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非洲的百万富翁|Millionaire in Africa

第八章　塞尔登金矿|Chapter VIII The Episode of the Seldon Gold-Mine

属类： 双语小说 【分类】双语小说 -[作者: 格兰特-艾伦] 阅读：[7507]
《非洲的百万富翁》讲述了骗子克雷上校与查尔斯爵士斗智斗勇的故事.克雷上校通过伪装成不同的身份,如墨西哥先知,小牧师理查德·佩普洛·布拉巴宗,施莱尔马赫教授等欺骗查尔斯,令查尔斯防不胜防.而案情的揭露则是通过克雷上校在事后给查尔斯发来的羞辱信,把他实施作案的过程揭露出来的.最终,克雷上校受到了法律的制裁
《 字+字- 行+行- 页+页- 字+字- 行+行- 页+页- 》
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在回伦敦的路上，查尔斯同马维尔就梅德赫斯特这件事产生了不同的看法。

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查尔斯认为，马维尔应该清楚那名剪了短发的男子就是克雷上校，绝不该向他举荐此人。马维尔则认为，查尔斯同克雷上校会面也有六七次了，而他自己则从未见过克雷上校；还说，查尔斯被骗，谁都不怨，只能怪我内兄自己。这位侦探头头说，自己认识梅德赫斯特有十年了，他是个相当体面的人，甚至还交地方税。还说自己发现他是侦探里面最聪明的，他实际上靠的也是常见的“以贼捕贼”这一方法。不过，说归说，同以往一样，到头来还是一场空。马维尔为失去了一位这么能干的助手感到遗憾，不过他说自己已尽了最大努力来帮查尔斯爵士，要是查尔斯爵士还不满意，那查尔斯以后就自己去抓克雷上校好了。

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“西，我会抓住他的。”查尔斯对我说，此时我们正从皮卡迪利广场边的斯特兰德酒店里的办公室往家走。“我再也不相信这些私人侦探了。我觉得他们自己就是一帮贼，同他们要抓的无赖是一伙的，跟那祖鲁的钻石劳工一样，没有什么廉耻可言。”

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“还是让警察试试吧！”我提议，想帮帮他。作为员工，总得摆出一副对雇主的事情很上心的样子。

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但查尔斯摇摇头。“算了，算了，”他说，“我受够了这些家伙。以后，我只能靠自己的聪明才智了。西，咱们吸取经验教训——我也学了一两招。其中一条就是：光是怀疑所有人还不够，而且你不得有任何先入之见。要对付这种无赖，你必须要彻底摒弃所有的成见，不要急于下结论。对任何人、任何事，我们都要怀疑。这样方能成功，我就打算这么做。”

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查尔斯回到塞尔登，着手此事。

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“那人越来越得寸进尺，”一天早上，他对我说，“他就像一只舔到血的老虎。每一次得手之后，只会让他更加渴盼下一次的行动。现在，我完全相信，咱们不久就会在这儿再次碰到他。”

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大约三周后，我内兄果然收到了一封信，是那个寡廉鲜耻的骗子写的，贴了张奥地利的邮票，盖的是维也纳的邮戳。

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亲爱的凡德里夫特（咱们在各种场合彼此交往的时间也不短了，就没什么必要傻乎乎一本正经地称彼此“查尔斯爵士”“克雷上校”了吧）：

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我写这信是想问你一个敏感的问题。能否劳烦你告诉我，在过去三年中，我从你各种慷慨的行为中到底收了多少钱？这个时候我该申报个人所得税了，可我的账簿不知放到哪儿了。我是位诚实守信有良知的公民，要急着填上这三年来平均每年从你那儿赚的钱。不管我是在巴黎还是在其他地方，这一次我没有写自己的个人住址，原因想必你很快就会十分清楚的。你要是能把总额登个广告，署名“傻子彼得”，登在《泰晤士报》

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的私事广告栏上，也就给税收专员们帮了个大忙了，同时也给你这位忠实的朋友帮了个大忙。

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库斯伯特·克雷，

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一位实干的社会主义者

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“西，记住我的话，”查尔斯把信放下，说道，“不出一周，他就会采取进一步行动。他想用这种狡猾的手段让我觉得他现在不在国内，离塞尔登还远着呢！这也就意味着，他现在正在盘算着下一次的行动。不过，上一次他还是梅德赫斯特侦探的时候，已经向我们透露得太多。他说的关于伪装以及如何识破伪装的那几点，我一直都记着呢。这一次，我要跟他把账算清楚。”

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那一周的星期六，我们沿着道路往前走，那条路一直通向村子，这时我们碰到一位风度翩翩的男子，身着一身粗糙、相当随便的棕色花呢外衣，看起来像是游客。他是个中年人，中等身材，肩上挂着一个小皮包，盯着石头仔细看，形迹可疑。他的步态引起了我们的注意。

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“早上好！”我们路过时，他抬头向我们打招呼。查尔斯低沉着声音，含含糊糊地咕哝了句“早上好”。

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我们继续往前走，没说话。等走到别人听不到我们说话时，我说：“不管怎么说，那个家伙不是克雷上校，因为是他先跟我们搭的讪。你也许记得，克雷上校最奇特的一点就是，他就像个乖巧的孩子，别人不跟他说话，他绝不先张口——从不会主动去结识谁。总是等着我们先行动，他不会主动上前骗我们，而是等着我们去请他来骗我们。”

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“西摩，”我内兄答道，口气严厉，“你现在就犯了这个错误，做了我提醒你千万别做的事！你有偏见。抛开这些固有的成见。这个人很可能就是克雷上校。塞尔登这儿很少有陌生人，我倒想知道，他要不是克雷上校，那他在这儿干吗呢？这儿还有别的路子赚钱吗？我得打听打听这个人。”

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我们顺路到了克罗默蒂·阿姆斯旅店，去问问好心的拉克伦夫人，看看她能不能告诉我们一些关于这位温文尔雅的陌生人的事。她说，他来自伦敦，她认为他是位非常和善的绅士，他妻子也同他一起。

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“哈，年轻吗？漂亮吗？”查尔斯问道，意味深长地看了我一眼。

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“怎么说呢，查尔斯爵士，她绝不是你眼中所谓的漂亮小姑娘，”拉克伦夫人答道，“不过，她是位好人，一位不错的妇人。”

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“果然不出我所料，”查尔斯低声说，“他又改变套路了。那家伙让她扮过副牧师的妻子‘白石南花’，扮过皮卡迪克夫人，扮过眯着眼的小格兰顿夫人，还充当过梅德赫斯特的同谋。可现在，想再让她扮成一位真正年轻漂亮的女人，他已黔驴技穷，所以最后只好把她打扮得更成熟一点——一位有气质的妇人。聪明，相当聪明，不过——我们开始看穿他了。”说罢，他一个人悄悄地笑出声来。

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第二天，我们在山坡上又碰到了那位陌生人，他还和上次一样，正全神贯注地盯着石头，还拿着锤子敲敲，听听声音。查尔斯用胳膊肘推了我一下，悄声说道：“这次我全猜到了，他乔装成了一位地质学家。”

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我仔细地打量着那个人。当然，对于克雷上校的各种乔装，我们目前也有了一定的经验。可以看到，虽然他鼻子、头发还有胡子都变了，但眼睛和身材仍同以前一样。他有一点发福，当然啦，因为他要乔装成四五十岁的人。他额头的皱纹，即便一个比克雷上校技术差得多的骗子也能轻易学得来。不过，我觉得，我们起码要有一定的根据，才能认为他就是克雷上校；要是对这些表明他身份的特征置之不顾，以为只不过是我们一时的凭空想象，这也不妥。

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他妻子就坐在附近一块突起的石头上，正读着一本诗集。哈！一本诗集，这一转变也够妙的！这同一个有教养的家庭简直是绝配。“白石南花”还有格兰顿夫人从不读诗。不过，这也是克雷上校夫妇——我觉得我该这么称呼他俩——乔装的过人之处。他们不仅仅对外表进行伪装；在伪装这方面，这两人配合得可谓天衣无缝。这两人都是演员，也是一对无赖；在这两方面，他俩简直无人能敌。

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对于那些擅自闯入塞尔登的人，查尔斯从不客气，只给他们短短的一点时间，接着便立即将他们轰出去。不过，因为他这次另有目的，所以就客客气气的。他走近那位女士，鞠了个躬，搭话道：“天气很不错，不是吗？海边这一带，石南花散发着清香。我猜，你住在旅店？”

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“是的，”女士答道，抬头看他，脸上挂着迷人的微笑，（“我认得这个笑容，”查尔斯小声对我说，“多少次我都被它迷住了。”）“我们住在旅店，我丈夫在这儿的山上做点地质学方面的事情。希望查尔斯·凡德里夫特爵士不会过来抓我们。他对那些不请自入的人毫不客气，旅店的人说他通常脾气很坏。”

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（“还是那股漂亮风骚劲儿，”查尔斯对我低声说，“她是故意这么说的。”）“你误会了，亲爱的女士，”他继续道，声音很大，“别人说的根本不对。我就是查尔斯·凡德里夫特爵士，我脾气并不坏。你丈夫要是科学家，我会敬重和仰慕他。我能有今天，也全靠地质学。”说到这儿，他自豪地挺了挺身子，“一切都要归功于当今南非采矿业的发展。”

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她的脸红了，是那种真的很少见到的成熟妇女的脸红——不过，我见过皮卡迪特夫人还有“白石南花”就如此这般红过脸。“啊，万分抱歉，”她说，语气有点不知所措，让人想起了格兰顿夫人，“我说得这么草率，请原谅。我——我不知道您就是查尔斯·凡德里夫特爵士。”

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（“她肯定知道，”查尔斯小声说，“不过，先不管它。”）“哈，这事就别再想了。想必你也知道，太多的人侵扰鸟类，我们有时出于自我防卫，有责任警告一下那些擅自闯入的人，让他们离开这些漂亮的山川。这么做，我也很遗憾——非常遗憾。我自己热爱——嗯——大自然的美景；因此，也希望其他所有人都尽可能有机会亲近自然——说‘尽可能’，意思就是，总得弄清楚是在谁的地盘上。”

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“我明白了，”女士答道，抬起头奇怪地望着他，“我很欣赏您的这一想法，不过，我觉得您不应该有这些顾虑。我刚读到华兹华斯这些优美的诗句——

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哦，泉水，草地，山川，果园，

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我们之间的爱永不会断。

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“想必您也读过吧？”她冲他甜甜一笑。

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“读过吧？”查尔斯答道，“读过！当然读过。我过去最喜欢这几句——实际上，我仰慕华兹华斯。”（我怀疑查尔斯这辈子到底有没有读过诗，《体育时报》上多斯·柴德多斯写的诗除外。）他接过书，扫了几眼。“哦，优美，写得太优美了！”他说道，语气极为兴奋。不过，他两眼一直盯着的是那妇人，而不是书上诗人的名字。

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突然间，我明白了。不管那女子乔装成什么样，也不论他有没有认出她，查尔斯总会被皮卡迪特夫人的魅力折服。此刻，他实际上已经怀疑她了，可他还是像飞蛾绕着蜡烛那样，尽自己最大的努力把翅膀烧焦！有这么精明的头脑，却还做出这种事来，我都要鄙视他了。我坚信，一旦涉及女人这个问题，那些最了不起的人也就变成了最糊涂的人。

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此时，她丈夫溜达了过来，同我们交谈。据他说，他叫福布斯—盖斯克尔，是北方一所新式学院的地质学教授，到塞尔登这儿来寻找矿石，发现了很多让他感兴趣的东西。他喜欢化石，不过对岩石还有矿石有一种特殊爱好。他对烟水晶、玛瑙以及其他诸如此类的漂亮石头相当了解，还给查尔斯看了看山坡崖壁中的石英、长石、红色光玉髓，以及其他一些山坡峭壁上我所不知道的矿石。查尔斯装着抱有极大兴趣甚至怀着崇敬之情的样子在听他说，绝不让对方有片刻怀疑自己知道他现学现卖背后的目的。要是我们想抓住这个人，就不能让他发现我们在怀疑他。因此，查尔斯把他蒙在鼓里。那地质学家说什么，查尔斯都毫无异议地全盘接受。

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那天早上的大部分时间，我们都一起待在山上。查尔斯带着他们到处转转，把一切都看了一遍。他装作对那位科学家很客气的样子，对那位爱诗的女士，他则是发自内心地客气，极为客气。不到午饭时间，我们就已经成为非常要好的朋友了。

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克雷夫妇二人总是易于相处；虽然他们干些无赖的事，不过，我们不能否认同他们相处很愉快。查尔斯邀请他们一起吃午餐，他们欣然接受。在向艾米莉亚介绍他们时，查尔斯不停地挤眉弄眼。“这二位是福布斯—盖斯克尔教授夫妇，”他说道，使劲使得下巴都快掉了，“亲爱的，他们住在旅店，我带他们在这儿转转，他们一点也不见外，说过来拜访一下，尝尝咱们的冷烤羊肉。”查尔斯经常这么开玩笑。

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艾米莉亚带他们到楼上洗手——这对于教授来说绝对有必要，因为他研究石头时手上沾满了泥土。他们一离开，查尔斯就把我拉到书房。

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“西摩，”他说，“我们这时最需要避免偏见。我们决不能认为这人就是克雷上校——当然，也不能认为他不是。我们要记住，咱们过去在这两种情况下都犯过错，现在要坚决避免旧错重犯。不管今天是哪种情况，我都会随时做好准备——有必要的话，会叫一名警察来随时待命抓捕他们！”

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“计划太妙了！”我低声道，“不过，请允许我提个建议，这两个人到底想怎么给我们下套呢？他们目前没什么阴谋——没什么城堡，也没什么公司合并。”

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“西摩，”我内兄说道，一副董事会议事的口吻，“你有点太着急了，梅德赫斯特这么说过你——我是指克雷上校乔装成的梅德赫斯特。首先，咱们才开始接触，他们还没想好要做什么，我们也许不久就会发现他们有份财产要卖，或者有个公司要筹办，再或者有在南非或其他地方开发土地的特许权。其次，在他们的计划在我们手上引爆之前，或者说真相大白之前，我们总是不知道他们葫芦里卖的什么药。在梅德赫斯特侦探带着我们的钱胜利出逃之前，还有什么能比他更容易看穿的吗？‘白石南花’还有小副牧师把艾米莉亚自己的珠宝卖给我们，我们觉得像是捡了个大便宜。事发前，还有比他们更单纯无知的吗？我不会因为没有发现某个人正要针对我们实施不轨图谋，而理所当然地认为他就不是克雷上校。那个无赖诡计太多，有一些掩饰得太好，就像精神上的炸药，直到真正爆炸了，你才会察觉。因此，我会小心行事，就仿佛这种炸药无处不在。不过，最后一点——这一点非常重要——记住我的话，我觉得我已经察觉到了他要耍的套路。他说自己是地质学家，会品鉴矿石。很好。你会发现，要是他没有很快就劝我，说自己发现了一处煤矿，具体位置需要给点酬金才会透露，那么他就会骗我说，长山上有绿宝石，但要很大的一部分股份才会帮我探寻；再者，他会想方设法说些地质学方面的东西来骗我。这家伙的脸上全都一清二楚地写着呢；这一次，不管他有什么借口，我都坚决一个子儿不给，也不会让他从我的手中逃掉！”

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我们进去吃午饭，福布斯—盖斯克尔夫妇同我们一起，满脸笑容。不知是不是受了查尔斯“凡事不要想当然”这一提醒的影响——吃饭时，我一直紧盯着我们所怀疑的那个人。我发现他的头发很是怪异。他满头头发的颜色不一，后面在外套领口处耷拉下来的一绺，比其他大部分乌黑的头发颜色稍浅和略白。我仔细地看了看，越是这样，我越相信他戴的是假发。这一点不容置疑。

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这也许比克雷上校大多数时候的乔装要逊色些，不过这时，我想到（查尔斯“凡事不要想当然”的原则），我们从未怀疑过克雷上校，除了他乔装成大卫阁下的那次，他那红头发还有络腮胡子，连皮卡迪特夫人都忍不住指着哧哧笑道太假了。不管哪件事，要是我们仔细地审视我们要找的这个人，有点眼力，就本应该能立刻（如梅德赫斯特所说）发现伪装中的破绽。

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那位侦探实际上已经向我们透露了太多。我还记得，他说我们怀疑大卫·格兰顿时，应如何去碰掉他的假发。当男仆端上土豆条时，我立刻蹩手蹩脚地要给自己夹一些，这样胳膊肘就能漫不经心地扫到那假发上。不过，这一切都是徒劳。那家伙似乎预料到，或者说察觉到了我的动机，便小心地躲开了，像是已经习惯了维持自己的伪装，避免一切或真或假的意外。

46
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我满脑子想的都是这个新的发现，一吃完饭，就哄伊莎贝尔，让她带着这两位新朋友去家里的花园转转，给他们看看查尔斯那上等的大丽花，而我则赶快告诉查尔斯还有艾米莉亚这一发现，还有这次失败的尝试。

47
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“是假发，”艾米莉亚表示同意，“我一眼就看出来了。十分不错的假发，戴得也十分巧妙。男人注意不到这些，不过女人会留意。西摩，你能发现这一点，值得表扬。”

48
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查尔斯则不太领情。“你个笨蛋，”他说道，这司空见惯的坦率让人不悦，“假设说那就是假发，为什么要试着把它蹭掉去揭露他呢？有什么用吗？如果那真是假发，被我们发现了，这不就行了吗？我们就提防一下，知道自己在同谁打交道。你总不能因为某个人戴假发就把人抓起来啊。法律管不了这事。大多数体面人物有时也戴假发，我知道有位公司创始人戴假发，有位掌管着十四家公司的董事也戴！我们下一步要做的就是，等他来骗我们，然后——把他一举拿下。你放心，他的计划早晚会露出马脚的。”

49
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于是，我们制订了一套绝佳的方案，随时监视他们，以免他们再次溜走，就像上次从岛上逃掉那样。首先，艾米莉亚去请他们到城堡中住下，就说旅店房间太小，住着不舒适。然而，我们觉得，他们肯定会同上一次那样，谢绝好意，因为万一他们发现自己受到了明显的怀疑，便可以神不知鬼不觉地溜掉。万一他们拒绝，只要他们还住在克罗默蒂·阿姆斯旅店，我们就让西塞琳也在那儿住着，报告他们的行踪。同时，白天我们让侍从领班的儿子来监视整个房子，那个小伙子十分机敏，有一股真正的苏格兰人的精明劲儿，为人可靠，不会向任何人透露任何消息。

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让我们万万没想到的是，福布斯—盖斯克尔夫人满口答应，接受了邀请。她再三表示感谢，说阿姆斯旅店的管理不行，做的饭菜对她丈夫的肝脏也不好。我们能邀请他们真是太贴心了，没想到我们对素昧平生之人会这么友善。她不停地说，自己从未碰到过比在塞尔登城堡更热忱、更友好的款待了。问题是——她坦然地接受了邀请。

51
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“肯定不是克雷上校，”我对查尔斯说，“克雷上校决不会住在这儿的。他冒充大卫·格兰顿时，住过来是多么顺理成章，即便这样，他也不愿意落入我们的股掌之间：他喜欢在克罗默蒂·阿姆斯旅店的那种自由，还有安全感。”

52
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“西，”我内兄简洁地训诫道，“你真是不可救药，总摆脱不了偏见的影响。他接受邀请，或许是出于自己的某种考虑。等着吧！等到他准备行动时——那时候，一切都会真相大白。”

53
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就这样，在接下来的三周内，福布斯—盖斯克尔夫妇也参加了我们在塞尔登举办的家庭宴会。不得不说，查尔斯对他们极为关心。为了同这两位亲近，他很明显怠慢了其他客人。福布斯—盖斯克尔夫人发现了这一点。“查尔斯爵士，你对我们太热情了，”她说，“怕是我们把你都独占了！”

54
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可查尔斯，同以前一样大胆，微笑着答道：“你也清楚，你同我们在一起的时间却这么短！”听到这话，福布斯—盖斯克尔夫人的面颊又泛起了可爱的红霞。

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在这段时间里，教授一直在继续潜心钻研矿石。“真够可以的！”查尔斯对我说，“他演得可真像那么一回事！说到对科学的热爱，还有什么能同眼下这个场景相比？”的确，他从早到晚一心扑在上面。“他迟早会露出马脚的。”查尔斯说道。

56
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同时，有两件小事值得注意。一天，我和教授一同到长山上去，我看着他对着石头敲敲打打，有点受够了他的装模作样。这时，为了打发时间，我问他某个被流水磨平的小石头是什么。他看了看，微微一笑。“要是里面云母再多一些，”他说，“就是附近一带典型的冰川砾石形成的片麻岩。可惜里面云母不太多。”说着，他仔细地打量着那块石头。

57
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“实际上，”我接过话，“这算不上样品，对吧？”

58
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他严厉地瞪了我一眼。“百分之十，”他说道，声音很低，很怪异，“通常是百分之十。”

59
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我抖得厉害。他是不是想让我身败名裂？“你要是胆敢说出来——”我大声喊道，但又打住了。

60
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“你说这话什么意思？”他问道，一脸茫然。

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我想到了查尔斯说的话，凡事不要主观臆断，于是谨慎地就此打住。

62
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第二件小事是这样的。一天下午，中午野餐后，我遗憾地说，查尔斯当时可能是香槟喝多了些，在山上摘了一枝白石南花。他倒没出什么洋相，不过心情很不错，兴致很高，说话口无遮拦。他把花枝拿到福布斯—盖斯克尔夫人面前，递给她，有点眉目传情。“人美花美，”他咕哝道，紧紧地盯着她，“白石南花送给‘白石南花’。”他立刻意识到了自己的言行，便立马打住。

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福布斯—盖斯克尔夫人的脸上又同以往一样泛起了红晕，结结巴巴地说道：“我——我不太明白。”

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查尔斯牵强附会地解释道：“白石南花代表幸运，”他说，“要是——要是哪位男子有幸能送一枝白石南花给你，他肯定会走运。”

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她微微一笑，一点也不领情。我觉得她怀疑我们在怀疑她。

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不过，这件麻烦事之后，什么都没有发生。

67
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第二天，查尔斯兴高采烈地冲到我面前。“哈，他终于要行动了！”他大声说道，“我就知道。他昨天找到我，手里拿着——你猜是什么？——一块含金的石英，在长山上找到的。”

68
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“不会吧！”我叫道。

69
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“千真万确，”查尔斯说，“他说那儿有一条矿脉，很明显能看出里面有星星点点的金子，也许值得开采一下。要是有人开始说这种话，你也就明白他是什么意思了！而且，他事先把一切都编好了，因为他接下来跟我说，萨瑟兰郡长期以来一直盛产黄金——为什么不是罗斯郡呢？接着他就开始全面对比了这两个地区的地质状况。”

70
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“这就不是儿戏了，”我说，“你打算怎么办？”

71
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“再等等看，”查尔斯答道，“只要他提议分他一些股票，成立企业联合组织进行开矿，或者索取钱财作为他这一发现的报酬——就立刻报警抓他。”

72
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接下来的几天，教授比以前更积极、更热心了。他拿着锤子，将各处石头都仔细观察一番，不断地带回一些小石头，上面还有星星点点的金子，头头是道地谈着“开矿碎石的大概成本”。查尔斯之前早就听过这一套，实际上，他先后帮助起草过几十份售股章程。因此，他并不在意，就等着那戴假发的男子拿出自己的方案。他知道，这一刻很快就会到来，于是就静观其变。不过，为了引诱他采取进一步行动，他装作对此事很感兴趣。

73
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我们都抱着这种想法，听随天意，观察克雷上校要怎么做。一天，我们沿着海岸朝着与海鸥岛相反的方向散步。突然，我们碰到了那位教授，他正挽着阿道弗斯·科德里爵士的胳膊！二人貌似关系不错，谈得很投入。

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现在，自从股价暴跌事件以后，阿道弗斯爵士同凡德里夫特一家的关系自然变得略微紧张些。不过，在目前的情况下，这事关能否抓住克雷上校，这点小隔阂先放一放也无妨。于是，查尔斯便设法把教授与阿道弗斯爵士分开，又让艾米莉亚陪教授回城堡，而自己则在后面停住，同我和阿道弗斯爵士一起把问题厘清。

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“你认识他吗，科德里？”他问，稍显狐疑。

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“认识他吗？当然，我当然认识，”阿道弗斯爵士回答，“他叫玛玛丢克·福布斯—盖斯克尔，在约克郡大学工作，是一位非常杰出的科学家，一流的矿物学家——也许是（除一个人之外）全英国最了不起的。”出于谦虚，他没说出那个例外的人是何方高士。

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“你敢确保他的身份吗？”查尔斯变得更加怀疑，便问道，“你以前认识他吗？不会是第二个施莱尔马赫吧？”

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“你敢确保他的身份吗？”阿道弗斯爵士应道，“那我知道自己是谁吗？自从在三一学院时，我就认识玛米·盖斯克尔了，在他同福布斯小姐结婚前就认识他了；他夫人来自格伦卢斯，是我妻子的二表妹，为了不让财产流到族外，便把两人的姓氏连起来做双姓来用。我跟他们俩都非常熟。我到这儿的旅馆来，是因为听说玛米在这一带的山丘中游荡，我想他也许要找些什么宝贝——藏在化石中的某些宝贝。”

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“可他戴着假发！”查尔斯提醒他。

80
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“肯定，”科德里答道，“他秃顶得厉害——至少前面是这样——所以他戴假发遮掩一下。”

81
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“这太无耻了，”查尔斯叫道，“无耻——把我们耍成这样。”他脸涨得通红，像只雄火鸡。

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阿道弗斯爵士毫无顾忌，突然大笑起来。

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“哦，我明白了，”他叫道，一下子来了兴致，“你觉得福布斯—盖斯克尔是克雷上校乔装的！哈，我的天，你可真行！”

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“至少你无权取笑我，”查尔斯接过话，挺了挺身子，脸更红了，“你曾经引着我进了一个类似的圈套，接着你从中全身而退，非绅士所为。还有，”查尔斯继续道，每个字眼都冒着愈发浓烈的火气，“这家伙，不管他是谁，总想凭自己的一面之词骗我。不管他是不是克雷上校，但他老是骗我，说我这儿的山丘中有含金石英，还试着诱使我参与一个荒唐可笑的投机活动！”

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阿道弗斯爵士忍无可忍。“这太过分了，”他大声说道，“我得告诉玛米！”福布斯—盖斯克尔正同艾米莉亚一起坐在岩石的一角，于是他便急急忙忙过去了。

86
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而我和查尔斯则返回家中。半小时后，福布斯—盖斯克尔也火冒三丈地回来了。

87
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“先生，你这是什么意思？”他看到查尔斯便吼道，“有人跟我说，你邀请我和我妻子到你家来，是想监视我们，觉得我是那个臭名远扬的骗子克雷上校！”

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“我之前是这么想的，”查尔斯答道，也同样十分光火，“说不准你就是他！不管怎么说，你是个无赖，想骗我一把！”

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福布斯—盖斯克尔脸气得发白，转向正在发抖的妻子。“格特鲁德，”他说，“收拾行李，立刻远离这些人！他们假惺惺地装作好客，实则是一场精心策划的羞辱。他们让你我显得极其荒唐可笑。咱们来这儿之前就有人说——说得一点不错——查尔斯·凡德里夫特爵士是全苏格兰最抠门、最专横的老浑蛋。咱们还兴高采烈地写信跟朋友们说，事实与他们说的正相反，说他是最热情、最大方、最大度的绅士。现在，我们知道了，他就是个无耻之徒，装成好人样，出于卑鄙的动机邀请陌生人到他家做客，然后无端地羞辱他们。这种人这辈子应该隔三岔五地听听真话，我倍感荣幸，因为我要告诉查尔斯·凡德里夫特爵士：他就是个最没有良心的无赖小人。格特鲁德，去收拾行李！我去克罗默蒂·阿姆斯旅店叫马车，带咱们离开这没人情味儿的假城堡，一分钟也不停留。”

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“你戴了假发，先生，可是你戴了假发。”查尔斯叫道，激动得快说不出话了。的确，福布斯—盖斯克尔说话时，气得把头转来转去，戴的假发向一边斜得很厉害。戴假发这事就掩饰不住了。

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“先生，我是戴了假发，我还能当着无赖的面甩一甩呢！”教授回敬道，说着把假发扯掉，打算重新戴上；并且为了“说到做到”，还在查尔斯面前甩了三次；接着他气得一句话没说，快步走出房间。

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等他们走后，当查尔斯气消得刚能听进别人讲的道理时，我就斗胆说道：“这下错不了了！我们搞错了。我们理所当然地认为，一个人要是戴假发，他就一定是骗子——但这不一定正确。我们忘了头上戴假发的不仅仅是克雷上校，忘了别人戴假发也可能纯粹是出于爱面子。实际上，我们又一次受了偏见的左右。”

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我直直地盯着他。查尔斯起身。“西摩·温特沃斯，”他高高在上地怒视着我，终于开口了，“你这番说教讲的可真是时候！我想，你是不是压根儿就不明白作为一位私人秘书的身份与职责！”

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不过，这件事最离奇的部分是——查尔斯深信，福布斯—盖斯克尔虽然不是克雷上校，但一直哄他说石头中有金子，想骗他，于是再也没有关注这些所谓的发现。于是，福布斯—盖斯克尔和阿道弗斯一起带着这个秘密去了别处。查尔斯把塞尔登城堡这份地产卖掉时（不久后他就卖掉了，因为他莫名其妙地厌恶这个地方），克雷盖拉奇勋爵就从他手中将它买了过来，并成立了现在的“塞尔登黄金城有限公司”。结果，福布斯—盖斯克尔给克雷盖拉奇说，他在某块地产上发现了一条富矿矿脉，要是给他一定的原始股份的未定权益，他就说出具体的位置。这位勋爵立刻抓住了这个机会。查尔斯以射猎松鸡的沼地的价格把它卖掉了，结果现在即便除去推广的费用，黄金城目前的回报也相当可观——而查尔斯又被骗走了一桩金矿的好买卖！

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不过，我时刻谨记自己“作为私人秘书的身份与责任”，当时没有向他挑明，这笔损失源于一个固有的成见——实际上，这一切都源于查尔斯那令人费解的偏见：凡是戴假发的男子，不管是谁，都想骗他。

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On our return to London, Charles and Marvillier had a difference of opinion on the subject of Medhurst.

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Charles maintained that Marvillier ought to have known the man with the cropped hair was Colonel Clay, and ought never to have recommended him. Marvillier maintained that Charles had seen Colonel Clay half-a-dozen times, at least, to his own never；and that my respected brother-in-law had therefore nobody on earth but himself to blame if the rogue imposed upon him.The head detective had known Medhurst for ten years, he said, as a most respectable man, and even a ratepayer；he had always found him the cleverest of spies, as well he might be, indeed, on the familiar set-a-thief-to-catch-a-thief principle.However, the upshot of it all was, as usual—nothing.Marvillier was sorry to lose the services of so excellent a hand；but he had done the very best he could for Sir Charles, he declared；and if Sir Charles was not satisfed, why, he might catch his Colonel Clays for himself in future.

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“So I will, Sey，”Charles remarked to me, as we walked back from the office in the Strand by Piccadilly.“I won’t trust any more to these private detectives. It’s my belief they’re a pack of thieves themselves, in league with the rascals they’re set to catch, and with no more sense of honour than a Zulu diamond-hand.”

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“Better try the police，”I suggested, by way of being helpful. One must assume an interest in one’s employer’s business.

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But Charles shook his head.“No, no，”he said；“I’m sick of all these fellows. I shall trust in future to my own sagacity.We learn by experience, Sey—and I’ve learned a thing or two.One of them is this：It’s not enough to suspect everybody；you must have no preconceptions.Divest yourself entirely of every fixed idea if you wish to cope with a rascal of this calibre.Don’t jump at conclusions.We should disbelieve everything, as well as distrust everybody.That’s the road to success；and I mean to pursue it.”

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So, by way of pursuing it, Charles retired to Seldon.

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“The longer the man goes on, the worse he grows，”he said to me one morning.“He’s just like a tiger that has tasted blood. Every successful haul seems only to make him more eager for another.I fully expect now before long we shall see him down here.”

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About three weeks later, sure enough, my respected connection received a communication from the abandoned swindler, with an Austrian stamp and a Vienna post-mark.

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“MY DEAR VANDRIFT.—（After so long and so varied an acquaintance we may surely drop the absurd formalities of‘Sir Charles’and‘Colonel.’）I write to ask you a delicate question.Can you kindly tell me exactly how much I have received from your various generous acts during the last three years?I have mislaid my account-book, and as this is the season for making the income tax return, I am anxious, as an honest and conscientious citizen, to set down my average profits out of you for the triennial period.For reasons which you will amply understand, I do not this time give my private address, in Paris or

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elsewhere；but if you will kindly advertise the total amount, above the signature‘Peter Simple，’in the Agony Column of the Times, you will confer a great favour upon the Revenue Commissioners, and also upon your constant friend and companion，

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“CUTHBERT CLAY，

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“Practical Socialist.”

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“Mark my word, Sey，”Charles said, laying the letter down，“in a week or less the man himself will follow. This is his cunning way of trying to make me think he’s well out of the country and far away from Seldon.That means he’s meditating another descent.But he told us too much last time, when he was Medhurst the detective.He gave us some hints about disguises and their unmasking that I shall not forget.This turn I shall be even with him.”

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On Saturday of that week, in effect, we were walking along the road that leads into the village, when we met a gentlemanly-looking man, in a rough and rather happy-go-lucky brown tweed suit, who had the air of a tourist. He was middle-aged, and of middle height；he wore a small leather wallet suspended round his shoulder；and he was peering about at the rocks in a suspicious manner.Something in his gait attracted our attention.

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“Good-morning，”he said, looking up as we passed；and Charles muttered a somewhat surly inarticulate，“Good-morning.”

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We went on without saying more.“Well, that’s not Colonel Clay, anyhow，”I said, as we got out of earshot.“For he accosted us frst；and you may remember it’s one of the Colonel’s most marked peculiarities that, like the model child, he never speaks till he’s spoken to—never begins an acquaintance. He always waits till we make the frst advance；he doesn’t goout of his way to cheat us；he loiters about till we ask him to do it.”

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“Seymour，”my brother-in-law responded, in a severe tone，“there you are, now, doing the very thing I warned you not to do！You’re succumbing to a preconception. Avoid fxed ideas.The probability is this man is Colonel Clay.Strangers are generally scarce at Seldon.If he isn’t Colonel Clay, what’s he here for, I’d like to know?What money is there to be made here in any other way?I shall inquire about him.”

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We dropped in at the Cromarty Arms, and asked good Mrs. M’Lachlan if she could tell us anything about the gentlemanly stranger.Mrs.M’Lachlan replied that he was from London, she believed, a pleasant gentleman enough；and he had his wife with him.

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“Ha！Young?Pretty?”Charles inquired, with a speaking glance at me.

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“Weel, Sir Charles, she’ll no be exactly what you’d be ca’ing a bonny lass，”Mrs. M’Lachlan replied；“but she’s a guid body for a’that, an’a fne braw woman.”

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“Just what I should expect，”Charles murmured，“He varies the programme. The fellow has tried White Heather as the parson’s wife, and as Madame Picardet, and as squinting little Mrs.Granton, and as Medhurst’s accomplice；and now, he has almost exhausted the possibilities of a disguise for a really young and pretty woman；so he’s playing her off at last as the riper product—a handsome matron.Clever, extremely clever；but—we begin to see through him.”And he chuckled to himself quietly.

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Next day, on the hillside, we came upon our stranger again, occupied as before in peering into the rocks, and sounding them with a hammer. Charles nudged me and whispered，“I have it this time.He’s posing as a geologist.”

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I took a good look at the man. By now, of course, we had someexperience of Colonel Clay in his various disguises；and I could observe that while the nose, the hair, and the beard were varied, the eyes and the build remained the same as ever.He was a trife stouter, of course, being got up as a man of between forty and ffty；and his forehead was lined in a way which a less consummate artist than Colonel Clay could easily have imitated.But I felt we had at least some grounds for our identifcation；it would not do to dismiss the suggestion of Clayhood at once as a fight of fancy.

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His wife was sitting near, upon a bare boss of rock, reading a volume of poems. Capital variant, that, a volume of poems！Exactly suited the selected type of a cultivated family.White Heather and Mrs.Granton never used to read poems.But that was characteristic of all Colonel Clay’s impersonations, and Mrs.Clay’s too—for I suppose I must call her so.They were not mere outer disguises；they were fnished pieces of dramatic study.Those two people were an actor and actress, as well as a pair of rogues；and in both their r?les they were simply inimitable.

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As a rule, Charles is by no means polite to casual trespassers on the Seldon estate；they get short shrift and a summary ejection. But on this occasion he had a reason for being courteous, and he approached the lady with a bow of recognition.“Lovely day，”he said，“isn’t it?Such belts on the sea, and the heather smells sweet.You are stopping at the inn, I fancy?”

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“Yes，”the lady answered, looking up at him with a charming smile.（“I know that smile，”Charles whispered to me.“I have succumbed to it too often.”）“We’re stopping at the inn, and my husband is doing a little geology on the hill here. I hope Sir Charles Vandrift won’t come and catch us.He’s so down upon trespassers.They tell us at the inn he’s a regular Tartar.”

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（“Saucy minx as ever，”Charles murmured to me.“She said it onpurpose.”）“No, my dear madam，”he continued, aloud；“you have been quite misinformed. I am Sir Charles Vandrift；and I am not a Tartar.If your husband is a man of science I respect and admire him.It is geology that has made me what I am today.”And he drew himself up proudly.“We owe to it the present development of South African mining.”

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The lady blushed as one seldom sees a mature woman blush—but exactly as I had seen Madame Picardet and White Heather.“Oh, I’m so sorry，”she said, in a confused way that recalled Mrs. Granton.“Forgive my hasty speech.I—I didn’t know you.”

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（“She did，”Charles whispered.“But let that pass.”）“Oh, don’t think of it again；so many people disturb the birds, don’t you know, that we’re obliged in self-defence to warn trespassers sometimes off our lovely mountains. But I do it with regret—with profound regret.I admire the—er—the beauties of Nature myself；and, therefore, I desire that all others should have the freest possible access to them—possible, that is to say, consistently with the superior claims of Property.”

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“I see，”the lady replied, looking up at him quaintly.“I admire your wish, though not your reservation. I’ve just been reading those sweet lines of Wordsworth’s—

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And O, ye fountains, meadows, hills, and groves，

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Forebode not any severing of our loves.

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I suppose you know them?”And she beamed on him pleasantly.

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“Know them?”Charles answered.“Know them！Oh, of course, I know them. They’re old favourites of mine—in fact, I adore Wordsworth.”（I doubt whether Charles has ever in his life read a line of poetry, except Doss Chiderdoss in the Sporting Times.）He took the book and glanced atthem.“Ah, charming, charming！”he said, in his most ecstatic tone.But his eyes were on the lady, and not on the poet.

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I saw in a moment how things stood. No matter under what disguise that woman appeared to him, and whether he recognised her or not, Charles couldn’t help falling a victim to Madame Picardet’s attractions.Here he actually suspected her；yet, like a moth round a candle, he was trying his hardest to get his wings singed！I almost despised him with his gigantic intellect！The greatest men are the greatest fools, I verily believe, when there’s a woman in question.

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The husband strolled up by this time, and entered into conversation with us. According to his own account, his name was Forbes-Gaskell, and he was a Professor of Geology in one of those new-fangled northern colleges.He had come to Seldon rock-spying, he said, and found much to interest him.He was fond of fossils, but his special hobby was rocks and minerals.He knew a vast deal about cairngorms and agates and such-like pretty things, and showed Charles quartz and felspar and red cornelian, and I don’t know what else, in the crags on the hillside.Charles pretended to listen to him with the deepest interest and even respect, never for a moment letting him guess he knew for what purpose this show of knowledge had been recently acquired.If we were ever to catch the man, we must not allow him to see we suspected him.So Charles played a dark game.He swallowed the geologist whole without question.

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Most of that morning we spent with them on the hillside. Charles took them everywhere and showed them everything.He pretended to be polite to the scientifc man, and he was really polite, most polite, to the poetical lady.Before lunch time we had become quite friends.

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The Clays were always easy people to get on with；and, bar their roguery, we could not deny they were delightful companions. Charlesasked them in to lunch.They accepted willingly.He introduced them to Amelia with sundry raisings of his eyebrows and contortions of his mouth.“Professor and Mrs.Forbes-Gaskell，”he said, half-dislocating his jaw with his violent efforts.“They’re stopping at the inn, dear.I’ve been showing them over the place, and they’re good enough to say they’ll drop in and take a share in our cold roast mutton；”which was a frequent form of Charles’s pleasantry.

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Amelia sent them upstairs to wash their hands—which, in the Professor’s case, was certainly desirable, for his fngers were grimed with earth and dust from the rocks he had been investigating. As soon as we were left alone Charles drew me into the library.

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“Seymour，”he said，“more than ever there is a need for us strictly to avoid preconceptions. We must not make up our minds that this man is Colonel Clay—nor, again, that he isn’t.We must remember that we have been mistaken in both ways in the past, and must avoid our old errors.I shall hold myself in readiness for either event—and a policeman in readiness to arrest them, if necessary！”

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“A capital plan，”I murmured.“Still, if I may venture a suggestion, in what way are these two people endeavouring to entrap us?They have no scheme on hand—no schloss, no amalgamation.”

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“Seymour，”my brother-in-law answered in his board-room style，“you are a great deal too previous, as Medhurst used to say—I mean, Colonel Clay in his character as Medhurst. In the first place, these are early days；our friends have not yet developed their intentions.We may fnd before long they have a property to sell, or a company to promote, or a concession to exploit in South Africa or elsewhere.Then again, in the second place, we don’t always spot the exact nature of their plan until it has burst in our hands, so to speak, and revealed its true character.What could have seemed more transparent than Medhurst, the detective, till he ran away with our notes in the very moment of triumph?What more innocent than White Heather and the little curate, till they landed us with a couple of Amelia’s own gems as a splendid bargain?I will not take it for granted any man is not Colonel Clay, merely because I don’t happen to spot the particular scheme he is trying to work against me.The rogue has so many schemes, and some of them so well concealed, that up to the moment of the actual explosion you fail to detect the presence of moral dynamite.Therefore, I shall proceed as if there were dynamite everywhere.But in the third place—and this is very important—you mark my words, I believe I detect already the lines he will work upon.He’s a geologist, he says, with a taste for minerals.Very good.You see if he doesn’t try to persuade me before long he has found a coal mine, whose locality he will disclose for a trifling consideration；or else he will salt the Long Mountain with emeralds, and claim a big share for helping to discover them；or else he will try something in the mineralogical line to do me somehow.I see it in the very transparency of the fellow’s face；and I’m determined this time neither to pay him one farthing on any pretext, nor to let him escape me！”

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We went in to lunch. The Professor and Mrs.Forbes-Gaskell, all smiles, accompanied us.I don’t know whether it was Charles’s warning to take nothing for granted that made me do so—but I kept a close eye upon the suspected man all the time we were at table.It struck me there was something very odd about his hair.It didn’t seem quite the same colour all over.The locks that hung down behind, over the collar of his coat, were a trife lighter and a trife grayer than the black mass that covered the greater part of his head.I examined it carefully.The more I did so, the more the conviction grew upon me：he was wearing a wig.There was no denying it！A trifle less artistic, perhaps, than most of Colonel Clay’s get-ups；but then, I refected（on Charles’s principle of taking nothing for granted），we had never before suspected Colonel Clay himself, except in the one case of the Honourable David, whose red hair and whiskers even Madame Picardet had admitted to be absurdly false by her action of pointing at them and tittering irrepressibly.It was possible that in every case, if we had scrutinised our man closely, we should have found that the disguise betrayed itself at once（as Medhurst had suggested）to an acute observer.

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The detective, in fact, had told us too much. I remembered what he said to us about knocking off David Granton’s red wig the moment we doubted him；and I positively tried to help myself awkwardly to potato-chips, when the footman offered them, so as to hit the supposed wig with an apparently careless brush of my elbow.But it was of no avail.The fellow seemed to anticipate or suspect my intention, and dodged aside carefully, like one well accustomed to saving his disguise from all chance of such real or seeming accidents.

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I was so full of my discovery that immediately after lunch I induced Isabel to take our new friends round the home garden and show them Charles’s famous prize dahlias, while I proceeded myself to narrate to Charles and Amelia my observations and my frustrated experiment.

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“It is a wig，”Amelia assented.“I spotted it at once. A very good wig, too, and most artistically planted.Men don’t notice these things, though women do.It is creditable to you, Seymour, to have succeeded in detecting it.”

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Charles was less complimentary.“You fool，”he answered, with that unpleasant frankness which is much too common with him.“Supposing it is, why on earth should you try to knock it off and disclose him?What good would it have done?If it is a wig, and we spot it, that’s all that weneed. We are put on our guard；we know with whom we have now to deal.But you can’t take a man up on a charge of wig-wearing.The law doesn’t interfere with it.Most respectable men may sometimes wear wigs.Why, I knew a promoter who did, and also the director of fourteen companies！What we have to do next is, wait till he tries to cheat us, and then—pounce down upon him.Sooner or later, you may be sure, his plans will reveal themselves.”

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So we concocted an excellent scheme to keep them under constant observation, lest they should slip away again, as they did from the island. First of all, Amelia was to ask them to come and stop at the castle, on the ground that the rooms at the inn were uncomfortably small.We felt sure, however, that, as on a previous occasion, they would refuse the invitation, in order to be able to slink off unperceived, in case they should find themselves apparently suspected.Should they decline, it was arranged that Césarine should take a room at the Cromarty Arms as long as they stopped there, and report upon their movements；while, during the day, we would have the house watched by the head gillie’s son, a most intelligent young man, who could be trusted, with true Scotch canniness, to say nothing to anybody.

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To our immense surprise, Mrs. Forbes-Gaskell accepted the invitation with the utmost alacrity.She was profuse in her thanks, indeed；for she told us the Arms was an ill-kept house, and the cookery by no means agreed with her husband’s liver.It was sweet of us to invite them；such kindness to perfect strangers was quite unexpected.She should always say that nowhere on earth had she met with so cordial or friendly a reception as at Seldon Castle.But—she accepted, unreservedly.

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“It can’t be Colonel Clay，”I remarked to Charles.“He would never have come here. Even as David Granton, with far more reason for coming, he wouldn’t put himself in our power：he preferred the security and freedom of the Cromarty Arms.”

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“Sey，”my brother-in-law said sententiously，“you’re incorrigible. You will persist in being the slave of prepossessions.He may have some good reason of his own for accepting.Wait till he shows his hand—and then, we shall understand everything.”

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So for the next three weeks the Forbes-Gaskells formed part of the house-party at Seldon. I must say, Charles paid them most assiduous attention.He positively neglected his other guests in order to keep close to the two new-comers.Mrs.Forbes-Gaskell noticed the fact, and commented on it.“You are really too good to us, Sir Charles，”she said.“I’m afraid you allow us quite to monopolise you！”

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But Charles, gallant as ever, replied with a smile，“We have you with us for so short a time, you know！”Which made Mrs. Forbes-Gaskell blush again that delicious blush of hers.

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During all this time the Professor went on calmly and persistently mineralogising.“Wonderful character！”Charles said to me.“He works out his parts so well！Could anything exceed the picture he gives one of scientific ardour?”And, indeed, he was at it, morning, noon, and night.“Sooner or later，”Charles observed，“something practical must come of it.”

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Twice, meanwhile, little episodes occurred which are well worth notice. One day I was out with the Professor on the Long Mountain, watching him hammer at the rocks, and a little bored by his performance, when, to pass the time, I asked him what a particular small water-worn stone was.He looked at it and smiled.“If there were a little more mica in it，”he said，“it would be the characteristic gneiss of ice-borne boulders, hereabouts.But there isn’t quite enough.”And he gazed at it curiously.

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“Indeed，”I answered，“it doesn’t come up to sample, doesn’t it?”

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He gave me a meaning look.“Ten per cent，”he murmured in a slow, strange voice；“ten per cent is more usual.”

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I trembled violently. Was he bent, then, upon ruining me?“If you betray me—”I cried, and broke off.

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“I beg your pardon，”he said. He was all pure innocence.

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I refected on what Charles had said about taking nothing for granted, and held my tongue prudently.

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The other incident was this. Charles picked a sprig of white Heather on the hill one afternoon, after a picnic lunch, I regret to say, when he had taken perhaps a glass more champagne than was strictly good for him.He was not exactly the worse for it, but he was excited, good-humoured, reckless, and lively.He brought the sprig to Mrs.Forbes-Gaskell, and handed it to her, ogling a little.“Sweets to the sweet，”he murmured, and looked at her meaningly.“White heather to White Heather.”Then he saw what he had done, and checked himself instantly.

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Mrs. Forbes-Gaskell coloured up in the usual manner.“I—I don’t quite understand，”she faltered.

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Charles scrambled out of it somehow.“White heather for luck，”he said，“and—the man who is privileged to give a piece of it to you is surely lucky.”

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She smiled, none too well pleased. I somehow felt she suspected us of suspecting her.

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However, as it turned out, nothing came, after all, of the untoward incident.

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Next day Charles burst upon me, triumphant.“Well, he has shown his hand！”he cried.“I knew he would. He has come to me to-day with—what do you think?—a fragment of gold, in quartz, from the Long Mountain.”

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“No！”I exclaimed.

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“Yes，”Charles answered.“He says there’s a vein there with distinct specks of gold in it, which might be worth mining. When a man begins that way you know what he’s driving at！And what’s more, he’s got up the subject beforehand；for he began saying to me there had long been gold in Sutherlandshire—why not therefore in Ross-shire?And then he went at full into the comparative geology of the two regions.”

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“This is serious，”I said.“What will you do?”

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“Wait and watch，”Charles answered；“and the moment he develops a proposal for shares in the syndicate to work the mine, or a sum of money down as the price of his discovery—get in the police, and arrest him.”

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For the next few days the Professor was more active and ardent than ever. He went peering about the rocks on every side with his hammer.He kept on bringing in little pieces of stone, with gold specks stuck in them, and talking learnedly of the“probable cost of crushing and milling.”Charles had heard all that before；in point of fact, he had assisted at the drafting of some dozens of prospectuses.So he took no notice, and waited for the man with the wig to develop his proposals.He knew they would come soon；and he watched and waited.But, of course, to draw him on he pretended to be interested.

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While we were all in this attitude of mind, attending on Providence and Colonel Clay, we happened to walk down by the shore one day, in the opposite direction from the Seamew’s island. Suddenly we came upon the Professor linked arm-in-arm with—Sir Adolphus Cordery！They were wrapped in deep talk, and appeared to be most amicable.

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Now, naturally, relations had been a trifle strained between Sir Adolphus and the house of Vandrift since the incident of the Slump；but under the present circumstances, and with such a matter at stake as the capture of Colonel Clay, it was necessary to overlook all suchminor differences. So Charles managed to disengage the Professor from his friend, sent Amelia on with Forbes-Gaskell towards the castle, and stopped behind, himself, with Sir Adolphus and me, to clear up the question.

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“Do you know this man, Cordery?”he asked, with some little suspicion.

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“Know him?Why, of course I do，”Sir Adolphus answered.“He’s Marmaduke Forbes-Gaskell, of the Yorkshire College, a very distinguished man of science. First-rate mineralogist—perhaps the best（but one）in England.”Modesty forbade him to name the exception.

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“But are you sure it’s he?”Charles inquired, with growing doubt.“Have you known him before?This isn’t a second case of Schleiermachering me, is it?”

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“Sure it’s he?”Sir Adolphus echoed.“Am I sure of myself?Why, I’ve known Marmy Gaskell ever since we were at Trinity together. Knew him before he married Miss Forbes of Glenluce, my wife’s second cousin, and hyphened his name with hers, to keep the property in the family.Know them both most intimately.Came down here to the inn because I heard that Marmy was on the prowl among these hills, and I thought he had probably something good to prowl after—in the way of fossils.”

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“But the man wears a wig！”Charles expostulated.

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“Of course，”Cordery answered.“He’s as bald as a bat—in front at least—and he wears a wig to cover his baldness.”

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“It’s disgraceful，”Charles exclaimed；“disgraceful—taking us in like that.”And he grew red as a turkey-cock.

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Sir Adolphus has no delicacy. He burst out laughing.

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“Oh, I see，”he cried out, simply bursting with amusement.“You thought Forbes-Gaskell was Colonel Clay in disguise！Oh, my stars, whata lovely one！”

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“You, at least, have no right to laugh，”Charles responded, drawing himself up and growing still redder.“You led me once into a similar scrape, and then backed out of it in a way unbecoming a gentleman. Besides，”he went on, getting angrier at each word，“this fellow, whoever he is, has been trying to cheat me on his own account.Colonel Clay or no Colonel Clay, he’s been salting my rocks with gold-bearing quartz, and trying to lead me on into an absurd speculation！”

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Sir Adolphus exploded.“Oh, this is too good，”he cried.“I must go and tell Marmy！”And he rushed off to where Forbes-Gaskell was seated on a corner of rock with Amelia.

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As for Charles and myself, we returned to the house. Half an hour later Forbes-Gaskell came back, too, in a towering temper.

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“What is the meaning of this, sir?”he shouted out, as soon as he caught sight of Charles.“I’m told you’ve invited my wife and myself here to your house in order to spy upon us, under the impression that I was Clay, the notorious swindler！”

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“I thought you were，”Charles answered, equally angry.“Perhaps you may be still！Anyhow, you’re a rogue, and you tried to bamboozle me！”

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Forbes-Gaskell, white with rage, turned to his trembling wife.“Gertrude，”he said，“pack up your box and come away from these people instantly. Their pretended hospitality has been a studied insult.They’ve put you and me in a most ridiculous position.We were told before we came here—and no doubt with truth—that Sir Charles Vandrift was the most close-fsted and tyrannical old curmudgeon in Scotland.We’ve been writing to all our friends to say ecstatically that he was, on the contrary, a most hospitable, generous, and large-hearted gentleman.And now we fnd out he’s a disgusting cad, who asks strangers to his house from themeanest motives, and then insults his guests with gratuitous vituperation.It is well such people should hear the plain truth now and again in their lives；and it therefore gives me the greatest pleasure to tell Sir Charles Vandrift that he’s a vulgar bounder of the frst water.Go and pack your box, Gertrude！I’ll run down to the Cromarty Arms, and order a cab to carry us away at once from this inhospitable sham castle.”

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“You wear a wig, sir；you wear a wig，”Charles exclaimed, half-choking with passion. For, indeed, as Forbes-Gaskell spoke, and tossed his head angrily, the nature of his hair-covering grew painfully apparent.It was quite one-sided.

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“I do, sir, that I may be able to shake it in the face of a cad！”the Professor responded, tearing it off to readjust it；and, suiting the action to the word, he brandished it thrice in Charles’s eyes；after which he darted from the room, speechless with indignation.

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As soon as they were gone, and Charles had recovered breath suffciently to listen to rational conversation, I ventured to observe，“This comes of being too sure！We made one mistake. We took it for granted that because a man wears a wig, he must be an impostor—which does not necessarily follow.We forgot that not Colonel Clays alone have false coverings to their heads, and that wigs may sometimes be worn from motives of pure personal vanity.In fact, we were again the slaves of preconceptions.”

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I looked at him pointedly. Charles rose before he replied.“Seymour Wentworth，”he said at last, gazing down upon me with lofty scorn，“your moralising is ill-timed.It appears to me you entirely misunderstand the position and duties of a private secretary！”

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The oddest part of it all, however, was this—that Charles, being convinced Forbes-Gaskell, though he wasn’t Colonel Clay, had beenfraudulently salting the rocks with gold, with intent to deceive, took no further notice of the alleged discoveries. The consequence was that Forbes-Gaskell and Sir Adolphus went elsewhere with the secret；and it was not till after Charles had sold the Seldon Castle estate（which he did shortly afterward, the place having somehow grown strangely distasteful to him）that the present“Seldon Eldorados, Limited，”were put upon the market by Lord Craig-Ellachie, who purchased the place from him.Forbes-Gaskell, as it happened, had reported to Craig-Ellachie that he had found a lode of high-grade ore on an estate unnamed, which he would particularise on promise of certain contingent claims to founder’s shares；and the old lord jumped at it.Charles sold at grouse-moor prices；and the consequence is that the capital of the Eldorados is yielding at present very fair returns, even after allowing for expenses of promotion—while Charles has been done out of a good thing in gold-mines！

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But, remembering“the position and duties of a private secretary，”I refrained from pointing out to him at the time that this loss was due to a fxed idea—though as a matter of fact it depended upon Charles’s strange preconception that the man with the wig, whoever he might be, was trying to diddle him.

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序号 英文/音标 中文解释 更多操作

Colonel

[’kɜːnl]

n.上校

Zulu

[’zuːluː]

n.祖鲁人;祖鲁语

distrust

[dɪs’trʌst]

v.不信任

stamp

[stæmp]

【1】 n.邮票; 图章【2】v.盖邮戳,盖印章

Paris

[’pærɪs]

n.巴黎;重楼(百合科植物);帕里斯(姓氏)

confer

[kən’fɜː(r)]

v.商讨;授予，赐予

Socialist

[’səʊʃəlɪst]

adj.社会主义的

unmask

[ˌʌn’mɑːsk]

v.除去面具;揭露

gait

[ɡeɪt]

n.步态;步法

inarticulate

[ˌɪnɑː’tɪkjələt]

adj.不善言辞的;含糊其辞的;非言语能表达的;说不出话的

loiter

[’lɔɪtə(r)]

v.闲荡;虚度;徘徊

gentlemanly

[’dʒentlmənli]

adj.绅士派头的

braw

[brɔː]

adj.衣饰华美的;美好的

chuckle

[’tʃʌkl]

v.轻声笑;咯咯笑;暗自笑

geologist

[dʒi’ɒlədʒɪst]

n.地质学家

fancy

[’fænsi]

n. 【C】设想；幻想；空想;

inimitable

[ɪ’nɪmɪtəbl]

adj.无法仿效的;不可比拟的

Tartar

[’tɑːtə(r)]

n. 鞑靼人;

African

[’æfrɪkən]

非洲的；非洲人的;

hasty

[’heɪsti]

adj.匆匆的;轻率的;急忙的

trespasser

[’trespəsə(r)]

n.侵入者;侵犯者

quaint

[kweɪnt]

adj.离奇有趣的;古色古香的;古怪的

grove

[ɡrəʊv]

n.小树林;果树园

sever

[’sevə(r)]

v.切断;脱离;分开

ecstatic

[ɪk’stætɪk]

adj.狂喜的

verily

[’verɪli]

adv.肯定地;真实地

pleasantry

[’plezntri]

n.幽默;开玩笑;客气话

grime

[ɡraɪm]

n.污垢;污物

readiness

[’redinəs]

n.准备就绪;预备;欣然;敏捷

amalgamation

[əˌmælɡə’meɪʃn]

n.汞齐化;融合;合并

pretext

[’priːtekst]

n.借口

disguise

[dɪs’ɡaɪz]

vt.掩饰;假装;假扮

frustratingly

[frʌ’streɪt]

vt.挫败;击败;使沮丧;使灰心

creditable

[’kredɪtəbl]

adj.可称誉的;可信的

Sooner

[’suːnə]

adv. soon的比较级

canniness

[’kænɪnɪs]

n.精明;机警

unreserved

[ˌʌnrɪ’zɜːvd]

adj.坦率的;无保留的;没有被预订的

David

[’deɪvɪd]

戴维(男子名)

incorrigible

[ɪn’kɒrɪdʒəbl]

adj.无药可救的;积习难改的;固执的

monopolize

[mə’nɒpəlaɪz]

v.独占;垄断.

blush

[blʌʃ]

n.脸红;羞愧

hereabouts

[ˌhɪərə’baʊts]

adv.在这一带

cent

[sent]

n.分

innocence

[’ɪnəsns]

n.无罪;清白;无知;天真无邪

prudent

[’pruːdnt]

adj.谨慎的;有远见的;精明的

Heather

[’heðə(r)]

n.石南属植物

falter

[’fɔːltə(r)]

vi.动摇;迟疑;支吾地说;蹒跚地走

heather

[’heðə(r)]

n.石南属植物

felted

[’feltɪd]

v. 把 ... 制成毡(使 ... 粘结)

untoward

[ˌʌntə’wɔːd]

adj.麻烦的;不利的;不适当的;失控的

quartz

[kwɔːts]

n.石英

geology

[dʒi’ɒlədʒi]

n.地质学;(某地区的)地质情况;地质学的著作

syndicate

[’sɪndɪkət]

n.企业联合

prospectus

[prə’spektəs]

n.创立计划书;宣传小册;简章

amicable

[’æmɪkəbl]

adj.友好的;和睦的

Amelia

[eɪˈmiːlɪə]

n.阿米莉亚(女子名)

Modesty

[’mɒdəsti]

n.谦逊;虚心;端庄;朴实;中肯

prowl

[praʊl]

v.潜行以觅食;窥伺;逡巡于

expostulate

[ɪk’spɒstʃuleɪt]

v.规劝;告诫;抗议

baldness

[bɔːldnəs]

n.光秃;露骨

delicacy

[’delɪkəsi]

n.柔弱;精致;优雅;谨慎;佳肴

swindler

[’swɪndlə(r)]

n.骗子

bamboozle

[bæm’buːzl]

v.欺骗;隐瞒;迷惑

sham

[ʃæm]

n.假;赝品;骗子;枕头套

indignation

[ˌɪndɪɡ’neɪʃn]

n.愤怒;愤慨;义愤

preconception

[ˌpriːkən’sepʃn]

n.预想;先入之见;偏见

diddle

[’dɪdl]

v.急速摇摆;欺骗;骗取;摆弄;闲逛;虚度

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