A quaint13 and original figure this white-haired, sad-eyed little stitcher. She had had her romance, stranger than Evangeline's. Her lover had gone to America, and had fought in the Federal war. With a few savings14, she followed him across the Atlantic, and sought him out in State after State, walking several leagues a-day, with lifts here and there in waggons15, subsisting16 for months on a daily crust and a root or two, to end her dolorous17 peregrinations in a hospital with her dying lover's head upon her faithful breast. She returned to Ireland the heroine of a real novel, with black hair bleached18 and eyes dim from weeping. She had won the right to be cheerless, and stand with flowing eyes "on[Pg 209] the bridge at midnight," and tell us "in mournful numbers life is but an empty dream."
We were a wild lot, no doubt, and worked wonders in villainy and mischief19. Even our sister's sentimentality at times succumbed20 to our monstrous21 spirits; and she forgot Longfellow and Miss Procter, to drop into Irish farce22. All the houses round about us were filled with boys and girls of all ages up to sixteen. We needed no introduction to form a general family of some thirty or forty vagrants23 and imps24 of both sexes.
The head of the troop was a red-headed youth, destined25 to adorn26 the medical profession, and a pale proud-looking boy of fourteen, my first love, Arthur by name, of an exalted27 family, and now, I believe, a distinguished28 colonel. When we joined the boys on the cricket-field, I always picked up his balls and handed them to him reverentially, and my reward was to be told in an offhand29 way that "I was a nice little thing." To me he was Quentin Durward, Waverley, with a dash of Leicester and Prince Ferdinand. He certainly was quite as haughty-looking and distinguished as any of these decorative30 heroes. His father, an amiable31, high-mannered old lord, sometimes treated us to fireworks; and then his sisters, prouder than ever Cinderella's could[Pg 210] have been, would come out and smile down benevolently32 upon us all, with the air of court-ladies distributing prizes at a village festival. Arthur himself was a very simple boy, extremely flattered by my mute adoration33, which he encouraged by all sorts of little airs and man?uvres.
It was the red-headed leader who invented the most delightful34 entertainment in the world. He formed us into a band of beggars. He played a banjo and sang nigger songs, and Arthur, in shirt-sleeves, with a rakish cap rowdily posed on his aristocratic flaxen head, went round with a hat to gather coin. We went from house to house, an excited troop of young rascals35, sang and danced and begged and shouted in each garden until the grown-up people appeared and flung a sixpence, sometimes even a shilling, into Arthur's hat. The old lord occasionally rose to half-a-crown. The parents enjoyed the fun as much as we did, and never pretended to recognise us.
What tales we invented! What lies we told! One pretty little girl, with brown ringlets round the rosiest36 of faces, won a half-sovereign from my stepfather, who was smoking on the lawn when the band invaded his solitude37, by assuring[Pg 211] his honour that she was "the mother of fourteen children, with their bed-clothes on her back." When she flung the sparkling piece into Arthur's hat, he shouted "Gold!" and a frantic38 cheer went up from the band. We rushed off in a joyous39 body next day to Killiney Hill, and had a feast of lemonade and oranges, and toffee and cake. The red-haired chief paid the bill with a flourish, and if there was any change he kept it.
Each parent took his turn in providing the company with an official feast. The old lord monopolised the fireworks. My stepfather instituted races. A wealthy barrister, our neighbour, inveigled40 a circus for our delectation; and seven delightful old maids, who lived in a kind of castle of their own, outdid all the fathers royally by a regatta of our own. All the boatmen of Dalkey were hired, and each boat ran up a sail. Mighty41 powers! what a day that was. Were ever youngsters so gratified, so excited, so conscious of being a little community apart, with the sea and the land for its entertainment?
And there was an amiable old judge, who offered us the freedom of his big orchard42, where the apples grew in quantities, and we climbed the trees like squirrels, and devoured43 fruit without fear or restraint.

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1
alleys
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胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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2
rambling
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adj.[建]凌乱的,杂乱的 | |
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3
artillery
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n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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4
shuddered
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v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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5
eldest
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adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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sentimental
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adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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7
tremor
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n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震 | |
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8
confiscated
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没收,充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
kernel
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n.(果实的)核,仁;(问题)的中心,核心 | |
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10
iniquity
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n.邪恶;不公正 | |
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11
crooked
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adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
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12
pensive
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a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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13
quaint
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adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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14
savings
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n.存款,储蓄 | |
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15
waggons
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四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车 | |
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16
subsisting
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v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的现在分词 ) | |
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17
dolorous
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adj.悲伤的;忧愁的 | |
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18
bleached
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漂白的,晒白的,颜色变浅的 | |
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19
mischief
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n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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20
succumbed
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不再抵抗(诱惑、疾病、攻击等)( succumb的过去式和过去分词 ); 屈从; 被压垮; 死 | |
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21
monstrous
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adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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22
farce
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n.闹剧,笑剧,滑稽戏;胡闹 | |
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23
vagrants
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流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 ); 无业游民; 乞丐; 无赖 | |
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24
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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25
destined
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adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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26
adorn
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vt.使美化,装饰 | |
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27
exalted
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adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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28
distinguished
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adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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29
offhand
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adj.临时,无准备的;随便,马虎的 | |
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30
decorative
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adj.装饰的,可作装饰的 | |
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31
amiable
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adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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32
benevolently
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adv.仁慈地,行善地 | |
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33
adoration
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n.爱慕,崇拜 | |
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34
delightful
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adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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35
rascals
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流氓( rascal的名词复数 ); 无赖; (开玩笑说法)淘气的人(尤指小孩); 恶作剧的人 | |
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rosiest
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adj.玫瑰色的( rosy的最高级 );愉快的;乐观的;一切都称心如意 | |
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37
solitude
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n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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frantic
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adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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39
joyous
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adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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40
inveigled
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v.诱骗,引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
mighty
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adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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42
orchard
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n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场 | |
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43
devoured
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吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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