heard steps in the hall and the latch 動揺させるd. He rose, turned the 重要な and opened the door. Christopher Trent, smartly dressed, hat a-攻撃する, cigar in mouth, 確信して and cocksure as always, bustled into the office. He 迎える／歓迎するd its occupant with his usual 半分-facetious condescension.

"Hello, Bradford!" he あられ／賞賛するd. "Here I am, 支援する again."

"Yes, sir," said Banks.

"Here I am, alive and kicking. And how is the boy wonder? Busy, by the looks."

The eight sheets of the Davidson 報告（する）／憶測 were spread upon the desk. Banks ぐずぐず残るd to lock the door. The 警戒 seemed to amuse his 訪問者.

"Afraid of 存在 robbed?" he asked with a laugh. "Or have you got something to show me you don't want any one else to see?"

Banks spoke for the first time. "Yes, sir," he said 簡潔に, "I have."

Trent was pulling off his overcoat. He turned to look at the （衆議院の）議長. "Humph!" he grunted. "The devil you say? What is it? Nothing gone wrong?"

Banks had gone 支援する to the desk. Trent 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd his coat across the 支援する of the 議長，司会を務める which Captain Abijah had 主張するd upon buying for the use of the "second （弁護士の）依頼人," in the ありそうもない event of there ever 存在 more than one at a time. He sat 負かす／撃墜する in the third.

"井戸／弁護士席?" he asked はっきりと. "What is all this? You look as if you had lost your last friend. Has—here! Has old Bartlett gone 支援する on us? Or 港／避難所't you seen him? Is that it—and you are afraid to tell me? Eh? Is that it?"

Banks shook his 長，率いる. "I went 負かす／撃墜する and saw Mr. Bartlett the day after you left, Mr. Trent," he said. "I told you I would, and I did."

"井戸／弁護士席? 井戸／弁護士席? Go ahead!"

Banks looked at the papers on the desk before him. "I saw him," he went on, "and I put your 味方する of the 事例／患者 同様に as I knew how. I could tell him nothing new; he knew it all before. At first I thought he was going to 辞退する to have anything to do with the 事件／事情／状勢—the Denboro Bank taking over the Ostable Bank, I mean. He was, he said, 満足させるd with the （株主への）配当s he was getting from his hundred and five 株 of Denboro 在庫／株, and he saw no need of his taking chances."

Trent grunted. "The fool!" he cried 怒って. "What chance is there in it? Chance to clean up on a good thing, that's all."

"He seemed to think there might be a chance somewhere. Mr. Trent, he is very much prejudiced against the Trumans and yourself. 明らかに he had some trouble, some difficulty, long ago with your grandfather and Captain Elijah, and—and—"

"Oh, be hanged! Is there anybody he hasn't had a fight with? Come, come! 削減（する） it short! What did he say?"

"He said he wouldn't 信用 either of them—or any one of their 指名する—as far as he could see them with a spyglass."

Trent's teeth snapped together. "I'd have broken his neck for him if he dared say that to me," he snarled. "Go on! Go on! You didn't let that end it, of course?"

"No, sir! That was only the beginning. It is a pretty long story, and I should like you to hear it all before you say any more. Then—井戸／弁護士席, then we can talk the 残り／休憩（する） of it out together."

"Talk what out? What in 炎s do you mean by that? What have you got up your sleeve?...Oh, never mind! Give me the 残り／休憩（する） of it!"

Banks told the story of his long 開会／開廷／会期 with Hezekiah Bartlett. Trent listened without interrupting until the 語り手 reached the point where Bartlett について言及するd the three 公式文書，認めるs, aggregating sixty thousand dollars, which the Ostable Bank was carrying の中で its "live paper." Then he uttered an exclamation.

"Yes, sir?" asked Banks, looking up.

"Nothing! Nothing! Go ahead! And make it quick."

Banks went on, condensing as much as possible. He told of Hezekiah's 願望（する） to know more about those 公式文書，認めるs and the 会社／団体s behind them, and of the 条件 which the old fellow had 課すd as 絶対 必須の to his 同意 to the 合併.

"That was his 最終提案," he said. "I must get that （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） for him. If it was 満足な—to him, I mean—then he would turn in his Denboro Bank 在庫／株 and the 合併 could go through. さもなければ not."

Trent jumped to his feet. His 直面する was fiery red. He leaned across the desk. "The old sun of a skunk!" he sputtered inarticulately. "You told him to go plumb to 炎s, of course? Sure you did!"

Banks shook his 長，率いる. "Why, no, Mr. Trent," he said. "I didn't. I didn't have much time to consider what to do. You had ordered me to get him into line and not waste a minute. He 絶対 would not move without a 報告（する）／憶測 on those three companies. So I 約束d to get it for him."

"You—you did what?"

"I 約束d him I would try to get such a 報告（する）／憶測. It seemed to me the only thing to bring the quick 活動／戦闘 you and Uncle Abijah and every one 関心d was so anxious to get. I know a man in Colesburg—an uncle of a friend of 地雷, he is—and Colesburg is only a little way from Blankton. So I wrote 明言する／公表するing what facts I 手配中の，お尋ね者. The 報告（する）／憶測 （機の）カム this morning. Here it is—here."

He 示すd the papers on the desk. Trent looked at them, then at Bradford, then at the papers again.

"Give 'em to me!" he ordered. His 手渡す 発射 out, but Banks snatched the papers from his reach and kept his own 手渡す upon them.

"No, Mr. Trent," he said 堅固に. "I can't do that. They aren't yours, you know."

Trent's 直面する was purple now. For just an instant Banks thought he ーするつもりであるd taking the papers by 軍隊. He did not make the 試みる／企てる, however. He remained where he was, breathing ひどく.

It was the younger man who spoke. "Now wait, Mr. Trent—wait!" he 勧めるd. "I can't give you this 報告（する）／憶測. You see—"

"See be hanged! Bradford, if you have shown those things to Hez Bartlett, I'll—I'll—"

"No, no! I 港／避難所't. I 港／避難所't shown them to anybody yet. I—I only got them this morning. I have been reading them over and over ever since, trying to think what I せねばならない do."

"Do!" barked the other savagely. "I'm telling you what to do. You give 'em to me. Say, look here! What do you mean by nosing into what was 非，不，無 of your 商売／仕事? What do you mean by it?"

"Getting Mr. Bartlett to 同意 to his bank taking over yours was my 商売／仕事. I took it for 認めるd those 公式文書，認めるs, and the 関心s who had drawn them, were all 権利. And"—with a sudden inspiration—"I can't see why, if they are all 権利, you should 反対する in the least. You don't know yet what is in this 報告（する）／憶測. I 港／避難所't told you."

This was perfectly true, and for the moment it took the 勝利，勝つd from the Trent sails. He hesitated, choked and then 小衝突d the retort aside with a wave of his 手渡す.

"It is your having the 神経 to send for it that makes me sorest," he snarled. "I 雇う you to look out for my 利益／興味s, to play my game, and you—why, confound you, you play old Bartlett's instead! You let him make a monkey of you...Of course I don't know what this Colesburg man has written in that fool thing. And I don't give a damn. Why should I? I know about those 公式文書，認めるs and what is 支援する of 'em...Here! What does he say? Let me read it."

But Banks still 辞退するd. "Perhaps I had better read it to you," he said 堅固に. "You see"—with a catch of the breath—"I have read it so often that I know it almost by heart."

He began to read aloud. Davidson had written at length 関心ing the Farraday Liquidation Company and the two other 会社／団体s whose 公式文書，認めるs were in question. Some facts he had been able to ascertain in the short time 許すd him. He 現在のd 人物／姿／数字s in 確定／確認 of them. The 残りの人，物 of his 報告（する）／憶測 was—he 認める it himself—based upon hearsay, 噂する; but there was a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of this, and in his opinion where there was so much smoke there must be some 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

Several times during the reading Christopher Trent started to interrupt, but each time he seemed to think better of it and signaled his companion to proceed.

"So," said Banks, when he had reached the foot of the eighth page, "that is what he 令状s me. によれば him—if his opinion is 価値（がある） anything—the Farraday Company might have a little いっそう少なく than even prospect of 支払う／賃金ing its 公式文書，認める if 支払い（額） were 需要・要求するd now, or in April. The two other 関心s—"

Trent broke in. "Rot! Bunkum!" he exclaimed. "He doesn't know a 選び出す／独身 thing about the other two companies. He says himself he doesn't. He has gone around listening at keyholes and 選ぶing up from competitors, and he has the gall to send his pickings on to you. I can tell you about those 関心s, all three of them. I know. Hang it, man! I am 利益／興味d in every one of 'em."

"Yes. So Mr. Davidson says here. I read that to you. He says you 相続するd the Farraday Company—a controlling 利益／興味 in it—from your grandfather. He isn't so sure about the others, but—井戸／弁護士席, he says, so you know—he has 選ぶd up enough to make him almost 確かな that you 支配（する）／統制する them also. Every one out there believes that they are 事実上 just 子会社s of the Farraday Company."

"That's a 嘘（をつく）. He knows mighty 井戸／弁護士席 he couldn't 証明する a word of it. That 報告（する）／憶測 of his isn't 価値（がある） the paper it is written on. Why, Bradford, you young idiot, he has been fooling with you, that's all. More than likely he has got money in 関心s these companies are fighting."

"No. I'm sure—I don't believe that, Mr. Trent. He is a 豊富な man, and—"

"Good Lord! You ARE a greenhorn! It's rich men who do have money to 沈む in 商売／仕事 関心s, isn't it? Aw, forget all that rubbish! All that counts are those 公式文書，認めるs, and I tell you they are all 権利. 安全な as a church, every one of them. Why, my bank has carried them for two years."

"Yes, sir; with your 裏書，是認."

"Sure, with my 裏書，是認! For heaven's sake, don't you suppose I am good for sixty thousand dollars? Yes, or three times that? Me, alone—to say nothing of the companies themselves?"

"No 疑問 you are, sir. But I tried to make （疑いを）晴らす in the beginning that Mr. Bartlett isn't the least 利益／興味d in your 裏書，是認. Your 指名する—oh, it is 不当な and all that, but it is true— your 指名する on the 支援する of those 公式文書，認めるs, Mr. Trent, is to his mind against them, rather than for them."

Trent 挿入するd a profanely emphatic opinion of Hezekiah Bartlett. "井戸／弁護士席, how about Maybelle Truman?" he 需要・要求するd. "She has 是認するd two of them."

"He is just as prejudiced against a Truman as a Trent. He won't 支払う／賃金 any attention to 裏書，是認s by either of you."

"Then he せねばならない be in an 亡命. I wish I could be his keeper for half an hour. As for that 報告（する）／憶測 stuff, it isn't 価値（がある） a tin nickel, I tell you. The only thing the fellow has really 設立する out is that the Farraday Company is good. The 残り／休憩（する） of it is just a bad guess—and spite. Bah! forget it."

Banks looked at him. "Then you are willing I should show this to Mr. Bartlett?" he asked 静かに.

Trent's 握りこぶし struck the 最高の，を越す of the tambour desk. "Show it to him?" he roared. "You dare to show it to him! Yes, or to any one else! You try it and see where it will land you!"

"But I can tell him what you have just told me—that these companies and their 公式文書，認めるs are perfectly sound. Perhaps he will be 満足させるd with that."

"You know darned 井戸／弁護士席 he won't."

"井戸／弁護士席 then, sir, what are we to do? Unless we can 満足させる him—he made that perfectly （疑いを）晴らす—he won't turn in his hundred and five 株 of Denboro Bank 在庫／株. And until he does that the 合併 is off. Honestly, Mr. Trent," he ended with a sigh, "I guess that's just what it is—off."

Trent burst into a long argument, a 嘆願. Except for the language which punctuated it, it would have sounded almost like a 祈り. Those 公式文書，認めるs were sure-解雇する／砲火／射撃; he knew it. かもしれない it was true that one of the companies, the Western World Sales Company, 供給するd 支払い（額） was 圧力（をかける）d すぐに, might have some 一時的な difficulty, but in another year—yes, in six months even that would be straightened out. Did Banks suppose his bank—the Ostable Bank, of which he was 大統領，／社長—would have carried bad paper all this time? The Denboro Bank （人が）群がる had looked up those 公式文書，認めるs. The bank examiner had passed them time and again. And so on. Banks heard him through.

"I know, I know, Mr. Trent," he 認める. "But this doesn't alter Mr. Bartlett's position, does it? If you can 示唆する something for me to do—"

"港／避難所't I been 示唆するing it? In the first place you can 手渡す that 爆破d 報告（する）／憶測, as you call it, over to me. That's the first thing."

"No, Mr. Trent."

"Why not? You're my lawyer, aren't you? I 雇うd you to look after my 利益／興味s, didn't I?"

"Yes, sir. But—"

"No buts at all. You'll give me that pack of lies, and you'll keep your mouth shut about 'em. If you don't—井戸／弁護士席, I 選ぶd you out of the 捨てる heap, and I 断言する I'll see that you're 支援する on it again. Why, you young jackass, do you realize what all this means to you? I 雇うd you because I 人物／姿／数字d you would see which 味方する your bread was buttered. I didn't suppose you were soft enough to let Hez Bartlett pull the wool over your 注目する，もくろむs. I didn't suppose you would turn 反逆者 to the 手渡す that fed you. Oh, for the Lord sake, Bradford, don't 粉砕する your chances flat! You keep your mouth shut for a while, that's all I ask. I'll think up something for you to tell Bartlett. There is nothing crooked in this. Inside of a year it will be— Who's that at the door?"

Banks did not know. There was some one there. And if the 対話 continued this person, whoever he or she might be, could hear it. Trent leaned across the 最高の，を越す of the desk.

"Bradford," he whispered 真面目に, "you think this over and think of my 味方する of it for a change. I'm the best friend you've got. And Mrs. Truman is another. Her 指名する is on those 公式文書，認めるs. She owns almost as much 在庫／株 in the Ostable Bank as I do. What will she think of you if you 動かす up fool talk and hang up this 合併?"

He leaned still closer. "Bradford," he 勧めるd, "give me your word you won't show that 報告（する）／憶測 to anybody—anybody—until you and I have another talk? You'll be square enough to do that, won't you?"

Banks nodded gloomily. "Yes, Mr. Trent, I'll 約束 that," he said.

"Good! Good enough! Now don't you fret yourself. This is all honest and straight; we'll 直す／買収する，八百長をする it up somehow. I'll see you again— to-morrow, probably."

一時期／支部 17

The person at the door was Ebenezer Tadgett. Trent paid no attention to his "How d'ye do?" but 押し進めるd him 無作法に out of the way and strode 負かす／撃墜する the hall. Ebenezer 星／主役にするd after him.

"He's in a hurry, ain't he?" he queried. "Looks as if his dinner hadn't 始める，決める 井戸／弁護士席, or somethin'. Say, Banks, I didn't 破産した／（警察が）手入れする up anything important, did I? 'Twas 肉親，親類d of dull 負かす／撃墜する to the shop, and I just ran in a minute to get the dust off my mind. I've got to go 権利 支援する, of course. You look sort of shook up yourself. Guess I better go out now, afore I come in—eh?"

Banks 保証するd him that he was welcome and 招待するd him to sit.

"No, thanks, I won't stay long enough for that. You've got plenty to do, by the looks of all the stuff on your desk. Hum! 井戸／弁護士席, it's a nice day, ain't it. By-by."

Banks called to him to come 支援する, but he would not.

"No, no," he 主張するd. "I'm goin'. Fact is, Banks, you've 傷つける my feelin's. The sight of you with all that work to do—and doin' it— has 削減（する） me up somethin' terrible. I left a heap of 法案s and トラックで運ぶ in my desk; just thumbed my nose at it and went out. Now you've made me so ashamed I've got to go 支援する and わびる. That ain't no way to 扱う／治療する a friend—settin' a good example for him. So long."

"持つ／拘留する on, Ebenezer, you idiot! I'm not working—now."

"Maybe not, but you would be if I hadn't come. There, there! I didn't have nothin' to say, anyhow. Eliab was in a （一定の）期間 ago and happened to について言及する that Mrs. Truman and Elizabeth was 推定する／予想するd home on to-night's train. Didn't know as you'd be 利益／興味d in knowin' that, but I was lookin' for an excuse to （疑いを）晴らす out and leave them 法案s of 地雷, so I spread my バタフライ wings and flew. Now I'll flap 支援する and leave the busy bee to 向こうずね up his improvin' hour, or whatever 'tis. Ta-ta!"

He went, 支払う／賃金ing no 注意する to the Bradford 抗議するs. Banks settled 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める. The news of Elizabeth's 推定する／予想するd return and the knowledge that he should see her again, and soon, would ordinarily have driven all other thoughts from his mind. Just now, however, the other thoughts were too 圧倒的な, too 乱すing; they 脅すd him. The interview with Christopher Trent had settled nothing. The answer to the problem was 単に 延期するd. And in the end he, Banks Bradford, must furnish that answer.

That evening, at home, he was so absent-minded and distraught that his mother 恐れるd he was ill and asked him all sorts of questions 関心ing wet feet and 冷淡なs. He answered her that he was all 権利 and, perhaps for the first time in his life, was 現実に glad to see Cousin Hettie when she called. Her arrival gave him the 適切な時期 to escape to his own room upstairs, where he locked the door and put out the light. When, later on, Margaret tapped gently at that door, he pretended to be asleep.

All the next day he sat in his office, his mind no nearer to a 決定／判定勝ち（する） than at the beginning, 推定する／予想するing momentarily to hear Trent's step in the hall. But Trent did not come. At four that afternoon the Truman coachman brought a 公式文書，認める:

MY DEAR BANKS,

As you see by this, Elizabeth and I are 支援する again after our giddy whirl in the big city. We have had a wonderful time, and New York was very good to us, but home is a pleasant place. If you are not さもなければ engaged can you 減少（する） in for a little while this evening? We shall be so glad to see you.

Yours faithfully,

MAYBELLE TRUMAN.

So once more Banks Bradford rang the Truman doorbell and waited in the Truman library. His mood was curiously divided between 切望 and 逮捕. He was to see Elizabeth again, and his heart leaped at the thought. But when he remembered that it was Mrs. Truman who had written the 公式文書，認める it sank again. He 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd that it was she, far more than her granddaughter, who was 責任がある the 招待, and he believed he could guess why she wished to see him.

にもかかわらず, it was with a pang of 失望 that he saw Mrs. Truman enter the room alone. And with a still 詐欺師 pang he heard her 開始 告示.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Banks," she 噴出するd, "and Elizabeth is sorrier than I am. The poor child is a 完全にする 難破させる. Whether it is the reaction from our frivolous fortnight in New York, or whether it is the result of a dreadful night on the train, I am sure I don't know. All day she has been trying to keep about, but at last she has had to give up and go to bed. Isn't it too bad—she did want to see you so much!"

Banks agreed that it was too bad. His 協定 might have been heartier had it not been for those 疑惑s already について言及するd.

"She is not ill, is she?" he asked.

"Oh, no indeed! Just—井戸／弁護士席, 神経 fag, perhaps you might call it. She has had a perfectly marvelous time. It was such a 救済 to us both to get away from—井戸／弁護士席, I mean to be where there is—er— gayety and society—oh, everything she and I have been used to, you know. She has danced, and this little upset is a 支払い（額） to the piper. Ha! ha! Yes, that is it...井戸／弁護士席, and how have you been? Very busy; I am sure of that."

"Yes, I have been busy."

"I know. Chris—Mr. Trent, of course I mean; Elizabeth and I always call him Chris; he is such a very の近くに friend—was here last evening and told me a little of how very busy you had been."

Called last evening, had he! He had lost no time. Banks asked the question which had been in his mind for a long two weeks. "Was Mr. Trent with you in New York?" he asked casually.

"Eh? Oh, no, no! Certainly not. What in the world made you think that? He went as far as Boston with us on the train, that's all. There we separated. He has been West, on a 商売／仕事 trip."

There was a little 慰安 here. At least, the "の近くに friend" and Elizabeth had not spent the fortnight in each other's company. Mrs. Truman's next 発言／述べる was not so 慰安ing.

"We have heard from him 定期的に, of course," she 追加するd. "He is one of the best letter writers, for a man, I ever knew."

Banks made no reply. Mrs. Truman ちらりと見ることd toward the door, then crossed the room and took a 議長，司会を務める の近くに beside him.

"And now," she said, still smiling and vivacious, but lowering her 発言する／表明する to a confidential whisper, "what is all this nonsense about that fussy old Mr. Bartlett? Chris was やめる excited when he called last evening. I gathered that you and he had had a very— what shall I call it?—lively 開会／開廷／会期 together. I didn't understand it very 井戸／弁護士席, but によれば him—Mr. Trent, I mean— this Bartlett person had inveigled you into doing something which was やめる unnecessary and perfectly absurd. Poor Chris seemed to think that you had done something—井戸／弁護士席, almost disloyal. Of course I laughed; I knew better than that. I said you were not that 肉親，親類d. 'Banks Bradford is honorable; that I am willing to 断言する to,' I 宣言するd. 'And Elizabeth, who knows him やめる 同様に as I do, will 断言する to the same thing.' Those are 正確に the words I used."

She paused, perhaps 推定する／予想するing him to thank her for coming to his 弁護. He said nothing, however. She went on.

"'You have made a mess of it, Chris,' I told him. 'You are so loyal and conscientious yourself that you are 怪しげな where there is no excuse for it. You probably said things which 感情を害する／違反するd Mr. Bradford, and he 辞退するd to explain; 正確に／まさに what I should have done in his place. I will talk to him,' I said, 'and I think he will talk to me. And when our talk is over you will find that you have made a mountain out of a molehill.' I was 権利, wasn't I, Banks? Come, now! Tell me all about it."

Banks, who had been gazing moodily at a 人物／姿／数字 in the carpet, looked up. His 疑惑s were 確認するd by this time. Mrs. Truman had asked him there for one 推論する／理由 only. Elizabeth had had no part in the 招待; probably she had not known that it was 問題／発行するd.

"Mrs. Truman," he said, "you know all about this, I am sure. Mr. Trent must have told you what I did and why I did it. His 指示／教授／教育s to me were to get Mr. Bartlett's 同意 to the bank consolidation. I 設立する that I could not get it unless I could show Bartlett proof that those three 公式文書，認めるs were 絶対 安全な. I took it for 認めるd that they were and that there would be no difficulty in 証明するing it. If I had known—if I had 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd—I don't know what I might have done. Nothing, perhaps."

She laid a 手渡す upon his 膝. "You poor boy!" she said softly. "You have been having a dreadful time, 港／避難所't you? I am so sorry! And it is all so needless. Of course it isn't too late! You 港／避難所't shown that ridiculous 報告（する）／憶測 to Mr. Bartlett?"

"No, Mrs. Truman."

"井戸／弁護士席, then!" said the other gayly. "Then it is all 権利, isn't it? Hush, hush! We mustn't get excited, you know. Don't show it to him, that is the answer. To begin with, it is all nonsense; there isn't a word of truth in it—real truth, I mean."

"Do you mean you know it isn't true, Mrs. Truman?"

She patted his 膝. "I think I know as much as this—er— 特派員 of yours knows about the Farraday Liquidation Company. My husband and old Mr. Trent—Christopher's grandfather— were the 組織者s of that company. I have 在庫／株 in it still—a good 取引，協定 of 在庫／株. Of course I am a woman, but I am not altogether helpless in 商売／仕事 事柄s; I watch my 投資s. Come, come, young man! I 是認するd two of those 公式文書，認めるs myself. Do you suppose I would have done that if I had thought they were good for nothing?"

It was a plausible 声明, plausibly made. But it was not new to Banks' mind. He had asked himself that very question, and more than once.

"Mrs. Truman," he said, "those 公式文書，認めるs, the 初めのs, were drawn some time ago. 条件s may have changed since then."

"井戸／弁護士席?" Mrs. Truman spoke a trifle more はっきりと. "If they had I should have known that, too, shouldn't I? Now we mustn't argue about that, for it isn't 価値（がある） while. Banks, I am going to speak very plainly to you. I am やめる old enough to be your mother, and so you won't mind if I talk like one. You shouldn't have taken it on yourself to 令状 for that 報告（する）／憶測. Mr. Trent is your 雇用者. It is he who has given you the 適切な時期 to rise in your profession. He has made you his 弁護士／代理人／検事—his and the Ostable Bank's. And I was part responsible too. Yes, and so is Elizabeth. She and I 示唆するd your 指名する for the place. We all believed in you and 信用d you. We were 確かな you would be competent and— yes, 絶対 loyal. Your 令状ing for that 報告（する）／憶測 in our absence was—you mustn't mind my speaking the truth—not やめる loyal to any of us. Now, was it?"

"Mrs. Truman, I hadn't the slightest idea—"

"There, there! I know you hadn't. You were young and innocent, and that Bartlett person took advantage of you. He hated my husband and Christopher's grandfather, and he is just しっかり掴むing at straws, hoping to find some excuse for disappointing us in the bank 事件／事情／状勢. Now you must not be a party to any such spiteful meanness. You must 支払う／賃金 him 支援する in his own coin. You must never show him that 報告（する）／憶測; you must never let him know that you received the wretched thing."

Banks shook his 長，率いる. This, too, was no new 代案／選択肢. And the answer to it was 正確に／まさに the same as to all the others.

"That won't help at all, Mrs. Truman," he said. "Unless I bring him the 報告（する）／憶測 he asked for he will do what he told me he would— stand pat and 辞退する to come in. And that will mean that the 合併 is off...Oh, I know! I feel as 不正に about it as any one can. My uncle, Capt. Abijah Bradford, has 始める，決める his heart on his bank taking over yours—Mr. Trent's, I mean. He is going to be terribly disappointed. But there it is, isn't it?"

"No," retorted Mrs. Truman still more はっきりと, "of course it isn't! You can show Bartlett a 報告（する）／憶測—a respectable, honest 報告（する）／憶測. Mr. Trent will 準備する one for you; in fact, he is 準備するing one now. You can show Mr. Bartlett that. You don't need to tell him where it （機の）カム from. The old rascal doesn't deserve any consideration whatever."

Banks was silent. Mrs. Truman, her gaze 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon his 直面する, bent toward him.

"My boy," she 滞るd, "I—I am going to be confidential now. If I didn't feel that you were almost like my own son, if I didn't 信用 you so 絶対—just as Elizabeth, dear girl, 信用s you— I should not dare to speak as I am going to. All this is very, very important to me 本人自身で. And just as important to Elizabeth and her 未来. Banks, she and I are in 財政上の difficulties. We—we may be paupers; I don't know."

"Paupers! Why, Mrs. Truman, you—"

"Don't ask me about it, please. Don't! You must just take my word for it. I told you that I own 在庫／株 in the Farraday Company. I do. And I 持つ／拘留する a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of 在庫／株 in the Ostable Bank. Now just let it be whispered about that the Ostable Bank is carrying sixty thousand dollars' 価値（がある） of paper that is in the least 疑わしい and—井戸／弁護士席, you can guess what may happen."

He would have interrupted, but she 解除するd a 手渡す.

"The Farraday Company is perfectly sound," she went on. "So are those others. And those 公式文書，認めるs are sure to be paid—some day. But any hint of 疑惑 would 反映する on the bank. At the least the 在庫／株 would 減少（する） to—to I don't know what. And now that our bank has gone so far with this consolidation, what excuse would be given for not going through with it? It MUST go through, Banks! My dear boy, don't you see that it must?"

He saw 明確に enough what she meant; only too 明確に, he was beginning to 恐れる. If those three 公式文書，認めるs were bad or if in the 未来 they should 証明する so, the 連合させるd 会・原則, the result of the 合併, would be strong enough to 会合，会う the loss without 悲惨な results to its standing and credit. 反して the Ostable Bank alone—

"But it can't go through, Mrs. Truman," he 抗議するd 猛烈に. "How can it—now?"

"It will if you show Hezekiah Bartlett the 報告（する）／憶測 which Chris gives you instead of the one you have. Oh, don't misunderstand me! Christopher's 報告（する）／憶測 will be the true one, with all the real facts. There is nothing wrong about this; it is as honest as the day. You know I wouldn't ask you to do anything—er—wicked; you know that, don't you?"

His answer was not so 解放する／自由な from 疑問 as she hoped to hear.

"I suppose—why, yes, I am sure you would not ask me to do anything you didn't think 権利, Mrs. Truman."

"You must know it. And now, if you do feel in the least 感謝する to me and to Elizabeth, if you care for—for us at all you will say yes to what I have just asked. Say it now, Banks dear, for all our sakes."

He drew a long breath. "I can't, Mrs. Truman," he 宣言するd wretchedly. "I have been thinking this thing through from beginning to end, over and over again, and it keeps coming 支援する to one point, and that I can't get by. I realize how much I 借りがある to you and Mr. Trent—indeed I do! But I 借りがある a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to my uncle, too. Yes, and to Mr. Bartlett, who has been a mighty good friend to me. This 報告（する）／憶測 that Mr. Trent is 準備するing may be all 権利—"

"May be? It is! 港／避難所't I just told you so?"

"Yes, but Mr. Davidson is just as 確信して that his is 権利. He has no 利益／興味 in this bank 合併; he doesn't know anything about it. So why should he have—"

She broke in. "Stop!" she cried. "Stop all this rigmarole and answer my question! Will you 涙／ほころび up that other 報告（する）／憶測 and show this Bartlett man the one Chris is going to give you?"

"I can't, Mrs. Truman; not unless I tell Mr. Bartlett where it comes from."

"Tell him! Ridiculous! How much attention do you suppose he would 支払う／賃金 to it, if you told him that?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. But I can't show it to him without that 条件, Mrs. Truman."

"Oh, you—you 刺激するing creature! Then what will you do?"

"I don't know. I might show him both 報告（する）／憶測s, but I'm afraid that wouldn't help."

"Idiotic! 井戸／弁護士席, is that all you have to 提案する? Is that the most you will do to keep Elizabeth and me from—from poverty, perhaps? Is it?"

"What can I do? I can—yes, I will 約束 not to show Mr. Bartlett my 報告（する）／憶測 at all. Nor to tell him that I have one. I will 約束 that."

"Really?" The word was 負わせるd with sarcasm. "How noble of you! And will you give me your word—I was going to say your word of 栄誉（を受ける）, but with such a high-原則d person as you are that isn't necessary, of course—will you 約束 not to tell a living soul about what I have told you to-night?"

He hesitated. Then he nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Truman," he said. "Only"—

"Only what?"

"Only with one 条件—that this bank consolidation doesn't go through. If I sat still, knowing what I know, and said nothing to Uncle Abijah and his friends in the Denboro Bank, I—井戸／弁護士席, if there should be anything wrong about it I should be as much to 非難する as any one else. So I can't do that."

She looked at him. He met her gaze without 滞るing. Then she rose to her feet, her silk skirts rustling and her 注目する，もくろむs 燃えて.

"Bah!" she cried scornfully. "You are a Bradford, aren't you! I should have known it; I have had experience. You will go just so far—just far enough to 受託する all you can without 危険 to yourself—and then, when the 危機 comes, when there may be some danger to your own precious 肌 you 支援する 負かす／撃墜する and やめる. You are a quitter, like your—like another of your 産む／飼育する. And a coward! You may go. I don't care to look at you again!"

She swept to the door. He had risen also. His 直面する was white.

"I don't know what you mean by a quitter, Mrs. Truman" he said. "If you mean that I won't show Mr. Bartlett something that has been 直す／買収する，八百長をするd up for him to see and tell him that I got it from a disinterested party—if you mean I won't 嘘（をつく） to him you are 権利. If that is 存在 a quitter I am just that."

She stopped him at the threshold.

"One minute," she sneered. "How about your 約束 that you will not tell any one—any one at all—of our talk to-night? Do your scruples against lying 持つ／拘留する so far; or are you a quitter there too?"

"I'll keep that 約束, Mrs. Truman."

"I wonder. 井戸／弁護士席, we'll see. Good evening—and good-by, Mr. Banks Bradford."

She drew the silk skirt contemptuously from his path. "There is one thing more I want to say," she 宣言するd. "If the worst comes to the worst—if I do lose everything I have, because of you and your underhand 取引，協定ing and disloyalty—井戸／弁護士席, my 指名する shan't be the only one that is smirched. Indeed it shall not! One Denboro saint in particular shall come off his pedestal. If ever I meant anything in my life I mean that, and some day you may remember that I told you so."

She turned her 支援する upon him and went up the stairs. He took his coat and hat from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in the hall, where the maid had left them, and went out. At the gate he paused to look 支援する. This ended it, of course. So far as his friendly relations with Mrs. Truman were 関心d this was the end.

But Elizabeth—that was different. He would not give her up. He would see her and ask her to have 約束 in him. He could not explain fully—his 約束 bound him there—but she would understand. Yes, and believe in him and 信用 him; she was that 肉親，親類d of girl. He strode along the Old Ostable Road, his shoulders squared and his courage high.

一時期／支部 18

This 有罪の判決 was still with him next day, when, 支援する at his desk again, he wrote one letter and began another. The first was a formal 辞職 of his position as 弁護士／代理人／検事 for the Ostable 国家の Bank. He might never have to use it, although that was but the remotest chance, but at least it should be ready when Trent （機の）カム, as come he certainly would, to 需要・要求する a final 声明 of his lawyer's 意向s 関心ing the substitution of his own 報告（する）／憶測 for that of Davidson.

The second was to Elizabeth, and it was to his mind by far the more important of the two. He wrote that he must see her somewhere, somehow. He realized how she must be feeling toward him, but that was because she did not understand. Could she 計画（する） to 会合，会う him Sunday afternoon? At the boat house on the beach, where they had met before for those glorious walks together? If not Sunday—if it was 嵐の or too 冷淡な—why, then Monday?

Twice he tore up what he had written and was beginning for the third time, when the door opened. He looked up and saw her standing there before him.

"Elizabeth!" he cried joyfully. "I might have known you would come! Of course you would!"

He sprang 今後 to take her 手渡す; to do more than that if she had given him the least 激励. But she did not even appear to see the 手渡す he held out to her. She drew 支援する, and her first move was to の近くに the door behind her. When she turned again to 直面する him he saw that she was very pale.

"Elizabeth!" he cried again.

She was breathing, 速く. "Don't! Oh, don't!" she begged. "I （機の）カム to talk with you. I—I had to come."

"Of course you did! Oh, my dear—"

"Don't! No, no! You mustn't touch me. I can stay only a minute or two. No one knows I am here. Banks, is it true—what grandmother says about you?"

"No," said Banks impulsively, "it isn't."

"Why, what do you mean? How can you say that? Do you know what she said?"

He did not, of course, and he 定評のある it. "But," he 追加するd, "it is plain that she has been 説 something which has brought you here. I know she can't say anything against me—to my discredit, I mean—and speak the truth. Come, Elizabeth, don't look at me like that. Surely you believe what I say, don't you?"

"I—I don't know what to believe, Banks, is it true that you and Chris Trent have quarreled?"

"Quarreled! No, we 港／避難所't quarreled. We had a—a 不一致, that's all. He—井戸／弁護士席, you see, he didn't like something that I did, and he said so."

"What was it?"

"I can't tell you that, Elizabeth. I 約束d not to tell any one. Some day perhaps I can tell you all about it, but not now."

"Why not now?"

"Because I 約束d."

"Whom did you 約束?"

"井戸／弁護士席, your grandmother, for one."

"You quarreled with grandmother, too, didn't you?"

"I shouldn't call it a quarrel. Not on my part certainly. Elizabeth, dear, I can't tell you—don't you see I can't?"

She was looking at him searchingly, doubtfully. "I don't know," she answered slowly. "I am not sure that I do see. Grandmother said nothing about any secret. She said she begged you to do something which was of the greatest importance to her—yes, and to me. And you 辞退するd."

"But she didn't tell you what that something was?"

"She said she couldn't, then. And I did not ask. I was sure you would tell me and explain. But that wasn't all she said. She says you had already 約束d Mr. Trent that you would do this thing, whatever it was, and then you broke your word. Instead, while he was away and without his knowing anything about it you went to some one else—some one on the other 味方する—and agreed, for money, to work for that person's 利益／興味s and against ours. She says—"

He had taken a step toward her. "Wait! Stop there!" he ordered. "Elizabeth, do you believe I did that? Do you?"

Her 注目する，もくろむs flashed. "If I did," she asked indignantly, "can you imagine I should have come here at all?"

"No! No, of course you wouldn't. I know you wouldn't. 許す me, please. 井戸／弁護士席, you mustn't dream of believing it, for it isn't true."

"I never thought it was, that part of it. But something must be true. Grandmother did ask you to do something which meant a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to her and to me, and you would not do it. That much is true?"

"Yes, I—I'm afraid it is."

"井戸／弁護士席, what was it? And why couldn't you do it? Was it beneath your dignity, or something like that?"

"I 港／避難所't any dignity in particular. It was—井戸／弁護士席, it seemed to me dishonorable."

"Dishonorable! Do I understand you to say my grandmother asked you to do a dishonorable thing? I don't believe it!"

"I am sorry."

"And you won't tell me what it was?"

"I can't. Elizabeth, if you will only 信用 me for a little while—"

"Oh, don't! 港／避難所't I 信用d you? 港／避難所't we all—grandmother and Mr. Trent and I—信用d you? Do you suppose if I hadn't 信用d you and believed in you—yes"—with a catch in her 発言する／表明する— "and liked you, I should have been so—so happy when they made you 弁護士／代理人／検事 for the Ostable Bank? I thought it might mean everything to you and—to— Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! That is over."

"Over! Elizabeth, my dear—"

"No! No! Listen to me. There is something else. Grandmother hinted—Banks, tell me the truth! Did you and Mr. Trent quarrel about me?"

He was speechless for a moment. This was so 予期しない, so undreamed of, that he could only 星／主役にする. "About YOU?" he gasped finally.

"Yes, about me. Was I the real 原因（となる） of your trouble with him? Grandmother as much as said that you hated Chris and tried to spoil his 計画（する）s because—because you were jealous of him; because you thought he was too good a friend of 地雷...Oh, yes! She said so, and she believes it."

Banks' 握りこぶしs clenched. So far he had controlled his feelings, had answered her calmly and temperately. But this was too much. "And you let her say it!" he cried 怒って. "You!"

"I could not 妨げる her 説 it. You see, Banks, she knows—or guesses—a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. She saw us that night—together, in the hall."

"井戸／弁護士席?...井戸／弁護士席"—defiantly—"I am glad she did. I ーするつもりであるd telling her that I loved you and meant to marry you some day. I was only waiting until you and I could have another talk together. I am not ashamed of loving you; I'm proud. Oh, Elizabeth, you love me, don't you? You do; I know it."

Again he would have taken her in his 武器, but again she 避けるd him.

"You mustn't say that," she 抗議するd 猛烈に. "No, you mustn't. I—I won't listen if you do. I won't! I shall go away!"

"But you do love me, don't you?"

"I—I—oh, I don't know! I liked you, and that night I was—was— But we must not talk about it. I love grandmother; she has given me a home and all I have in the world. No one could be more generous than she has been. And now there is this other thing. She says you have been deceitful and ungrateful and disloyal to her and to Chris Trent. Yes, and to me, because their 利益／興味s are 地雷, and she told you so. And after all, it is to Chris that you 借りがある your 広大な／多数の／重要な 適切な時期."

He could stand it no longer. "Don't call that fellow by his first 指名する," he broke in. "I won't have it."

She drew 支援する. "Indeed!" she said coldly. "And why not? I have known him much longer than I have you—Mr. Bradford."

"I don't care; he isn't the sort you せねばならない know. He is—by George, I'm not sure that he isn't a 詐欺師!"

"A what? He is grandmother's closest friend and her partner in a 広大な／多数の／重要な many 商売／仕事 事柄s; that I know perfectly 井戸／弁護士席. Do you mean that SHE is a 詐欺師?"

As a 事柄 of fact he was far from sure that he did not mean that, or something approaching it. But he was still sane enough to realize that he must not say so. "No, of course I don't. Elizabeth, if you would only 信用 me!"

"Perhaps I should 信用 you better if you would explain just what you do mean. 明らかに grandmother is 権利. You are jealous— spitefully, meanly jealous of Chris. You hate him."

"No, I don't hate him. I do 不信 him; yes, and I have my 推論する／理由s. And you don't like him either; you said as much to me that night at your house. If you like him now, you—井戸／弁護士席, you have changed your mind, that is all I can say."

"Is it all you ーするつもりである to say—to me?"

"If you mean about this 商売／仕事 with Trent and your grandmother, it is all I can say—now. I am 権利, or think I am; and some day, when you understand, you will think so too. Yes, you will!"

In the old-fashioned melodramas, just at the most 批判的な part of a 批判的な scene, the audience knew it might 推定する／予想する what was supposed to be, to the persons on the 行う／開催する／段階, the 予期しない 入り口 of the hero or the villain. いつかs things like that do happen in real life. This was one of the times, for at that moment Christopher Trent threw open the door and walked into the office.

The tableau before him was 十分に expressive. Banks Bradford, pale and agitated, was standing in the middle of the 床に打ち倒す. Elizabeth Cartwright, her cheeks 紅潮／摘発するd, was standing 直面するing him. Mr. Trent glowered at the pair, and his own 直面する turned red.

"Humph!" he grunted. "Hello, Elizabeth! So you're here, are you?"

She was by far the calmest of the three. "Yes, Chris," she answered, "I am; but I am going now."

"Don't let me hurry you," he said sarcastically. "If I have broken in on any little—er—信用／信任s between you and this fellow, why—"

"You 港／避難所't; Mr. Bradford and I have said all we had to say to each other. Good morning."

She turned and went out. Banks involuntarily started to follow, but Trent was in his way and made no move to get out of it.

"容赦 me, Mr. Trent," said Banks.

Trent remained where he was. "Say," he 需要・要求するd 怒って, "what has been going on between you two? What has she been doing here with you?"

In Banks' 現在の でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind this was 正確に the トン he was happy to hear. He could answer it becomingly and without the least 成果／努力.

"Doing?" he repeated with irritating suavity. "Oh, nothing in particular. She just dropped in, that's all. Won't you sit 負かす／撃墜する, Mr. Trent?"

"No, I won't. Why did she come to see you? Why were you two in here with the door shut?"

"I usually shut the door when I have a 訪問者. Shall I shut it now?"

Trent shut it himself—slammed it, in fact. Then he turned 支援する. "See here, young fellow," he snarled, "what is this I hear about you? You were up at her—at Mrs. Truman's house last night, weren't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"So I've been told. 井戸／弁護士席"—this with a sneer—"you weren't 招待するd to come again, were you?" Banks did not answer. Trent went on without waiting. "You weren't, I know that. And you won't be. Now, then, what have you decided to do about the thing you got from that crank in Colesburg? Are you going to give it to me?"

"No, Mr. Trent."

"Are you going to show it to Hez Bartlett?"

"No, Mr. Trent."

"Are you going to play straight with the people who 支払う／賃金 you and show him the 報告（する）／憶測 I have got ready for you—the honest 報告（する）／憶測? Have you decided to do that, after all?"

"No, Mr. Trent; not unless I tell him who gave it to me."

"井戸／弁護士席, what are you going to do? Come!"

"Nothing, I suppose. What is there to do?"

"You know the 合併 won't go through unless you 満足させる Bartlett somehow, don't you?"

"I don't see how it can."

"You've made up your mind to 二塁打-cross me, then? Been paid more than I 支払う／賃金 you; eh?"

"No."

"It's a 嘘（をつく）; of course you have! 井戸／弁護士席, do you think the Ostable Bank is going to keep you on as its 雇うd boy? Going to let you take its money with one 手渡す and knife it in the 支援する with the other? Because if you do you're mightily mistaken."

Banks reached over and took an envelope from his desk. "I don't," he said. "I had this ready for you when you （機の）カム, Mr. Trent. It is my 辞職 as 弁護士／代理人／検事 for your bank."

Trent did not open the envelope. It was evident that he had not 推定する／予想するd the 辞職 and was taken aback by it. "By the Lord Harry," he muttered, "you're 独立した・無所属, aren't you! Must be a whole lot richer than I ever heard you were. Bradford, look here; be sensible—come!"

"No, Mr. Trent. I have thought this thing out. I'm much 強いるd for your 信用／信任 in me, when you made me your lawyer, but I am through now. I 約束d Mrs. Truman I would not show Mr. Bartlett the 報告（する）／憶測 I got from Davidson or tell him I got it. I shall keep my 約束, but—"

"But what? There'd better not be any buts, for your sake."

"I tell you honestly I don't like this 商売／仕事, Mr. Trent. It doesn't look straight to me. At any 率, my Uncle Abijah has been too good a friend of 地雷 to let me see him or his bank get into trouble without knowing everything that I know. So long as Mr. Bartlett sits 支援する and 持つ／拘留するs out his 株 the 合併 is off. In 事例／患者 he changes his mind I shall show Mr. Davidson's 報告（する）／憶測 to Uncle Abijah and let him do as he pleases about it. That's final. I mean it."

Trent choked. He broke into an inarticulate 激流 of 乱用. Banks waited until he 静めるd a little.

"I'm sorry you feel that way about me, Mr. Trent," he said. "But I can't see anything else for me to do."

"I tell you one thing you can do, you こそこそ動く! You can keep away from Elizabeth Cartwright. She is on to you now, just as her grandmother and I are, and she's got about as much use for you as we have. You poor fool, she was playing with you, that's what she was doing. And laughing at you behind your 支援する. She—"

Banks broke in. "That's enough," he said ominously. "There! The door is open. Will you go out yourself, or would you like help?"

Christopher Trent went unassisted.

一時期／支部 19

Margaret Bradford, across the supper （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, was watching her son intently. At dinner that noon he had eaten little and had been disinclined to talk. She asked the usual questions about his work at the office; he answered them perfunctorily, appearing preoccupied and, it seemed to her, nervous and excited.

When he （機の）カム home at six o'clock the excitement was いっそう少なく in 証拠, but the 最大の関心事 and 欠如（する） of appetite were more pronounced than ever. He looked tired, almost haggard, and when she 試みる／企てるd to 元気づける him up with the story of a ludicrous happening at sewing-circle 会合 that afternoon his smile was a pitiful 成果／努力.

During the latter part of the meal he was silent, eating nothing and gazing abstractedly at the food on his plate. Twice she spoke his 指名する, but he did not answer. Then she rose and, passing around the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, laid a 手渡す on his shoulder.

"Banks!" she said softly, and for the third time.

He looked up with a start. 明らかに he had not noticed that she had left her place and was surprised to find her there. "Eh?" he exclaimed. "Yes, Mother?"

"Banks, dear, what is it? You have said scarcely a word since you （機の）カム home. And you look—井戸／弁護士席, you look as if something dreadful had happened. What is it? Please tell me."

He leaned 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める. "Now don't worry, Mother," he said. "Something has happened, yes. It isn't altogether 予期しない; I have seen it coming—part of it, at least. I guess we shall live through it somehow."

She bent to look at his 直面する; what she saw there was not 安心させるing. "I guess we shall," she said brightly. "Now tell me about it—come! Is it so very bad?"

"About as bad as it can be. Mother, I am through with the Ostable Bank. Or they are through with me."

"Why! Why, Banks!"

"Yes. I am through. I 手渡すd Mr. Trent my 辞職 this morning. Oh, don't misunderstand—my 辞職するing was only a gesture to save my 直面する. If I hadn't I should have been 解雇する／砲火／射撃d, kicked out. And of course that is what every one will say has happened. Uncle Bije and all the 残り／休憩（する）. Who would believe me, even if I took the trouble to 否定する it—which I shan't? It serves me 権利 for 存在 such a fool."

He groaned in bitter self-disgust. She put her arm about his shoulder.

"Don't, dear, don't!" she begged. "They won't say anything of the sort. Your uncle knows you, and he, surely, will believe you. When you tell him—"

He interrupted. "Tell him!" he cried impatiently. "That is it; I can't tell him. I can't tell any one. I can't tell you."

"Why Banks! Of course you can. Don't you suppose—-"

"Oh, hush, hush! You don't understand what I mean. If I could tell you and Uncle Abijah the whole 商売／仕事—all of it—you would think I did 権利, both of you; I know it. But I can't tell. I gave my word of 栄誉（を受ける） that I wouldn't." He went on 怒って, "That is what makes me sick! If I had had sense enough to realize what that 約束 meant I never would have given it. I might have 約束d not to tell 確かな people, but not every one. I had been （刑事）被告 of disloyalty and meanness and cowardice and heaven knows what, and I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do the fair thing. So like the 完全にする fool I was I 約束d. And now look at me!"

"There, there. You mustn't speak like that. Who （刑事）被告 you of such things—Mrs. Truman?"

"She and Trent. I— Why, how did you know?"

"I didn't; I guessed. Banks, dear, I have been afraid—very much afraid—ever since she and Mr. Trent made you their bank's 弁護士／代理人／検事. I was almost sure there was something more than disinterested 親切 behind it all. Banks, you didn't like my 説 that I didn't 信用 Mrs. Truman. 井戸／弁護士席, do you 信用 her— now?"

He did not answer.

"Can't you tell me—anything?" she pleaded.

"No. Nothing that 事柄s."

"いつかs a bad 約束 is better broken than kept, they say. They 手配中の，お尋ね者 you to do something you couldn't do; is that it?"

"Something I wouldn't do. Mother," he 追加するd はっきりと, "don't you tell any one I said even as much as that. Don't you do it."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, I won't. My poor boy! It is a terrible 失望 to you, I know."

"失望! Do you realize what it means? It means that everything for me in Denboro—my big 適切な時期, my 未来, everything—has gone to 粉砕する. What will they think of me here in town? They'll think I am no good, incompetent, just a 失敗; that's what they'll think. And how can I square myself? I can't say a word."

She was silent for a moment. Then she asked 静かに, "Elizabeth Cartwright—does she know about this?"

"Yes," said Banks gloomily, "she knows."

"All of it? The part you can't tell me?"

"No. If she did, perhaps— But she doesn't, and she never will."

"Never is a long word. Have you seen her since-"

"Since I was 解雇する／砲火／射撃d? No. But I have seen her, and she thinks— 井戸／弁護士席, she thinks what her grandmother and Trent want her to think. Why shouldn't she? Don't talk about her, Mother."

"Banks, I am afraid you will have to break that 約束. It was a foolish one to make, and it せねばならない be broken."

"Maybe; but I'll keep it, just the same. I have been （刑事）被告 of 存在 a quitter, along with the other things, and I'll show them whether I am or not."

"Did Mrs. Truman call you that, too?"

"Yes, she did. She said—Mother, what did she mean?—she said she might have known I was a 臆病な／卑劣な quitter. She had had experience with some one else of my 産む／飼育する, that's what she said. I would 受託する 好意s and agree to all sorts of things; and then when it （機の）カム to the point where there was some 危険 to myself I was like this other one—I 支援するd 負かす／撃墜する and やめる. I don't know what she meant; do you?"

Margaret Bradford did not answer. He ちらりと見ることd up. She was standing beside him, gazing not at him but across the room—toward the door of the sitting room, 明らかに. And in her 注目する，もくろむs was that same strange look which he had never seen there except when their conversation, as now, dealt with Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman.

"Do you know, Mother?" he 主張するd.

She drew a long breath. "Did she say anything more?" she asked.

"She said something else I didn't understand. She said that, 供給するd she did get into trouble because of my cowardice and all the 残り／休憩（する）, her 指名する should not be the only one smirched; one Denboro saint in particular should come off his pedestal. Mother, are you sure you don't know what she meant? I have been wondering if—"

"Hush, hush!" She clutched his shoulder tightly. "You mustn't wonder. You mustn't think about it or について言及する it again, even to me. You mustn't, Banks!"

"Why not? Mother, what—"

"You won't, will you?"

"Oh," sighed Banks with a shrug, "all 権利; what difference does it make? Mother, I have told you already more than I meant to. And you mustn't tell any one else as much as this."

"I won't, dear. But that 約束 of yours—"

"I'll keep it," he interrupted grimly; "I'll keep the damned thing till I die! They may call me a quitter, but they shan't be able to 証明する it."

She was walking up and 負かす／撃墜する the room. "Banks," she said, turning suddenly, "what are you going to do?"

"Do? What do you mean?"

"Would you like to leave Denboro? Go away—up to Boston or somewhere—and start all over again? Because if you want to do that I will go with you."

It was what he had been considering for hours. His 直面する lighted. "Would you do that, Mother?" he cried 熱望して. "Would you?"

"I will, if you （不足などを）補う your mind that is what you had rather do. Of course, I had rather you stayed here. It will be much harder for you than going away, I know."

"Hard!" cried Banks with savage sarcasm. "I guess you don't realize how hard."

"But it would be braver, wouldn't it? And perhaps I do realize. I have lived here alone, except for you, ever since your father died. And there have been many times when I felt as if I could not stand it a minute longer."

He said nothing. She （機の）カム over and, stooping, kissed his cheek. "But I don't count in this," she said 堅固に. "I don't count at all. If, after you have thought it over carefully, you decide to go and would like to have me with you, go we will. And I know we shall be happy wherever we are. There! Now we won't talk any more. I have my dishes to do; and why don't you go to your room and be alone for a while? Hettie and Abijah may come, and perhaps you won't want to talk with them to-night."

He did not come 負かす／撃墜する again until morning. At breakfast neither he nor she について言及するd the all-important 支配するs. It was not until he was leaving for the office that he について言及するd one of them.

"井戸／弁護士席, Mother," he said 静かに. "I am going to stick. I am not going to run away. I'll stay 権利 here in Denboro. As I see it, if I did go I should be just what she called me—a quitter. I'll 証明する that that is a 嘘（をつく）, at any 率. And you are a brick not to ask me any more questions."

He wrote Hezekiah Bartlett a short letter and mailed it at once. In it he did not について言及する the 事柄 of the 報告（する）／憶測 which the old man had （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限d him to 証明する. "I have 辞職するd my position as 弁護士／代理人／検事 for the Ostable Bank," he wrote, "and am no longer 事実上の／代理 as its 代表者／国会議員 in the 事柄 of the 合併 or any other."

He hoped that might be 十分な. Perhaps, considering Bartlett's indifferent 態度 toward the 提案するd consolidation, he might not trouble to ask about the 報告（する）／憶測. It was but a remote chance, however—too good to be true, Banks 恐れるd.

And his 恐れるs were 井戸／弁護士席 設立するd. The に引き続いて afternoon Hezekiah stumped into the office. He was out of breath and out of temper 同様に. He threw his 古代の fur cap on the 床に打ち倒す, dropped his 茎 with a clatter beside it and sat 負かす／撃墜する.

"Consarn it all," he panted, "when a man gets so old and rickety that he can't hitch a horse to a 地位，任命する and walk up a flight of steps without puffin' like a porpoise it's pretty nigh time he was carted to the graveyard. Whew!...What's all this, Bradford? Eh? What's this about your heavin' up your 職業 for Chris Trent's bank? Is it so—what you wrote?"

"Yes, sir."

"Huh! I want to know! You said you 辞職するd—did you, or was you 手渡すd your papers?"

"I 辞職するd. I decided that it was the best thing for me to do."

"Huh! Pretty good 職業 for a young fellow to chuck up, 病弱な't it? All 手渡すs seemed to think 'twas. 肉親，親類d of 独立した・無所属, ain't you?"

"Perhaps I am, Mr. Bartlett."

"That all you goin' to tell me about it?"

"Why, yes, sir. The 事柄 was between Mr. Trent and myself. If he cares to tell more I have no 反対."

"Humph! Your Uncle Bije know about it yet?"

"No, sir. Not unless he has heard it from some one else. You and mother are the only ones I have told so far."

"I see...Humph!...井戸／弁護士席"—with a chuckle—"I cal'late 'Bijah'll be some surprised. He's been braggin' from Dan to Beersheby about his 甥 bein' 選ぶd to 扱う Chris Trent's 事件／事情／状勢s. He, he! Yes, sir, Bije and his 乗組員 are liable to be fetched up with their sails slattin'. Goin' to make any more explanation to them than you have to me, be you?"

"No, sir."

"Huh! All 権利, son. Have your good time in your own way...井戸／弁護士席, how about what you was goin' to find out for me about them 公式文書，認めるs? I've been waitin' to hear from you about them for やめる a （一定の）期間. 設立する it out, have you?"

This was the question Banks had been 推定する／予想するing, and he had an answer ready. "I have decided not to go on with that, Mr. Bartlett," he said. "I am through with the Ostable Bank and its 事件／事情／状勢s."

"Yes, yes, I know. But that wasn't the Ostable Bank's 事件／事情／状勢, 'twas 地雷. I asked you to look up them 公式文書，認めるs; they didn't."

"Yes, sir, but in a way it is their 事件／事情／状勢. They are 持つ／拘留するing the 公式文書，認めるs. And so I don't think I should meddle at all. And," he ended 堅固に, "I shan't."

He 推定する／予想するd his （弁護士の）依頼人 to be angry; 明らかに he was not. He was rubbing his chin, and to Banks' surprise there was a grim twinkle in his 注目する，もくろむ. "井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席!" he exclaimed. "So that's the way you feel, eh? 独立した・無所属 ain't no 指名する for you, boy! Goin' to 辞職する as my lawyer, too, be you?"

"If you wish me to, sir. At any 率 I can do nothing more about getting that （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） you asked for."

"Humph! Sho! There's other lawyers around, you know. Maybe they'd get it if I ordered 'em to. Don't you think likely they would? Oscar Brooks, now—maybe he'd jump at the chance."

Banks said nothing. Hezekiah rose to his feet, grinning 概して.

"All 権利, son," he said cheerfully. "I shan't order him to—him nor nobody else. I'm a hundred and fifty or so next birthday, but I don't need extry spectacles to see into a barn when the door's open. Maybe I was a pretty good guesser when I told you to look up them 会社／堅いs out West; maybe I'm a good guesser now. 井戸／弁護士席, I'm standin' pat on my guess. So fur as my bank's takin' on Chris Trent's is 関心d I'm 権利 where I was in the beginnin'. They can keep on whistlin' on their fingers."

He 選ぶd up his cap and 茎.

"I 裁判官 you'd just as soon I didn't say nothin' about my askin' you to get that 報告（する）／憶測 for me?" he 観察するd. "All 権利; if you don't say it I shan't."

"Mr. Bartlett, I—I'm awfully sorry. You've been very 肉親，親類d to me, and—"

"Sh-h-h, sh-h-h. Look here, ARE you goin' to keep all this to yourself? Not tell a soul any of it and let 'em think what they darn please?"

"Yes, sir; I don't see that I can do anything else and play fair. Of course, Mr. Bartlett, I hate to have you think that—"

"Hush up! I don't think nothin'. Yes, I do, too. I think I didn't make no mistake when I 選ぶd you out to do my lawin'. I'll stick by you. As for the 残り／休憩（する） of 'em—井戸／弁護士席, let me tell you this, young fellow: The main fault I've had to find with you so far is that it looked as if you was liable to be too almighty popular. I'm the most 人気がない critter there is in this 郡, and it's lots of fun. Now I'm goin' to have comp'ny, and we'll have the fun together...So long! See you in a couple of days or so."

So that was over and done with. The interview which Banks had dreaded and which he had hoped to 避ける or at least 延期する, instead of leaving him more cast 負かす／撃墜する and disheartened, had 元気づけるd him. The 誓約（する）d support of the most 人気がない man in the community might not be of 広大な／多数の／重要な 構成要素 value, but it was something. S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律, still had one （弁護士の）依頼人 who would stick by him. If only Uncle Abijah would take him on 信用, would not 圧力（をかける） for explanations, but continue to believe in him! Breaking the news to Uncle Bije was sure to be hardest of all.

He had seen his uncle but once since he ordered Christopher Trent from his office, and then Cousin Hettie was 現在の. Any day, any hour, the captain was likely to 減少（する） in; and then—another scene. Banks was growing tired of scenes.

And when Captain Bradford visited that office the 表現 upon his 直面する was proof 十分な that he had learned something and meant to learn more.

"What's this between you and Chris Trent?" he 需要・要求するd. "I just met Chris on the street, and he wouldn't hardly speak to me. When I asked him how he and his new lawyer were makin' out he all but 攻撃する，衝突する me; I 断言する for a second I thought he was goin' to! 'If you mean that 甥 of yours,' he said, 'he's no lawyer of 地雷, nor my bank's, either. We kicked him out a week ago.' Then he turned on his heel and left me. 井戸／弁護士席, now what's it mean? Come! I want to know."

Banks told him—that is, he told what he had told his mother and Hezekiah Bartlett. Not やめる so much as he had told the former, for he did not について言及する Mrs. Truman or her granddaughter.

"Mr. Trent is wrong, though," he 宣言するd in 結論, "when he says he and the Ostable Bank kicked me out. I 辞職するd before they had the chance to do that."

For a long half hour the captain 嵐／襲撃するd and argued. He 需要・要求するd （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, particulars. "You tell me what all this is about; do you hear? Ain't I got the 権利 to know? Boy, I've done my best to be like a father to you, and now you sit there and won't open your mouth! If you've got nothin' to be ashamed of then you needn't be 脅すd of me. I'll stand behind you yet, if you can 証明する to me you're 権利."

Banks was 静める but obdurate. "I can't tell you, Uncle Abijah," he said over and over again. "If I could tell any one I should tell you first. I know what you've done for me; don't think I don't. All I can say is that I have played square—it seems to me I have— and that you must 信用 me. If you can't do that, then—井戸／弁護士席, then you can't, I suppose."

At last Abijah gave it up. "You're a pig-長，率いるd, ungrateful cub after all," he snarled. "I thought there was enough Bradford in you to make you a man, but I was wrong. You're all t'other 味方する of the house, I guess. Of course, you realize your actin' this way is liable to hang up that bank 合併 for I don't know how long. We all bet on you to fetch Hez Bartlett 船内に, and now—now who's goin' to do it?"

Banks shook his 長，率いる. "I shouldn't count on that bank consolidation too much, Uncle Abijah," he said 静かに. "I am pretty sure it will never go through."

"Hey? What's that? Won't go through! Banks, what is it you're keepin' hid from me? Why won't it go through?"

"I have said all I can. I don't believe it will, that's all."

"Has Hez Bartlett been tamperin' with you? Has he?"

"No, he hasn't," Banks retorted はっきりと; "no one has tampered with me. If I could have been tampered with, perhaps— 井戸／弁護士席, no 事柄."

"What does that mean? Banks, Banks, can't you see what your fightin' with Trent is goin' to do to your chances in town here? Folks'll take his word for it that you were no good and couldn't 持つ／拘留する the 職業. And if you won't 否定する it—why, then what?"

"Then they will have to keep on believing it, I suppose. That part doesn't worry me so much. I am sorry on your account, though; very sorry.

"Humph!" Captain Abijah looked at him intently for a long interval. "Humph!" he said again, "there's somethin' mighty funny behind this, that's sure. 井戸／弁護士席, you can't 非難する me for what's said or what happens to you. And I shan't take the 非難する. Good-by. If you change your mind and decide to tell me more later on—井戸／弁護士席, you know where I live."

It was his last visit to that office for many a day. He continued to call at the cottage, although not so frequently, and on those occasions he had little to say to his 甥. Of the 合併 he said nothing whatever, nor did he ask a question 関心ing Banks' practice, the 支配する in which he had been so 熱心に 利益／興味d. Banks made it a point to leave the sitting room soon after his uncle entered it. His presence, he felt, was embarrassing to them both.

He 行方不明になるd Captain Abijah's companionship, his 信用／信任s, his ありふれた-sense counsel and support and 激励. He had always liked Uncle Bije, although in his school and college days the liking had been qualified with a 確かな lofty, citified condescension. That condescension had quickly 消えるd, and 感謝 and a very warm affection had taken its place. He did not 非難する his uncle for his 現在の 態度 nor did he resent it. The captain was 傷つける and disappointed, as any one would have been in his place. But Banks felt that he had lost a priceless friendship; and he, too, was 傷つける.

He derived a little 慰安 from something his mother told him a week or so later. The news that Silas Bradford's boy had been 発射する／解雇するd from the 雇う of Christopher Trent and the Ostable Bank was ありふれた 所有物／資産／財産 now. The young fellow had been 重さを計るd in the balance and 設立する wanting. The town, a large part of it, was chuckling and 説 "I told you so."

Cousin Hettie's "I told you so's" were, in the privacy of the Bradford family, as loud as the 残り／休憩（する）, for there she would give vent to the chagrin which the blow had brought to her aristocratic bosom.

"I never was so ashamed in my life," she wailed. "I don't hardly put my nose out of doors without seeing somebody else's nose turned up and hear 'em giggle when I go by 'em. They don't say much—oh, no! But the way they look and 行為／法令／行動する—my soul! Every last one of 'em knows that I was—井戸／弁護士席, I suppose you might almost say sinfully proud when Silie was given that responsible place, and I 推定する likely I talked too much about it. And now I can't talk at all. I can't tell 'em anything because—because—"

"Because you don't know," 削減（する） it Abijah はっきりと. "井戸／弁護士席, they don't know, either."

"Yes, they do, too. Mr. Trent—"

"Humph! All he says is that his bank decided Banks was too young and inexperienced for the 職業 and they would have to let him go. 'Goin' to get somebody else?' I asked him. Oh, yes, sure they was! 井戸／弁護士席, so far as I can hear they 港／避難所't—yet. And that's 肉親，親類d of funny, too."

"I don't see anything so funny about it. Probably they want to be careful and not make another mistake. Oh, why did Silie ever get us all into such a shameful mess! What did he do to make them get rid of him?"

"Humph! Accordin' to him it was he that got rid of them. Somebody's lyin', and neither you nor I know which 'tis, Hettie."

"井戸／弁護士席, there's plenty that （人命などを）奪う，主張する to know."

"Yes, but claimin' is 平易な. Chris Trent knows and he tells what 控訴s him; Banks knows, and he won't tell anything."

"That's just it. Why won't he?"

"He says he can't because he 約束d not to."

"Oh, yes! And you believe him, of course."

Captain Abijah's square chin became squarer than ever. "Yes," he 公約するd emphatically, "I do. A fellow who won't break a 約束, when breakin' it might mean all the difference in the world to him, ain't a liar, no 事柄 what else he is. That's plain sense."

Margaret spoke for the first time. "Thank you, Abijah," she said.

"You needn't thank me. He is an ungrateful, obstinate, selfish young jackass, and いつかs I don't know but that's worse than lyin'. Don't say another word, either of you. I've lost all 利益／興味 in that boy."

Margaret did not believe him, and she told her son so when later on they were alone together.

一時期／支部 20

The days in the office now were even more discouraging than they had been at the time when that office was first opened. Then, at least, Uncle Abijah was a daily 訪問者. Now he did not come at all. Banks had been very busy during his short 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 of 雇用 by the Trent 利益／興味s; now, by contrast, idleness was 強調するd and much harder to 耐える.

He had a little work—Hezekiah Bartlett, true to his 約束, brought in a few more 行為s to be drawn and another trifling 肩書を与える search. Also he introduced a crony of his, almost his only 会社／堅い friend, one Solomon Dobbs, of North Harniss, who was 伴う／関わるd in a long-winded squabble over a cranberry-押し寄せる／沼地 所有物／資産／財産. Having quarreled with a former lawyer—his third—he needed another to carry on.

Solomon was almost as 広大な／多数の／重要な a crank as Bartlett, and Banks, although he gratifyingly 受託するd the 信用, was aware that it was likely to be but 一時的な. In the end, Dobbs would fight with him as he had with his 前任者s. にもかかわらず, while it lasted it was a help toward keeping his mind 占領するd.

Denboro was now 推測するing about the 延期する in the bank 合併. That important 取引，協定 was 明らかに hanging 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and although there were all sorts of guesses no guess was 満足な. The Denboro Bank directors had nothing to 報告（する）／憶測 and 認める it. "Just waiting, that's all," said 裁判官 Bangs. From Ostable the 報告（する）／憶測 was 類似の: "When we have anything to 報告（する）／憶測 you will hear it"— that was the Trent dictum, によれば 噂する.

Banks' losing his position as the Trent 弁護士／代理人／検事 was getting to be an old story. He was no longer conscious of 軽く押す／注意を引くs and grins when he stopped in at the 地位，任命する office. There were 時折の sly digs from 知識s and a little patronizing sympathy, which was harder to 耐える. Eben Caldwell patted his shoulder.

"Don't give up the ship," said Caldwell. "You're young yet, and you'll get along all 権利 by and by. I tell 'em, 'What if he couldn't swing a 職業 like that? Too much to 推定する／予想する of a fellow his age. Honest, I never could understand why a man with Chris Trent's judgment ever let him make the try. I 非難する Chris much as anybody.' That's what I tell 'em. 'You wait five or ten year,' I says. 'He may turn out to be as smart a man as his father was, after all. I'm goin' to help him, that's what I'm goin' to do.' And I am, too; shouldn't wonder if I had some more 法案s for you to collect for me some of these days, Banks. Want to make sure I can't collect 'em myself fust, of course."

All this was annoying and trying to the patience, but Banks could 耐える it with a 手段 of philosophy. There was but one thing that really 事柄d, and that 事柄d so much that there were times when he felt that it could not be borne.

It was then that the prospect of leaving Denboro forever became a 広大な／多数の／重要な 誘惑, when his 決意／決議 滞るd and his mind hesitated between two 代案／選択肢s—running away and forgetting, or breaking the 無分別な 約束 he had made Mrs. Truman. The latter 誘惑 was the stronger.

He saw Elizabeth occasionally—on the street, at the 地位，任命する office or in the Truman carriage. He always 屈服するd to her, and she 屈服するd in return, although her 屈服する was 冷淡な and distant. Mrs. Truman did not 屈服する; she ignored him utterly. Then he would return to his office, sit 負かす／撃墜する behind the tambour desk and decide that he would play the fool no longer. He would go to Elizabeth, 主張する upon seeing her and 軍隊 her to listen while he told the whole and exact truth. If she still 固執するd in misjudging him and his 動機s, at least she would have heard his 味方する of the 事例／患者. She would know that those 動機s were honest.

How could he give her up? How could he? Now that their season of 甘い companionship and daydreams was over—ended, never to be 再開するd—one 圧倒的な fact remained. He was more 深く，強烈に, 猛烈に in love with her than ever.

It was then that the 不正 done him—or that he had done himself—became most 明らかな. Then that he realized fully that he was just a ridiculous, impractical, quixotic idiot. The Trent- Truman combination must be laughing in its sleeve. Just a word in the 権利 ４半期/4分の1, and the laughter, if there was any, might be on the other 味方する.

But Mrs. Truman had called him a quitter. That sneering 告訴，告発 still rankled. He might be a fool, but to tell any one, even Elizabeth, would be quitting; and he would not do that. So there he was again, 正確に where he started.

He saw a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of the Tadgetts during these dreary weeks. Ebenezer was no fair-天候 friend. He ran into the 法律 office at least once a day. When Banks, tired of thinking, looking at the 塀で囲む or re-reading the papers in Solomon Dobbs' cranberry-押し寄せる／沼地 事例／患者, locked the door and 延期，休会するd to the secondhand shop for companionship and solace Tadgett's あられ／賞賛する of welcome was always cheery and 納得させるing.

Banks was 招待するd to help in whatever "resurrecting" might be going on; or even, if the afternoon happened to be Wednesday, to turn the game of cutthroat euchre into a 正規の／正選手 one by taking a 手渡す. This 招待, however, he never 受託するd; it would have been a 罪，犯罪 to 乱す the 決まりきった仕事 of that time-栄誉（を受ける）d three-cornered 戦う／戦い. Moreover, looking on and listening were far more entertaining.

He and Ebenezer …に出席するd an 時折の 宿泊する 会合 or a 会合 of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 company. The latter 集会s were almost 純粋に social. There was some pretense of listening to 報告（する）／憶測s and of 演習ing once a month with the "化学製品 engine," the only piece of apparatus 所有するd by the company. As for active service, there was 事実上 非，不，無. Jotham Gott's henhouse—it was 空いている; Jotham had not kept 女／おっせかい屋s for years—燃やすd to the ground, but by the heroic exertion of the 勇敢に立ち向かう 解雇する／砲火／射撃 laddies two 味方するs of the pigsty 隣接するing were saved.

Jotham was not so 感謝する as perhaps he should have been. "What in time is the good of half a pigpen?" he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know. "'特に when it's so scorched up that any healthy pig could 破産した／（警察が）手入れする 権利 out through the broadside of it anywheres? Why in the nation didn't you let it all 燃やす? What have I been makin' them 保険 companies rich for?"

One evening in 早期に March, Banks, having at last 受託するd an 緊急に repeated 招待 to sup again with the Tadgetts, walked home with Ebenezer. It had been a pleasant afternoon, and at six o'clock it was still （疑いを）晴らす and 有望な, although 冷淡な for the season. A strong 勝利，勝つd, blowing in from the sea, made the 冷気／寒がらせる doubly raw and 侵入するing. Mr. Tadgett 検査／視察するd the horizon.

"Goin' to blow a reg'lar drivin' 強風 afore mornin'," he prophesied. "See them clouds rollin' up? Get 'em that brown color and all raveled and dusty 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 辛勝する／優位s, and you want to nail your hat on afore you go out."

In the Tadgett sitting room Banks was surprised to find another guest. Old Mrs. Abial Simpkins, 星／主役にする 証言，証人／目撃する for the 起訴 at the sideboard 審理，公聴会, was there, seated in a rocker and looking very grand in 黒人／ボイコット silk and a brown "変形"—which, 存在 not やめる large enough, showed an 辛勝する／優位ing of gray hair at the 味方するs and the 支援する of her neck. She and Banks shook 手渡すs; they had not met, except on the street, since the 審理，公聴会.

"井戸／弁護士席, young man," she said. "I been hearin' やめる consider'ble about you since you and Ebenezer had me perched up on 展示 in that 法廷，裁判所 place, like a stuffed フクロウ. I don't s'提起する／ポーズをとる you know it, but I had a bowl of clams all chopped up and ready to make a pie out of that day, and while I was 負かす／撃墜する wastin' my time and breath along with you and Ebenezer, Pinky—that's my cat—got up on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and eat half of 'em and upset the 残り／休憩（する）. My blessed land of Canaan! if I wasn't mad when I come home to that mess! I had a notion to 告訴する you for them clams, Ebenezer Tadgett. If they'd been antique enough so they was 価値（がある） a million dollars I don't know's I wouldn't."

"What did you do, Susannah?" 問い合わせd Ebenezer.

"井戸／弁護士席, I spent half an hour tryin' to lay 手渡すs on that pesky cat. When I did 位置を示す him finally he was under the parlor sofy, sick to his stomach. The 前線 parlor, you understand; nothin' would do him to be sick in but the best room in the house. There, there! don't talk about it! 井戸／弁護士席, how's your mother, Mr. Bradford—pretty smart, I hope?"

Tadgett, under pretense of giving Banks an 適切な時期 to wash up, 行為／行うd him to the 支援する kitchen, where he explained the excuse for Mrs. Simpkins' presence.

"You see, Banks," he whispered, "Susannah used to know Sheba's folks over to Trumet 支援する in the old days. Sheba's been plannin' to have her to supper for a long （一定の）期間, but—井戸／弁護士席, to tell you the truth, I'm 肉親，親類d of sorry she 選ぶd out the same night you're here. You nor I nor Sheba won't have a chance to say a word. All we'll have to do is keep her plate filled up and bend a listenin' ear, as the hymn tune says. She'll eat and talk and talk and eat. She's the only critter I ever saw that could do two 職業s at the same time and not slight either of 'em. She's a 肉親，親類d of old-fashioned muzzle-loader, but she's deadly with both バーレル／樽s."

It was a shrewd 評価. Mrs. Simpkins' appetite was healthy indeed, but 満足させるing it was not permitted to 干渉する with her flow of conversation. She talked and talked and talked. She was real glad to see Mr. Bradford again. It was surprising, considering what nigh neighbors they were—権利 in the same town—how seldom they ran across each other. There was a time, years ago, when her folks and the Bradfords was real sort of 厚い, as you might say.

"That was when your father was livin', Mr. Bradford. My stepbrother-in-法律, Henry Todd—Abial's first wife's half brother he was—was with Cap'n Silas on the last ship he sailed, the one that 燃やすd up out there off Californy. Henry was second mate on that Golgander, or whatever's the 指名する. Yes, he was. He never went to sea after that; had enough of the dangers of the briny 深い, as the Good 調書をとる／予約する tells us about, I guess.

"Anyhow, home he come, and the first thing we knew he'd got a real nice 平易な 職業 with Benjamin Trent—that's Mr. Christopher's grandfather—and Cap'n 'Lijah Truman, up to Boston. Must have got good 支払う／賃金, '原因（となる） when they went out of 商売／仕事 he （機の）カム 支援する to Bayport to stay till he died, and he lived soft and wore good 着せる／賦与するs and never seemed to worry at all.

"Abial, my husband, couldn't understand it. He used to say to him, '井戸／弁護士席, Henry,' he'd say, 'goin' to sea must 支払う／賃金 better'n I ever thought it did, or else Trent and Truman must have give you big 給料, for you to put by enough to lay 支援する and loaf the way you do now.' And Henry'd laugh—seems if I could hear him this minute— and say, '井戸／弁護士席, 'Bial, I'm of a savin' disposition. Ain't you noticed that?' We hadn't noticed it—'tother way 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, if anything—and so—I'll take another cup of tea, Sheba, if the マリファナ ain't run 乾燥した，日照りの."

From this family reminiscence she turned to the 事柄 of the bank 合併. Her ideas 関心ing it were extraordinarily muddled, and so were her questions 関心ing Banks' 任命 as 弁護士／代理人／検事 for the Ostable Bank. She was 特に curious about the 推論する／理由s behind his losing that position.

"Of course," she 発表するd, "that ain't any of my 商売／仕事, Mr. Bradford. Far be it from me to 調査する where I ain't 手配中の，お尋ね者. _I_ don't know why you and Chris Trent couldn't get along—I tell everybody that's between you and him. 'Between them two,' I say—"

"Sartin!" 削減（する） in Mr. Tadgett with presence of mind. "And those riz 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器s are 権利 between you and me, Susannah. Help yourself!...Oh, say, Banks, what's this I hear about Mrs. Cap'n 'Lijah Truman bein' took sick? Somebody said she had St. Vitus, or somethin'."

This amazing 声明 had the 影響 for which it was designed, that of switching Mrs. Simpkins' train of thought. "St. Vitus!" she squealed. "Why, whoever told you such nonsense as that? She went over to Ostable the other night to Chris Trent's house. He was givin' a collation and ball."

"There, now!" exclaimed Ebenezer with satisfaction. "Ball—that's it! I knew there was some 肉親，親類d of dance mixed up with it. 'Twan't St. Vitus's though; I guess you're 権利."

"Course I'm 権利. Maybelle and the Cartwright girl they went over there and she—Maybelle, I mean—got all het up dancin'. Perfectly ridiculous at her age! Oh, you can't fool me about how old she is, no 事柄 how hard she tries to make out she ain't. She's old enough to have a grown-up granddaughter, and that's no chicken."

"No, it's ham," agreed Mr. Tadgett innocently. "Better have another slice, hadn't you, Susannah?"

Mrs. Simpkins 受託するd the ham, but she 辞退するd to change the 支配する. She 動揺させるd on about Mrs. Truman's illness. によれば her, Mrs. Truman had got overheated, had caught 冷淡な and was 限定するd to her room with rheumatism.

"And serve her 権利, I say!" she 宣言するd. "Trippin' the light frantic toe at her time of life! Better leave them 肉親，親類d of didoes to Elizabeth and Chris Trent. They're willin' to be left, from what I hear. Folks are wonderin' when the weddin' bells are goin' to （犯罪の）一味."

Altogether it was not a happy meal for Banks Bradford. And it ended in a peculiar fashion. Mrs. Tadgett, in hooded majesty, had so far 実行するd her 義務s as hostess without 慣習に捕らわれない lapses. She had taken but a small part in the conversation, but the few 発言／述べるs she did make were to the point. Now she attracted the company's attention by a sepulchral groan.

Mrs. Simpkins was in the middle of a long and 絡まるd 宣告，判決, and the interruption startled her. "Heavens and earth!" she cried with a jump. "What 肉親，親類d of hark from the tomb was that? Was it in the kitchen, or where?"

Mrs. Tadgett answered the last question with another groan, deeper than before. They all turned to look at her. Ebenezer sprang to his feet.

"Sheba!" he pleaded anxiously.

His wife raised both 手渡すs in solemn 抗議する. "Hush! Hush!" she 命令（する）d hollowly. "The time of light—the time of light! I see! I see!"

Her husband sank 支援する into his 議長，司会を務める, "Oh, the devil!" he exclaimed with fervor. Mrs. Simpkins 星／主役にするd in amazement. "What's the 事柄 with her?" she 需要・要求するd, looking all about the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and under it. "What does she see? I don't see nothin'."

She was shaking her skirts and would have risen, but Banks, sitting next her, laid a 手渡す on her arm.

"It's all 権利, Mrs. Simpkins," he whispered. "Nothing to be 脅すd about."

"Eh? Nothin'! Then what's she makin' them awful cat noises for? And lookin'—why, she looks as if—"

"Peace, be still! The （一定の）期間 of 見通し 作品."

"My land of Canaan! I'm scart to death! Why don't you get her some ammonia or somethin'? I never—"

"Shut UP!" It was the exasperated Tadgett who roared the order. "It's that 爆破d spiritu'名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） （軍の）野営地，陣営 meetin', that's all 'tis," he groaned. "It's always breakin' out in the wrong place. Now, Sheba—"

"The 見通し comes! I see a young man—"

"Yes, I know. It's Banks. He's 権利 here at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with you. We all see him just as plain as you do. Come, now!"

"I see him 負かす／撃墜する—負かす／撃墜する—負かす／撃墜する."

"Yes, but you'll see him up in a minute. We're through supper, Sheba."

"With him I see a 女性（の）. He is の近くに beside her. She is strange to look at."

"What! の近くに beside him? Who's she talkin' about?" This from Mrs. Simpkins, and with indignation.

"There, there! She don't mean you, Susannah."

"My land, she better not! If I'm any stranger to look at than she is—井戸／弁護士席!"

Mrs. Tadgett was 支払う／賃金ing no 注意する to these asides. She went on with her sepulchral monologue. "She is there with him. He takes her in his 武器. He—he— Why," she went on ばく然と, "I—I can't see any more. It is all 薄暗い—薄暗い, like smoke."

Ebenezer's 手渡す was on her shoulder. "Yes, yes," he said soothingly. "That's it—smoke. Banks and I are just goin' to have a cigar together. Shall we have 'em here or in the sittin' room, Sheba?"

Mrs. Tadgett sighed. "Why—why, yes, Ebenezer," she 滞るd uncertainly. "I guess so."

"So do I. We'll have 'em in the sittin' room, Banks...Thank the Lord! Come on, all 手渡すs!"

A few minutes later he and Banks said good night at the door. Ebenezer was, for him, rather downcast.

"Of all times on earth for her to have one of them conniptions!" he 不平（をいう）d disgustedly. "With that Susannah Simpkins to listen and tell it from here to あそこの...Eh? Oh, I don't know whether Susannah's a spirit 信奉者 or not. What I do know is that she heard Sheba talkin' about some young fellow havin' a strange woman in his 武器. She may not believe, but, heavens and earth, how she will GUESS!"

He looked up at the sky, where an 時折の 星／主役にする showed between the 飛行機で行くing clouds. "Blowin' a livin' ハリケーン, just as I thought 'twould," he 追加するd. "And I'll have to see Susannah home pretty soon. Between her tongue and the 強風 'twill be a 風の強い 巡航する. 井戸／弁護士席"—hopefully—"if it blows hard enough a squall might carry her up and out to sea; she don't 重さを計る much, you know...Good night, Banks. Sorry things happened as they did. Won't 持つ／拘留する it against Sheba or me, will you? No, I know you won't. You're an awful good fellow."

Banks 設立する it a hard walk home through the bitter 冷淡な and the savage 勝利，勝つd. More than once he heard sharp 割れ目s and the sounds of 涙／ほころびing and 衝突，墜落ing in the boughs of the elms and silver-leaf poplars by the 道端.

His mother called to him as he passed the door of her room. "Your Uncle Abijah was here," she said. "He was very much 乱すd. At his bank directors' 会合 to-day they had a letter from the directors of the Ostable Bank 説 that, after considering, they had changed their minds about the 合併 and that the 取引，協定 was off altogether, so far as they were 関心d."

Banks did not answer at once. Then he asked, "Did Uncle Bije say any more?"

"He said a good 取引，協定, for he was dreadfully disappointed. He is very anxious to see you, dear. He seems to think that you know a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 more about all this than you have told him—or any one."

落ちるing asleep was not 平易な for Banks that night. For a long time he lay in bed, listening to the 叫び声をあげるing of the 強風, the 動揺させる of blown twigs upon the roof and the distant roar of the sea along the shoals. At last he dropped into a doze, a doze filled with dreams.

He woke with a start. A bell was （犯罪の）一味ing somewhere, （犯罪の）一味ing 刻々と and 断固としてやる. Then he heard a 発言する／表明する outside the open window, calling his 指名する. He leaped from the bed and ran to the window. Below in the yard was a 人物／姿／数字, shouting, waving to him. He 認めるd the 発言する／表明する.

"What is it, Ebenezer?" he yelled, for yelling was necessary in order to carry above that 勝利，勝つd.

"解雇する／砲火／射撃! 解雇する／砲火／射撃! Turn out, Banks! Cap'n 'Lijah Truman's house is on 解雇する／砲火／射撃!"

一時期／支部 21

Ebenezer was waiting in the 物陰／風下 by the 味方する porch when Banks （機の）カム 急ぐing from the house a few minutes later. They ran 負かす／撃墜する the path to the gate and along Mill Road. It was a wild, eerie night. The southern and eastern horizons were pitchy 黒人／ボイコット, but 総計費 the 星／主役にするs were 向こうずねing like diamond points, and the 冷淡な was piercing.

The 強風, too, was fiercer than ever. The keen gusts （機の）カム shrieking in from the sea, over the 負かす／撃墜するs and across the fields, and in the open stretches, where there were no buildings or trees to break their 軍隊, the two men were 強いるd to lower their shoulders and 押し進める against them to make 前進.

Banks ran doggedly on without speaking. Ahead, in the direction of the Old Ostable Road, a crimson glow painted the sky; against it a fringe of tree 最高の，を越すs whipped and 攻撃するd in mad silhouette.

Ebenezer panted a 抗議する. "Hey!" he gasped. "Pull up a second, can't you! I—I'm 創立者d."

Banks paused reluctantly. "All 権利," he answered. "Here! Step in behind here and get your breath."

He dragged his companion into the 避難所 of a high board 盗品故買者. They crouched there and waited. Banks asked the question which had been in his mind from the beginning.

"Do you know anything about it?" he asked, stooping to the Tadgett ear. "How long has it been 燃やすing? Is every one 安全な?"

Ebenezer was still panting. "Don't know nothin'," he replied, all in one breath. "I was asleep, and fust thing I woke up to was Eliab bangin' the 支援する door and tootin' like a steamboat whistle. All he'd do first was yell, '解雇する／砲火／射撃! 解雇する／砲火／射撃! 解雇する／砲火／射撃!' over and over, like a 投票 parrot. Then, after I'd galloped 負かす／撃墜する and shook some sense into him he told me the Truman house was burnin' up. I got some 着せる／賦与するs on—I swan I ain't sure yet whether they're 地雷 or Sheba's—and started. Then I thought of you and turned 支援する to roust you out. That's all I know...Whew! Little more'n I'd have 破産した／（警察が）手入れする a b'iler!"

They waited a moment longer. Above the 叫び声をあげるing 勝利，勝つd they could hear the （犯罪の）一味ing of the church bell. Windows in the houses 近づく at 手渡す were springing into light. Some were open, and 人物／姿／数字s in all sorts of dress—or 欠如（する） of it—were peering out.

Tadgett puffed and gasped. "I'll be ready for another hitch in a jiffy," he wheezed. "You go ahead, Banks. I'll stick to your wake best I can."

Banks took him at his word and began running once more. On the Main Road were other 人物／姿／数字s, running in the same direction. As he passed the Malabar he ばく然と noticed that the windows of Captain Abijah's room were alight. Eben Caldwell （機の）カム つまずくing from his house door, carrying a bucket in one 手渡す and what looked like a tin watering can in the other. さらに先に on he passed old Benijah Perry. Benijah was ひさまづくing by the 道端, 明らかに in trouble.

"That you, Bradford?" he grunted. "This is a divil of a 公式文書，認める, ain't it! I put on the wrong shoes, somehow or 'nother, and these ain't got any laces to 'em. When one of the dratted things ain't comin' off the other is!"

Banks did not ぐずぐず残る to hear more; a half mile さらに先に, and the Truman house was in sight. The 解雇する／砲火／射撃 was in the 後部; the main 団体／死体 of the building was still unscorched, but it was evident that it would not be so long. Sheets of 炎上 and にわか雨s of 誘発するs were 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd high by the 強風, to the accompaniment of an ominous roar and crackle. 支援するd by the （疑いを）晴らす starlit sky and in the biting 冷淡な the scene was weird, unreal.

The doors and windows were open, and in and out of them men and boys were darting. The 化学製品 engine was drawn up in the yard, surrounded by an agitated group. Banks, hurrying to join this group, 設立する Sam Hayman, undertaker and 解雇する／砲火／射撃 長，指導者, more agitated than any one else. All Mr. Hayman's professional suavity had 消えるd.

"Eh?" he snarled, as Bradford touched his shoulder. "Don't bother me now!—Oh, it's you, is it! We're in a healthy 直す／買収する，八百長をする. Engine 破産した／（警察が）手入れするd; she ain't workin' 権利. Can't get no 活動／戦闘 out of her...Yes, yes! We'll 直す／買収する，八百長をする her pretty soon, but we need her now...I don't know what to tell you to do. Save the furniture, if you can't do nothin' else. Pass buckets—do somethin'!"

Banks turned away. He accosted a bystander, an 年輩の man whom he knew, and asked him the one important question. "Is every one out of the house—and 安全な?" he 需要・要求するd.

"Yes, everybody's out, so they say. The 雇うd girls are over in Clem パン職人's house up the road yonder. Mrs. Truman is there, too, I believe. They had the dickens of a time getting her out. She's been sick, you know, and they had to 包む her up in 一面に覆う／毛布s and carry her 負かす／撃墜する by main strength. Somebody said she'd fainted when they 設立する her; I don't know how true it is."

"And—行方不明になる Cartwright? Is she—"

"Yes, she's all 権利, too. With her grandmother, I suppose; I 港／避難所't seen her."

Banks sighed in 救済. Then （機の）カム a shout from the （人が）群がる, and he turned to look. A 広大な／多数の／重要な section of the roof of the main building had burst into 有望な 炎上, illuminating the yard as if a サーチライト had been turned upon it. In that light scattered 人物／姿／数字s upon the roof, 人物／姿／数字s 持つ／拘留するing futile buckets, stood out 明確に, cowering away from the 爆破 of heat.

Banks hesitated, trying to think what to do. Buckets—yes, and even the 化学製品 engine at its best—would be of no avail against a 解雇する／砲火／射撃 like that on a night like this. The only sane 手続き was to save whatever might be saved. The furniture and the pictures— the （人が）群がる would …に出席する to them; was …に出席するing to them now, 裁判官ing by the 衝突，墜落ing and bumping and banging about the 前線 door. Then he remembered Mrs. Truman's 宝石類—her （犯罪の）一味s and pins and bracelets. She had many of them, he knew, and they were 価値のある. If, as his informant had said, she was ill—fainting when they carried her out—there was little probability that she had given them a thought. They were in her bedroom, he imagined. He might not be able to find them, but at least he could try.

He 押し進めるd through the 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集める by the door. That door was 封鎖するd by a 暴徒 who were trying to drag an upright piano through it and 会合 with little success. Banks turned away and hurried to the end of the long piazza. There were French windows there, he knew, 開始 from the library. They were locked, of course, but he broke a pane, turned the bolt and entered the room.

The volunteer 海難救助 ギャング（団）s had so far 限定するd their strenuous attentions to the hall and 製図／抽選-room; the library, save for himself, was untenanted. In the hurly-burly of roar and 衝突，墜落 and shouting it seemed strangely 整然とした and natural. The 調書をとる／予約するs in their 事例／患者s, the lamps on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs, Mrs. Truman's favorite armchair with the velvet cushions, her footstool beside it— everything looked just as it had in those happy evenings when he and Elizabeth were there together. For an instant he was oddly conscious of this; then he ran into the 前線 hall, fought his way through the group struggling with the piano and 急ぐd up the wide stairway.

There were many rooms 開始 from the 回廊（地帯） on the second 床に打ち倒す, and he did not know which was Mrs. Truman's. The smoke was 厚い here, and he covered his 直面する with his coat collar as he hurried through it. A man—it was too dark to 認める him—with a hatchet in one 手渡す and an empty bucket in the other （機の）カム 涙／ほころびing along from the opposite direction, and they 衝突，墜落d together. The bucket dropped with a clatter. The man swore.

"What you doin' up here?" he sputtered. "Want to smother, do you? Smoke's 厚い'n a feather bed, and the 解雇する／砲火／射撃's 権利 astern of it. Get downstairs while you can, you poor fool!"

He left the bucket where it had fallen and galloped toward the stair. Banks つまずくd on, pausing to look into each room as he passed its open door. One, two, three—all guest rooms 明らかに, and unlighted, except for the glow growing ever brighter beyond the window panes.

The fourth door, however, was の近くにd. Banks turned the knob, but it did not open. he shook it, but still it remained 会社／堅い. He tried again. Then he threw all his 負わせる against it. The flimsy lock gave a little, but just as he was setting his shoulder for a final 押す some one inside spoke はっきりと.

"Go away!" cried an angry feminine 発言する／表明する. "Don't you do that again! Go away from there!"

Banks' shoulder relaxed. He 星／主役にするd in amazement at the locked door. Who on earth— The man in the yard had told him that every occupant of the house was out and in safety. A cloud of smoke swept through the hall, 原因（となる）ing him to cough and choke.

"Open the door!" he ordered, half strangled.

"Go away!" repeated the 発言する／表明する, more shrill and angry than before. "I don't want you! Go 権利 away!"

He stepped 支援する, then once more threw himself against the door. With a snap it flew open, and he stepped into the room. It was large and luxurious. A lamp was 燃やすing upon a mahogany （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. On that （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and on 議長，司会を務めるs and bureau and drawers were heaps of feminine apparel—gowns, hats, furs. In the corner, opposite the door, was an アイロンをかける 安全な.

The 安全な was open, and crouching before it was a plump 人物／姿／数字 sketchily arrayed in a lace-trimmed bed jacket and a silk petticoat, its 明らかにする feet thrust into pink satin slippers with high heels. As Banks stood there, blinking in the sudden 炎 of light, this 人物／姿／数字 swung about and 直面するd him. It sprang 築く, glared and stamped one of the satin slippers.

"Go away! Go away this minute! How dare you come into my room! How dare you!"

Banks Bradford did not answer. He could not; he could only 星／主役にする and struggle with feelings akin to those of the patriarch when he said that the 手渡す was the 手渡す of Esau, but the 発言する／表明する was the 発言する／表明する of Jacob. In this 事例／患者, impossible as it seemed, the 発言する／表明する was the 発言する／表明する of Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman! But could Mrs. Truman ever look like that—or stamp or 嵐／襲撃する in that undignified fashion?

And Mrs. Truman's hair had always been brown and abundant and elaborately arranged, 反して this 存在 had very little hair—and that gray—while its 協定 似ているd the coiffure of the Witch of Endor, as portrayed in the Illustrated Story of the Bible on the shelf at home.

Besides, Mrs. Truman—he had just been told so—was 安全な in the house of Clement パン職人, across the road!

"Do you hear me?" 需要・要求するd the 発言する／表明する furiously. "Go away, you impudent wretch!"

Banks （機の）カム out of his trance. "Mrs. Truman!" he gasped. "Why— why, Mrs. Truman!"

Mrs. Truman—for it was she—made no reply. She ran to the bureau and took from it a leather jewel 事例／患者, which she thrust into the 安全な. A cloud of 黒人／ボイコット smoke 注ぐd in through the open door behind Banks Bradford. He stepped 今後. The 状況／情勢 was impossible, yes; but impossible or not it was one to be 直面するd and 征服する／打ち勝つd without loss of time.

"Mrs. Truman," cried Banks はっきりと, "you can't stay here! This part of the house is beginning to 燃やす, and you must get out. Come!"

Still Mrs. Truman did not deign to answer. From the heap on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する she selected a sable neckpiece and thrust that also into the 安全な.

"Mrs. Truman! Listen!"

"港／避難所't you gone yet? Mind your own 商売／仕事 and go—now!"

"But, Mrs. Truman, don't you understand? This room may be 燃えて in five minutes."

She turned and, 明らかに for the first time, 認めるd him. "Oh!" she 観察するd with a sneer, the haughtiness of which might have been more withering and impressive had it not been that a 立ち往生させる of the thin gray hair fell 負かす／撃墜する across her nose. "Oh, I see—it is you! And you want me to run away. You would! 井戸／弁護士席, I shall go when I am やめる ready and not before. March out of that door and shut it behind you!"

She selected a sable muff and crammed that into the （人が）群がるd 安全な. More and 厚い smoke 注ぐd into the room. Banks stepped nearer. "Mrs. Truman," he said emphatically, "you are going now—with me. Come!"

She swung about. "When I have finished what I am doing and am ready I shall leave," she 発表するd. "But not in your company, thank you—Mister Quitter!"

He darted past her, slammed the 安全な door and whirled the dial upon its 直面する. "Can you walk or shall I carry you?" he 需要・要求するd.

"Carry me! You DARE! Stop!" Mrs. Truman was frantic. "Do you 推定する／予想する me to make a public 展示 of myself, looking like this! At least you can be gentleman enough to leave my bedroom while I dress."

From somewhere in the house behind them （機の）カム a thunderous 衝突，墜落; a にわか雨 of 誘発するs 発射 across the doorway. Bradford ran to the bed and 掴むd an armful of quilts and 一面に覆う／毛布s.

"Put these around you," he ordered.

"I shall not! Stop! Don't you touch me! STOP!"

He did not stop; he began. The 残り／休憩（する） of the tirade was smothered by the quilts and 一面に覆う／毛布s. She fought and struggled, but he wrapped her in the bedclothes by main strength, threw his 武器 about the wriggling bundle and bore it to the door.

長，率いる 負かす／撃墜する, his mouth and nostrils 避難所d by his coat collar, he つまずくd along the 狭くする 回廊（地帯） to the 長，率いる of the stairway. The hall at its foot was thronged with struggling 人物／姿／数字s. He dodged past half a dozen men who seemed to be playing at 強く引っ張る-of-war with a mahogany dining （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, 押し進めるd by another group carrying 議長，司会を務めるs, stacks of dishes, umbrellas, linens, hats, and goodness knew what, and 急落（する），激減（する）d through the doorway to the 最高の，を越す of the 前線 steps. There, for an instant, he paused for breath.

The yard was now so brightly lighted by the 炎上s that each blade of grass cast its 影をつくる／尾行する. Standing there on the upper step, Banks and his 重荷（を負わせる） made a tableau for all to see. Mrs. Truman had not stopped struggling for a moment since he carried her from the upper room. She had kicked off one satin slipper, and her 明らかにする foot, in frantic 動議, flashed with each kick. 解雇する／砲火／射撃 長，指導者 Hayman, brandishing a 抱擁する speaking trumpet, ran up to them. He had been roaring through the trumpet and was far too excited to remember to take it from his mouth. He 押し進めるd its open end almost in the Bradford 直面する and howled at the 最高の，を越す of his 肺s.

"Who-oo-oo-oo-oo?" he bellowed.

Banks, almost deafened, ducked his 長，率いる. "What?" he gasped. "Don't DO that!...What are you trying to say?"

Mr. Hayman 除去するd the trumpet. "What in time you luggin' them bed comforters around for?" he 需要・要求するd. "They wouldn't have 粉砕するd if you chucked 'em out of window. 減少（する） 'em and go fetch more buckets. I never saw such a ギャング（団） of numbheads in my life!...Godfreys mighty! what's that?"

"That" was the Truman foot, white, below the 一面に覆う／毛布s. And from the other end of the bundle （機の）カム a muffled 命令（する）. "Put me 負かす／撃墜する! Put me 負かす／撃墜する this minute, you—you scoundrel!"

Hayman's 注目する，もくろむs and mouth opened. The 手渡す 持つ／拘留するing the speaking trumpet dropped to his 味方する. "Wha—wha—what!" he spluttered.

Banks did not ぐずぐず残る to explain. He ran 負かす／撃墜する the steps and across the yard. The 解雇する／砲火／射撃 長，指導者 星／主役にするd after him; so, too, did many others whose attention had been attracted. 近づく the gate, by the engine, was a cluster of people—women and children, for the most part. They were gazing at him as he staggered up.

"Here!" he ordered savagely. "Take her, somebody, for heaven's sake!"

They took her; he 軍隊d her upon them. At least eight pairs of welcoming 手渡すs were 延長するd as he stood Denboro's most 影響力のある 居住（者） upon her feet. The wrappings fell away from her 直面する.

"Oh!" groaned Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman. "Oh, you villain!"

There were shouts, exclamations, cackles of excitement. Banks swung on his heel. He had taken but two steps when they called his 指名する. He turned 支援する. Mrs. Truman, supported by the bystanders, was pointing a shaking finger in his direction. Her 支持者s were trying to 静める her, but she 辞退するd to be 静かなd.

"You—you—" she panted, the thin gray hair bristling. "Oh, you wretch! How dared you do such a thing? Didn't I tell you to go away? Didn't I tell you not to touch me!"

Banks Bradford 屈服するd ironically. "You did, Mrs. Truman," he said with frigid politeness; "but this time, at least, I didn't やめる."

He strode 支援する to the 前線 door. He had never felt more angry or so supremely ridiculous in his life.

The Truman mansion was soon a 完全にする 難破させる. Of its 塀で囲むs but one section remained standing, and that only because the 強風 had at last brought rain with it. The downpour had done what the Denboro 解雇する／砲火／射撃 department could not do.

One corner of the big house 後部d above the smoldering 廃虚s, and that corner, by a curious 事故, 含むd the bedroom from which Banks Bradford had carried Mrs. Truman. The room was smoked and soaked, its furniture was 損失d beyond 修理; but neither 床に打ち倒す nor 天井 had fallen.

And Banks, gazing up, was acutely conscious that had he left its occupant within it, as she had ordered him to do, she might かもしれない have 苦しむd no 広大な／多数の／重要な 害（を与える）. That was the 栄冠を与えるing irony of the whole absurd 商売／仕事. Playing the hero had been furthest from his thoughts when he left that room. As he saw it then, there was a disagreeable 職業 to be done, and 運命／宿命 had selected him, of all persons, to do it.

For a long fortnight Denboro had chuckled behind his 支援する, みなすing him a swelled-長，率いるd young upstart who had had the cheek to 受託する a 仕事 far beyond his capacity and had fallen 負かす／撃墜する. Now, when the story of the idiotic 救助（する） spread, the chuckles would become roars.

The bitter truth of this 結論 was more than once 軍隊d upon him before he left the Truman 前提s. Sam Hayman slapped him on the 支援する. Sam was aglow with pride.

"井戸／弁護士席, boy," he chortled, "we done a pretty good 職業, if I do say it. Saved most one whole end of the main buildin' and the woodshed and the cellar out 支援する. That ain't so bad for a volunteer 解雇する／砲火／射撃 旅団, eh? But, oh, my soul"—with a hilarious shout—"I'll never forget the sight of you luggin' old lady Maybelle 負かす／撃墜する those steps! Haw, haw, haw!"

Bradford turned away, but Hayman followed him. "You see," he went on, "all 手渡すs of us thought she was out long before and over to パン職人's. The mistake was on account of that 雇うd girl of hers— Mary, you know. Seems she'd wrapped herself up in 一面に覆う／毛布s and things and was up to Mrs. Truman's room door. There, bein' 脅すd nigh to death, she fainted plumb away. The fellows, seein' her layin' there, took it for 認めるd she was Maybelle and carried her 負かす／撃墜する and across to Clem's...You done a good 職業 when you got the old lady herself, but oh, Lord A'mighty. 'twas funny! Haw, haw!"

Old Benijah Perry （機の）カム hobbling up. "井戸／弁護士席, how's the villain and the scoundrel?" he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to know. "I was 権利 と一緒に when you （機の）カム totin' her acrost that yard—and the way she laid into you and the 指名するs she called you for keepin' her from bein' burnt up! 売春婦, 売春婦! I'm most dead from laughin'!"

There was more of a 類似の nature. Banks tried to 避ける the （人が）群がる at the gate, but as he was 押し進めるing through its 郊外s some one 押し進めるing in the opposite direction 封鎖するd his way. He looked up, and his 注目する，もくろむs met those of Christopher Trent. Trent was, as always, carefully dressed, in 示すd contrast to the disheveled group about them.

Banks nodded and 押し進めるd on. Trent did not nod nor did he speak. The light from the still-flickering 廃虚s shone upon his 直面する, and he looked—or so it seemed to Bradford disgruntled and ugly. For an instant they 直面するd each other; then the moving （人が）群がる separated them.

The last words Banks heard before he entered the door of the Bradford cottage were spoken by Jotham Gott. Jotham was moving 負かす／撃墜する the Main Road at a 早い gait, but paused as he 認めるd the person behind him. His cheeks were blue and his teeth chattered.

"If I ain't got my death this night," he mumbled between shivers, "then it's a mercy! When I was turned out to go to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 I couldn't find my pants nowheres. Everything else was 権利 where I put it afore I turned in, but them pants—no, sir! Finally I put on a pair of old wore-out 全体にわたるs, and I give you my word that 強風 blowed 権利 straight through em, same as moskeeter nettin'. I bet you my underpinnin's icicles! If I've got any 膝 j'ints I don't know it...Say, Banks, is it so that you こどもd Mrs. Cap'n 'Lijah out of the house done up in baggin' or somethin'? I heard you did...Aw, 持つ／拘留する on, can't you? I want to hear about it."

By morning Banks Bradford's sense of humor had come to his 救助（する）. He even laughed a little as he told his mother the story. But when she, too, laughed he could not 完全に 隠す his feelings of humiliation and chagrin.

"Idiotic, wasn't it," he 観察するd with a shrug. "I shall be more than ever the town joke, after this, of course. 井戸／弁護士席, a little extra ridicule won't 事柄 much."

She was still smiling, but she shook her 長，率いる. "You mustn't feel that way, Banks," she said. "People will laugh at first, I suppose, for it WAS funny. But they won't laugh long. The sensible ones will understand and 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる what you did. If it hadn't been for you Mrs. Truman might not be living now. She knows that, and when she is herself again she can't help but be 感謝する."

"Oh, yes!" agreed Banks sarcastically. "She was 感謝する at the time. She 表明するd her 感謝; you should have heard her."

"Yes, I know. But I think I can understand that. She is a very vain woman, and your carrying her out in such a 明言する／公表する for every one to see was the very thing above all others to make her furious. She asked you to give her time to dress, you say?"

"She didn't ask—she ordered. There she was, the smoke 注ぐing into that room and the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 の近くに behind it, stuffing her furs and 宝石類 into that 安全な."

"Yes"—with a nod—"I should have 推定する／予想するd her to do that. To her, life without dress and 宝石類 and money would not be 価値（がある） living. They would be the first things she would think of at such a time, and her personal 外見 next. She is an 絶対 selfish and unscrupulous woman, Banks...There! I didn't mean to say that. I suppose I shouldn't say it now, but it is true; I have 推論する／理由 to know it."

He had not heard her say it, for he was thinking of the happenings of the previous night. "I wish you could have seen her, Mother," he mused. "Her hair—why, I have always admired her hair. Last night there was scarcely any and that was gray."

"And you wonder she was angry when you wrapped her up like a mummy and put her on public 展示! Never mind, dear. If they are laughing at you they will soon get over it; but it will be many a day before they stop laughing at her, I imagine."

He rose to his feet. "井戸／弁護士席," he said with a grim nod, "I don't think she will call me a quitter again. I told her she was going out of that room with me, and she did!"

He called at the Tadgett shop on his way home to dinner that noon. Ebenezer was in the other 支援する room, 捨てるing and singing, as usual.

"Oh, Bridget Donahue,
I tell you what I'll do—

"Yes—who is it? Come in!

"You take the 指名する of Rafferty
And I'll take Donahue.

"Why, hello, Banks! 井戸／弁護士席, how's the 支持する／優勝者 life-saver this mornin'? All 創造's talkin' about you, did you know it?"

Banks replied dryly that he 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd he might be the 支配する of some conversation.

"I bet you you are! I ain't heard anything else since breakfast. If it 病弱な't for you Denboro might be short one leadin' 国民. They'll be hangin' a メダル on you up to the town hall some day pretty soon."

"A leather メダル, you mean. Oh, shut up, Ebenezer! Don't you suppose I feel enough of a fool without 存在 reminded that I am one?"

Mr. Tadgett put 負かす／撃墜する his 捨てるing knife and looked 熱心に at his 訪問者. "What's all this?" he 需要・要求するd. "Do you think I'm foolin'? I ain't. Folks are sayin' you saved Maybelle Truman; everybody else took it for 認めるd she was over to Clem パン職人's. You was the only 冷静な／正味の 長，率いる in the ギャング（団）. If it hadn't been for you she'd have been burnt up—or stifled and smoke-cured, like a ham."

"Be 静かな, will you! I don't want to talk about it."

"All 権利, just as you say. You may not talk yourself, but you'll be talked to. Has she sent word to thank you yet?"

"Scarcely! I 裁判官 you didn't hear her thank me last night. There were plenty who did."

"Oh, I see! Yes, yes! 井戸／弁護士席, last night everybody was laughin' over how ridiculous you and she looked. Now they ain't laughin' so much; they're praisin' you up. Say, Banks, you ain't really payin' any attention to her talk and 活動／戦闘s last night, are you? She'd been sick abed for three or four days, and last night, with the excitement and all, she went 権利 off her 長，率いる, as you might say. 'Cordin' to tell, she's pretty sick now. Elizabeth Cartwright and the doctor and the 残り／休憩（する） they're worried about her...You ain't seen Elizabeth since the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, I 推定する likely?"

"No," said Banks すぐに.

"井戸／弁護士席, she's busy, I suppose. I see her for a minute—just after you'd gone home, 'twas. She was lookin' for you; 手配中の，お尋ね者 to thank you for savin' her grandma, I 裁判官d. She asked me a lot of questions about it."

Banks said nothing. Ebenezer went on.

"I see Chris Trent for just a minute. He was over home, to Ostable, and he never got to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 till 'twas out. Funny thing, too, that was," he 追加するd, rubbing his chin with the 捨てるing knife. "She was talkin' to me when he （機の）カム と一緒に. He said somethin' to her, and she hardly answered him. Just turned on her heel and walked off. He looked after her ugly enough, seemed to me. Them two ain't had any 列／漕ぐ／騒動 betwixt 'em, have they?...No? 井戸／弁護士席, I wondered."

Banks did not ぐずぐず残る long in the shop. As he was leaving Tadgett caught his arm.

"By mighty!" he exclaimed in an awe-struck トン, "I almost let you get away without sayin' a word about it. And it's been in my mind ever since I caught a glimpse of you comin' across the yard with Maybelle. That （軍の）野営地，陣営-meetin' 見通し Sheba had—the one she was took with that very night when you and Susannah Simpkins was havin' supper at our house; do you remember? Sheba gave out that she saw you with a woman, a strange-lookin' woman, and you was huggin' her in your 武器. 井戸／弁護士席, when I see you fetchin' out Mrs. Cap'n 'Lijah that 見通し flashed over me. It did, by the everlastin'!"

"Oh, pshaw! Be sensible, Ebenezer!"

"Ain't it sensible? Why ain't it? You had her in your 武器, and if she 病弱な't strange lookin' I never see anything that was. Yes, and Sheba saw smoke—don't you know she said she did? Banks, I don't know's there ain't somethin' TO those 見通しs of hers, after all."

Before that day and the next were over Banks Bradford was 軍隊d to change his mind 関心ing the 影響 which his absurd 救助（する） of Mrs. Truman was to have upon his standing in the community. Almost every person whom he met had something to say about his coolness and grit. There were jokes and some laughter, of course, but with them 賞賛する and 評価. People of standing in the town （機の）カム up, shook 手渡すs with him and said things which were pleasant to hear. He did not 受託する the 賞賛する 本気で and made it a point to laugh more heartily than any one else at the funny 味方する of the adventure. But—井戸／弁護士席, at least the 事件／事情／状勢 had not done him 害（を与える）.

Captain Abijah surprised him by dropping in at the office—the first time he had crossed its threshold since the interview に引き続いて his 甥's 辞職 from Trent's 雇う. The captain 申し込む／申し出d no explanation for calling. He talked about the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, of course, and chuckled grimly when he について言及するd Mrs. Truman.

"I've read かなりの," he 観察するd, "about a 団体／死体 bein' so 脅すd and worked up that their hair turned white in a 選び出す／独身 night, but I never saw it happen afore. You've got yourself talked about again, son. Little habit of yours, that seems to be."

Banks smiled one-sidedly. "It does, that's a fact," he 認める. "I seem to have the faculty of getting in wrong with my fellow 国民s."

His uncle's brows puckered. "I wouldn't say you'd got in wrong, 正確に／まさに," he 観察するd. "Most everybody I know seems to think you did a pretty good 職業. Hettie's prouder of bein' a Bradford just now than she's been for a long （一定の）期間. I heard her tellin' Rinaldo Bassett that she wasn't surprised—you 行為／法令／行動するd just the way any sensible person might know your father's son would 行為／法令／行動する."

"Humph! She hasn't talked with Mrs. Truman, that's evident."

"Nobody's talked with her—nobody except her granddaughter and the doctor. She's a pretty sick woman, I hear. She was sick afore the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 started, and the shock and all the 残り／休憩（する） of it have made her sicker still. It's her heart they're afraid of. She's still over in Clem パン職人's spare room; they don't dare move her. You moved her, though! 売春婦, 売春婦! Your mother tells me when you broke in the door she was busy stuffin' her duds into a 安全な."

"Yes, she was."

"井戸／弁護士席, she must be glad to know the 安全な （機の）カム through all 権利; wasn't 傷つける a mite, they tell me. She locked it, I suppose, afore you made a 一括 out of her."

"No; I locked it. She might have, if I had given her time—but I didn't."

"売春婦, 売春婦! Good work! That's the way I like to see a man 行為／法令／行動する. You've got the Bradford backbone, I guess, after all. Don't you worry about the 指名するs she called you afterward. She was mad, but probably she'll get over it. Her 肉親，親類d of woman is pretty apt to think more of the fellow that knocks her over the 長，率いる. Queer, but it's so. Why, one time I saw a Kanaka kick his wife halfway across their shanty—jealous of me, he was, you know—and yet when I started to take her part and kick HIM she was goin' to stick a knife into me...Humph! Don't know why I told you that, I'm sure. Good thing Hettie wasn't around, eh?"

He had turned to go before he referred to the 支配する Banks had been 推定する／予想するing to hear. "Your mother give you the word I left about the 合併 bein' called off?" he asked.

"Yes, she told me."

"Surprised, were you?"

"Not so much. You remember my telling you I very much 疑問d its ever going through."

"Um, ye-es, I remember. And I remember tellin' you that in my opinion there was somethin' mighty queer behind it all. Can you tell me now what 推論する／理由 you had for thinkin' it wouldn't go through?"

"No, Uncle Bije."

"Huh!...井戸／弁護士席, so long, boy. I—er—I may have a little 職業 for you pretty soon; looks as if I might. Think likely you won't be too drove up with 商売／仕事 to 扱う it for me?"

"I'm sure I shan't be. And I'm ever so much 強いるd, Uncle Abijah."

"That's all 権利. It's a 肉親，親類d of 私的な thing. You won't talk about it outside, of course?"

"No, Uncle Bije."

"No," commented the captain dryly. "I know darned 井戸／弁護士席 you won't! I'm beginnin' to believe you can know more and say いっそう少なく than any other man on earth...I'll see you to-morrow or next day, probably."

Banks went home that night in a far happier mood than for weeks. And at the 地位，任命する office next morning he 設立する something which made him happier still. This something was a 公式文書，認める from Elizabeth Cartwright—簡潔な／要約する, formal, but still, in a way, 満足な:

DEAR MR. BRADFORD,

I am 令状ing this because I want you to know how 感謝する I am for what you did at the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 the other night. I realize perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 what might have happened if you had not been so 冷静な／正味の and 勇敢に立ち向かう.

Grandmother realizes it, too, I am sure, although I am afraid she was too excited and humiliated to say the things she should have said. Please don't 支払う／賃金 any attention to those she did say; she did not mean them.

She would be glad, I know, to have me thank you, and that is what I am trying to do now. She can't do it herself, for she is very, very ill. I am frightfully worried about her 条件, and so this 公式文書，認める is short and I am afraid, rather incoherent. But I DO thank you so much.

Yours gratefully,

ELIZABETH CARTWRIGHT.

Banks read the few lines over and over. She, at least, did not consider him a joke. And she had written. She could not hate him, or she would not have done that. His blackest cloud was showing a silver 辛勝する／優位. He whistled as he sat at the tambour desk. And when Hezekiah Bartlett （機の）カム in, あられ／賞賛するing him as the "bundle boy" and wanting to know what his price would be for doing up and shipping half a dozen other Denboro householders, he laughed やめる as heartily as the old man himself.

But neither he nor others laughed much longer. The farce was 速く becoming a 悲劇. 報告（する）／憶測s from Clement パン職人's spare room grew いっそう少なく and いっそう少なく encouraging. And there （機の）カム an evening when Cousin Hettie burst into the Bradford sitting room to 発表する that she was the 持参人払いの of the most dreadful news.

"I 宣言する," gasped Hettie, "I don't know how to break it. It's all for the best, I suppose—that's what we're told to say—and flesh is grass and 削減（する） 負かす／撃墜する and withereth, and the like of that. But when I think of some folks—that Payson person, for instance, sitting up in my best room, poking fun at the Franklin grate that I let him have just out of the 親切 of my heart and that I've spent as much as four dollars on since December—when I think of such as him, healthy and strong and living along and eating three meals a day and 存在 paid seventy-five dollars a month, and we taxpayers having to foot the 法案, and—"

Margaret broke in. "What is it, Hettie?" she 需要・要求するd. "Come, come! Tell us."

Cousin Hettie straightened her thin shoulders. "I am telling you," she 宣言するd with dignity. "What I've been trying to do is break it gentle, but if you'd rather be shocked, then shocked you are to be. Mrs. Cap'n Elijah Truman has passed to her reward. She died at half-past six this very night."

一時期／支部 22

Denboro was 冷静な／正味のing 負かす／撃墜する after a feverish two weeks. As a usual thing the winter months were dull and uneventful, 単に a sleepy interlude, a period of 半分-hibernation, between the end of the cranberry 収穫 in the 落ちる, and the spring, with the beginning of the mackerel season and the 準備 for the summer influx of boarders and cottagers. This winter had been a 示すd exception. The bank 合併 which, after all the surmises and wild prophecies, had come to nothing; the gossip 関心ing Banks Bradford and his losing his position as 弁護士／代理人／検事 for the Ostable Bank; the 広大な／多数の／重要な 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and its accompaniment of sensational happenings; then the sudden death of Mrs. Capt. Elijah Truman; all these had given the town 十分な to keep its 気温 high. Now, a fortnight after the Truman funeral, there was a 減少（する）. At the 地位，任命する office, at 宿泊する 会合s and sewing circles, they were beginning to get 支援する to normalcy, to speak of everyday 事柄s, such as whether or not the hotel would build the 新規加入 it had long 熟視する／熟考するd, and to 再開する discussion 関心ing the 量 of salary to be paid the 主要な／長／主犯 in the high school.

Of course the Truman 指名する was still frequently について言及するd. The 量 of her 広い地所 and just how 豊富な Elizabeth Cartwright, her 単独の 相続人, would be were unfailing 支配するs of 憶測. Then, too, the fact that Elizabeth had chosen 裁判官 Bangs as her 商売／仕事 助言者 was of 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益／興味 and the 原因（となる） of surprised chatter. Every one had taken it for 認めるd that Christopher Trent would 行為／法令／行動する in that capacity, but she and Mr. Trent were, 明らかに, not as intimate as they had been during her grandmother's life. There were all sorts of stories drifting about. When he and she met, so it was said, she was very 冷静な／正味の, even distant. At the funeral he had ridden in the carriage with her, and had been one of the little group of intimate friends and 会葬者s beside the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な, but now, when she was 一時的に 占領するing a 控訴 of rooms at the Malabar Hotel, he never called. No, that was not 正確に／まさに true: Rinaldo Bassett 報告（する）／憶測d him as having called twice, but each time she had seen him only in the ロビー and he had remained but a very short time. "Chris was lookin' pretty sour and out of sorts," によれば the Bassett 見積（る）.

Banks Bradford had not spoken with her since they parted at his office. He …に出席するd the funeral, although his mother did not. He had begged her to. "The whole town will be there," he 勧めるd, "and people will think it strange if you aren't with me."

She shook her 長，率いる. "No, Banks," she said, 静かに but 堅固に. "You will go, of course. You must, for Elizabeth's sake; but I shan't."

He was の近くに to losing patience. "Mother!" he remonstrated. "I know your opinion of Mrs. Truman, and—井戸／弁護士席, perhaps it wasn't altogether wrong; but surely you won't carry your prejudices beyond the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な. She is dead now."

Margaret sighed. "It isn't that," she said. "It is only that— 井戸／弁護士席, if I went I should feel like a hypocrite. No, dear, you don't know why, of course; but she would know—and understand."

かもしれない—but he, himself, was far from understanding. Her 態度 toward Maybelle Truman had always been a source of perplexity to him, coupled with a trifle of 憤慨. 認めるd that the 未亡人 of Captain Elijah had been worldly and selfish and vain—he was willing to 認める that now—and 認めるing, too, that for a time, while he and Elizabeth had been intimate, his mother, like most mothers under such circumstances, might have been a little jealous—for her to carry her dislike of the dead woman to such a point was inexplicable. Margaret Bradford was not a person to 持つ／拘留する spiteful grudges. She was always charitable and 許すing and tolerant. For every one—even Cousin Hettie at her irritating worst—she 設立する excuses. What 考えられる hypocrisy on her part could there be in …に出席するing the funeral? There was some secret behind all this—she had, 事実上, 認める as much. The thought that his mother had a secret which could not be 株d with him was distinctly unpleasant and 乱すing.

At the services in the （人が）群がるd church, where he sat in one of the 後部 pews, and again at the 共同墓地, his 注目する，もくろむs saw 明確に but one person—Elizabeth. She （機の）カム up the aisle on the arm of old Captain Hall, whose wife was one of Mrs. Truman's few intimates の中で Denboro's "all-the-year" 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 居住（者）s. Christopher Trent followed with Mrs. Hall. Banks 設立する a wicked satisfaction in the thought that Trent was not her 護衛する. There could not be truth in the 噂するs, as repeated by Mrs. Simpkins, that she and he were "as good as engaged." And, perhaps, a bit in Tadgett's surmise that they had 同意しないd—quarreled. Instead of listening to the 大臣's eulogies upon the 死んだ, he drifted into all sorts of vague 憶測s, dreams.

At the 共同墓地, forlorn and 荒涼とした that gray afternoon, he saw her standing by the open 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な, a わずかな／ほっそりした, pathetic 人物／姿／数字 in 黒人／ボイコット, the 勝利，勝つd whipping her skirts about her ankles. She looked so lonely, so forsaken, so in need of 慰安, 保護, love. He walked home, his 長，率いる bent and his teeth again 始める，決める upon the 解決する that he would not give her up without a struggle. He loved her—he believed she loved him. Why shouldn't it end happily, as it did in the 調書をとる／予約するs? Then he remembered that she was now an heiress, rich in her own 権利; and he—why, he was as far from success as he had been when he （機の）カム to Denboro. What had he to 申し込む／申し出 her? No, this was reality, not fiction.

He wrote a letter of sympathy next day. He tried hard to make it impersonal, so far as any 表現 of his other and deeper feelings were 関心d. He wrote as a friend, longing to be of service, and so sorry for her in her 広大な／多数の／重要な trouble.

No answer （機の）カム; of course, he did not 推定する／予想する any. He 急落（する），激減（する）d into work, Solomon Dobbs' cranberry 事例／患者 and his uncle's new （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限, the settling of a small 広い地所 of which Captain Abijah had been one of the trustees. The captain's calls were 正規の／正選手 now. He （機の）カム to the office almost every day and from him Banks learned how Elizabeth's 事件／事情／状勢s 進歩d.

Abijah, like every one else, was very much surprised when she put those 事件／事情／状勢s into the 手渡すs of 裁判官 Bangs.

"I don't understand it, boy," he said, with a puzzled frown. "I don't understand it at all. Her grandma and Chris Trent were as の近くに together as 規模s on a herrin'. 'Lijah and old Ebenezer Trent were partners. She was 利益／興味d in the same 投資s that Chris is—those Western 関心s and all that...What makes you look that way? Goin' to say somethin', was you?"

"No, Uncle Bije."

"Oh, I thought you looked as if you was. 井戸／弁護士席, and besides, Maybelle had 在庫／株—had a good 取引，協定 of it—in the Ostable 国家の, Chris's own bank. Now you'd think, wouldn't you, that if the Cartwright girl turned to anybody to help her straighten out her grandmother's 広い地所 'twould 自然に be Chris himself? 特に as, によれば what folks was sayin' a while ago, she and he were keepin' company, plannin' to marry, maybe? Yes; 井戸／弁護士席, instead of that, when she wants help, she goes to Bangs, who has always been lawyer for our bank and never had anything to do with the Truman （人が）群がる. Why? Just tell me why, will you?"

"I can't, Uncle Bije."

"Humph! I guess you can't, nor anybody else. Not even the 裁判官; he was as surprised as the 残り／休憩（する） of us when she （機の）カム to him. 井戸／弁護士席, he's 設立する the will, finally. Told me so himself, this mornin'. And where do you suppose it was?"

"In the Ostable Bank 丸天井s, I suppose. Mrs. Truman had a 安全な- deposit box there. Elizabeth told me that, I think."

"Um-hum. Yes, she did have a box there, with her 安全s and 在庫／株s and all that in it. But there 病弱な't any will along with 'em. There had been one; Elizabeth had seen it there. But Maybelle or somebody must have took it out. Finally, when Bangs was beginnin' to get worried, the Cartwright girl 設立する a new will in that 安全な in her grandmother's bedroom, the one she was stuffin' things into when you broke in on her the night of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. Good thing that 安全な was saved whole, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir. That was good luck."

"Lucky enough! Seems Elizabeth was goin' through the things in that 安全な and, in one of the drawers, on 最高の，を越す of a whole lot of other papers, she 設立する a big envelope with her 指名する on it. Inside the envelope was the will, just a sheet of paper in Maybelle's handwritin', sayin' that she left everything she 所有するd to her granddaughter, Elizabeth Cartwright. 'Twas 調印するd by her, of course, and 証言，証人／目撃するd by two of the servants and Eliab Gibbons. I 裁判官, from what Eliab tells me, that 非，不，無 of the 証言，証人／目撃するs really knew what he or she was witnessin'. Mrs. Truman just called 'em in, 調印するd some sort of a paper, and asked them to put their 指名するs と一緒に. Queer sort of a will for a shrewd woman like her to make, but bindin' enough, so Bangs says. Elizabeth was the only direct 相続人, anyhow, and she's 単独の executor. She せねばならない be pretty 井戸／弁護士席 直す／買収する，八百長をするd for the 残り／休憩（する） of her days, I should imagine."

Banks nodded. "Do you see her often, now that she is staying at the hotel?" he asked.

"No. That is, not to speak to. We've never been very 井戸／弁護士席 熟知させるd. She looks pretty white-直面するd and 頂点（に達する）d, poor girl, and no wonder—all alone in the world. You 港／避難所't been around to call on her, have you?"

"No, sir."

"Hum!...井戸／弁護士席—oh, all 権利! I didn't know. There was a time there when you and she were pretty sociable, as I remember."

Banks made no reply. He was bending over the papers on his desk. His uncle regarded him 熱心に, then turned on his heel and left the office.

The evening of the に引き続いて day, after supper in the Malabar dining room, Captain Abijah was alone in his sitting room on the second 床に打ち倒す, reading the morning 先触れ（する） and smoking a cigar. When his reading and the cigar were finished, he ーするつもりであるd going over to the 宿泊する room above the 地位，任命する office. There was a knock on the door and he looked up.

"Come in!" he ordered. The door opened and Abijah, turning and peering through his spectacles, rose to his feet.

"Why—why, good evenin'!" he exclaimed, surprise in his トン. Elizabeth Cartwright was standing in the doorway. She had 明らかに just come from her own room on the 床に打ち倒す above, for, although she was carrying a small 手渡す 捕らえる、獲得する, she wore no coat or 包む.

"Good evening, Captain Bradford," she said. "Are you alone?"

"Eh? Yes—yes! Come in, come in!"

"You weren't going out? Or 推定する／予想するing any one?"

"No, indeed."

She entered the room, の近くにing the door behind her.

"Then, I wonder," she said, with some hesitation, "if you could spare me a few minutes? There is—there is something I should like to talk with you about, if you really aren't busy."

He 保証するd her that he was not in the least busy, drew up a 議長，司会を務める and begged her to be seated. She 受託するd the 招待.

"Let me take your 捕らえる、獲得する," he 勧めるd, 延長するing a 手渡す. She smiled faintly and shook her 長，率いる.

"No," she said. "Thank you, but I shall need the 捕らえる、獲得する. You see, there are some papers in it that—井戸／弁護士席, they are my excuses for troubling you, Captain Bradford."

Abijah looked at the 捕らえる、獲得する, then at her. He could not imagine what she meant.

"Oh!" he muttered, ばく然と.

"Yes, I shall try not to take any more of your time than is necessary. I thought—井戸／弁護士席, I 設立する these papers in the 安全な which was in grandmother's room. Of course, most of her important 証明書s and 安全s were in her box at the Ostable Bank, but in this small 安全な she kept her more personal things, letters and so on. There were ever so many of them, four or five compartments （人が）群がるd 十分な. 裁判官 Bangs has taken 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of the contents of the 安全な-deposit box, but these were so—so intimate, that I felt sure she had rather I looked them over by myself, before any one else saw them."

She paused. Captain Abijah was 完全に at sea. Her manner was nervous and hesitant, yet she was very serious and, unless his judgment was at fault, anxious and—yes, fearful. But fearful of what? And why had she come to him with Mrs. Truman's 私的な and personal letters, papers, whatever they were?

"Sure! That was just 権利, of course!" he said, for the sake of 説 something.

"Yes, I am 確かな that is what she would have wished me to do. And that last day—a few hours before she died," with a catch in her 発言する／表明する, "she said something to me about 確かな of those papers which—which I couldn't understand then and I—I am not sure that I understand now. At least," with a sudden 強化するing of her fingers upon the 捕らえる、獲得する in her （競技場の）トラック一周, "I HOPE I don't understand!"

"Eh?..." in amazement. "You hope?"

"Yes! Oh, yes!" Then あわてて, "Please don't ask me what I mean. Perhaps I don't mean anything—or have no real 推論する／理由 for meaning it. I'll try and explain a little."

She opened the 捕らえる、獲得する and took from it a packet of 倍のd 文書s, 安全な・保証するd by rubber 禁止（する）d. Under these 禁止（する）d was tucked a slip of paper with something written upon it, the captain could not see what.

"Captain Bradford," she went on, quickly, "your brother was Grandfather Truman's and old Mr. Trent's partner in the shipping 商売／仕事 in Boston, wasn't he? Yes, I shouldn't ask that; I know he was."

"He was—sure! Trent, Truman and Bradford, that was the 会社／堅い 指名する along at the last of it. Silas Bradford was my brother. That's his picture over yonder on the 塀で囲む."

She turned and looked for a long interval at the crayon enlargement hanging in the place of 栄誉（を受ける） above the sofa. Abijah, too, looked at it, and there was pride in his 発言する／表明する when he spoke.

"There he is," he said. "I keep that hung up there, as a 思い出の品 of how smart and 罰金 a man one Bradford was, and," with a rueful smile, "how far astern of him his brother has always kept, in spite of all his tryin'. But when my 甥, Banks—his son, of course, you know—went into the 法律 商売／仕事 I had a copy of that picture made and hung up in his office where he could have it always in 前線 of him. Probably you've seen it there."

"Yes," she said, absently. "Yes, I have. They—they are very much alike, aren't they?"

"Humph! They LOOK alike, that's a fact. As for the 残り／休憩（する） of it— 井戸／弁護士席, it's too 早期に to tell that yet."

She turned away from the portrait and sat, 持つ／拘留するing the packet of papers in her 手渡すs. And those 手渡すs were trembling わずかに. Abijah Bradford noticed that.

"井戸／弁護士席?" he hinted, after a moment. "About those things you've got there? You 手配中の，お尋ね者 me to see 'em, did you?"

"Yes...Yes, I thought you せねばならない see them. I was sure no one else should—no one but a Bradford, I mean. Captain Bradford, your brother was in 命令（する） of a ship just before he died; out there in San Francisco, wasn't it? I think Banks—your 甥, I mean—told me his father died there."

"Yes, he did. 発射, by 事故, he was. His ship was 燃やすd at sea. No fault of Silas's, you can bet!" with 強調.

She was still looking 負かす／撃墜する at the packet of papers.

"The 指名する of that ship was the Golconda, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Yes."

She laid the packet upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He adjusted his spectacles and bent to look at it. Written in 署名／調印する upon the slip of paper held by the elastic 禁止（する）d were the words: "Golconda 事柄. 厳密に 私的な."

He read and then looked up. She had risen.

"What's all this?" he blurted. "What do you want me to do with those things?"

"I should like to have you look them over, if you will, please."

"But they're 示すd '厳密に 私的な.' Your grandmother 示すd 'em so, I suppose. Do you think I—anybody outside the family, I mean—せねばならない—to—"

"Yes, I do. I think you should. You will understand why when you have read them. And, afterward, perhaps, you may wish to show them to your 甥. I don't know about that. They may be—oh, I hope I am wrong about what they mean! I don't know about—about ships and 商売／仕事 and such things, of course, but I—I— Please take them and read them, Captain Bradford. Then, if they are what I am afraid—I mean if they are important, I will see you again and we can decide what is 権利—what to do. Thank you very much...You won't show them to any one else, will you? Any one except Banks, I mean? Or Mrs. Silas Bradford, perhaps?...You won't?"

"Of course, I won't! But what in the world— Here, don't go! I'll read 'em now, if you'll wait."

She did not wait; she went すぐに. Abijah whistled between his teeth. Then he 除去するd the ひもで縛るs from the papers she had left and began reading.

Banks had just arrived at his office, had 打ち明けるd the tambour desk, and was 検査／視察するing the morning mail—a 公式文書，認める from Hezekiah Bartlett was the only item of importance in it—when the door was flung open. He looked up, 推定する／予想するing to see Bartlett himself, or perhaps Mr. Tadgett. But it was Captain Abijah who strode in and one ちらりと見ること at his 直面する 原因（となる）d his 甥 to start to his feet and cry out in alarm.

"Why, Uncle Bije!" he exclaimed. "What is the 事柄? What is it?"

His uncle's first move was to の近くに and lock the door. Then he crossed the room, 掴むd a 議長，司会を務める by the 支援する and swung it into place at his 甥's 肘. He sank ひどく into it, his 脚s a- sprawl, his big 手渡すs hanging loosely 負かす／撃墜する, his 長，率いる bent. He had not 除去するd his hat, but now as he 小衝突d it off and it fell to the 床に打ち倒す, Banks noticed that the hair on his forehead was wet with perspiration.

"Uncle Abijah," he 固執するd, laying a 手渡す on his shoulder. "Uncle Abijah, what is it? Are you sick?"

The captain raised his 注目する，もくろむs. He looked tired and haggard and old.

"Eh? Sick?" he repeated, ばく然と. "No, I guess I ain't sick. Wouldn't be any wonder if I was—but I'm not. I 港／避難所't slept a wink all night, that's all."

"But why? What has happened?"

"Happened!...Everything's happened! All hell has happened! There, there!" with a sudden flash of impatience. "Stop pawin' me and askin' questions. I'm goin' to tell you. I've got to! It's what I （機の）カム here for!"

He reached into the pocket of his coat and took from it the packet of papers which had been left with him the evening before. He threw them on the desk.

"There it is, the whole of it," he said, wearily. "Those things were brought to me last night. The Cartwright girl （機の）カム to my room with 'em. She 設立する 'em, she said, amongst Maybelle Truman's 私的な papers in the 安全な that she had in her bedroom. She hasn't shown 'em up to anybody else, and you and I can thank God for that; but I give you my word if I'd known what I was goin' to find when I 開始するd lookin' 'em over I'd have chucked them into the stove. Yes," 猛烈に, "and chucked myself off the wharf—I don't know as I wouldn't!"

He put his 手渡す before his 注目する，もくろむs and groaned. Banks looked at him and then at the papers upon the desk before him. He read what was written upon the slip.

"'Golconda 事柄. 厳密に 私的な,'" he read aloud. "Why, what—"

His uncle interrupted him. "There, there!" he 削減（する） in, 除去するing the 手渡す from his forehead and throwing his big 団体／死体 支援する in the 議長，司会を務める. "Wait! I'll behave myself. This is no way for a grown man to 行為／法令／行動する, I know. But, Banks boy, I've been all shook to pieces. All my life long, or ever since he and I were kids together, I swore by him. I bragged about him and counted on him. He was a whole lot more than just a brother, he'd got to be a—a Lord A'mighty, sort of, I guess; I worshiped him. And so, now, when I know what he really was, I—I take it mighty hard...Yes, I do!"

"Uncle Bije!...I don't know what you mean, of course. Is it— is it FATHER you are talking about?"

"Yes! Good God, yes! That's who 'tis! Silas Bradford, my brother and your father! I thought he was an honest man, straight and square as he was smart and able. He wasn't; he was just a plain 明言する／公表する's 刑務所，拘置所 crook. A crook, by the everlastin'! He and his partners! They were all crooks together!"

He struck the desk with his clenched 握りこぶし. Banks 星／主役にするd, aghast. "Uncle Abijah," he 需要・要求するd, "are you crazy?"

"No such luck! I'm sane enough...Huh!" with a shrug of disgust. "I don't 行為／法令／行動する very sane, I'll give in to that. I meant to come here and—and break this thing to you gentle; meant to 準備する you for it; and this is how I've done it!...井戸／弁護士席, you're a man, too, and you've got to 直面する it...Don't ask any more. Read those devilish things," pointing to the papers. "Then we'll talk."

Banks opened his lips to speak, then changed his mind, took the uppermost of the 倍のd 文書s from the packet and began to read. He read it to the end, then, after a moment, took up the next and read that. He read them all.

The first was an 協定, 調印するd by Ebenezer Trent, Elijah Truman and Silas Bradford. It 関心d the last voyage of the ship Golconda, owned by the 会社／堅い of Trent, Truman and Bradford. Under the 条件 of the 協定, the Golconda, under 命令（する） of Silas Bradford, was to sail from the port of Boston on a 明示するd date— the year, in which, later on, Silas had died. Ship and 貨物 were ひどく insured, the 量 of 保険 明言する／公表するd. 供給するd she never reached San Francisco, the port for which she had （疑いを）晴らすd, the 責任／義務 and 非難する for her loss was to be borne 平等に by the three partners, this hereby agreed to and understood by each of the three, and the 保険, when collected, was to be used for the 利益 of the 会社／堅い. The 条項 関心ing the 株ing of 非難する and 責任／義務 was 強調するd and, beside it, 明らかに as an 付加 警戒, were the 初期のs "E. T.," "E. T.," and "S. B.," in 異なるing handwritings.

The second paper was a letter, with the 指名する of a San Francisco hotel printed at its 長，率いる. It was from Silas Bradford to his partners and in it he 明言する／公表するd that he had carried out his 株 of the 協定 which they had all 調印するd and of which, as they knew, he had a copy; and he 推定する／予想するd and relied upon them to stand by theirs. "Of course you will stand by it," he had 追加するd, "but I want you to 完全に understand that, if there IS any trouble— and I don't see why there should be—I won't be the scapegoat. We are all in this together, don't forget that." There was a postscript, 明白に hurriedly 追加するd: "The only person who may be a nuisance is the second mate. He has borrowed fifty dollars from me since we were put 岸に here and I didn't like his looks or manner when he asked for it. Look out for him."

Beneath this letter was a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） in Elijah Truman's handwriting, of 支払い（額）s made to 確かな people, with the notation, "Settling all （人命などを）奪う，主張するs in 十分な." The items were: "Abijah Bradford, $1,000. March 10, 1883. Margaret Bradford, $1,500. March 10, 1882. Abner Bradford, $6,000. August 3, 1883."

Captain Abijah, looking over his 甥's shoulder, put a finger on the third item. "See that, boy!" he growled. "I had a thousand in the Trent, Truman and Bradford 会社／堅い and, when Ebenezer and Elijah were gettin' ready to 勝利，勝つd up the 商売／仕事, they paid it 支援する to me. They paid your mother fifteen hundred for her 株, all she was する権利を与えるd to, they said—and it did look so at the time. But Uncle Abner, Hettie's father, he only put a thousand in, same as I did. Why did they give him six times as much? Eh? Unless he knew or guessed—somethin'?"

Banks, pale and agitated, looked up from his reading.

"Don't you remember," he asked, "how 半端物 Cousin Hettie has always 行為／法令／行動するd about this Golconda 商売／仕事? And how queer she was when you and I had had our talk together, in your room, soon after I （機の）カム 支援する here to live? She seemed 脅すd and 怪しげな, very anxious to know what secret we had between us...Do you suppose she knows—has always known or 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd anything like— like this?"

"I don't know...Maybe...Abner Bradford was my dad's brother, but he was different from father as dark is from day, and what he wouldn't do to get or save a dollar is somethin' I'd hate to have to make a bet on. And Hettie is just like him. No, I 疑問 if Hettie KNOWS much—Abner was too cagey a bird to tell even her—but she's shrewd and she may have guessed a little. 井戸／弁護士席," with a savage growl, "I'll find out how much she knows and find it out in a hurry. You can leave Hettie to me!"

The fourth, and last, paper in the packet was another 調印するd 協定. Ebenezer Trent and Elijah Truman agreed to 支払う／賃金 one Henry Todd, whose 署名, with theirs, was appended, a thousand dollars 年一回の during the period of his life, "for services （判決などを）下すd."

"And Henry Todd was second mate of the Golconda that voyage," put in Abijah. "He is the one Silas speaks of as 'liable to be a nuisance,' in that letter of his you just read."

Banks nodded. "The other night, over at Tadgett's," he said, "Mrs. Simpkins was speaking of him. He was some relation of her husband's. I remember now she said it was always a wonder to her and others, that he could afford to live in idleness. She について言及するd—I remember it now—that he was with father on that ship."

He dropped the final papers upon the others. The two men looked at each other. Abijah seemed to be waiting for his 甥 to speak, but he did not. He sat there, 選ぶing absently at the corner of the blotter upon the desk and gazing at the portrait of his father upon the 塀で囲む. The captain bent toward him.

"井戸／弁護士席?" he queried, hoarsely, "井戸／弁護士席, Banks? You see, don't you? You understand what it means?"

Banks drew a long breath. "Yes, Uncle Bije," he said, slowly. "Yes, I—I'm afraid I do."

"Afraid! You know you do! It's plain enough. Those rascally partners of his 説得するd Silas into burnin' the Golconda for the 保険 money. And he—he put the dirty 職業 through for 'em! It's all there, just as plain as print. A blind man could see it!"

"There can't be any mistake? It couldn't mean anything else?"

"Of course it couldn't! Don't you suppose I hoped it might and prayed it might? Do you suppose _I_ believed it until my ありふれた sense made me? Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! What's the use? There it is! We've GOT to believe it!"

"But why—why did father do it?"

"Why? Why, for what that 肉親，親類d of thing is always done for—money! And, in a way it explains a lot. There was some talk when it happened. If anybody but Silas Bradford had captained that （手先の）技術 there might have been more; but nobody believed HE was anything but straight. The 会社／堅い was on the ragged 辛勝する／優位 of break and they 危険d the crooked work and got away with it. Probably the 貨物 was all hokus. Trent and Truman may have stolen the 本物の stuff—and sold it, for what I know. And that, and the 保険 money, besides savin' 'em from 失敗, gave that pair their start out West, later on. It made 'em rich men in the end, darn 'em! And poor Silas, the fellow they made the monkey of, died. That's all he got out of it...井戸／弁護士席," with a snap of his teeth, "perhaps 'twas a good thing he did die...That's a terrible thing for me to say, but it's what I've been thinkin' half the night through. Silas Bradford! My brother! This has 削減（する） the ground from under me, boy! I don't think I'll ever get over it."

He covered his 注目する，もくろむs with his 手渡す and groaned again. Banks was still looking at the portrait on the 塀で囲む.

"I wonder why she kept these things all this time," he said, slowly. "Why didn't she, or her husband, get rid of them long ago? They were the only 証拠 there was and I should have thought—"

Abijah broke in. "Yes, yes, so should I have thought," he snapped. "But I guess likely I can see why. That—that devilish 協定 now! There were other copies of that. Silas had one—he says so in that letter; and probably old Trent had another. They didn't any one of 'em 信用 the other two. And after Silas was killed, Lije Truman hung on to his copy, and his 未亡人 did when he died; and, most likely, Chris Trent has got one hid somewheres. Either Maybelle or Chris could 持つ／拘留する it over t'other in 事例／患者 anything did come out. They were all in it together and here was proof that tied 'em in. The Cartwright girl told me that her grandmother, in her last sickness, told her somethin' about takin' care of those papers...Oh, it's a thin explanation, I 認める you. _I_ don't know why they were kept! I don't care! There they are—and we've seen 'em, Lord help us!"

Banks was still 選ぶing at the blotter.

"Why did Elizabeth bring them to you, I wonder," he murmured, thinking aloud.

"Eh? Why, because she thought I せねばならない see 'em, I 推定する likely. I—and you. She said I could show 'em to you, and to your mother, if I thought best."

"Yes; and then what? What does she 推定する／予想する us to do, Uncle Abijah?"

"Do! There's nothin 'to be done, at this late day. She said she'd talk with me again いつか. I don't know what about."

"I was just wondering—if—"

"Yes? What?"

"I was wondering if she had an idea of—of making some sort of restitution; 支払う／賃金ing 支援する the money—or anything like that."

"Rubbish! Who could she 支払う／賃金 it 支援する to? And how—without draggin' her grandfather's 評判 and Maybelle's and Trent's in the dirt? No! If she's got any such crazy notion as that she'll have to get rid of it. She'll have to, for her own sake and yours and Margaret's and 地雷, if for nothin' else. The 指名する of Bradford has been clean, so far as I know, since there was a Bradford in this part of the country. It'll be kept clean, if I have anything to say about it...Besides," doggedly, "it'll take more than these darned papers to make me believe Silas wasn't dragged into the mess by main strength and against his will. He was—why, the whole 郡 knows what he was! I wish to God I could find out the whole ins and outs of this! I will, if there's any way possible. I'm not 満足させるd yet. If anybody knows more than I do I'll find it out. You hear me."

His 握りこぶし struck the desk again. Banks said nothing. The captain regarded him with surprise and 厳しい 不賛成.

"Honest, boy," he 不平（をいう）d, "you astonish me. This 悪口を言う／悪態d thing has shaken me all apart. I thought you'd be worse off than I am. He was your father! Your own father! And here he is mixed up in the meanest, dirtiest 罪，犯罪 a salt water man can be mixed up in. Settin' 解雇する／砲火／射撃 to his 大型船 for the 保険! And you just 始める，決める there and—and—"

"Hush, Uncle Abijah! I feel it as 熱心に as you do, be sure of that. It is only that—井戸／弁護士席, perhaps I am not as 完全に surprised as you are." He paused, and then 追加するd: "For some time I have wondered if there wasn't something—queer—in father's history. About his sudden death and—and other things."

The captain gasped. "You've wondered THAT!" he cried. "For heaven's sake, why?"

"Because—井戸／弁護士席, because of mother. She has never told me much about father. When I have asked questions 関心ing the latter part of his life she has never told me a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. She—it seemed to me that she hasn't liked to talk about him. And, besides, there is another thing—井戸／弁護士席, I guess I won't speak of that. It probably hasn't anything to do with the Golconda."

"井戸／弁護士席? Come! What is it?"

"Nothing, perhaps. I can't tell you, Uncle Abijah."

His uncle did not 圧力（をかける） the 支配する. He was frowning 深く，強烈に and it was obvious that what he had just heard had 誘発するd a new 疑惑 in his mind.

"Banks," he 需要・要求するd, very 真面目に, "do you suppose Margaret knows—has known all along—more than we do about all this?"

"I am not sure. I think now that she may have."

Captain Abijah sprang to his feet.

"I'll settle that inside of twenty minutes!" he 公約するd, ひどく.

Banks, too, rose. He caught the captain's arm.

"Uncle Bije," he ordered; "wait! If you are going to mother now, I don't want you to."

"Why not? If she knows anything—anything at all—I'm goin' to know it, too. Ain't I got the 権利, for the Lord's sake?"

"Surely you have. But perhaps I have even more 権利. I had rather see her first—alone. I'll go home now. You can come there a little later. We will be waiting for you."

Abijah hesitated. His jaw was clenched and his 握りこぶしs were jammed into his coat pockets. Then with a shrug he turned away.

"All 権利," he growled. "Go and see her, but don't stop by the way. I'll be at your house in half an hour."

"Thank you, Uncle Bije. Where will you be in the 合間?"

"Be? I'll be havin' a heart-to-heart talk with Hettie. If SHE'S been holdin' 支援する anything all these years she won't 持つ／拘留する it any longer. I'll get the last word out of her if I have to shake it out...In half an hour then."

He strode out of the office. A minute or two later Banks went out also.

一時期／支部 23

He met several 知識s during the walk from the office to the cottage on Mill Road. They 屈服するd to him, two or three あられ／賞賛するd him; one—it was Hayman—would have stopped to 雑談（する） if he had received the least 激励. But Banks, although he returned the 屈服するs and answered the あられ／賞賛するs, was scarcely conscious that he did so. Afterward, had he been asked to 指名する the persons whom he met, he could not have done it. Outwardly he was やめる himself; beyond the obvious fact that he was a trifle preoccupied and in a hurry, Mr. Sam Hayman noticed nothing peculiar in his manner. He agreed that it was a 特に 罰金 day for the time of year, smiled pleasantly and 急いでd on, and the middle-老年の undertaker and 解雇する／砲火／射撃 長，指導者, who was still 苦しむing rheumatic twinges in consequence of the 冷淡な he had 契約d at the Truman 解雇する／砲火／射撃, looked after him and envied his 青年 and good looks. It was wonderful to be twenty- six, strong, healthy, and care 解放する／自由な.

But Samuel's envy might have been 大いに 少なくなるd had he been able to look behind the smiling Bradford mask and read but a few of the thoughts whirling in the Bradford brain. They were so many and they whirled so 急速な／放蕩な! Captain Abijah had made an amazed and shocked comment upon his 甥's coolness in the 直面する of the thunderbolt which had descended upon the family and 始める，決める its ideal tottering. Banks had been 冷静な／正味の then—cooler than his uncle, at least—for it was true that the （危険などに）さらす of the Golconda 陰謀（を企てる） had not 鎮圧するd him as 完全に as it had 鎮圧するd Abijah.

He remembered his father only as a small child remembers. All his life the fact that he was Silas Bradford's boy had been drummed in his ears, not only by Cousin Hettie and Uncle Bije, but by all adult Denboro. Long ago he had become despairingly reconciled to the 明らかな fact that, no 事柄 how hard he might try, he could never be the paragon of perfection which his father had been. Yet that father was not, as he was to these others, the hallowed memory of a flesh and 血 personality; he was, to his son, but a 影をつくる／尾行する, although, of course, a very wonderful and 深い尊敬の念を抱くd 影をつくる／尾行する.

Therefore the 発覚s 含む／封じ込めるd in the papers hidden in Mrs. Truman's 安全な had not had the 影響 upon him that they had upon Abijah. The latter had 設立するd his life upon that of his brother. Silas had been, to him, a veritable idol, a king who could do no wrong. And, this particular wrong was, in the 注目する，もくろむs of the retired 船員, the meanest, most contemptible of all 罪，犯罪s, the carefully planned 破壊 of a ship by its 指揮官. Abijah Bradford could have 是認するd 殺人 sooner than that. No wonder he 辞退するd, even yet, to believe 絶対. Banks was 軍隊d to believe, and he was disillusioned, humiliated and ashamed. Abijah was all these and more—he was heartbroken.

And, too, Banks' astonishment was not as entire and 麻ひさせるing as his uncle's had been. For a long time, for years, he had noticed that his mother was always reticent when his father's 指名する was について言及するd. And, of late, he had been led to 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う that her dislike of Mrs. Truman might be 設立するd, in some way, upon past happenings connected with Silas Bradford's history. Mrs. Truman had said that she knew his father. She had said it to him, and to Elizabeth...井戸／弁護士席, perhaps, now, at last, he was to find out what it all meant. He would. If Silas Bradford's 未亡人 knew more than her son now knew—even though the knowledge might 追加する to the humiliation and shame—that son must 株 the knowledge.

She was in the dining room, hemming a tablecloth, when he （機の）カム in. She looked up in surprise.

"Why, Banks!" she exclaimed. "what brings you home at half past ten in the morning? Did you forget something?"

He shook his 長，率いる. "No, Mother," he said. "I （機の）カム to have a talk with you."

He threw off his coat, pulled 今後 a 議長，司会を務める and seated himself beside her. She had dropped her sewing and was gazing at him.

"Banks!" she cried, anxiously. "You look pale—and queer! What is it?"

"I am going to tell you, Mother. You must listen at first, while I tell you what I know. Then," very 真面目に, "I want you to tell me what YOU know—all of it."

The tablecloth fell from her （競技場の）トラック一周 to the 床に打ち倒す.

"What I know!" she repeated, slowly.

"Yes, just that. I am sure you know a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定. Mother, Uncle Bije has gone to see Cousin Hettie. He thinks she knows—井戸／弁護士席, something. He is coming here 直接／まっすぐに from her house. I hope you and I may have our talk—part of it, at least—before he comes. So you will listen and not interrupt, won't you?"

Her 注目する，もくろむs met his for a long instant. The color was fading from her cheeks.

"You will listen, Mother, until I have finished?" he said, again.

"Yes, Banks...Yes, of course! Is it—you 脅す me!"

"There is nothing to be 脅すd about. I am almost sure that you know—have known—what I am going to tell. I learned it only an hour ago. Uncle Abijah learned it last night and he （機の）カム to me this morning. Poor old chap! He is 完全に knocked over by it. It is terrible for him!"

She 解除するd a 手渡す. "Just one question, Banks," she 滞るd. "Just one—please! Is this—this that you have learned—you and he—is it about—your father?"

"Yes, Mother, it is."

Her 注目する，もくろむs の近くにd. Then they slowly opened. "How did you—?" she breathed. "How—? Oh, 井戸／弁護士席; you are going to tell me that!...Go on."

He told of his uncle's coming to the office, of Elizabeth's call at the captain's rooms in the Malabar, of her 発見 of the packet of papers in the Truman 安全な, of her leaving them with Abijah.

"And now, mother," he continued. "I am going to tell you what Uncle Bije then—and I, this morning, when he brought them to me— 設立する in those papers. It's a rotten mess, I'm afraid. Yes, I know it is. And telling it to you would be next to impossible if— if I weren't 事実上 確かな you knew it already."

He went on to 公表する／暴露する the contents of those papers, one by one, beginning with the 協定 調印するd by the three partners and ending with the 覚え書き of 支払い（額）s to Henry Todd. She did not interrupt again, nor, when at last he finished, did she speak for a long moment. Then she sighed.

"Poor Abijah!" she said, sadly. "Poor, poor Abijah!"

Banks nodded grimly. "You would say that if you could have seen him!" he agreed. "井戸／弁護士席, Mother, it is all true, isn't it?"

She hesitated. She was still pale, but more composed than she had been at the beginning. He leaned toward her.

"It is all true, isn't it, Mother?" he 主張するd. "You must tell me—now."

"Yes, Banks, I am afraid it is."

"You know it is, don't you?"

"Why—yes, I do."

"How long have you known it?"

"Since your father's death—or very soon afterward. That is, I had no real proof, but I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd—I was 事実上 sure."

"And you have never について言及するd it to any one?"

"No, Banks."

"Not even to your own son! Mother," with a gesture of despair, "in God's 指名する why 港／避難所't you told me! While I was a kid—yes, I suppose I can understand your not telling me then. But I've been a man for years. Why didn't you tell me; not leave me to find it out like—like THIS?"

He sprang up and walked to the window, where he stood, looking out, his 手渡すs jammed in his pockets and his foot patting the carpet. She rose and, に引き続いて him, put her arm about his shoulder.

"Banks! Banks, dear!" she pleaded. "Don't speak that way! Don't 持つ／拘留する it against me! How could I tell you? How could I!"

"Why couldn't you? I am his son; he was my father. I had the 権利 to know."

"And I was his wife—and your mother. And you WERE his son; that was just it. Every one was so proud of him! You were proud of him! I hoped—I prayed that you might always be! That you might never know what I knew. Don't you see?"

He did not answer. Her arm about his shoulder 強化するd its 持つ／拘留する. Her 発言する／表明する trembled.

"For years and years," she went on, "I was so afraid—so terribly afraid it might all come out, as it has come out now. But it never did and—and so, at last, I （機の）カム to believe it never would and that you and Abijah and the Denboro people might always think of him as good and 罰金—and honest. Nothing, as I saw it, was to be 伸び（る）d by my talking, and there was so much to be lost. Oh, Banks, you MUST see! Tell me you do and that you 許す me!"

He drew a long breath. "Oh, I 許す you," he said, gloomily. "I suppose I understand, in a way. Perhaps there was nothing to be 伸び（る）d by your telling now, so many years afterward. But in the beginning—there at first—why, Mother, it was a 罪，犯罪! The 保険 companies, they were 搾取するd! They paid the money on that ship and 貨物."

"Yes—oh, yes! I realized that, if something wicked had been done— and I supposed it had—by keeping what I knew, or guessed, to myself I was as wicked as he had been and as those others were. But he was dead. And he was my husband! I loved him, Banks. I always loved him. I couldn't help it, even when—when I thought he did not love me. Even when I knew—"

She paused. He turned to look 負かす／撃墜する at her, but her 直面する was hidden on his shoulder. She was sobbing.

"Knew?" he repeated. "Knew what?...Is there more still that you know and that I don't? Is there, Mother?"

"No! Oh, no!" 猛烈に. "Why DID I say that! No, there isn't! Don't! Please don't!"

"Mother, there must not be any more between you and me...Come!"

"But it doesn't 事柄! It doesn't 事柄 at all now. It didn't really 事柄 then. It was you I thought of all the time. You were so proud of your father; I 手配中の，お尋ね者 you to be. He loved you, Banks! And he loved me! He had always loved me—he said so in his last letter. That has been my one 慰安. I KNOW he always loved me! I was the only one he ever really loved!...As for the 残り／休憩（する） of it—whatever he had done that was wrong—with his ship, I mean—he did not 利益（をあげる） by it. And I didn't—nor you—nor Abijah! I am glad I didn't tell any one! I meant to keep it till I died! Not for my sake, nor for his—but just for yours. And if that makes me wicked, too, then I don't care!"

She 解除するd her 長，率いる and 直面するd him. He had heard all she said, but he scarcely 注意するd it. There was a new 疑惑 in his mind now and it had （人が）群がるd out everything else.

"Yes, Mother," he said, almost with impatience. "Yes, yes! that is （疑いを）晴らす enough, how you felt—and all that. But you 港／避難所't answered my question. I think there is something more you are still hiding from me."

"No, Banks! Oh, no!...Don't—"

"I've got to! And I am going to! Mother, I believe—"

He stopped. The 前線 gate had clicked and slammed shut. Margaret and her son turned to look. Through the window they saw Abijah Bradford striding up the path. They drew apart and were 直面するing the door when he threw it open and entered the room. He looked at them.

"Huh!" he grunted. "So you've told her, eh?"

Margaret answered. "Yes, Abijah," she said, 静かに. "Banks has told me."

"I see!...And how much of it did you know already? That's what I want to find out."

Before his mother could reply, Banks asked a question.

"Have you seen Hettie?" he asked.

The captain nodded grimly. "I've seen her."

"Did she—?"

"She and I have had it out, same as I told you we would. I left her sittin' in the middle of the 床に打ち倒す, cryin'...Let her cry, 爆破 her!" with a growl of savage disgust. "She deserves to. It may do her good."

"Did she know? I mean has she always known?"

"She's always known somethin', a whole lot more than the 残り／休憩（する） of us. Unless," with a 怪しげな glare at his sister-in-法律, "you were in on it, too, Margaret! Come now, were you?"

Banks 固執するd. "Tell us about Hettie first," he 勧めるd.

"Huh! All 権利! But she doesn't know any particulars, any whys and wherefores. Somethin' Uncle Abner told her before he died, or just when he was dyin'—you can bet your life he'd wait till the last gasp before he took a chance where there was a dollar 関心d—some things he said to her then made her wonder if there wasn't a strong smell of fish hangin' around the Golconda 保険 and the almighty 自由主義の 解決／入植地 Trent and Truman made with her old man. I dragged that out of her and she didn't 持つ／拘留する 支援する much from me, I guess; she was too 脅すd just at that minute, for I wasn't what you'd call gentle. I gather that she's never known much of anything. But she's guessed and 疑惑d and has always been 脅すd and nervous for 恐れる I, or somebody else, might learn more. She knows it now, though! I didn't muffle my engine 負かす／撃墜する, I gave it to her 十分な steam. I told her that if this was true, Silas and Ebenezer Trent and Elijah Truman were crooks who'd せねばならない have been in 刑務所，拘置所 and that Uncle Abner belonged there with 'em. Yes, and I said I shouldn't be a mite surprised if she landed there herself afore long...Oh, I put the 恐れる of the Lord into HER, don't you worry!"

Margaret sighed. "Poor Hettie!" she said. "井戸／弁護士席, I have always believed she 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd something of the truth. I am sorry for her."

"You needn't be! And," 怒って, "why have YOU believed that? You knew yourself, then? Yes, you did, of course...Answer me! Come! Good Lord, woman! don't you understand what this means to me? My—my own brother!"

"And my husband, Abijah."

"Eh?...Yes, your husband! And Banks' father! Oh, Margaret, it isn't true, is it? There's a mistake somewhere. I won't believe it of Silas! I can't!"

His 直面する was working with emotion. He choked and, reaching into his pocket for his handkerchief, wiped his forehead. Then, frowning, he stepped toward her.

"Come now!" he ordered. "You've as much as said you know somethin'. What DO you know?"

His 甥 broke in. "Wait, Mother," he said; "I'll tell him. She knows everything, Uncle Bije. All that we know—and more, I am afraid."

"More! What the devil does that mean? Is there more yet?"

"I think so. Mother, you must tell us everything now. Don't you see you must?"

Margaret's 直面する was white, but she met her brother-in-法律's gaze with 静める 反抗.

"I have told Banks all I know about the Golconda," she said. "And that is no more, perhaps a little いっそう少なく, than you and he have 設立する out."

"But, Mother," 固執するd Banks, "you 港／避難所't told—"

Abijah interrupted. "持つ／拘留する on!" he snapped. "You say you know all that. How long have you known it?"

"Since soon after Silas died."

"And you've kept your mouth shut ever since!"

"Yes."

"Yes! And you let Trent and Truman collect the 保険 and square themselves with all 創造, and take the swag and go out West and get rich and come 支援する and live and die like honest men! You knew it and you let 'em do that! YOU did!"

"Yes, Abijah."

"Why? Why? Were you afraid of your own hide? Were you in on the game yourself?"

Banks stepped 今後. "Come, come, Uncle Bije," he 抗議するd. "That's enough of that!"

"Is it? Maybe it's enough for you! You're her son and I 推定する likely you can't help takin' after her. But it don't 満足させる me. I'm Bradford all through. There's no Banks in me and I thank God for it! I know that （人が）群がる! When Silas married into 'em I told him he was makin' the mistake of his life and he'd live to be sorry. And I guess he did! When he was home here the last time I could see he was worried and fretted. He didn't 行為／法令／行動する like himself. And now I believe I know where the trouble lay. And, long as we're talkin' about this we may 同様に go through to the finish. Ever since he died, poor fellow, I've wondered and wondered why he didn't leave more. I never said much, but I've wondered. He'd always earned big 給料; he'd made some sound 投資s. What had he done with his money? He'd been extravagant maybe, spent more'n he'd せねばならない. 井戸／弁護士席, who was 責任がある that? It's been my experience that a man with a savin' wife is savin' himself. And a man with an honest wife doesn't often do crooked things. So that's why I ask you, Margaret—Banks, how much you knew of this Golconda 商売／仕事 afore it happened? How much did you—"

But his 甥's 発言する／表明する stopped him in the middle of the 宣告，判決.

"Shut up, Uncle Bije!" he 命令（する）d. "You're making a fool of yourself."

The captain gasped. His 直面する was purple and he was brandishing a clenched 握りこぶし.

"You—you young scamp! Are YOU takin' her part against—"

Margaret stepped between them. "That is enough, Abijah," she said, 厳しく. "No, Banks! I can take my own part...And—yes, I think I will. I didn't ーするつもりである to; I never meant that you or he should know—anything. But you shall know it!...Wait!"

She turned and left the room. They heard her 上がる the stairs. The captain's 握りこぶし fell to his 味方する.

"I—I'm sorry, boy," he muttered. "I've said more than I せねばならない, perhaps. I—井戸／弁護士席, I'm almost crazy, I guess. I—I—"

"Hush! It is only because I realize that you are crazy, or next door to it, that keeps me from throwing you into the street. I'll do it yet, if you don't beg her 容赦. Now shut up!"

Perhaps for the first time since his days before the mast Captain Abijah Bradford obeyed an order. He did not say another word. 沈むing into a 議長，司会を務める he 星／主役にするd moodily at the carpet. They waited in silence. A few minutes later Margaret returned to the dining room. She was carrying an oblong box, of mahogany inlaid with ebony and with a 巡査 扱う, sunk 紅潮／摘発する with the 支持を得ようと努めるd, at either end. The 初期のs "S. B." were painted neatly on its 最高の，を越す. Banks and his uncle 認めるd it. It had been Silas Bradford's 令状ing desk, he had carried it with him on many voyages.

Margaret placed it upon the dining （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. With a 重要な which she had in her 手渡す she 打ち明けるd it and 解除するd the lid. Then she pulled 今後 and 延長するd the 倍のd 令状ing surface, covered with green felt.

"You know what this is, of course?" she said. Abijah did not speak. Banks nodded.

"It is father's desk, the one he always had with him on shipboard."

"Yes. It was saved, with his trunk and other things belonging to him, when the Golconda 燃やすd. After he died all those things were sent home to me. I 推定する／予想するd them. He—" with a catch of the breath, "had written me that they would be sent."

Abijah looked up. "When did he 令状 you?" he blurted, in incredulous surprise. "Not from San Francisco! He didn't have time for that?"

"Yes, he did. He wrote and mailed the letter the very day he—he died. I got the 電報電信 説 that he was dead about a week before the letter （機の）カム."

"But you never told me you got any such letter!"

"I didn't tell any one. There were things in that letter I meant no one should ever see. At first I thought I must 燃やす it. Then, because it was his last letter and—and because of one thing he did say, I couldn't. I kept it. It is here, in this desk—with some other letters. Those I SHOULD have 燃やすd. I didn't—and—and perhaps now it is just 同様に. They help to explain away some of the dreadful things you （刑事）被告 me of just now, Abijah Bradford."

Banks spoke. "Those things don't need explaining, Mother," he 宣言するd, 怒って. "Uncle Bije せねばならない be ashamed of himself. He knew he was lying when he said them."

"Hush; hush, dear! He did say them, and now they must be answered. Don't interrupt me. Let me get it over, once and for all."

She 解除するd and threw 支援する the upper half of the felt-covered 令状ing surface. Beneath was a compartment, empty. Across its upper end was a 二塁打 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of small drawers and the rack for an 署名／調印する 瓶／封じ込める and pens.

"You have seen this part ever and ever so many times, Banks," she went on. "But there are others you have never seen. No one knew of them except your father and I. He showed them to me when we were first married. He told me all his secrets—then."

"Mother!" broke in Banks. "You mustn't cry. I don't 支払う／賃金 any attention to what Uncle Bije said just now. He—"

"Hush, please! I am not crying because of anything he said...井戸／弁護士席, now I am going to show you both what Silas showed me when I first saw this desk."

She 解除するd the 署名／調印する 瓶／封じ込める from its place. Then she drew out 確かな small vertical partitions—直す／買収する，八百長をするd and immovable partitions Banks had always supposed them to be—and laid them upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Next she 除去するd the little drawers.

"And now," she said, "you will see."

The drawers were shallow. The 枠組み in which they had been 始める，決める was covered with the 木造の （土地などの）細長い一片 forming the pen rack. The vertical partitions had held this 堅固に in place, but their 除去 permitted it to slide in a groove. Beneath it, and at the 支援する of the drawers, was a three-インチ space of the entire width and depth of the desk itself. And Abijah and Banks, leaning 今後, could see that in the space were papers, some loose and others in 一括s.

"He always hid his very 私的な papers here," she said. "I knew that, although no one else did. And so, when they sent his desk home to me, I knew where to look. I didn't look at first; I was afraid to. I thought I might find what, just then, I couldn't 耐える to think of finding. But one day, alone in my own room, I did what you have just seen me do and I 設立する—these."

She took from the secret compartment three letters, in their envelopes; one by itself, the other two held together by a rubber ひもで縛る. She laid the little packet upon the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. The envelopes were yellowed by time, and each was stamped and postmarked. Upon the uppermost Banks read his father's 指名する in what looked like a woman's handwriting. "Captain Silas Bradford, 海上の Hotel, San Francisco, California."

Margaret was 持つ／拘留するing the 選び出す／独身 letter in her 手渡す.

"This did not come to me with the others in the desk," she went on. "I put it there myself, afterwards. It is—it is that last letter of his to me...I—no, no! Please don't say anything! I must go through with this! I—I will!...But you must be 患者."

Abijah, who had been about to speak, did not do so. It was Banks who sprang to his feet with a 抗議する.

"Mother!" he pleaded. "Don't! Is it necessary? Or, if it is, can't Uncle Bije and I read those things by ourselves? It is too dreadful for you! Please—"

She shook her 長，率いる. "No!" she said, 堅固に. "No, I shall go through with it—now. This letter from him—this one here— explained almost everything. I want you to read it, both of you, but before you do read it—and," with a shudder, "those others, I must tell you—more. Just be 患者. It won't take very long."

Her son sank 支援する into his 議長，司会を務める. The captain was leaning 今後, his florid cheeks spotted with white, his breathing and the ticking of the clock the only sounds breaking the 静かな of the room. Margaret Bradford continued. It was to Banks she was speaking and at him only she looked. "Your father and I were very happy when we were first married," she said. "No two people could have been happier than we were—then. We didn't have much money, but we were young and he was so able and smart and ambitious, and everybody prophesied 広大な／多数の／重要な things for him. Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, you know all that! Of course his marrying me was a mistake—every one said so—his own people in particular. They felt his marrying a girl whose family had never 量d to much was—but Abijah has told you how he and they felt about that...No, wait! I shan't speak of it again. Perhaps I shouldn't have let him marry me; but I was so young and he was so masterful and—and I cared so much for him...We did marry."

She paused a moment. Then she continued.

"He went on doing 井戸／弁護士席 and 後継するing and at last they took him into the 会社／堅い. We built this house and you （機の）カム and—and then— then I began to be troubled about him. At first I used to go up to Boston and stay for weeks at a time, the baby and I, but by and by he didn't seem to like to have me do that. And he wasn't as—he was different to me. He was always 肉親，親類d, and anything I asked for I could have, but there was something on his mind, I knew it. At first I thought it was money; the 会社／堅い was having a hard fight of it, he said. But—but then I began to 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う—to wonder if there wasn't something else...Yes, if there wasn't SOME ONE else. I 設立する a letter in a coat he had left here at home. Perhaps I shouldn't have read it, but it was 調印するd by her Christian 指名する...井戸／弁護士席, I didn't say anything to him about it, I was ashamed of having read it. And I tried to think it didn't really mean anything."

She paused again. Banks spoke involuntarily.

"Mother!" he cried. "Who was the woman?...Was it—?"

"Yes...Yes, it was. She was unmarried then, a 未亡人, and she was keeping a sort of 搭乗 house in Boston. Captain Truman lived there and I suppose your father began going there at first to see him. Then, afterwards, he—"

Abijah Bradford's 手渡すs clenched upon the 武器 of his 議長，司会を務める.

"God A'mighty!" he gasped. "Maybelle Truman! And you dare to tell me that Silas—"

"Hush, Abijah! Let me finish. She wasn't Mrs. Truman then; she was Maybelle Rodgers. She was older than he, but she was very good-looking and—and fascinating, I suppose, and— Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! I don't know how far it went. I don't want to know!...You （刑事）被告 me of 存在 extravagant just now. You couldn't understand what became of the money Silas must have saved. I don't know. It didn't come to me, that I do know; I didn't spend it...井戸／弁護士席, then he sailed in the Golconda on that last voyage. He （機の）カム home and stayed a whole week before he left and—and that is the week I like to remember. He was more like himself than he had been for ever so long. Then he went away and I didn't hear a word until— until the 電報電信 （機の）カム 説 he was dead. Then （機の）カム his letter— this letter—and then this desk and those letters there. And when I read them I wished I was dead, too. But I couldn't die. I had my boy to live for. I have been living for him ever since."

She sighed, wearily. "That is all I can say now," she 追加するd. "Those three letters I want you both to read. I shall go away while you read them; I shall be in my room upstairs. When you want me I will come 負かす／撃墜する."

She turned and left the dining room. Abijah might have tried to 拘留する her, but his 甥 caught his arm. After she had gone the two men looked at each other. The captain's 手渡す moved toward the letters on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"You are going to—to read them?" 滞るd Banks.

"I am!" ひどく. "By the Lord, I am! She has said things that—if they're true, why—"

"They are true...I had begun to guess something like this, though not so bad...井戸／弁護士席, read them then!"

Abijah opened the first of the two letters 耐えるing his brother's 指名する upon their envelopes. Banks, looking over his shoulder, read as he did. They read the first, then the second. Intimate letters they were, 情熱的な, at times angry. The first was pleading, the second 脅すing. It ended with this 宣言:

You did not come to see me before you sailed. You 約束d me you would. You did not even 令状 me. Does it mean that you are tired of me and are trying to run away? You shan't. When I hear that you are 安全な in San Francisco I shall know you have received this. I shall give you time to answer. Then, if I get no answer from you, I shall come out there. I don't care what people say or what happens. All that should mean nothing to you and me. And, remember, I KNOW A GREAT DEAL. I shan't tell what I know unless it is necessary. Whether I do tell or not depends upon you and your 治療 of me when I come.

There were 抗議するs of undying affection and then the 署名.

The sheet of paper fell from Abijah's 手渡す. He groaned aloud. Banks took the third letter from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"We must read this, Uncle Bije," he said. "Mother wants us to."

"No!...No, no! I don't want to read it...Lord above! ain't those others enough!...Silas!...井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席! go ahead, if you've got to! What difference does anything make—now!"

The third letter was from Silas Bradford to his wife, written the day he died. It was heart-rending, almost incoherent in parts. There were 部分的な／不平等な 自白s of wrong done. He had committed a 罪，犯罪, what, he did not 明言する／公表する. But for the most part he begged Margaret's forgiveness.

You are the only woman I ever cared for [he 宣言するd, again and again]. I know you won't believe it, but it is true. A dozen times in the last two years I have been on the point of ending this other thing, but I was in a 罠（にかける） and I couldn't get away. Now I am going to take the only possible way out. Perhaps no one but you will ever know that I did take it. I mean to make it look like an 事故. You see they have a 持つ／拘留する on me, she and a man out here. If she doesn't tell anything he will, unless he is paid and paid and paid. So it is good-by. But, oh, Margaret, dear, if it DOESN'T all come out, please, PLEASE never let our boy know the 肉親，親類d of man his father was. That is the only thing I ask. If you can 許す a little, and believe that I have always loved you and no one else, so much the better. But the boy—don't tell him, if you can help it. God bless you!

Banks read the pitiful thing aloud, stopping at intervals and then 軍隊ing himself on to the end. He staggered to his feet and walked to the window. His uncle remained where he was, his 直面する buried in his 手渡すs.

"井戸／弁護士席?" said Banks, wretchedly. "And now what?"

Captain Abijah looked up. "He killed himself!" he moaned. "It wasn't an 事故. He killed himself, like—like a coward!"

"Yes...井戸／弁護士席, that doesn't surprise me so much, either. Since I saw those papers you brought to the office I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd that was the truth of it...And now what, Uncle Abijah?"

Abijah shook his 長，率いる. "I don't know," he muttered. "Eh?...Yes, I do! I know one thing."

He stepped to the sitting room and called.

"Margaret!" he cried. "Come 負かす／撃墜する, will you please?"

She （機の）カム. Her brother-in-法律 stood before her. There was no trace of red in his cheeks now. He was white and he 安定したd himself with a 手渡す on the 議長，司会を務める 支援する.

"Margaret," he said. "I want you to answer me one question. Why— for heaven's sake, why didn't you speak out twenty years ago when you learned all this? Why didn't you tell me—if nobody else?"

She smiled, faintly. "How could I, Abijah!" she said. "What good would it have done? I knew what Silas was to you—and to Hettie, and all the Denboro people. I hoped you might never know. And then—there was Banks. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 him to 尊敬（する）・点 his father. In that letter of his—you read it, didn't you?—he begged me never to tell Banks."

"He begged you—yes! But—but after the way he'd 扱う／治療するd you—! And then, when he was in a fair way to 支払う／賃金 for that 治療, he こそこそ動くd out of payin' by shootin' himself! And left you to 耐える the brunt!...Margaret, I—I said some pretty rough things to you a （一定の）期間 支援する. I didn't really mean 'em. I've never been やめる 権利 with you. I've prided myself on bein' a Bradford and I know I've over and over let you see I thought Silas made a mistake by marryin' as he did...And now! Now, I realize that there never was a Bradford fit to step foot on this earth with you!"

"There, there, Abijah!"

"It's so...I beg your 容赦, Margaret. I'll do more'n that, if I live. I'll try and make it up to you as far as I can. But you won't 持つ／拘留する what I said against me? God knows I'm ashamed of it!"

"Of course not, Abijah!"

"Those letters—"

He stopped, open-mouthed, for she had taken two of the letters, those 調印するd by Maybelle Rodgers, and going to the stove, opened its door and laid them upon the coals.

"That is done—at last," she said.

一時期／支部 24

There were other papers and letters in the secret compartment of the 令状ing desk, but it was not until the に引き続いて day that Banks and his uncle went through them together. By that time Abijah was more like himself, more composed and in a 条件 to think more 明確に. They 設立する nothing その上の of importance. The copy of the 協定 between the partners—Silas Bradford's copy which his brother was 確かな he must have had and kept for his own 保護—was not there, nor had Margaret ever seen it.

"He might have had it in his pocket or somewheres," 示唆するd the captain, "and 'twas lost when the ship 燃やすd. It don't seem likely he would, but he might. Anyhow, it doesn't make any difference. We've seen one copy of the cussed thing and the Lord knows that's enough! Nobody else must ever see that. They shan't, if I can help it."

Banks was troubled. "But that copy doesn't belong to us," he 示唆するd, "it is Elizabeth's. All those papers she brought to you are hers now."

"I know, but I'm goin' to try and get her to let me get rid of the whole pack. They'll be burnt up, if I have my way."

"Uncle Bije, have we the 権利 to 燃やす them? We know now that a 罪，犯罪 was committed; although, of course, all those who were 責任がある it are dead."

"Yes, so they are. And fetchin' it out to the daylight now would only bring trouble and 不名誉 on innocent ones who aren't to 非難する at all. I 認める you that the 保険 folks were innocent, too, but for twenty-半端物 years that loss has been 示すd off their 調書をとる／予約するs. Far as that goes, at least two of those companies have changed 手渡すs, 強固にする／合併する／制圧するd with others, and things like that...No, I say now what I said to you yesterday mornin' at your office— 事実上 no good and a whole lot of 害（を与える） would come from makin' this mess public. It's been buried for twenty years. It's got to stay buried."

"But, Uncle Bije, will it stay buried—always, even if Elizabeth is willing for you to destroy that 協定 and the 残り／休憩（する）? Father's copy we can't find; it is lost, no 疑問. But don't you suppose Trent may have his grandfather's copy?"

Abijah nodded. "Why, yes," he 認める; "he may. I've thought of that, of course. Suppose he has; he's the very last one who can afford to show it. He's rich and he's got big 火刑／賭けるs everywhere, out West and in Ostable and all around, Besides, I 疑問 if his grandfather, old Benjamin, kept his copy long, even if 'Lijah and that darned wife of his did. It ain't a thing _I_ would have kept— not after those that were in it with me had passed on. We can 危険 Chris, I guess."

"But, Uncle Abijah—"

"See here, boy! Do YOU want this dead and gone crookedness dug up? Do you think it would be treatin' the Cartwright girl fair?"

"No," emphatically, "I do not. She isn't to 非難する. She mustn't 苦しむ. You are 権利, Uncle Bije."

"Seems to me I am. You and I might 直面する the music. It would be pretty 堅い on me to have the 指名する of Bradford turned into a dirty joke, but I guess likely I'd take my 株 of the dirt if I felt I せねばならない. I don't, though; I honestly don't! And there's somebody else who counts more than all 手渡すs of us together. She's stood enough. She's heard the husband that 扱う／治療するd her like—井戸／弁護士席, you know how he 扱う／治療するd her—preached up as the town wonder and a plaster saint and the Lord knows what. She's let me and Hettie and others as much as tell her to her 直面する that she was Silas Bradford's one mistake. And not a （民事の）告訴 from her, not even a hint! For your sake—just for yours—she's stood all that—"

Banks broke in. "Don't!" he 抗議するd. "Don't say any more! After all, nothing or nobody should 事柄 beside her. She is— is—"

He did not finish the 宣告，判決. His uncle nodded.

"You bet she is!" he 公約するd, almost reverently. "There's a lot of 支援する 支払う／賃金 comin' to her, boy; and as long as I live I don't mean to lose the chance of a 支払い（額）. Squarin' a little of that 負債 is goin' to be my 職業 今後."

"And 地雷!"

"Yes, and yours. 井戸／弁護士席, I'll see Elizabeth. I think she'll be willin' to がまんする by my judgment."

He （機の）カム to the office two days afterward to 報告（する）／憶測 that he had had a long talk with Elizabeth and had 納得させるd her that silence was the only just 政策. She had put her grandmother's papers in his 手渡すs to do with as he saw fit.

"And they went into the stove," he 追加するd. "I 燃やすd 'em up while she was there to see me do it. She's 満足させるd; she'll keep still."

"You didn't say anything about—about her grandmother and—and my father?"

"Eh!...Indeed I didn't! First place I couldn't have について言及するd that hussy's 指名する without puttin' the other 指名するs on that belonged with it. Besides, she was pretty good to the girl, I guess, and Elizabeth seems to have thought a sight of her. What was the good of smashin' more idols! She don't know, and she needn't ever know, so far as I can see...And, moreover," he 追加するd, gloomily, "to have said anything about that would have meant rubbin' more muck on your family 指名する and 地雷. It's true, of course, but we needn't advertise it...Huh!" with a shrug, "that sounds as if I still had a little pride left, doesn't it? 井戸／弁護士席, maybe I have—but it's precious little!"

He made one more comment before leaving.

"She's a pretty 罰金 girl," he said. "Her grandmother was—what she was, but Elizabeth's all 権利. She agreed 権利 off that Margaret mustn't 苦しむ any more...Oh, yes!" with a ちらりと見ること at his 甥, "and she seemed to be thinkin' about you, too. She said she was almost sorry that she hadn't 燃やすd those papers herself instead of ever lettin' you see 'em. She seemed to be afraid you might 非難する her for fetchin' 'em to us. Yes, she's all 権利!"

Banks and his mother had one more heart-to-heart talk before, at Margaret's 主張, it was agreed that the 支配する was to be dropped for good and all and never to be について言及するd by them again.

"We must forget it, dear," she said. "You know now all that I know. We have each other and there are no secrets between us, thank God! Those bad years are gone and we are going to have, I hope, many happy ones together. Please don't—unless you 絶対 have to—unless something else happens that we don't 推定する／予想する—spoil that happiness."

"All 権利, Mother, it's a 取引. But let me ask this, because I can't やめる understand it: Why do you suppose Mrs. Truman was— 井戸／弁護士席, so 肉親，親類d to me? Got me that position with Trent and was willing for me to call at her house, and all that? Oh, I know that she and he thought I was green and innocent and would be 平易な to manage; but there were plenty of others who would have been just as 平易な—might perhaps have been more 平易な, as it turned out. Why do you suppose she did it? It seems queer."

"Yes, it does seem queer, but I think I can understand. She was selfish and unscrupulous and worldly, but—井戸／弁護士席, there must have been some tenderness in her make-up. She was always 肉親，親類d to her granddaughter; 明らかに she loved her as much as she was 有能な of loving anybody. And I think—I think she loved, or thought she loved, your father. You look like him, Banks...I suppose— 井戸／弁護士席, you see?"

"Yes, perhaps I do. She said some things to me that I couldn't understand at the time. They are plainer now."

"Probably she wasn't all bad; no one is, I suppose...We won't talk about her, either. By the way, dear, you can't tell me yet why you gave up your position with Mr. Trent?"

He shook his 長，率いる. "Some day, Mother," he said. "Not yet. She wasn't the only one I 約束d. I want to do the square thing— now—more than I ever did."

He 中止するd speaking and seemed to 落ちる into a reverie, not altogether a pleasant one, 裁判官ing from his 表現. She watched him for a moment.

"Banks," she said.

He started. "What!...Yes, Mother?"

"Are you and she—still friendly?"

"She?...Oh! Elizabeth, you mean?"

"Yes. You were thinking about her, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. How did you know?"

"I guessed. You said you 手配中の，お尋ね者 to do the 権利 thing now, more than ever, and I guessed you were thinking of her when you said it."

"You are a 広大な／多数の／重要な mind reader, Mother. Why, yes, I suppose we are friendly, in a way. Not as friendly as we used to be. She didn't understand my 辞退するing to do what her grandmother and Trent asked me to do and not explaining why. You knew about that. She wrote me, after the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and I wrote her, but I 港／避難所't seen her to talk with since Trent and I had our 列／漕ぐ／騒動."

"Shall you see her?"

"You mean go and see her?...No, I think not."

"Why?"

"Oh...Because! That 状況／情勢 hasn't changed; I still can't explain. And there are other 推論する／理由s. Now that Mrs. Truman is dead she will be rich. That is, she will be unless there was any truth in that 'pauper' stuff. And, of course, there wasn't; it was just bluff to make me come to time."

"Pauper stuff?"

"Oh, Mrs. Truman said something about 存在 in 財政上の difficulties. I never believed it...No, Mother, I have thought it out and, as I see it, my keeping away from her will be the best thing for us both."

"But don't you think she might be glad to see you? She is alone in the world now and that is when friends mean a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定."

"I can't take advantage of that, can I? She will have friends enough, by and by, friends of her own 肉親，親類d, with money and— everything. I used to try to make myself believe that didn't make any difference, but all the time, underneath, I knew better. It does—or it せねばならない—on my 味方する of the 盗品故買者, at least. I made a fool of myself by 約束ing what I had no 商売／仕事 to 約束, and, perhaps, a bigger fool still by keeping that 約束. Trent （刑事）被告 me of not playing straight with him. I'll play straight with her," doggedly. "At any 率 I won't be altogether selfish."

She regarded him with a rueful smile.

"Banks," she said, "I am afraid you are stubborn. I can understand that, for I am stubborn myself. When I （不足などを）補う my mind to go through with a thing it takes a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to make me change it. But, my boy, I have lived fifty years in this world and that is やめる long enough to make me realize that stubbornness in the wrong place is a dreadful mistake. If I hadn't been proud and stubborn, if I had spoken to your father in the beginning, when I first began to—to 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う, I've afterward wondered how much of this terrible nightmare of ours might never have happened. Banks, if the time ever comes when changing your mind is the only thing that stands between you and happiness—happiness for you and perhaps some one else—for heaven's sake, change it!"

He was silent. She patted his shoulder.

"Banks," she said, "listen: Here is one thing more. I have never in my life been jealous of but one person. I 約束 you I never, NEVER will be jealous of any one else!"

Banks' 法律 practice was growing again. Not a feverish growth; he was not 強いるd to work very hard and he still had much spare time on his 手渡すs, but there was an 改良. His uncle's 影響（力） was bringing him a few trifling （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限s and Caldwell had ゆだねるd him with still more "stickers" in the 形態／調整 of 延滞の accounts. Solomon Dobbs' cranberry 事例／患者 was 追求するing its devious way and Hezekiah Bartlett brought in yet another 肩書を与える search. The old man loved to 賭事 in petty 取引，協定s in real 広い地所.

Hezekiah, when he （機の）カム, often remained to gossip. One afternoon, after the usual questions and answers 関心ing 進歩 in the searching, he made a 発言／述べる which Banks did not understand.

"Ain't nobody but me ever asked you to do any investigatin' out West for 'em, have they?" he asked with a chuckle.

Banks looked up. "No, sir," he replied.

"And you ain't showed them 報告（する）／憶測s you did get to nobody, eh?"

"I don't," with a smile, "remember having told any one that I ever got such 報告（する）／憶測s, Mr. Bartlett."

The old fellow was much amused.

"You never told ME, I give in to that!" he 観察するd, still chuckling. "For shuttin' up tight you've got a quahaug （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 a sea mile. But I've been given to understand that somebody else has been lookin' into sartin 事柄s and that what they larned so fur ain't makin' 'em too joyful."

"What do you mean, Mr. Bartlett?"

"Maybe I don't mean nothin'. What I've heard was just talk and the heft of talk don't mean anything BUT nothin', that's a fact. All 権利, young fellow, let's wait and see. Only I want to say this: If somethin' comes out of the nothin' and that somethin' has saved me from swappin' a hundred and 半端物 株 of a good thing for some more 株 in a mighty shady one, there せねばならない be an extry （株主への）配当 宣言するd with your 指名する on it...井戸／弁護士席, maybe there might be yet; you can't never tell."

That was all he would say on the 支配する, but it 始める，決める Banks to wondering. That evening, at home, Captain Abijah called and he, too, had heard 噂するs and was much excited by them.

によれば those 噂するs the Ostable Bank was in trouble of some 肉親，親類d. No one seemed to be やめる sure what, but that it was real trouble there appeared to be little 疑問. There had been a sort of half-hearted "run" on the bank already and it looked as if the next day might turn it into a 本物の one.

"Folks are talkin' everywhere," said the captain. "Just what started it, or rather how it got out after it started, I'm sure I don't know. The bank examiner is mixed up in it somewhere and 支援する of it is the 失敗 of a 関心 out West that Chris Trent, I'm beginnin' to think now, may be pretty 深い in. He was carryin' one of that 会社／堅い's 公式文書，認めるs amongst his bank's papers. I know that—knew it when the 合併 was, or so we all thought, 事実上 直す／買収する，八百長をするd up. Accordin' to Chris, that 関心 was solid as Gibraltar. And, as the 公式文書，認める was 支援するd by him and Maybelle Truman, of course we thought it MUST be good."

"It wasn't the Farraday Company?" Banks asked the question, and he spoke without considering the pre-knowledge which it 暗示するd.

"Eh?...No, it was one of the others."

"The Western World Sales Company?...I thought so! That was the one Mr. Davidson said was the most 不安定な of the three."

His uncle turned and looked at him.

"Ye-es," he said, slowly. "That is the one. And so—er—Davidson said it was 不安定な, eh?...I want to know! 井戸／弁護士席, who is this Davidson? And who did he say that to—and when?"

Banks bit his lip. His foot was in the 罠（にかける） and he himself had put it there. Abijah was regarding him between puckered lips. A corner of his lip was beginning to curl.

"Humph!" he grunted. "井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席! So this—what's his 指名する— Davidson—told somebody that the Western World Company was 不安定な. And did he tell this same somebody anything about those other two 公式文書，認めるs; the Farraday one and the other?...Come now, did he?"

His 甥 was embarrassed, 刺激するd at his own carelessness. He could not help smiling, however. After all, it made little difference now.

"Why—maybe, Uncle Bije," he 認める.

"I see...And maybe this same somebody told Chris Trent what he'd 設立する out and hinted that the Denboro 国家の might be 利益／興味d?...Was that it?"

"Now—now, Uncle Bije! I can't tell you anything. I 警告するd you I couldn't."

The captain whistled. "Perhaps you don't need to," he 観察するd. He nodded, three or four times. "Yes, yes!" he said, with satisfaction. "井戸／弁護士席, I 疑惑d somethin' of the sort. You looked into those 関心s, or their 公式文書，認めるs or somethin', and what you 設立する out made you heave up your 職業 with Trent's bank. And he, knowin' you knew what you knew, 裁判官d 'twas better 商売／仕事 to pull out of the 合併...That's the answer, or pretty nigh it, eh?"

"I can't tell you anything, sir."

"Humph!...Who put you up to lookin' behind those 公式文書，認めるs?...I wonder...Eh?" suddenly. "Was it—was it Hez Bartlett?"

Banks 単に smiled. Captain Bradford nodded once more.

"I 宣言する it was old Bartlett!" he 公約するd. "And when you told him what you'd 設立する out—"

"Stop! Wait a minute, Uncle Bije! I told Mr. Bartlett nothing, 絶対 nothing!"

"Is that so!...Never mind. The answer's 権利 there and I'll bet on it! Boy, if it IS the answer, then I'm beginnin' to think you—or you and Hezekiah together—have saved the Denboro 国家の from makin' what might have been a mighty big mistake."

He whistled again between his teeth.

"That helps along what 裁判官 Bangs told me day before yesterday," he muttered. "No wonder the 裁判官 is worried about the Cartwright girl's 事件／事情／状勢s. And it explains a little, too, why she got the 裁判官, instead of Chris Trent, to settle those 事件／事情／状勢s for her. Perhaps she knew; maybe her grandmother told her to keep a 天候 注目する，もくろむ on Chris. Yes, sir! I shouldn't wonder if here was another answer...Dear, dear! I wonder if it's goin' to be very bad! I hope not. She's a 罰金 girl, too. Bangs says she's a wonder."

Margaret spoke.

"What do you mean, Abijah?" she asked. "Why is 裁判官 Bangs troubled about Elizabeth's 事件／事情／状勢s?"

The captain hesitated. If it had been his 甥 who asked he probably would have 辞退するd the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）. But the question was his sister-in-法律's and nowadays his manner toward her was a curious mixture of tenderness and almost awe-stricken 尊敬（する）・点. For years he had filled the position of 長，率いる of the Bradford family, had 問題／発行するd brusque orders and, when he condescended to give advice, had given it also as an order. But now, since the 衝突，墜落 of his brother's downfall, he had, in Margaret's presence, walked 謙虚に and spoken softly. 明らかに, in his estimation, she had become the 長，率いる of the family. She was 船長／主将 and he but a willing and eager mate.

So when she asked the question he answered. にもかかわらず, he did it with some 不本意.

"井戸／弁護士席, Margaret," he said, "I don't know's I've got the 権利 to say much about that. The 裁判官 told me 肉親，親類d of in 信用／信任."

"Then you mustn't tell us, Abijah."

"Oh, no, no! If you want to know you せねばならない know, of course. If Hettie was here, I— But she ain't here yet! You 推定する／予想する her, don't you?"

"She said she might 減少（する） in later in the evening."

"Um-hum! She would, drat her! 井戸／弁護士席," more cheerfully, "she isn't here now, thank the Lord! You see, Bangs has been goin' through the stuff Maybelle Truman left, all to Elizabeth 'twas, and, accordin' to him the 広い地所 is in a snarl. There isn't much real money. She must have spent thousands and thousands, just chucked it away, on goin' to Europe and livin' high and I don't know what not. And 明らかに she'd sold almost all her 在庫／株s and 社債s and spent that money, too, and with next to nothin' to show for it. There's the 保険 on the Truman house, when it's collected, but there isn't a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of that. And her 宝石類, that's 価値（がある） somethin'. But the 残り／休憩（する）—井戸／弁護士席, the 裁判官 says the 残り／休憩（する） is all 絡まるd up with Chris Trent. If HIS 事件／事情／状勢s go to マリファナ—why, Elizabeth won't be rich; indeed she won't!"

He paused. Then he 追加するd, reflectively: "The Truman woman seems to have had a lot of 利益／興味 in this Farraday Company. Her 指名する was with Chris's on the 支援する of that company's 公式文書，認める and at least one of the others. One of 'em's 破産した／（警察が）手入れするd now, if what they say is true; and of course her 広い地所'll have to help make that 公式文書，認める good, and 株 責任／義務 for the other one. She owned—相続するd it from Elijah—four hundred 株 in the Ostable Bank. This trouble is bound to send the price of those 株 負かす／撃墜する and 負かす／撃墜する. Bangs has been investigatin' those Western companies and he's 設立する out what," with a keen ちらりと見ること at his 甥, "I guess you 設立する out a （一定の）期間 ago, Banks. Hum! I don't wonder the 裁判官 is upset. He's gettin' along in years and such things fret him more than they used to. He gave up active practice a （一定の）期間 ago, but he's got a lot of executorships and such and they 重さを計る on him. He told me that he was beginning to believe he must take a partner. He would, if he knew where to get the 権利 one."

Banks had heard but little of the last part of this long speech. His thoughts were with Elizabeth and the calamity 脅すing her. Mrs. Truman's について言及する of 差し迫った pauperism might not have been all bluff; 明らかに there was a real 恐れる behind it.

He would have asked for more （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, but just then Cousin Hettie made her 外見 and the discussion of the 支配する ended for the time. Cousin Hettie's was a subdued personality these days. Her flow of conversation was still copious, but her manner was, for her, amazingly meek and she 受託するd contradiction in a way which, to those who had so long been accustomed to 審理，公聴会 her 声明s 配達するd like 爆破s from 開始する Olympus, was astonishing—and funny. She, of course, had not been told of the new secret connected with the 指名する of Silas Bradford, that which coupled that 指名する with Maybelle Truman's.

Margaret did not take advantage of new-設立する humility, but Captain Abijah did. In his 現在の 明言する／公表する of mind any scapegoat was a godsend. He "took it out" on Hettie.

She entered the sitting room, bade the company an ingratiating good evening and 受託するd the 議長，司会を務める Banks 申し込む／申し出d her. She 拒絶する／低下するd to 除去する her hat, but threw 支援する her jacket, 倍のd her 黒人／ボイコット-gloved 手渡すs in her （競技場の）トラック一周 and heaved a long sigh.

"井戸／弁護士席, Hettie," 問い合わせd Margaret, pleasantly; "how are you this evening?"

Cousin Hettie sighed again. "Oh, I don't know," she said, with the 殉教者-like 空気／公表する which the captain always 設立する most irritating. "I'm still here, in this earthly vale, that's about all I can be sure of. いつかs I 宣言する seems as if I'd be willing to be called away from it!...Now DON'T look at me so disgusted, 'Bijah! You're a 広大な／多数の／重要な, strong man, not a poor, 孤独な, weak woman, so of course YOU don't ever get that way."

"Eh? What are you talkin' about? Get what way?"

"Why—why, the way I said."

"All I recollect hearin' you say was that you was IN somethin'—in some 肉親，親類d of a—a pail, seems to me 'twas."

"Now, Abijah," with a feeble 試みる／企てる at a smile, "how ridiculous you are! You know perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 I never said any such thing! Why in the world should I be in a pail? Oh, you're SO funny!"

"Am I? 井戸／弁護士席, if you asked me why you—and some of the 残り／休憩（する） of this family—should be in JAIL, maybe I could tell you. And that would be funny, too, wouldn't it!...Huh!"

Cousin Hettie was on the point of 涙／ほころびs. She wished to be 知らせるd if her tormentor didn't have ANY heart. Margaret tried to 慰安 her.

"What is the news with you to-day, Hettie?" she asked. "Has anything in particular happened?"

Hettie rose to the bait. She wiped her 注目する，もくろむs and 認める that something had happened.

"I've had another blow," she 発表するd. "井戸／弁護士席," the 殉教者-like 辞職 returning, "I'm getting used to 'em. I am, as one might say, 用意が出来ている for blows."

From Captain Abijah's direction （機の）カム a 乾燥した，日照りの chuckle.

"You do seem to be cruisin' under 明らかにする 政治家s, that's a fact," he 観察するd. 行方不明になる Bradford looked at him, then downward where he was looking, and, with a gasp of horror, detached and lowered her skirt which had caught upon the upper 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of the 議長，司会を務める. She then went on to tell of the "blow" which had to do with her lodger, Mr. Payson. He, it seemed, had given notice that he should not 占領する her spare bedroom the に引き続いて year.

"And after all I've done for him!" wailed Cousin Hettie. "Tried every way in my 力／強力にする to make him feel he was just the same as at home. And what he said when he gave me the notice 削減（する） as much as anything. 'Twas so mean—so 肉親，親類d of sneering—so cheap! That's what it was—CHEAP!"

"He knew how to get YOU 利益／興味d, anyway," muttered Abijah. He was ignored this time.

"Sarcasm," Cousin Hettie continued, "so the Good 調書をとる／予約する tells us, is the lowest form of wit. And this was SO that way! I didn't realize just what he meant till after he'd gone and then 'twas too late to answer him 支援する."

"What did he say?" asked Banks.

"I'm going to tell you. I said to him first—maybe _I_ was a little sarcastic, too; I didn't mean to be, but when I thought of what I'd spent on that Franklin grate!...井戸／弁護士席, I said: 'Dear me, Mr. Payson,' I said. 'So my house is not good enough for you since the town raised your salary—and our 税金s along with it! You must have something more luxuriant, I 推定する likely!' He smiled—if it wasn't for that smooth smile of his I wouldn't ever be HALF so 刺激するd! 'Why, 行方不明になる Bradford,' he said, 'it isn't that. It is my health. The doctor tells me I must spend my winters in a warmer 気候. I am thinking of 宿泊するing on the other 味方する of the street.' Now, you know perfectly 井戸／弁護士席, Margaret, there isn't anything across the street from my house but the town ice- house that 支援するs on Nickerson's Pond...THAT'S what he meant, the saucy thing!"

The family conclave ended a half hour or so later and its ending was peculiar. Henrietta had talked and talked, 伸び（る）ing courage and persistence as Captain Abijah's interruptions became より小数の and より小数の. The captain seemed to have lapsed into one of the fits of 暗い／優うつな abstraction which had become たびたび（訪れる） with him during the last few days. He was sitting, hunched low in his 議長，司会を務める, an unlighted cigar in the corner of his mouth, his gaze 残り／休憩（する）ing upon the crayon enlargement of his brother hanging above the sofa. Suddenly, without speaking, he rose and, walking over, stood before the portrait, his 手渡すs in his pockets, his 長，率いる thrust 今後.

Margaret Bradford and her son looked at him, then at each other. Cousin Hettie looked also. Then she, too, rose and, crossing, stood at his 肘. She heaved a long and very audible sigh.

"There he is!" she 観察するd, pensively. "There he is; isn't he, 'Bijah, dear!"

The captain neither answered nor changed his position. She went on.

"Ah me!" with another sigh. "When I see him there, just as he used to be, I—I can't hardly realize that he wasn't やめる all we thought him. I don't realize it—no, and I don't mean to! I don't mean to, Abijah! He may have been misled by guileful and wicked men, perhaps he was; but you and I—we Bradfords—we remember him as he used to be and I, for one, am glad his picture is hanging here for his son to look at—always. Yes, and for Margaret to look at. In spite of his—井戸／弁護士席, his mistake—in 商売／仕事, I mean—she knows, as we do, that, underneath, he was always our Silas, smart and 勇敢に立ち向かう and true—"

She never finished that eulogy—nor the 宣告，判決. Abijah's 権利 手渡す 発射 from his pocket; it 掴むd the portrait by the lower corner of its でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる, jerked it from the 塀で囲む and sent it 飛行機で行くing across the room to land with a 粉々にするing 衝突，墜落 in the corner.

Hettie 叫び声をあげるd. Margaret and her son sprang from their 議長，司会を務めるs. Abijah Bradford said not one word. He strode to the 入ること／参加（者）, snatched his coat and hat from the rack, opened the outer door and—was gone.

Cousin Hettie uttered another faint 叫び声をあげる. Banks shook his 長，率いる. Margaret was the first to speak.

"Poor Abijah!" she said, sadly.

一時期／支部 25

For the next three or four days the 利益／興味 of not only all Denboro, but all Ostable and Bayport and Harniss and Orham, 中心d about Mr. Christopher Trent and his bank. The 脅すd "run" became more than a 脅し, for a time it was an actuality and excited depositors stood in lines reaching to the sidewalk, brandishing passbooks and 需要・要求するing their money. Then, as all （人命などを）奪う，主張するs were met, as usually happens in such 事例／患者s the worst of the flurry 沈下するd. But, の中で the wise ones, 長，率いるs were still shaken and prophecies made that the troubles of the Ostable 国家の were beginning, rather than ending.

"Us Denboro directors were talkin' it over at our meetin' this mornin'," 報告（する）／憶測d Abijah Bradford in conversation with his 甥, "and we all agreed that we wouldn't want to be in Chris Trent's shoes. There's bound to be examinations now, real ones, and if those other two 公式文書，認めるs and the 関心s behind 'em are on the ragged 辛勝する／優位 Chris will have to dig 深い in his own pocket, and his directors into theirs. I'd hate to have much of my money in Ostable Bank 在庫／株...By the way, Banks, there was more than one 祈り of thanksgivin' put up at our meetin'. If that 合併 had gone through it would be the 強固にする／合併する／制圧するd bank that would have to dig 負かす／撃墜する and make good."

"Has any one talked with Trent?" asked Banks. "What does he say about it?"

"I 港／避難所't seen him for a long while. Cap'n Hall had a 雑談（する） with him yesterday and, accordin' to him, although Chris pretends to be as 静める as a summer day in the doldrums, he looks as if he wasn't sleepin' very 井戸／弁護士席. Oh, I guess likely there won't be any 粉砕する— any flat 粉砕する—for the 現在の at least, but in the end—井戸／弁護士席, I don't know."

"Hall is consider'ble fretted about the Cartwright girl," he 追加するd. "The Halls were about the closest friends she and her grandmother had around here. Cap'n Hall says she is mighty 勇敢な, but he and his wife gather that Maybelle's 事件／事情／状勢s are tied up altogether too の近くに with Trent's to make her happy. And with all that Ostable Bank 在庫／株! Ah, hum! It's too bad—too bad!"

He rubbed his chin and frowned.

"Cap'n Hall says he and his wife have been coaxin' her to come 負かす／撃墜する and live with them, for a while anyhow; but she won't do it. She's still got her rooms at the Malabar, and, accordin' to Bangs, she's plannin' to stay in 'em for the 現在の, or until he can give her some idea what 条件 her grandmother's 広い地所 is in. I 会合，会う her in the hotel once in a while, but she doesn't seem very anxious to talk. She looks 肉親，親類d of thin and white and 頂点（に達する）d, seems to me."

Banks made no comment. He, too, saw Elizabeth occasionally. Several times they had met at the 地位，任命する office or on the street. He 屈服するd and she returned the 屈服する, but that was all. At their first 会合 it had seemed to him that she hesitated, looked as if she might have spoken had he given her the 適切な時期. He did not give it, but hurried on. The 声明s he had made to his mother were 絶対 sincere and the result of much soul-searching and self-sacrificing 審議. He could not 信用 himself to see her and be with her; even though she might now have guessed or surmised something of the nature of his 約束 to her grandmother and to Trent, and why he could not 明らかにする／漏らす their secret to her. She might even be willing to 許す him; but forgiveness was not enough. Friendship was not enough. And to ask for more, under the circumstances—her circumstances and his—would be—井戸／弁護士席, for the 現在の at least he must not dream of it.

Whispers had come to his ears, during the period when he was calling at the Truman mansion, that Silas Bradford's boy had a 天候 注目する，もくろむ out for the dollars, and knew a soft 寝台／地位 when he sighted it; in that 尊敬（する）・点, at least, so the whispers said, he was smart, like his father. Banks had scornfully ignored these insinuations then. His love for Elizabeth had swept him off his feet and he had 辞退するd to consider anything except the 決意 to make her his. Since their parting he had done a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of thinking, had considered much.

And now, although he was still far from 辞職するd to giving her up, although he still meant to fight for her while a chance remained, he had 決定するd that the fight should be a fair one. He would take no mean advantage. He would not, 単に because she was lonely and in trouble, 軍隊 even his friendship upon her. Certainly no one should again have the excuse for 説 he was trying to marry her for her money. If the 噂するs of her losses were true, if her 相続物件 had shrunk to little or nothing, then he could go to her. Then all that 事柄d would be her love for him. But 一方／合間 he would wait. He would not be selfish.

All of which was, perhaps, unworldly and quixotic and stubborn; but, like his dogged 持つ／拘留するing to those 約束s which had got him into so much trouble, was やめる characteristic of Banks Bradford.

During the hectic weeks に引き続いて the 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and the 公表，暴露 of the contents of Mrs. Truman's 安全な and Captain Bradford's 令状ing desk, he had seen comparatively little of the Tadgetts. Ebenezer had been running in at the 法律 office occasionally, but his stays were short, for he 設立する his friend absent-minded and not conversational. Now they saw more of each other. Banks had 再開するd his habit of calling at the secondhand shop on his way to and from work and いつかs on his way home for dinner. Watching the games of cutthroat euchre was an unfailing amusement and he enjoyed listening to the chatter of the players.

From Eliab Gibbons he learned an item or two 関心ing the 進歩 of 解決／入植地 of the Truman 広い地所. Mrs. Truman's horses and carriages had been sold—to a Boston 売買業者, so Eliab said. And, from Eliab, too, he heard a new 噂する. Mr. Gibbons 報告（する）／憶測d that Elizabeth Cartwright was thinking of going away, leaving Denboro for a time, how long no one seemed to know.

"She ain't goin' for good," said Eliab. "She'll come 支援する and hang around here until 裁判官 Bangs has got her grand-ma's money 捕らえる、獲得するs counted, but she's feelin's pretty tired and wore out, I understand, and the doctor wants her to go away for a change and 残り／休憩（する）. Mrs. Cap'n Hall's goin' with her, or that's the story."

Banks heard the 報告（する）／憶測 with an uneasy 沈むing of the heart. She was going away! Coming 支援する—yes; but was that only for a 簡潔な／要約する stay before leaving Denboro for good? That evening he was closest to breaking his 決意／決議. Almost was he on the point of going to the Malabar and trying to see her...But, if he did, what then? He must not say the one thing he longed to say—and yet, if he saw her alone, he 恐れるd that he should say it. So he remained at home with his mother.

The に引き続いて afternoon just before five he wandered into the Tadgett shop. Ebenezer was in the other 支援する room; he could hear him there, and singing, as usual.

"'Two little girls in blue, love,
Two little girls in blue.
They were sisters and we were brothers,
And—'

"Yes?...Who is it?...Oh, hello, Banks! Glad to see you. Sit 負かす／撃墜する! That is, if you can find anything to sit on...Here, here! I said 'on,' not in. There's a glue マリファナ underneath that （土地などの）細長い一片 of baggin' in that 議長，司会を務める seat. I realize you've always liked that 議長，司会を務める, but I don't want you to be stuck on it as much as that comes to...井戸／弁護士席, how's the 法律s of the Medes and Possums, as the fellow called 'em?"

Banks gave him a cigar, lit one himself, and smoked and listened and looked on while Ebenezer puffed and sang and worked. He had 明らかにするd a fresh treasure, a tall 長官 desk which had been the 所有物／資産／財産 of an 老年の spinster in North Bayport, and, although to the undiscerning 注目する，もくろむ it might have appeared a hopeless 廃虚, the Tadgett 注目する，もくろむ, which was far from undiscerning, saw 広大な／多数の／重要な 可能性s beneath the 乱打するd exterior.

"Every time I get a 持つ／拘留する of a good thing like this," he philosophized, "it comes over me strong how much there is in ありふれた between some old furniture and some old folks. Yes—but how different they are, too. Now Marietta Crocker, that I dickered with for this, she's かなりの of an antique herself; she ain't much more ornamental than this 長官. Both of 'em look pretty shabby on the outside, but I KNOW the 長官's high grade underneath and, from what I can hear about Marietta, she is, too. Ah hum-a-day! If you could only make humans as good as new by scrapin' and polishin', the Old Ladies' Home would be a secondhand shop 価値（がある） patronizin'—eh? A man lookin' for a wife might 選ぶ up a 取引 cheap.

"'They were sisters and we were brothers,
And we fell in love with the two.
One little girl in blue, love,
Stole your father's heart,
Became your mother; I married the other,
But we-e have drifted apart.'

"Why don't you come around to the house these days, Banks? Sheba'd like to see you, I know."

"How is she? Has she had any more of those '見通しs' of hers?"

"No, not since that one when she saw you totin' Mrs. Truman out of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃."

"You don't really believe that was what she saw, do you, Ebenezer?"

"I don't know. 'Cordin' to her tell she saw you—er—井戸／弁護士席, pretty what you might call confidential with some woman; and afore that very night was over half of Denboro saw you with your 武器 around Maybelle. You ain't treatin' anybody else that way, are you?"

"Ha, ha!...No."

"I 港／避難所't heard you was...And she saw smoke besides. Honest, Banks, I don't know what to think. Sheba's—井戸／弁護士席, she's 肉親，親類d of 半端物 いつかs, with her hoods and all that, but she's a wonderful woman. And from what little I've read, some of the Bible prophets was 肉親，親類d of out of the reg'lar run. Take John the Baptist now. He 選ぶd out grasshoppers and honey to live on. I'll bet you the neighbors cal'lated that a man with that 肉親，親類d of combination taste in vittles was some consider'ble 半端物, too."

How much of this was ーするつもりであるd to be the nonsense it sounded like, and what of serious belief there might be behind it, Banks could not be 確かな . He might have 圧力（をかける）d the 支配する, but just then they were interrupted by the very person of whom they had been speaking. Mrs. Tadgett herself opened the outer door and marched majestically through the shop to the other 支援する room. She was wearing the hoods, of course, and her thin 人物／姿／数字 was draped in an old-fashioned 黒人／ボイコット cloth cape which hung to her 膝s. She was, to say the least, a strange apparition.

She was, however, as always, the personification of dignity and, just then her speech was direct and 解放する／自由な from ramblings. She was on her way, she said, to the Caldwell 蓄える／店, to buy some 構成要素 for upholstering the parlor sofa, an 操作／手術 which her husband had 約束d to 成し遂げる.

"Susannah Simpkins told me that Mr. Caldwell has had some very pretty drapery stuff just come in," she said. "I thought perhaps you would go with me to look at it, Ebenezer."

Tadgett scratched his ear with the 扱う of his varnish 小衝突.

"I'd like to first 率, Sheba," he said, "but I don't know's I せねばならない leave just this minute."

"Don't let me keep you, Ebenezer," put in Banks. "My 商売／仕事 isn't important, surely."

"'Taint that. It's only that those folks who've rented the Cahoon cottage over at the Neck give me to understand that they might be in some time this afternoon to look at some of my 議長，司会を務めるs and things. Course they may not come; it's pretty late along—but— humph! Say, Banks, if you ain't in a hurry, maybe you'd be willin' to sit here and keep the shop open till I get 支援する. You've done it afore for me. We won't be long, 'tain't likely; and, if they did come, you could tell 'em to be prowlin' around and pawin' things over till I hove in sight. Of course, maybe you can't spare the time?"

"I can. I 港／避難所't a thing to do until dinner time, Ebenezer. Go ahead; and don't hurry 支援する on my account."

So, after その上の protestations by Mr. Tadgett, and dignified thanks from his wife, the pair 出発／死d. They had been gone but a minute or two when the outer door opened again. Banks, who had been sitting by the window looking out across the yard, had scarcely time to rise and turn when Elizabeth Cartwright walked quickly into the other 支援する room.

"Good afternoon, Banks," she said. She was breathing 速く and had, 明らかに, hurried. She was dressed in 黒人／ボイコット and the 日光—the days were long now—streaming in through the window, fell upon her 直面する, and its pallor was 強調するd by contrast. Banks tried to speak, to return her 迎える／歓迎するing, but he could only stammer. It was the first time he and she had met—alone—for what had seemed to him a dreary eternity.

"Mr. Tadgett is out?" she asked; and then 追加するd quickly: "Yes, I know he is. I saw him go."

"Yes...Yes, he is out, but he will be 支援する soon, I am sure. He has gone over to Caldwell's. Shall I get him for you?"

"No...Please don't. I didn't come to see him. I （機の）カム to see you."

He 星／主役にするd.

"Oh!" he said, ばく然と, after a moment.

"Yes. Yes," hurriedly, "I （機の）カム to see you. I knew you were here. From my window at the hotel I saw you when you （機の）カム in. Then I saw Mrs. Tadgett come and, a few minutes later, she and her husband went out. You didn't go, so I knew you were still here and, I hoped, alone. I hurried over because—because I just HAD to see you. I have some things to say to you and I have been wanting to say them for days and days. You can imagine what they are; I am sure you can."

He did not try to imagine. Nor did he speak. The fact that she had come to see him was 十分に wonderful. That she was there, with him, now—that she had called him "Banks" and not "Mr. Bradford"—more wonderful still. What she had come to say did not seem to make much difference; he was not in the least curious.

She was reddening under his gaze.

"I know you are wondering," she went on, quickly, "why, if I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see you, I 港／避難所't called at your office. I 港／避難所't because— 井戸／弁護士席, because I couldn't go there without—without some one seeing me and—oh, you know how much I, and everything I do, are talked about just now. And yet I had to see you. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to beg your 容赦 before I went away. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 you to know that I understood."

He broke in. "You are not going away to—to stay, are you?" he 需要・要求するd.

"Not to stay—always. No, I shall come 支援する. I shall have to, because 裁判官 Bangs and I have a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of 商売／仕事 connected with grandmother's 広い地所 still to do. I am going to Washington with Mrs. Hall, just for a 残り／休憩（する）. The doctor seems to think I need 残り／休憩（する）. Perhaps I do. I am very tired and—nervous...But that doesn't 事柄 now."

It 事柄d to him; he longed to tell her so. Perhaps, in spite of those 勇敢に立ち向かう 決意／決議s of his, he might have done it had she given him the 適切な時期. She did not; she hurried on.

"We mustn't waste time," she said. "Those other things are all that 事柄 and I hope I can say them before Mr. Tadgett comes 支援する. They have troubled me 大いに. I know now, I am almost sure I do, what it was you 約束d grandmother and why, when I asked you, you couldn't tell me."

"Did Mrs. Truman—?"

"No, she didn't tell me. No one told me. And perhaps I don't really know. But those papers I 設立する in grandmother's 安全な made me understand, or guess, some things and what 裁判官 Bangs has discovered about the Ostable Bank is making others pretty plain. I suppose you 設立する out about the Western World Company 公式文書，認める and perhaps more than that, and...Oh 井戸／弁護士席! I didn't come here to talk about that either. Why AM I wasting time!"

He put in a word. "Those—those papers of Mrs. Truman's, they—all that was as 広大な／多数の／重要な a surprise to me as it could have been to you. I didn't know—I never 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd or dreamed anything like that. Neither did Uncle Abijah. You see—井戸／弁護士席, we always believed that my father was—"

She 延長するd her 手渡す in 抗議する.

"Don't!" she cried, impulsively. "I know what a terrible shock it must have been. Your uncle, poor man, made that plain. I— Oh, I wish I had 燃やすd the dreadful things without showing them to any one! I wish I had never seen them myself! Why couldn't I have been permitted to go on believing that Grandfather Truman was an honest man and that grandmother's money—the money I helped her to spend—was honestly earned! What have we 伸び（る）d, any of us, by all this?...Oh," 激しく, "I feel—I feel as if I never should be clean again. I am almost glad that I am going to be poor."

He started. "Poor!" he cried. "Why, you are not going to be poor! Of course you're not! Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "I say it because it looks as if it were true. Grandmother told me, weeks before she died, that her money 事件／事情／状勢s were in a bad way. I didn't 支払う／賃金 much attention. I thought she said it because—oh, because she didn't want us to be too— friendly."

"Us! You and I, you mean?"

"Yes. That is what I thought. Of course I knew that she and—and Mr. Trent were—井戸／弁護士席, partners in ever so many 財政上の 事柄s, that she owned 在庫／株 in his bank and in some 会社／団体s he was 利益／興味d in. I knew that. What I didn't know was that it was all—all dishonest. That she and he were trying to save themselves by tricking your uncle's bank into 株ing their 責任／義務, taking the 重荷（を負わせる） off their shoulders. I didn't know— How could I dream that they, that we all, were—were 犯罪のs! And that they were trying to use you as their catspaw!"

"Elizabeth!"

"Hush! Hush! And I was so happy when they made you their 弁護士／代理人／検事! I thought it was a wonderful 適切な時期 for you and I was proud and glad to think I had helped get it for you. Yes," scornfully, "I 現実に thought I had helped! And I was just another catspaw, that is all."

"Elizabeth, you shouldn't say that."

"Why not? It is true, isn't it? 井戸／弁護士席, they made a mistake when they chose you. Indeed they did! When you 設立する out— Oh, you did find out! Of course you did! I don't know how and I don't care! You 設立する out somehow and you wouldn't be their—their 器具 any longer. Rather than do that you gave up the position which meant—oh, everything to you! And then when I （機の）カム to your office that day you let me say those wicked, 不正な things!...Oh, if you had only told me the truth! If you only had!"

"I couldn't, Elizabeth. At least it seemed to me then that I couldn't."

"I know. You had 約束d them you wouldn't tell any one. And, of course, 存在 you, you kept that 約束. I—"

"Wait! It wasn't altogether that. There were a lot of other 複雑化s, other people's 事件／事情／状勢s were 絡まるd up in the 哀れな mess. It seemed to me that my 手渡すs were tied. Not 存在 able to tell you was the only part that really 傷つける. I am not sure that I shouldn't have told you. I have thought since that perhaps I was a stubborn fool to 持つ／拘留する my tongue when you asked me...But, you see, Trent had （刑事）被告 me of 存在 a 反逆者 to him—"

She broke in. "Chris Trent!" she cried, with a stamp of her foot. "I hate him! I never liked him. I HATE him now! He knows it. I told him how I felt toward him. Yes, I did! And that was before I learned any of this."

He stepped toward her. "When was it?" he asked, 熱望して. "When did you tell him that?"

"Oh, one evening after you and he had quarreled, after you had 辞職するd as his lawyer. Grandmother had been 説 some—some dreadful things about you to me and I had told her I didn't believe one word of them. Then he （機の）カム! and he 扱う／治療するd me as if—oh, as if I belonged to him! As if—as if he took me for 認めるd; I don't know how to 表明する it any clearer than that. 井戸／弁護士席, then he—he said some things about you—far worse than those grandmother had said, they were—and I spoke my mind. I have scarcely spoken to him since. I have never seen him alone again and I never shall."

She turned away toward the window. He could not see her 直面する, but her fingers were tightly clenched and her shoulders moved as if she were sobbing. He took a step nearer.

"Elizabeth!" he cried, a choke in his 発言する／表明する. "I—I am going to—"

She wheeled, her 手渡す raised.

"Hush!" she whispered. "I think I heard— Didn't some one come in?"

He hurried to the door, which was ajar. Through the 割れ目 he peered out into the shop.

"There is no one there," he said. Then he （機の）カム 支援する to where she was standing.

"Elizabeth," he went on, determinedly, "I'm going to tell you what I 約束d I wouldn't tell. I am going to tell you all of it."

She shook her 長，率いる. "No, no!" she 抗議するd. "You mustn't! You shan't! I don't want you to. That would spoil everything. I （機の）カム here to ask you to 許す me, to beg your 容赦 for not believing in you. I don't want to be told. I don't want any explanations. I （機の）カム to tell you that I am ashamed of myself. I want you to know that I have been ashamed ever since it happened."

"But, Elizabeth, let me tell you."

"No. I don't want to be told...There! now I must go...Good night."

He 閉めだした her way to the door. The stalwart, high-minded 決意／決議s were anything but stalwart now; they were feeble indeed.

"Wait! Wait, please!" he begged. "Something you said—I want to know about it. That about your 存在 poor?"

"井戸／弁護士席?" with a 無謀な little laugh. "What about it? I AM poor— or it looks as if I should be. 裁判官 Bangs tells me that the Farraday Company is, or he 恐れるs it is, on the 辛勝する／優位 of 破産. And the other is やめる as bad, or worse. And the 株 in the Ostable Bank are—井戸／弁護士席, you can imagine what they may be 価値（がある） soon. Then there are the 負債s—heaven knows how many! When they are paid there will be little left. I shan't have to go to the poorhouse, perhaps. I may have to go to work; I mean to, anyway. Whatever I earn will be HONEST, at least."

"Then you won't stay here—in Denboro?"

"I shall stay, as I told you, until I know the worst—or the best. Then I suppose I shall go away. What is there here for me?"

The tottering 決意／決議s swayed, crumpled—fell.

"_I_ am here," he said. "Don't I count at all?"

His 武器 were outstretched, but she moved 支援する, away from their clasp.

"I—I don't know what you mean," she 滞るd.

"Don't you, Elizabeth? You do! Of course you do!"

She did not answer. "DON'T you know, dear?" he pleaded. "Don't pretend! Surely we can't have any more make-believe or 誤解s. Do you WANT to go away from Denboro—and me?"

She looked at him for a long instant. Then she said:

"Do you want me to stay?"

"If you can. If you care enough to—to give up other things. I 港／避難所't any money. It may be a good while before I earn enough to take care of you. I shall try hard, but we may have to wait—and wait. I 港／避難所't any 権利 to ask you to do that. But, if you do care, and don't mind—perhaps the money, a little anyway, may come and—"

She did not let him finish. "Don't!" she begged, hysterically. "Don't talk of money! Money, and what people do to get it, has been 責任がある all this 不名誉 and horror. Your family's and—and 地雷! Don't について言及する it! I— DO you want me to stay?"

The outstretched 武器 were nearer—they were 持つ／拘留するing her の近くに.

"Do I want you!...Oh, my darling! Is there anything else I do want?"

"I hope not, because—because I want to stay very much indeed."

The Tadgett errand at Mr. Caldwell's 蓄える／店 took a surprisingly long time. It did not seem long to them, they had forgotten the Tadgetts altogether. They sat together on one of Ebenezer's rickety antiques—a 手足を不自由にする／（物事を）損なうd settee, it was—and talked in whispers of many things and many people, but principally of themselves. Banks について言及するd his mother.

"Oh, yes, yes!" she exclaimed. "I want to know your mother. Tell me, dear, from something your uncle said, I gathered that she had known of all this 不名誉 and wickedness—all that about the ship, I mean—ever since your father's death. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is true."

"And she had kept it a secret, even though she knew that—that Captain Truman and grandmother and the Trents had made themselves rich from their 株 of the 保険 money? That that was the beginning of their 繁栄, I mean?"

"Yes, she knew that."

"And she was poor, herself!"

"Yes. But, you see, every one in Denboro thought father was pretty 近づく perfection. I thought so; she meant that I always should. So, for the sake of his 指名する, and 地雷, she didn't speak."

"She must be a wonderful woman?"

"She is."

For a moment she was silent. Then she said: "Banks, dear, there were other things in that compartment of grandmother's desk. Things I didn't show your uncle. There was a—a photograph of your father, with 令状ing upon it—and grandmother's 指名する. And in the envelope with it was a lock of hair. And, besides, there was a letter or two."

He started. "Letters from—"

"Yes, from him to her. I 燃やすd them all. But—they explain more things, don't they? Some things grandmother said to me that evening after you had just called at the house...Tell me; while that was going on was—was your father married?"

"Yes."

"And did your mother know?"

"She 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd. And, after he died, when his trunk and desk were sent home, she 設立する proof—plenty of it."

"And still she didn't speak—to any one? Not even your uncle?"

"Not to any one. And for the same 推論する／理由. For his sake—and for 地雷."

Elizabeth nodded, slowly. "I can see now," she murmured, "why you are what you are. You are her son."

The 外見 of Mr. and Mrs. Tadgett was 先触れ（する）d by much loud talk and foot-捨てるing. They gave the pair on the settee ample, and needed, 警告. Ebenezer and Sheba crossed the threshold of the other 支援する room. The former's 陳謝s were profuse.

"Awful sorry to have kept you so long, Banks," he 宣言するd. "Why, hello, Elizabeth! Is that you? 井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席!"

The Tadgetts and Elizabeth shook 手渡すs.

"We 設立する a real pretty piece of cloth for the sofy," went on Ebenezer. "It took us some time to 選ぶ it out, but it's goin' to be 罰金. And it didn't cost more than King Solomon's 寺 carpet, neither—which is surprisin' when you consider who had the sellin' of it. Eh, Sheba?"

Mrs. Tadgett was in a rather muddled 明言する／公表する of mind. Considering how long she had been standing on the 壇・綱領・公約 before the shop, this was not surprising. She and her husband had finished their 取引ing with Caldwell twenty minutes before, and had then returned. The door to the outer shop had been left 部分的に／不公平に open and so, when Ebenezer entered, the bell had not rung. He had caught one glimpse of the tableau on the settee and had あわてて tiptoed out again. Since which time he had kept his wife engaged in conversation, the 支配するs of which were very vague and he could not, if asked, have repeated them.

"Eh? That's so, ain't it, Sheba?" he asked again.

Mrs. Tadgett's gaze was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon the 中心 sash in the window. She smiled, blandly.

"King Solomon," she 布告するd, "was a very wise man. His 寺 was built of—of cedar, I believe. Cedar is a 肉親，親類d of tree like a—like a モミ. モミ is—animals have fur. Cats and—and 耐えるs—and lions and—cows. No, cows do not have fur. Cows give us milk. Milk is for babes. If any of you have a baby brother—or sister— or—or—"

Ebenezer, after a 迅速な ちらりと見ること at 行方不明になる Cartwright's 直面する and its 表現 of 完全にする bewilderment, took his spouse gently by the arm.

"You come over and sit 負かす／撃墜する a minute, Sheba," he 勧めるd. "That's 権利—that's 権利. Guess you and Elizabeth want to be movin' along by this time, don't you, Banks? Yes, course you do."

He …を伴ってd them to the outer door. There, after bidding them good night, he whispered in Banks' ear.

"She's all 権利 now," he whispered. "Fussin' about that sofy stuff got her 肉親，親類d of excited, you understand. She's—yes, she's 半端物 いつかs, same as I've said to you, but—but she's a smart woman, just the same."

He paused, drew a long breath, and then 追加するd, with 絶対の 有罪の判決:

"As for them 見通しs of hers—井戸／弁護士席, I 宣言する to man I'll never make fun of 'em again! I KNOW there's somethin' to 'em—NOW."

On a day of the に引き続いて week Banks Bradford sat in his uncle's room at the Malabar Hotel. He had come with news, to him remarkable and encouraging news. 裁判官 Bangs had called at the office of S. B. Bradford, 弁護士／代理人／検事 at 法律, and had surprised its occupant with a 商売／仕事 proposition, すなわち, that Banks become his 法律 partner.

Captain Abijah was not surprised. The 裁判官 had discussed the proposition with him before laying it before his 甥.

"It'll be a 罰金 thing for you, boy," he 宣言するd. "Not altogether for the new 商売／仕事 it'll fetch your way—you'll be the real workin' lawyer for the Denboro 国家の for one thing—but because it'll tie you up with all these 広い地所s and outside 利益／興味s the 裁判官 has the handlin' of. When he goes you'll have the whole of 'em. What it really means is that your practice here in Denboro is a sure thing 今後...井戸／弁護士席, you deserve it; I'll say that for you!"

Banks thanked him.

"I think I realize a little of what it means, Uncle Bije," he said. "I only hope I can make good, and I'll surely try. But this other 事柄—what ought I to do about that? When I opened that envelope with my 指名する on it in Mr. Bartlett's handwriting, and saw that five hundred dollar check, I—井戸／弁護士席, I 港／避難所't got over the shock yet. Should I keep it, do you think?"

Abijah grinned. "What was it he wrote on the paper with it?" he asked. "An extry （株主への）配当? Was that what he called it?"

"Yes. 'Here is that extra （株主への）配当 on my Denboro 株. I told you it was coming to you, remember.' That was all—except the check."

"Humph! Have any notions what he meant, do you?"

"Why—er—yes; in a way I do."

"So do I. Anyhow I can guess somewhere in the latitude of the meanin'. You saved him a good 取引，協定 more than that, I'm willin' to bet. Yes, and you saved us Denboro Bank fellows more still. Besides," with a grim chuckle, "any fellow that can get five hundred dollars out of old Hez Bartlett has earned a thousand, at least. Keep it and be proud, that's my advice."

He puffed thoughtfully at his cigar. Then he 動議d toward the 塀で囲む 近づく the door.

"Notice any change over yonder?" he 問い合わせd.

Banks turned to look. The 塀で囲む was 空いている. The portrait of his father was no longer there.

"I took it 負かす／撃墜する," explained the captain, "that same night after I 粉砕するd the one in your sittin' room. I shouldn't have done that— not in that crazy way, I suppose—but I was sick and mortified and ashamed. Then when Hettie began singin' her hymns of 賞賛する, same as she always had and just as if things were as we used to think they were, I—井戸／弁護士席, I couldn't stand it. Humph! She's hardly spoke to me since, but THAT don't keep me awake nights."

He blew a cloud of smoke. Then he 追加するd:

"Banks, some day—if you can find one around the house without her knowin' it, I wish you'd fetch me some 肉親，親類d of picture of your mother. No 事柄 if it's just a little card photograph; I'd like to hang it up where that other used to be. Then, perhaps, you'll be havin' one taken of yourself, and I'll hang that と一緒に. Silas Bradford's wife and Silas Bradford's boy—those are the only two Bradfords I want to look at and think of—今後."

THE END

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