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第13章 the￡1000000 banknte（第2页）

"Inamonth，theysaid。

"

"Amonth!Oh，thisisawful!Givemesomesortofideaofhowtogetawordtothem。It&aos;softhelastimortance。

"

"Ican&aos;t，indeed。I&aos;venoideawherethey&aos;vegone，sir。

"

"ThenImustseesomememberofthefamily。

"

"Family&aos;saway，too;beenabroadmonths-inEgytandIndia，Ithink。

"

"Man，there&aos;sbeenanimmensemistakemade。They&aos;llbebackbeforenight。WillyoutellthemI&aos;vebeenhere，andthatIwillkeecomingtillit&aos;sallmaderight，andtheyneedn&aos;tbeafraid?

"

"I&aos;lltellthem，iftheycomeback，butIamnotexectingthem。Theysaidyouwouldbehereinanhourtomakeinquiries，butImusttellyouit&aos;sallright，they&aos;llbehereontimeandexectyou。

"SoIhadtogiveituandgoaway。Whatariddleitallwas!Iwasliketolosemymind。Theywouldbehere

"ontime

"。Whatcouldthatmean?Oh，theletterwouldexlain，maybe。Ihadforgottentheletter;Igotitoutandreadit。Thisiswhatitsaid:

Youareanintelligentandhonestman，asonemayseebyyourface。Weconceiveyoutobeoorandastranger。Enclosedyouwillfindasumofmoney。Itislenttoyouforthirtydays，withoutinterest。Reortatthishouseattheendofthattime。Ihaveabetonyou。IfIwinityoushallhaveanysituationthatisinmygift-any，thatis，thatyoushallbeabletoroveyourselffamiliarwithandcometenttofill。

Nosignature，noaddress，nodate。

Well，herewasacoiltobein!Youareostedonwhathadrecededallthis，butIwasnot。Itwasjustadee，darkuzzletome。Ihadn&aos;ttheleastideawhatthegamewas，norwhetherharmwasmeantmeorakindness。Iwentintoaark，andsatdowntotrytothinkitout，andtoconsiderwhatIhadbestdo。

Attheendofanhourmyreasoningshadcrystallizedintothisverdict。

Maybethosemenmeanmewell，maybetheymeanmeill;nowaytodecidethat-letitgo。They&aos;vegotagame，orascheme，oranexeriment，ofsomekindonhand;nowaytodeterminewhatitis-letitgo。There&aos;sabetonme;nowaytofindoutwhatitis-letitgo。Thatdisosesoftheindeterminablequantities;theremainderofthematteristangible，solid，andmaybeclassedandlabeledwithcertainty。IfIasktheBankofEnglandtolacethisbilltothecreditofthemanitbelongsto，they&aos;lldoit，fortheyknowhim，althoughIdon&aos;t;buttheywillaskmehowIcameinossessionofit，andifItellthetruth，they&aos;llutmeintheasylum，naturally，andaliewilllandmeinjail。ThesameresultwouldfollowifItriedtobankthebillanywhereortoborrowmoneyonit。Ihavegottocarrythisimmenseburdenarounduntilthosemencomeback，whetherIwanttoornot。Itisuselesstome，asuselessasahandfulofashes，andyetImusttakecareofit，andwatchoverit，whileIbegmyliving。Icouldn&aos;tgiveitaway，ifIshouldtry，forneitherhonestcitizennorhighwaymanwouldaccetitormeddlewithitforanything。Thosebrothersaresafe。EvenifIlosetheirbill，orburnit，theyarestillsafe，becausetheycanstoayment，andthebankwillmakethemwhole;butmeantimeI&aos;vegottodoamonth&aos;ssufferingwithoutwagesorrofit-unlessIhelwinthatbet，whateveritmaybe，andgetthatsituationthatIamromised。Ishouldliketogetthat;menoftheirsorthavesituationsintheirgiftthatareworthhaving。

Igottothinkingagooddealaboutthatsituation。Myhoesbegantorisehigh。Withoutdoubtthesalarywouldbelarge。Itwouldbegininamonth;afterthatIshouldbeallright。PrettysoonIwasfeelingfirst-rate。BythistimeIwastramingthestreetsagain。Thesightofatailorshogavemeasharlongingtoshedmyrags，andtoclothemyselfdecentlyoncemore。CouldIaffordit?No;Ihadnothingintheworldbutamillionounds。SoIforcedmyselftogoonby。ButsoonIwasdriftingbackagain。Thetemtationersecutedmecruelly。Imusthaveassedthatshobackandforthsixtimesduringthatmanfulstruggle。AtlastIgavein;Ihadto。Iaskediftheyhadamisfitsuitthathadbeenthrownontheirhands。ThefellowIsoketonoddedhisheadtowardsanotherfellow，andgavemenoanswer。Iwenttotheindicatedfellow，andheindicatedanotherfellowwithhishead，andnowords。Iwenttohim，andhesaid:

"Tendtoyouresently。

"

Iwaitedtillhewasdonewithwhathewasat，thenhetookmeintoabackroom，andoverhauledaileofrejectedsuits，andselectedtherattiestoneforme。Iutiton。Itdidn&aos;tfit，andwasn&aos;tinanywayattractive，butitwasnew，andIwasanxioustohaveit;soIdidn&aos;tfindanyfault，butsaid，withsomediffidence:

"Itwouldbeanaccommodationtomeifyoucouldwaitsomedaysforthemoney。Ihaven&aos;tanysmallchangeaboutme。

"

Thefellowworkeduamostsarcasticexressionofcountenance，andsaid:

"Oh，youhaven&aos;t?Well，ofcourse，Ididn&aos;texectit。I&aos;donlyexectgentlemenlikeyoutocarrylargechange。

"

Iwasnettled，andsaid:

"Myfriend，youshouldn&aos;tjudgeastrangeralwaysbytheclotheshewears。Iamquiteabletoayforthissuit;Isimlydidn&aos;twishtoutyoutothetroubleofchangingalargenote。

"

Hemodifiedhisstylealittleatthat，andsaid，thoughstillwithsomethingofanair:

"Ididn&aos;tmeananyarticularharm，butaslongasrebukesaregoing，Imightsayitwasn&aos;tquiteyouraffairtojumtotheconclusionthatwecouldn&aos;tchangeanynotethatyoumighthaentobecarryingaround。Onthecontrary，wecan。

"

Ihandedthenotetohim，andsaid:

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