The Strange Serpent

摘要

The Vicar had retired; virtually the Vestry Meeting was at an end, but the members still lingered, and when Mr. Sullivan Bliss rose to speak, there was instant silence."Gentlemen," he began, "it is my duty, my painful duty, to apprise you of a very sad state of affairs which has come to my notice.""Mr. Sullivan Bliss made a dramatic pause. Our Vicar, a man of whom, as you know, I have always had the highest opinion, though not, I must admit, agreeing with him upon every point; the highest opinion," he repeated, "Gentlemen, I have to tell you thatthe Rev. Francis Trent, Vicar of the Parish of Molgate, is a drunkard!"