"I'm going to hear what they have to say," she announced.
"Now, see here, Leslie, it's bad enough to have a daughter bothering a man to death in his own home, but when she begins to tag him around in public affairs, so that he can't even meet a committee of his neighbors who want to search his study in order to arrest him for highway robbery without having her putting herself in evidence, it becomes a regular nuisance. You go back to your spinning-wheel."
"You neglected to bring me up to a spinning-wheel, father."
"You go back to your mother."
"I am going to stay here. I'll be reasonably quiet, but that's the only compromise I'll agree to. Don't waste nerve force scolding me, father. You need to conserve5 your strength." And with the evident intention of making herself as inconspicuous as possible she took a low chair half hidden by the heavy curtain of the window. Burton could not help thinking how futile6 any attempt at obscurity on her part must always be. Her beauty lit up the shadowy corner as a jewel lights its case. He had to make a conscious effort to turn his eyes away.
Again the door opened and Henry entered. The contrast between his attitude and his sister's was striking. He entered hesitatingly, one would have said reluctantly, and his eyes were not lifted from the floor.
"Mother thought I ought to be present," he said in a low voice.
Dr. Underwood regarded him with a baffled look, and Burton understood and sympathized with his perplexity. He looked curiously7 at Henry himself. His youthful escapades, so out of the ordinary, had evidently made him something of a family problem.
"You might profitably take for an example your brother's ready obedience8 to a parent's wishes," the doctor said dryly. He spoke9 to Leslie, but it was Henry who winced11 at the jibe12. His face darkened, and he shot an angry look at his father.
The tramping of feet in the hall announced the approach of the committee.
"Here they be," said Mrs. Bussey, opening the door, and herself entering at the head of the little procession of three men. Her lively interest in the affair was comically evident.
Dr. Underwood saved the situation from its awkwardness with a savoir faire which Burton could not too much admire.
"Good evening, gentlemen," he cried genially13. "You are very welcome. You will excuse my remaining seated, I hope. I have sprained14 my ankle. Let me present you to my friend, Mr. Burton,--Mr. Hadley, who is one of our most distinguished15 citizens; Mr. Ralston, who forms the opinions of the public of High Ridge16 by virtue17 of his position as our leading editor; Mr. Orton Selby, who was the unhappy victim of the highway robbery of which you have heard and who is justifiably18 anxious to let no guilty man escape. Be seated, gentlemen."
Burton bowed, in acknowledgment of the several introductions. He was touched by the simple-heartedness of Dr. Underwood in presenting him so frankly19 as a "friend," and felt more bound by it to act the part of a friend than he could have been by any formal pledge. He took quick appraisal20 of the three committeemen. Hadley was evidently prosperous, pompous21 and much impressed with his own importance. Ralston had the keen eye and dispassionate smile of the experienced newspaperman, so accustomed to having today's stories contradicted by to-morrow's that he has learned to be slow about committing himself to any side. Selby he had already met! That Selby remembered the fact was quite evident from the look of surprise and suspicion which he cast upon Dr. Underwood's guest. A striking man he was, with a dark narrow face, and a nervous manner. His eye was so restless that it seemed continually flitting from one object to another. His lips were thin, and, in their spasmodic twitching22, gave the same sense of nervous instability that his restless eyes conveyed. Burton had an impulse to pick him up and set him forcibly down somewhere, with an injunction to sit still.
"If you have formed any plan of procedure, gentlemen, go ahead," said Underwood. "We stand ready, of course, to assist you in any way possible."
"Sorry you've had an accident," said Ralston, with friendly interest, "I hope it's not serious."
"Oh, no. It interferes23 with my walking for the present, but I'll be all right in a few days. Those pestiferous little imps25, the Sprigg children, threw stones at my nag26, and some of them took effect on me. Tormented27 little wretches28! They are bound to be in the fashion if it takes a leg,--my leg, I mean. I told them fire would descend29 from heaven to burn up children who stoned prophets, but they didn't seem to realize that I was a prophet."
"I hope you may not prove so, in this instance," laughed Ralston.
"Yes, if fire should descend upon them, it might look as though you were responsible," said Hadley, with a ponderous30 air of perpetrating a light pleasantry. "They say it is dangerous to go up against you, Doctor. Something is apt to happen."
"Oh, laws!" gasped31 a frightened voice. Mrs. Bussey had been an open-mouthed listener to the conversation.
Underwood turned sharply upon her, perhaps glad of an opportunity to vent32 his irritation33 indirectly34.
"Mrs. Bussey, while I regret to interfere24 with the liberty of action which belongs to every freeborn citizen of this great republic, I think we shall have to dispense35 with your presence at the ceremonies. I mean, Mrs. Bussey, we shan't need you any longer. You may go."
The woman muttered a grumbling36 dissent37, but slowly withdrew. Burton was divided between amusement over the scene and wonder that the Underwoods, whatever their financial stress, should keep so untrained and untrainable a servant. She seemed to have all the defects and none of the merits of an old family retainer.
"Well, we came here for business and we don't want to be wasting time," said Selby abruptly. "You probably know how to get even with the Spriggs without delaying us."
"Certainly," said Underwood courteously38, "but there is something I'd like to say first,--"
"If you are ready to make a confession39, of course we are ready to hear you. I don't think anything else is in order at this point," said Selby, in the same aggressively abrupt4 manner.
Burton was suddenly conscious of an impulse to go up to the man and knock him down, and by that token he knew, if there had been any reservation in his mind before, that he had taken sides for good and all. He was for Dr. Underwood. He glanced swiftly around the room to see how the others took this wanton rudeness. Ralston was watching the doctor quizzically from under his eyebrows40. Hadley did not know that anything had happened. Henry was still as impassive as a statue, but Leslie, from her low seat by the window, was leaning forward with a look of lively indignation that was more eloquent41 than words. Burton went quickly over to her and sat down beside her without speaking.
"What I have to say is entirely42 in order at this point, even though it be not a confession," Dr. Underwood said quietly. "I invited you here in good faith to conduct any sort of an investigation43 that you might consider necessary. An hour or so ago, Mr. Burton found this handkerchief concealed44 behind the books on that shelf. As you would of course have discovered it, if he had not found it, I consider it only proper that I should place it in your hands." He picked up the mutilated handkerchief which had been left on the table, and after a moment's hesitation45, said: "Henry, will you hand this to Mr. Hadley, as chairman of this committee?"
As Henry took the handkerchief from his father's hand, it fell open and the staring eyelet holes glared at the company. He stopped suddenly and a look of dismay went like a wave over his face. He glanced swiftly at his father. But while he hesitated, Selby sprang forward and snatched it from his hand with something like the snarl46 of an animal.
"Look at that! Look at that, will you?" he almost shouted. Hadley blinked at it and Ralston got up and took the handkerchief in his hand.
"It seems to be the orthodox thing," he said with interest.
"Seems to be! Seems to be pretty conclusive47, I should say. It's proof!"
"It's proof that Dr. Underwood has a malicious48 enemy and a rather stupid one," said Burton, thinking that it was time for him to take a hand in this remarkable49 scene. "I found that handkerchief an hour ago, tucked behind one of the books there, where you would certainly have found it if you had made any search. It is, of course, perfectly50 evident that it was placed there for the express purpose of having you find it."
"I don't see that that is so evident," Selby interrupted. "What have you got to say about this, anyhow?"
"Do you think that if Dr. Underwood had had such an incriminating piece of evidence he would have kept it instead of destroying it? If he were bound to keep it, do you think he would hide it where the first careless search would bring it to light? If he had so hidden it, would he have invited you here to search? You can't answer yes to those questions, unless you think he is a fit subject for the insane asylum51 rather than the jail."
Leslie shot him an eloquent glance of thanks. Hadley coughed and looked at Ralston, who was attending to Burton closely.
"I agree with you perfectly," the editor said, and Hadley nodded.
Selby turned a face of deliberate insolence52 upon Burton. "I don't know who you are, Mr. Burton, but you are here as a friend of Dr. Underwood's, that's clear."
"Yes," said Burton. "I love him for the enemies he has made." Ralston looked at him with evident enjoyment53.
"Well, a friend's say-so won't go very far in clearing a man when facts like these stand against him. We're here looking for a thief. If it wasn't Dr. Underwood that held me up, let him explain that handkerchief, found here in his own private room."
And Hadley sagely54 nodded.
"I can't explain it," said Dr. Underwood. The life had gone out of his voice.
"It explains itself," said Burton impatiently. "Some one is trying to make trouble for Dr. Underwood by a very clumsy and transparent55 device. Of course," he added, suddenly realizing that he was not taking the politic56 tone, "of course such an obvious trick might impose on ignorant people, but to three men of more than average intelligence and experience, it must be perfectly clear that the very obviousness of the evidence destroys its value."
Ralston cocked his left eye at him and laughed silently. Hadley nodded, but with some dubiousness57. He agreed heartily58 with that part of the speaker's last sentiment which bore witness to his more than average intelligence, but he had a dizzy feeling that he was getting himself somewhat tangled59 up as to what he was committed to. But Selby was a Cerberus superior to the temptations of any sop60.
"Then we'll look for some other evidence," he said aggressively. "We're here to search, and I propose to search."
"The house is yours, gentlemen," said Dr. Underwood.
Selby took a truculent61 survey of the room, which was not a large one. He walked over to the bookcase and ran his hand behind the books on the shelves and lifted heaps of loose papers and magazines without disclosing anything more deadly than dust. Then he opened the door of a medicine cabinet on the wall and pulled out the drawers of the table, and ran his eye over the mantel. He suggested a terrier trying to unearth62 a rat and apparently63 he was perfectly willing to conduct the search alone.
Leslie was watching him with a look of so much indignation and repressed scorn that Burton bent64 to her and said in a low voice: "Wouldn't it be better for you to leave?"
She shook her head.
"Don't waste your good hate on him," Burton urged gently. "He isn't worth it."
"There is some one behind all this who is," she flashed.
"Yes. We'll find out who it is before we are through."
She gave him a grateful look, and on the instant he began wondering how he could win another. They seemed especially well worth collecting.
Selby had dropped on his knees before the open fireplace and was examining the bricks that made the hearth65.
"Some of these bricks are loose," he said accusingly to Underwood.
"Careless of them," murmured the doctor.
But Selby was in no mood for light conversational66 thrusts and parries. He was trying to pry67 up the suspicious bricks with his fingers and breaking his nails on them.
"Hand him a knife, Henry," said Dr. Underwood.
Henry took a clasp-knife from his pocket in the same passive silence that had marked him throughout, and mechanically opened the large blade. It slipped in his hand and Burton saw him wince10 as the steel shut with a snap upon his finger. But he opened it again and handed it to Selby, who took it with an inarticulate grunt68. Burton kept his eye upon the cut finger, but as Henry, after a hasty glance, merely wrapped his handkerchief hard about it, and made no motion to leave the room, he concluded the hurt had not been as serious as it looked.
p71
"'Well, perhaps this can be explained away, too!'" Page 71.
Selby was busy trying to pry up one of the bricks with the knife, when suddenly the point snapped.
"You've broken it," exclaimed Henry, who was standing69 nearest.
"If I have, I'll pay for it," said Selby, with a vicious look. "I pay my debts in full every time. Hello! This looks like something interesting! Well, perhaps this can be explained away, too!" He picked up from the mortar70 under the loose brick a glittering something and held it up with a triumphant71 air.
"What is it?" asked Ralston.
"It's my watch-chain and my charm, that I was robbed of; that's what it is." He shook it in his excitement until the links rattled72. "Is that evidence or isn't it? Does that prove anything or doesn't it?"
"Is that chain yours?" asked Underwood gravely.
"Of course it's mine. My initials are on the charm and the date it was presented to me. I guess there isn't any one going to claim that chain but me."
He took it to Ralston and Hadley, talking excitedly. Underwood sat silent, with his head a little bent and his eyes on the floor. He looked as though a weight had fallen upon him. Burton tried to catch Leslie's eye for a reassuring73 glance, but she was anxiously watching her father and was regardless of everything else.
"It looks bad--bad," muttered Hadley, handing the chain back to Selby.
Henry had been glowering74 at Selby in somber75 silence, and now he startled every one by speaking out with a slow emphasis that stung.
"I've heard it said that those who hide can find," he said.
Selby whirled upon him. "Meaning me?"
Henry lifted his shoulders in an exasperating76 shrug77. "You went pretty straight to the right brick."
Selby walked up to Henry with out-thrust chin, and spoke in a manner that struck Burton as deliberately78 offensive and provocative79.
"That's what you have to say, is it? Now my advice to you is that you say just as little as possible. You're not far enough out of the woods yourself to holler very loud."
"How so? Do you mean now that it was I who robbed you?" Henry asked tauntingly80. "It would have been quite easy for me to wear my father's cloak, if I wanted to throw suspicion on him; and to hide these things in the room, wouldn't it? Come, now! Was it I, or wasn't it?"
Selby hesitated an instant. Burton wondered whether he were considering the advisability of changing his line of attack to that so audaciously suggested by Henry. Perhaps he regretted that he had not accused Henry in the first place, but saw that it was impossible consistently to do so now.
"It's the sort of thing that you might do, easy enough, we all know that," he said bitingly. "We haven't forgotten your tricks here six years ago, and you needn't think it. Just because the police didn't catch you, you needn't think that you fooled anybody."
"Gentlemen," the doctor tried to interpose, but no one heard him. Henry was evidently enjoying himself. He seemed curiously determined81 to provoke Selby to the uttermost, and the insolent82 mockery of his manner was all the more strange because of its contrast to his former taciturnity.
"You're a poor loser, Selby. What's a few dollars more or less to make a fuss over? Some time you may lose something that you really will miss. As for this robbery, if you really were held up,--I don't know whether you were or not, since I have only your word for it,--I'm sure you didn't have money enough to pay for that cheap handkerchief. And as for that plated chain!" He lifted his shoulders.
"What's mine is mine," said Selby, with the ineffective viciousness of a badgered animal.
"But the point is, is everything yours that you think is?"
"I'm going to find out who got my money," said Selby doggedly83. "And as for you,--I'll get you yet."
"Sorry, but you can't have me. I'm already engaged," said Henry deliberately.
The retort seemed to carry Selby entirely beyond his own control.
"You're very clever at making speeches, aren't you? Almost as clever as you are at throwing people, and breaking their backs--"
But Dr. Underwood again interposed and this time successfully.
"All this is aside from the question. We are not here to study ancient history in any of its forms. This committee was invited here to consider the robbery of Mr. Selby, and anything else is beside the mark."
"And my watch-chain? Is that beside the mark? Found concealed here under your hearth. Does that mean nothing?"
The doctor looked so unhappy that Burton took the answer upon himself.
"It means exactly as much and as little as the handkerchief," he said. "It means that the place has been 'salted' in expectation of your visit, and if you want to go into the investigating business to some effect, you'll set yourselves to finding out who did it."
"Never mind going into that," said Underwood a little anxiously. "These gentlemen were invited here to investigate me, and here my interest in the matter ends. If they are satisfied--"
"But we are not," interrupted Selby. "Satisfied! I'm satisfied that we've got evidence enough to hang a man on, and I shall demand the arrest of Dr. Underwood."
"Then you will do so on your own responsibility," said Ralston, in decided84 tones. "I think Mr. Burton is right. The evidence was so plainly intended to be found that it amounts to nothing. I, for one, shall not allow myself to be made a laughing stock by taking action on it, and I am sure that Mr. Hadley agrees with me."
"I--certainly--ah--should not wish to be made a laughing stock," said Mr. Hadley, with a reproachful look at Selby.
Selby picked up his hat and made for the door. "You needn't think I'm going to drop this," he said with bitter emphasis. He addressed the room in general, but his look fell on Henry Underwood.
Hadley and Ralston also rose.
"If he acts on this evidence," said Ralston, addressing Dr. Underwood, "you may count on Mr. Hadley and myself to state exactly how it was found. We will say good night now, and I hope your foot will be all right in a day or two."
"Thank you," said Underwood. "Henry, will you see the gentlemen to the door?"
Henry went out with the committee. Incidentally, he did not return to the surgery. From his place by the window, Burton saw the men depart. Selby, who had left the room some minutes before the others, was the last to leave the house. Indeed, the others waited at the gate some minutes before he came hurriedly out to join them. Burton wondered if he had occupied the time in poking85 into other rooms in his absurd "search."
Leslie had sprung up and gone to her father. She put one arm around his neck and lifted his face with a sort of fierce affection.
"Why do you look so depressed86, father?" she demanded. "How dare you let yourself go down like that?"
He wrinkled his face in one of those queer smiles.
"I know, my dear, that it is the proper and right-minded thing for a man with a sprained ankle to go around capering87 and dancing for joy, and I am sorry not to be living up to your just expectations. I'll try to improve."
She turned with one of her swift transitions to Burton. "What do you think of it?"
"Exactly what I told the committee," he said, and was glad that he could say it promptly88.
"You can understand now how I feel,--as though a net were drawing around me. It is so intangible and yet so horribly real. What can one do?"
Instead of answering he asked a question in his turn.
"Why does your brother hate Selby?"
"Wouldn't any one hate him?"
"Well, then, why does Selby hate your brother?"
"I don't know that he does."
"Yes, he does. They hate each other royally, and it is nothing new, either."
Underwood groaned89, and Leslie promptly patted his shoulder.
"Poor papa, does it hurt?"
"Yes," he sputtered90.
Then he pulled himself together and turned again to Burton. "Henry has an unfortunate way of provoking antagonism91. But all this has no more to do with this robbery than it has to do with the spots on the sun. Even Selby doesn't accuse Henry of holding him up. I am the target of his attacks, thank Heaven."
"Why this pious92 gratitude93?"
"I can stand it better than Henry. Possibly you did not understand Selby's slur94. It has been the tragedy of Henry's life that he crippled Ben Bussey. It was ten years ago that it happened. They had a tussle95. Ben was the older, but Henry was larger and stronger, and he was in a violent temper. He threw Ben in such a way that his spine96 was permanently97 injured. But the effect on Henry was almost equally serious. His hand has been against friend and foe98 alike. I don't consider that he was responsible for what happened here a few years later."
"Of course not. He had nothing to do with it," said Leslie. Burton saw that she had missed the significance of the doctor's remark,--and he was glad she had. As the doctor said, that matter had nothing to do with the robbery, and Henry was not implicated99 in the present trouble. He turned to the doctor. "I don't want to force myself upon you in the character of a pushing Perseus, but if you have no objections, I should like to spend the night in this room."
The doctor looked at him with the countenance100 of a chess player who is looking several moves ahead. "Why?" he asked.
"I have an idea that the person who made such elaborate preparations for your committee may be curious to learn how much of his cache was unearthed101, and, knowing that the committee has been here, may come before morning to take a look. I'd like to receive him properly. I can't at this moment imagine anything that would give me more unalloyed pleasure. As no one knows of my being here, I hope the gentleman may not yet have been put upon his guard. It is evident that he has been able to get into this room before, and possibly he might try again."
"But you won't be comfortable here," protested Leslie.
"I shall be more than comfortable. That couch is disgraceful luxury compared with what I am accustomed to when camping. May I stay, Doctor?"
Dr. Underwood's grave face relaxed into a sardonic102 smile.
"The house is yours!"
"Thank you! I was horribly afraid you would refuse. Is this room locked at night?"
"No."
"This door opens into a back hall, I noticed. Where does that lead?"
"To the kitchen and back stairs. Also, at the other end, to the side door of the house, opening out into the garden and to a path which runs down to the side street."
"Is that outside door locked at night?"
"Oh, yes."
"Yet--some one has been able to get into this room without detection. That could only have been at night."
"But why should any one wish to?" protested the doctor uncomfortably.
"The heart is deceitful and wicked. Your faith in human nature does you honor, but I am afraid it has also got you into trouble. However, we'll hope that it may also serve to put an end to the trouble. When we find the man who hid these claptrap stage properties in here, we will find the man who knows something about the robbery. It seems to me a fair guess that he may come back to this room tonight to investigate; but in any event there isn't anything else I can do tonight, and it will flatter my sense of importance to feel that I am trying to do something. Now, if I may, I will assist you to your room, and then say good night."
Leslie, who had been waiting beside her father, rose. "I hope you won't be too uncomfortable," she said.
"My dear," her father interrupted, "I recognize in Mr. Burton the type that would rather be right than comfortable. We are in his hands, and we may as well accept the situation gracefully103. The couch isn't a bad one, Burton. I have frequently spent the night here when I have come in late. Yonder door leads to a lavatory104. And I hope you may not be disturbed."
Burton laughed. He had all the eagerness of the amateur. "I'm hoping that I may be! Now if you'll lean on my shoulder and pilot the way, I'll take you to your room."
The doctor accepted his assistance with a whimsical recognition of the curiousness of the situation. "That I should be putting myself and my affairs into your hands in this way is probably strange, but more strangely I can't make it seem strange," he said, when Burton left him.
When Burton came downstairs, Leslie was waiting for him.
"I want to thank you," she said impulsively105.
"I haven't done anything yet."
"But you are going to."
"I am going to try." Then the conscience of the ambassador nudged his memory. After all, he was here for another and a specific purpose, and it behooved106 him to remember it. "If I succeed, will you have a different answer to send to Philip?" he asked, with a searching look.
She clasped her hands together upon her breast with the self-forgetful gesture he had noticed before, and her face was suddenly radiant. "Oh, yes, yes!" she cried.
Very curiously, her eagerness made Burton conscious of a sudden coolness toward his mission. Of course he ought to rejoice at this assurance that she was really fond of Philip and that nothing kept them apart but her sensitive pride, and he had sense enough to recognize that he was going to be ashamed of his divided feeling when he had time to think it over. But in the meantime the divided feeling was certainly there, with its curious commentary on our aboriginal107 instincts. He smiled a little grimly at himself, as he answered.
"Thank you! I hope that I may claim that promise from you very soon. I shall certainly do my best to have a right to remind you of it. Now I am going to say good night and walk ostentatiously away. That is a part of the game. You can leave the front door unlocked, and I'll let myself in when I think the coast is all clear. The door bolts, I see. And I'll find my way to the surgery all right."
"There is always a light in the hall."
"Then it will be plain sailing. Good night. And be sure to keep Mrs. Bussey out of the way while I am breaking in."
She laughed, as though he jested. But as he walked back to the hotel to make some necessary arrangements for his night's camping, he hoped she would not wholly disregard that injunction.
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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conserve
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| vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jibe
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| v.嘲笑，与...一致，使转向；n.嘲笑，嘲弄 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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justifiably
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| adv.无可非议地 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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appraisal
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| n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估 | |
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pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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twitching
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interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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imps
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| n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童 | |
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26
nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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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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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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sagely
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| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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dubiousness
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| n.dubious（令人怀疑的）的变形 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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sop
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| n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿 | |
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truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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unearth
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| v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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provocative
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| adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的 | |
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tauntingly
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| 嘲笑地，辱骂地； 嘲骂地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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capering
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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102
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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103
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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104
lavatory
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| n.盥洗室，厕所 | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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behooved
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| v.适宜( behoove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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