閱讀理解

　　At Denver there was an crowd of passengers into the coaches(車廂)on the eastbound B．＆M．express．In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler．Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank face expression and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed．The two were handcuffed(拷上手銬)together．

　　As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only available seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman．Here the linked couple seated themselves．The young woman's glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her face and a tender pink tingeing(稍加染色，影響)her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand．When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard．

　　"Well, Mr．Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must．Don't you ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?"

　　The younger man aroused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand．

　　"It's Miss Fairchild," he said, with a smile．"I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; "it's otherwise engaged just at present．"

　　He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining "bracelet" to the left one of his companion．The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror．The glow faded from her cheeks．Her lips parted in a vague(含糊，猶豫), relaxing distress．Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him．The glum-faced man had been watching the girl's face expression with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes．

　　"You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're acquainted with(認識，熟悉)the officer here．If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen(圍欄，監(jiān)獄)he'll do it, and it'll make things easier for me there．He's taking me to Leavenworth prison．It's seven years for cheating．"

　　"Oh!" said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color．"So that is what you are doing out here? An officer!"

　　"My dear Miss Fairchild," said Easton, calmly, "I had to do something．Money has a way of taking wings with itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington．I saw this opening(通道)in the West, and--well, an officer isn't quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but--"

　　"The ambassador," said the girl, warmly, "doesn't call any more．I needn't ever have done so．You ought to know that．And so now you are one of these brave Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers．That's different from the Washington life．You have been missed from the old crowd．"

　　The girl's eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs．

　　"Don't you worry about them, miss," said the other man．"All officers handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away．Mr．Easton knows his business．"

　　"Will we see you again soon in Washington?" asked the girl．

　　"Not soon, I think," said Easton．"My butterfly days are over, I fear．"

　　"I love the West," said the girl irrelevantly．Her eyes were shining softly．She looked away out the car window．She began to speak truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner："Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver．She went home a week ago because father was slightly ill．I could live and be happy in the West．I think the air here agrees with me．Money isn't everything．But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid--"

　　"Say, officer," shouted the glum-faced man．"This isn't quite fair．I'm needing a drink, and haven't had a smoke all day．Haven't you talked long enough? Take me in the smoker now, won't you? I'm half dead for a pipe．"

　　The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face．

　　"I can't deny a require for tobacco," he said, lightly．"It's the one friend of the unfortunate．Good-bye, Miss Fairchild．Duty calls, you know．" He held out his hand for a farewell．

　　"It's too bad you are not going East," she said, reclothing herself with manner and style．"But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose?"

　　"Yes," said Easton, "I must go on to Leavenworth．"

　　The two men sidled down the aisle into the smoker．

　　The two passengers in a seat near by had heard most of the conversation．Said one of them："That officer is a good sort of man．Some of these Western fellows are all right．"

　　"Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn't he?" asked the other．

　　"Young!" exclaimed the first speaker, "why－Oh! Didn't you catch on? Say－did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?"

完型填空

Serious Business

　　Let me take you 　　1　　 a couple of years．Come with me as we relearn a lesson, one that has stuck with me, in my present memory, and 　　2　　 me yet．

　　We walked into Elida Road Hardware, an old-fashioned hardware store．No automatic door, not a computer in the building．It was one that I went to fairly often．As we entered the door, two sounds 　　3　　 us．The sleigh bells of last year made that sweet, peaceful tinkle as we opened the door．The other sound was the electronic beeper that reminded Andy of our 　　4　　．

　　"Good afternoon, Ryan,"　　5　　 the cheerful greeting．Andy was a very 　　6　　 sort of owner．He was of medium build and height, and the smile on his face welcomed us．

　　We walked across the old wood floor．Andy asked us what he could help us with．I told him we were 　　7　　 a spring．He very patiently replied, "I have lots of springs．You're going to need to be more 　　8　　．"

　　"Just a spring for an old-fashioned screen door．"

　　"That's it．A screen door spring．Right down there．" We 　　9　　 where he was pointing, and sure enough, there they were．Andy knew his store, and his products．That was why I came here instead of Meijer．The service couldn't be beaten．The price－Yes．But service and 　　10　　－No．

　　I picked up one and followed him to the 　　11　　．

　　He 　　12　　 the price, doing the math in his head．"＄1.88, with tax：comes to ＄1.99．"

　　Put it on my dad's account．"

　　He nodded and smiled, "Good dad's account．" He laughed．"I don't know what you boys would do 　　13　　 dad's account!"

　　He handed me the ticket and as I 　　14　　 it I asked, "You really trust my signature?"

　　His reply surprised, 　　15　　 delighted, me．"When I can't trust Jerry Hoover's boys I can trust nobody!"

　　We left, and the brain 　　16　　 started to forget things, in order of importance．But what Andy said that day rang in my ears．And it rings in my ears today．That's a tall order to live up．to．It's a high standard of 　　17　　．My father made a fame for that name, and I get to 　　18　　 the benefits．But on account of this, I must 　　19　　 that fame．And that's 　　20　　 business．