the reporters. I ought to say that when the government officials came to hear of my inheritance, they were reasonably desired to collect the succession tax on my uncle’s estate. I was delighted to assist them. I told the collector my story, and showed him Uncle Philip’s letter.
Then I offered him the key, and asked for time to get half a mile away. That man said he would think it over and come back later. This is all I have to say. I have made a will and left my rubies and pearls to the Society for the Preservation of Human Vivisection .
If any man thinks this account a joke or an invention, let him coldly imagine the situation: 10th - - Given an iron box, known to contain wealth, and to contain dynamite, arranged to explode when the key is used to unlock it – what would any sane man do? What would he advise? ingenious (adj.) - clever, original and inventive mania (n) - an extensive, persistent desire, an obsession malicious (adj.) - spiteful, intended to harm or upset someone queer (adj.) - strange, odd appalled (adj.) - horrified, shocked oddity (n) - the quality being strange or peculiar closet (n) - cupboard incredible (adj.) - impossible to believe contrive (v) - cook up, hatch a plan by deliberate use of skills despotic (adj.) - tyrannical, autocratic avarice (n) - extreme greed for wealth jest (n) - a joke vivisection (n) - a surgery conducted on a living organism for experimental purposes. A.
Read the given lines carefully and identify the character / speaker: . I suppose you think me queer. I will explain. .
Don't come back. It won't hasten things. . He thought it simply a cruel jest.
. He did not desire to do so. . He would think it over and come back later.
Silas Weir Mitchell ( - ) was a neurologist by profession. He was among the famous physicians of his time and a prolific writer of both scientific and literary works. He was born in Philadelphia, studied at