这次是马龙问：“如果他那么不得人心，他到底是怎么当选参议员的？”
This time it was Malone who asked, “If he was so all-fired unpopular, how in the hell did he get elected Senator?”
“这很容易解释。” 汤姆?伯罗斯告诉他。“他在党内很受欢迎。他有很多钱可以捐给竞选活动，而且他出手大方。在整个候选人名单都顺利当选的时候，他被选为县财务主管，然后当他想竞选州财务主管的时候，党把他推了上去。最后他想竞选参议员，党说，‘哦，好吧，为什么不呢’，于是他就当选了。”
“That’s an easy one,” Tom Burrows told him. “He was popular with the party. He had plenty of money to contribute to campaign expenses, and he contributed with a lavish hand. He was elected county treasurer at a time when the whole ticket slid in, and then when he wanted to make it state treasurer, the party pushed him through. Finally he wanted to run for the Senate, and the party said, ‘Oh well, why the hell not,’ and there he was.
“而且，” 他接着说，“他有一定的演讲天赋，也有让自己成为公众英雄的本事。在他退出之前，他对党来说是个真正的财富。”
“Besides,” he went on, “he had a certain gift for oratory and for making a public hero of himself. He was a real asset to the party, until he quit.”
杰克说：“我想最终他只是厌倦了把自己当成一种财富。”
Jake said, “I suppose eventually he just got tired of making an asset of himself.”
“我刚写了一个很棒的白手起家的故事。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“从农场男孩到国会大厦，只需十步轻松课程。那全是胡说八道。参议员的老爸去世时留下了六七个农场。”
“I just wrote a swell rags-to-riches story,” Tom Burrows said. “Farm boy to Capitol, in ten easy lessons. It was a lot of baloney. The Senator’s old man left half a dozen farms when he kicked off.”
马龙眨了眨眼。“在我看来这仍然像是白手起家的故事。”
Malone blinked. “It still reads like rags to riches to me.”
“在这个国家，” 新闻记者说，“六七个农场意味着真正的财富。他去世的时候财富大概是那时的十倍，但那是亨利的功劳。亨利有真正的商业头脑。”
“In this country,” the newspaperman said, “half a dozen farms means real dough. He was worth about ten times that when he died, but that was Henry’s doing. Henry had the real business head.”
“对他来说不错。” 马龙说。“谁是亨利？”
“Nice for him,” Malone said. “Who’s Henry?”
“参议员的兄弟。他很不寻常。” 汤姆?伯罗斯停顿了一下。“哦，好吧，你可能会亲自见到他。亨利是个鳏夫，没有孩子。参议员有一个孩子，弗洛伦斯。她和年轻的地方检察官订了婚。”
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