Every denizen of the valley knew the tale of the corrupt toll keeper. (denizen: inhabitant, resident, occupant; corrupt: dishonest, venal, crooked) His extortion had oppressed travelers for years. (extortion: blackmail, coercive extraction, shakedown; oppressed: subjugated, downtrodden, persecuted) One particularly lurid account called the man depraved, his family perfidious and his guard dog an unprincipled opportunist. (depraved: corrupt, wicked, vicious; perfidious: treacherous, faithless, disloyal; unprincipled: unscrupulous, unethical, immoral; opportunist: self-seeker, schemer, advantage-seeker) The children wanted to know what an unscrupulous dog might look like. (unscrupulous: unprincipled, dishonest, unethical)
At the creek a notice read "Free passage." The keeper's granddaughter showed them a box of tokens. The original fee had paid for a bridge. Her grandfather's wrongdoing lay in continuing to collect it for a year after the bridge washed out. She did not minimize the impropriety. (minimize: downplay, understate, play down; impropriety: unseemliness, indecorum, misconduct) Taking a fee from stranded travelers had been unconscionable. (unconscionable: outrageous, unreasonable, indefensible)
The dog in the photograph was pulling the ferry. The children went home with an accurate account of the toll and an improved opinion of the dog. A good story, they decided, could survive one innocent character.