‘Not a trace. Pools full of fish, too, and everythin’ as keenly as can be. Yet I’m sure he’s up, and sartin he’ll be spurred afore the day’s much older. Wonder who’ll be the lucky man?’
At the thought of his rivals he sprang to his feet and soon had reached the precipitous bank above the shelving strand5 where, though so many landing-places were undisturbed, he had every hope of coming on the tracks. Most carefully the eager eyes examined every foot of sand visible between the rowan-trees as, slowly on hands and knees, the miller advanced towards the bend which commands the likeliest spot of all. There twenty feet below he saw a salmon8 lying and, with the same glance, marked the tracks beside it. The descent of the scarp was nearly as perilous9 as the crossing of the current, but he accomplished10 both without mishap11, and a few seconds later was crouching12 beside the footprints.
‘By the life of me they’re his, and not many hours old.’
His face, no less than his agitated13 voice, showed the wild excitement that possessed14 him as he rose and made down the wood as fast as he could lay foot to ground. When he reached the mill he was almost at his last gasp15, but he bridled16 and mounted the pony17, which he urged to a gallop18 through the open gate and up the stony19 lane. He was on his way to the squire20.
As he rode through the hamlet, where the clatter21 of the hoofs22 brought the villagers to door and window, his cries of ‘Tracked un!’ roused man and boy to a fever of excitement, and sent the sexton in hot haste to the belfry to apprize the country-side. The miller, however, leaving them behind, was soon at the lodge23 gates. There he nearly frightened old Jenny into hysterics by his shouts; but she took her revenge, for after letting him through she shook the keys in his face and screamed after him, ‘Mad as a curley! mad as a curley!’ until he rounded the bend where the mansion24 comes into view. The whole house seemed asleep; but as the miller crossed the bridge over the moat the squire appeared at a window and, in a voice that betrayed the tension of his feelings, called out:
‘Where?’
‘Longen Pool, sir.’
‘Fresh?’
‘Last night’s.’
‘Rouse the men, Hicks; we shall need every hand we can muster26.’
Before he had got through the plantation27 on his way to the kennels28 the clang of the fire-alarm broke on the still morning air, and when he returned from his round, squire, whipper-in and hounds were making their way through the park with a small retinue29 of servants in their train. At the hamlet they were joined by the parson, the parish clerk, the landlord, two sawyers, and six or seven others, and between the pound and the river by a few crofters, whom the church bell had summoned from outlying homesteads.
They crossed the water below the pool, the squire examined the tracks, the hounds were laid on, and the rocky gorge30 with all the wood about it immediately resounded31 with their wild music, while the squire and every man behind him thrilled at the prospect32 of at last coming up with the creature whose movements had so long baffled them. The ground was very rough, and in parts swampy33, yet not a man turned back. That active, hard-conditioned followers34 made light of the obstacles and the pace was, of course, not surprising; but that the landlord, the clerk, and the chef—short-legged, eleven-score men every one of them—should scramble35 over rocks and fallen timber, flounder through thickets36 and boggy37 places, and still hold on, bedraggled and breathless though they were, testified to the fascination38 the pursuit of the giant otter had for them.
Some two miles above Longen Pool the squire caught sight of spraints on a boulder39 in the middle of the river, and knew at once from their position at its upper end that the otter which had dropped them was travelling down-water. At once he recalled the hounds and began drawing anew the reaches he had passed. He tried every holt he came to, but without result.
‘Do you think he’s gone down?’ shouted the squire to the miller across the river.
‘I don’t, sir. I didn’t find a trace from the ford up, and, as you know, the hounds didn’t give a sign.’
‘Well, there’s no holding worth the name between here and Longen. Where can he be?’
The puzzling question was answered by the deep note of Dosmary from an overgrown watercourse that served to drain the morass40. No need was there for the squire to cry out, ‘Hark to Dosmary’; for the hounds, on hearing the summons they knew so well, flew to her where she threaded the reed-bed before taking the steep leading to the moor41. Then up the all but bare face the twenty couple made their way in a long winding42 line. Close after the hindmost pressed the squire, the parson and five others, all sound of wind and limb, capable of holding on to the end of the promontory43, if need be. Not a word passed until the hounds had crossed the stream where it was thought the otter might have laid up, and then only ‘Liddens, men,’ and ‘Ay, sir!’ from the moorman in response. Even the sight of the otter’s footprints in the next hollow drew no remark; though it caused an unconscious quickening of the step up the long, heathery slope, from whose brow the sea showed beyond the hazy44 outline of the land. Wide on either hand rose grim piles of rock, where down this avenue of cairns the seven, comrades on many a trail, sped in the wake of the pack towards the Liddens, shimmering45 in the distance.
But if the seven were elated as never before, there was one on the far side of the moor who was suffering a bitter disappointment. It was the old marshman. He too had discovered the tracks of the otter and, full of his tidings, had driven to the mansion as fast as his Neddy could cover the ground, only to learn from the butler that squire and hounds had already been summoned and gone off to the river. Staggering though the blow was, he bore up till beyond the gates; but on the open moor he broke down, said it was a judgment47 on him for tracking the varmint in the snow, and let the donkey find the way home as best it could. When they reached the cottage he set the animal loose, tried in vain to shake off his trouble by overhauling48 the trimmers, and finally sat down on a bench, with his back to the mud wall and his face to the marsh46. It was green and gold with the swords and banners of the iris49; the air was drowsy50 with the hum of bees and the sea murmured on the bar; yet the old man noted51 nothing of it. His thoughts, too, were all of the otter; he was busy trying to reconcile the seemingly contradictory52 discovery of the tracks in two places so far apart. ‘’Tes a job to piece ’em together with leagues—iss, leagues—of moor between. Why, look here. ’Tes all eight miles from the revur to the Liddens, and a good three as the hern flies from the Liddens to the ma’sh; a long journey, an unaccountable long journey for a crittur that edn framed for travellin’. On a midsummer night, too, and he more afeard of the glim o’ day than a cheeld of the dark. And then to turn his back on the salmin for the pike, and they poor as can be from spawnin’. Why, the thing edn in reason. But, theere, what’s the use of wastin’ breeth when he’s done it? For the prents are hisn and none other, and nawthin’ could be fresher.’
The marshman was right: the otter had crossed. At star-peep the creature had slipped from his holt in the side-stream and floated down to Moor Pool, where he killed a grilse, took a slice or two from its shoulder, and left it on the pebbles53. Thence, contrary to his habit, he passed down-water, throwing the fish into a panic at every pool. Waves in the shallows showed where the most timid fled at his approach; some however remained and here and there, as the water favoured his purpose, he gave chase. Twice the formidable marauder landed with victims which he left uneaten on the bank where he laid them, for lust54 of slaughter55, not hunger or love of pursuit, possessed him, and he was moved by a restlessness greater than he had ever shown. True, he climbed at times on snag and boulder; but that was only for an instant before taking again to the water or bank, as fancy led.
HIS LAST SALMON.
From a painting in oils by Edgar H. Fischer.
To face p. 173.
At Longen Pool his coming caused a general exodus56, but he singled out one salmon, and by his wily tactics prevented it from fleeing with the others to the rapids below. The long chase which followed was for a while in favour of the fish; yet the otter, who was not to be denied, in the end wearied it out and carried it to the bank, where he bit viciously at the shoulder, as if to wreak58 his vengeance59 on the prey60 that had caused him so much trouble. Presently he re-entered the water, cleansed61 his blood-stained muzzle62, and making upstream turned aside into the wet ditch and traversed the morass.
On gaining the high ground above it he stood awhile, as if asking himself whether at the late hour he might venture across the moor. The instant his mind was made up he set out at a rapid pace, glancing at the keeper’s lodge as he went by, and again at the sleeping hamlet before crossing the road and entering on the waste, over which he held on his way till nearly abreast63 of the cromlech. There he halted whilst he sounded the call and listened. Twice he uttered the shrill64 cry, his mask turned in the direction of the lone65 pool to the north; but there was no answer in the mocking whistle of the curlew, so he moved on again under the fading stars, and at last came to the Liddens.
He kept awhile to the open water, cruising restlessly about, as he had done before in the creek66 and mere67, raising himself at times and gazing round, as wild a looking creature as imagination can conjure68 up. Thence he passed into the thick fringe of reeds, and remained hidden so long that it might be thought that he had laid up there. Later however he appeared on the far bank of the westernmost pool, and though the pale primrose69 streak70 in the east warned him of coming day, the outlawed71 animal, alarmed by the taint72 of human footprints he had happened on, at once forsook73 the refuge and set his face for the marsh.
His hurried movements showed that he had full knowledge of the risk he ran in the open, where he looked a monster as he crossed the patches of sward amongst the bilberry. Indeed, so fast did he cover the ground that no sprinter74 could have kept up with him, especially when he breasted the long, boulder-strewn ascent75 to the Kites’ Cairn. There old Ikey must have viewed him had he been on his way to the pools at his usual hour; but he was late, and soon the otter was amongst the crags. His feet were here delayed momentarily by the rising sun, whose light he dreaded76 as much as did the witches of Crowz-an-Wra. But there was no staying where he was: he must press on to marsh or sea, now both in his view; and at panic speed he made his way down the bare slope and up the opposite rise to the great furze brake that runs down almost to the margin77 of the mere. Leisurely78 he threaded his way through the close cover to a point where he stood and listened to the crowing of a cock before slipping into the water and crossing to the old hover79 on the edge of the reed-bed. He made his careful toilet as usual, and before the marshman discovered his tracks he had curled up and fallen asleep.
But whilst the otter slept in untroubled security, heedless of his enemies, they had passed the Liddens and come within earshot of the old man, who had scarcely finished his soliloquy when he started to his feet with the exclamation80, ‘What’s that?’ and stood listening as intently as the otter a little earlier had listened for a reply to his call. This time, however, the reply came. ‘Surely theere ’tes again,’ and a few seconds later, as the cry rose afresh, he shouted ‘’Tes they’ so loudly that he attracted the child who joined him on the furze-rick he had hurriedly climbed.
‘Do ’ee hear them, Mary? ’Tes the hounds. Hark! cheeld.’
‘I hear something, granfer.’
‘Wheere do ’ee make the cry to come from?’ and for answer she pointed81 with her free hand to the Kites’ Cairn. ‘Now keep an eye on the rocks, and tell me if you see anythin’.’
‘There’s something streaming through the Fairies’ Gap this minit. . . . Now it’s like a shadow, a moving shadow on the down. . . . They’re dogs. My word, such a passel of them, all in a bunch!’
Then they passed from sight and the weird82 cry almost died away; but presently the chorus swelled83, and swelled, and swelled, and then the old man saw the hounds, like maddened things, come pouring over the brow and enter the brake full in his view.
‘You’re tremblin’, granfer.’
‘Iss, cheeld, all of a quake, like the yallow furze where the hounds are forcin’ a way. The moosic is ’most too much for me.’
‘Mary,’ said he, and the child raised her wondering eyes to the excited face, ‘’tes the line of the King Oter they’re spakin’ to, and—who can tell?—maybe the sun will shut down on a great day. But, lor me! what am I doin’ here on this rick, with hounds about to take the water? My place is in the Mary Jane.’ With that he scrambled84 down the rude ladder and bustled85 towards the spot where he had left the boat in the early morning.
As soon as he stepped in, the pack, which had been almost mute since entering the mere, broke out into a babel of music, proclaiming a find. The uproar86 so unnerved him that he was long in getting the oars88 between the thole-pins; but when he did, he pulled with might and main till, drawing near the hounds, he stopped rowing and kept a sharp lookout89 for the quarry90 repeating as he scanned the water: ‘Ef ’tes only he, only he.’ But not a sign of otter, big or small, met his eyes, either in the mere or in the creek, to which the chase presently shifted. There the fear that the game would land and reach the cliff suddenly possessed him. So all at once he urged the boat past hounds and island to the reedy corner, where he jumped to his feet and kept splashing the water to drive the otter back. The nearer the hounds approached the more frantically91 he wielded92 the oar87, nor did he desist till they showed by their movements that the otter had left the end of the creek and was returning to the mere.
Whilst he watched them the squire and his followers came over the brow, and all made for the beach except the squire, who came tearing down the hill towards the boat.
‘To the hounds, John!’ he gasped93 as he stepped into the crazy craft. At the word the old man pushed off and bent94 to his work with wondrous95 vigour96.
‘Have you viewed the otter?’
‘No, sir, I haven’t, but I spurred un.’
‘You spurred him? When?’
‘Soon aifter break o’ day.’
‘You did?’
‘Iss, sir, sure as you’re standin’ on they starn sheets.’
‘What! the big otter?’
‘Iss, sir. The King Oter, I call him.’
‘Then why didn’t you bring word?’
‘I did, sir, fast as I could, but you’d gone off to the revur. ’Twas Mr. Pugmore as told me.’
‘I see, I see! Pull with your right, or we shall be into the island. That will do; now both together.’
‘Wind him, my lads! middy ho, wind him! Padzepaw, Troubadour, Rowtor, wind him! Wind him, my lads!’
The cheery cry seemed to put fresh life into the hounds as they worked the reeds, from which they presently drove the quarry to the mere.
The squire’s keen eyes searched the glittering surface to get a glimpse of him, but in vain; the hounds might have been giving tongue to some phantom97 quarry for all that he or the old man saw. And so the chase continued for an hour, and another and another, whilst the otter led the pack from reed-bed to reed-bed, where he rose and vented57 without exposing himself.
At last the marshman, who at the moment was resting on the oars, pointed to the surface beneath the right blade.
‘The chain, the chain!’ whispered the squire excitedly on sighting the string of bubbles, and ‘There he vents98!’ as the nose of the quarry showed between two lily-leaves a few yards off. The otter remained where he was until the hounds were almost upon him; then he sank as noiselessly as he had risen, and made for another refuge.
‘You viewed him, sir?’
‘I viewed an otter, John.’
‘Then why didn’t ’ee tally99 him, sir?’
‘Because I’m not sure it’s him. I don’t want to raise false hopes in all these people.’
For by this time many had arrived, some by boat, others in vehicles, some on horses or donkeys, and had taken up stations round the mere. There were at least a score on the point, as many near the inflow: there was a tall thin man who had somehow found his way to the edge of the reed-bed, and quite a little crowd on the bar.
‘Never see’d such a passel o’ people here since the wreck100 of the Triton, and that was afore your time, sir. The casks of rum were all over the beach, and men, too; and as for the cocoanuts, they were . . .’ The outstretched hand of the squire silenced him, for the otter had risen within a few yards of the boat, and lay there showing its great length. Both were tongue-tied by the sight, but no sooner did the otter dive than the squire gave utterance101 to a ‘Tally-ho!’ the like of which had never passed his lips before. It made the marshman jump: it sent a thrill through the cordon102 of spectators: it made the child hurry again to the furze-rick.
‘Did you see him?’ asked the squire excitedly.
‘I did, and I don’t wonder it fetched such a screech103 out of ’ee. Lor, maister, ’twere enow to wake the dead.’
Two minutes later the otter was ‘gazed’ by the men on the point. Soon after a shout came from Geordie at the end of the creek,—so soon that the squire feared there must be two otters104 afloat. But he was wrong: there was only one. Next the people on the bar saw him rise, with the hounds close behind driving him towards the reed-bed, where he landed within a dozen yards of the solitary105 figure there. To him it looked as if the otter must be overhauled106, and eagerly he watched the swaying of the reeds as otter and hounds traversed the bed. Soon, in view of the excited crowd near the inflow, the hunted beast managed to slip into the mere as a hound was about to seize him. Four times he rose in crossing to the farther shore, where he threaded the sags107 and, in his desperation, sought the refuge of the furze-brake. The cover was all in his favour; for he could run where the hounds, and even the terriers, had to force a way. Yet to him as to them the atmosphere was suffocating108, so that he was glad to reach the upper edge and get a few breaths of fresh air before the clamour of the hounds and the crackling of the stems warned him it was time to move. Then he made his way down to the creek to quench109 his thirst. The parson, by this time perched on the willow110, saw him lapping, but forbore to shout, and presently the dark mask was withdrawn111. Soon the hounds reached the spot. Thirsty though they were, they thirsted still more for the otter’s blood. Not one stayed to lap but, like infuriated creatures, went on after the quarry whose distress112 they must have been conscious of.
Before this the crowd from the bar had moved to the bluff113 above the creek, whence they could trace the windings114 of the otter by the movements of the hounds. Breathless was their excitement when they saw from the wild shaking of the bushes that the otter had been seized, and great their disappointment when the resumption of the chase showed that, after all, he had got away.
Twice more the gallant115 beast made the wide circuit of those ten acres of furze in the hope of shaking off his pursuers before he made his way in despair down to the sags and slipped unseen into the mere. He rose after but a short dive, and swam with the pack in his wake straight for the bar. Not one of those who watched dreamt he would dare to land; but he did, a good score yards in front of the leading hounds. Then all could see his distress as he laboured over the pebbly116 ridge25 he knew so well. It looked as if he must be overtaken before he reached the tide; but the hounds were nearly as exhausted117 as he, and though they gained on him, it was not until they came to the calm water beyond the breaking wave that they managed to hold him and worry his life out.
Then the squire waded118 into the sea almost to his armpits, took him from the hounds, and holding the heavy carcass above his head, brought it ashore119. The ‘field’ closed round him in their eagerness to see and touch the beast and examine the huge pads.
‘A little elbow-room, gentlemen, if you please. I can’t possibly weigh the animal whilst you press me like this.’
His words had instant effect. The moment the crowd fell back he suspended the otter from the hook of the spring-balance he carried, and watched the index.
‘What does he scale, sir?’ shouted a score excited voices.
‘Twenty-nine pounds good.’
Then followed a tumult120 of conversation, amidst which could be distinguished121:
‘Now, Thomas ’Enery, what did I say all along?’
‘He’s a pound over and above your guess.’
‘Sandy was right.’
‘You said forty pound, Geordie, you know you did.’
‘You’m a liard; I——’
‘Silence, mates!’ roared the landlord, stepping into the ring; ‘the squire wants to spake. Silence, I say!’
When the noisy groups of disputants at last quieted down, the squire, hoarse122 from his efforts, said: ‘It is my custom, as you know, to distribute the pads, mask and rudder, and fling the carcass to the hounds. To-day, however, I mean to depart from the rule. I will tell you why, and I hope every one of you will agree that I am right. My view is that this fine beast’—and here he lifted the otter clear of the sand as if to emphasize his words—‘which has excited so much interest and afforded a hunt we can never expect to see the like of, ought not to be broken up, but should be preserved for ourselves and others to look at in the years to come. Now, if any man has got anything to say, let him speak out.’
‘Say, sir,’ replied the parish clerk, after casting his quick eyes round the circle of approving faces, ‘why, that we’re one and all of the same way of thinkin’ as yoursel’! What’s a pad here or a pad there? To say nawthin’ as to who’s to have ’em. By all manner o’ means let the otter be set up, and let un be given pride of place again’ the wainscot; for if ever wild crittur deserved the honour, this one do, if only for the good he’s done the landlord.’
So the otter was set up in the hall in a handsome case, with a picture of the marsh for background. Of the many trophies123 that adorn124 the walls there is not one the squire was so proud of, none whose story he liked so well to relate. It alone bears no inscription125; for, as he always said, ‘There is no need; my people will never let the record die!’ His words have proved true.
Though the wild promontory is steeped in legend and romance, though tales of giants, fairies, smugglers and shipwrecked sailors, abound126, there is no story the crofters so often repeat by the firelight as the story of the otter, none the children listen to with closer attention. Mary’s three boys never wearied of hearing their mother tell how she stood on the rick and watched the hounds stream through the Fairies’ Gap; they always insisted on her giving the squire’s ‘Tally-ho!’ and hung on every word when she came to the message brought by the steward127, that old John and his grandchild were to have their little place rent free for the rest of their days.
‘Again, again!’ they would cry, clapping their little hands; and generally Mary yielded to their entreaties128. And when the time comes they will repeat the tale to their own children, as indeed do the miller’s and the moorman’s sons and daughters to-day. Thus the tradition of the otter bids fair to be handed on by generation after generation for long years to come, and to win an imperishable place amongst the hearthside stories of the West.
The End
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1
miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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alder
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| n.赤杨树 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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kennels
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| n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处，养狗场；狗窝( kennel的名词复数 )；养狗场 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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32
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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33
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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34
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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35
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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36
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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37
boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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38
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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39
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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40
morass
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| n.沼泽，困境 | |
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41
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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42
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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43
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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44
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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45
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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46
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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47
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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48
overhauling
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| n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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49
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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50
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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51
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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52
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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53
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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54
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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55
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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56
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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57
vented
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| 表达，发泄（感情，尤指愤怒）( vent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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59
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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60
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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61
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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63
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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64
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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65
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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66
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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67
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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68
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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69
primrose
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| n.樱草，最佳部分， | |
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70
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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71
outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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72
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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73
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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74
sprinter
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| n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者 | |
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75
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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76
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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77
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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78
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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79
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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80
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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81
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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82
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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83
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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84
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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85
bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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86
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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87
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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88
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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89
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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90
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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91
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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92
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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93
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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94
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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95
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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96
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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97
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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98
vents
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| （气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩 | |
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99
tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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100
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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101
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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102
cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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103
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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104
otters
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| n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮 | |
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105
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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106
overhauled
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| v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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107
sags
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| 向下凹或中间下陷( sag的第三人称单数 )； 松弛或不整齐地悬着 | |
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108
suffocating
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| a.使人窒息的 | |
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109
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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110
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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111
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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112
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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113
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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114
windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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115
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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116
pebbly
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| 多卵石的，有卵石花纹的 | |
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117
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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118
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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120
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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121
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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122
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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123
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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124
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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125
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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126
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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127
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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128
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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