Even Dan Keach, knowing how bored Ralph had been, was unsuspicious of the sudden resolution. Dan was envious4. "I wish to heaven I was going!" he said.
Ralph, knowing that Dan was firmly tied to his telegraph key, felt safe in echoing his wish. Ralph's breast was warmed by a delicious secret excitement. "If they knew!" he thought.
The captain of the steamboat, Wes' Trickett, a rakish, lubberly, fresh-water sailor, like his boat, likewise dined at Maroney's, and after dessert the company adjourned5 to the river bank, and sat about on piles of lumber6 to witness the departure. There was no haste about that. Agreeable gossip and humorous anecdote7 mingled8 with tobacco smoke. When conversation flagged, Wes' would say regretfully: "Wal, time to pull out, boys!" Whereupon some one would suggest a last touch at Maroney's bar, and the company would rise as a man with the same expression of deprecatory anticipation9. Wes', since he supplied the excuse for the gathering10, did not feel that it was incumbent11 on him to pay for anything.
The Tewksbury L. Swett lay at their feet, with steam up. Like the land buildings at Fort Edward, her architecture was of a casual and strictly13 utilitarian14 style. To paraphrase15 the description of a more famous vessel16, she looked like a shoe-box on a shingle17, with the addition atop the shoe-box of a lean-to pilot-house with nothing to lean to, and an attenuated18 smokestack. The stack was made of many lengths of kitchen stovepipe braced19 all round with a network of wires, which did not, however, quite smooth out the kinks in the joints20. The whole thing had a decided21 inclination22 to the nor'east, but Wes' opined that it would do all right till it fell down.
Ralph had not seen his mysterious visitor since she had left his office. Loitering among the others on the bank, he was reassured23 by a glimpse of her sitting in a dark corner within the deckhouse, her back turned to the shore. To Ralph's secret relief, Dan did not remark her there. Dan had an awkward faculty24 of putting two and two together, and a caustic25 sense of humour.
Many of the old stories of the country were recounted for the benefit of the newcomers. "Ever hear tell of Tom Sadler?" said Captain Wes'. "Tom was the first white man who ever come up the Campbell Valley. Campbell hisself, when he discovered it, he only went downstream. It was mor'n fifty year ago, before the first Cariboo gold strike. In them days the city of Kimowin was no bigger than Fort Edward here. Tom Sadler was one of these here now rovin' fellers that can't rest easy among their own kind. He roved off up the Campbell Valley and was gone a whole year. The next summer he come back down the river, and capsized in the rapids just above Kimowin. They saw him from the settlement and pulled him out of the water more dead than alive. A living skellington he was at that. His canoe and his stuff was nachelly seen no more.
"Well, he hung on for a couple of days, and then he up and chivvied out. But that ain't the end of the story. The story is about what he told when he was out of his head. Nobody believed what he said, but they tell it to this day for a good story. He went on all about a purty little valley he found in the mountains. All around it was high cliffs that you couldn't get up or down like the sides of a bowl-like. Bowl of the Mountains was what Tom called it. He said the only way you could get in or out was through a long cave under the mountains. A bear that he was after showed him the way in, or he never wouldn't have found it, being the mouth was all hid behind bushes and all.
"Well, sirs, they say he said that little valley was as beautiful as Paradise; but that wa'n't all. In the middle of it were a little lake, different-coloured water from any on earth, green as a bottle-like, good water, too. Little streams come down from the mountains all around, and flowed through meadows of flowers into that lake, and Tom said the banks of all those little streams was yellow with gold, yellow with gold, sirs! Tom said he stayed there six months and washed two hundred pound of it. Them beside his bed laughed, him having nothing to show. If he'd been content with a hundred pounds, now, 'twould have sounded more reasonable. Well, they on'y laughed at Tom and buried him. And it's got to be a saying-like 'round Kimowin when a feller gets a bee in his bonnet26, 'Oh he's found Bowl of the Mountains!' they say. But I ain't so sure there ain't something in it. I seen Tom's grave in the cemetery27 at Kimowin: 'Thomas Sadler, who bit July 9th, 1861.' I seen it myself carved on the stone. That ain't no hearsay28."
Finally about three o'clock, nobody else being disposed to "buy," although Wes' provided several good openings, the captain and the passengers made their final farewells and went aboard. The little Tewksbury backed out of the mud, and turned her nose upstream, with a heave and a snort at every stroke of the piston29, and a great kick-up astern. The little group on the shore adjourned again to Maroney's for something to pick them up against the flat feeling that oppresses those who are left behind.
On board the Tewksbury the white men gathered on the forward deck around the capstan, and continued their talk. There was Wes' Trickett, and Matthews, his engineer; Joe Mixer and Pete Staley, who were taking up an outfit30 to Gisborne portage to start a store, and Ralph. Meanwhile, the half-breed crew ran the boat. The warmth of the sun, the peace of the river, and the late potations at Maroney's joined to produce a lulling31 effect on the group. Conversation became fitful. Joe Mixer fell asleep with his back against the capstan.
The Tewksbury was not exactly a river greyhound; six miles ah hour was her rate, and since the current ran four, her net progress upstream was about two. On the bends of the river, where the deep water ran swiftly under the bank on the wide side of the arc, it was nip and tuck between the little Tewksbury and the river. No one on board expressed any impatience32.
"You got to go either forward or back," said Wes' philosophically33, "and if you ain't goin' back you're bound to arrive some time."
"Let her puff," said Pete Staley comfortably. "'Tain't comin' out of our lungs."
Ralph was happy. The weight of weeks of boredom34 was lifted from his breast. After all, life was a sporting affair. He never tired of watching the moving brown flood spotted35 with foam36, endlessly and serenely37 opposing their progress, ever yielding under the vessel's forefoot, without giving back. From the water he lifted his eyes to the clean, pine-clad hills, insolently38 planting themselves in the path of the river, and forcing it to go around. The afternoon sun was lavishly39 gilding40 the southerly slopes. Overhead the sky was an inverted41 bowl of palest turquoise42. Ralph naturally kept these poetic43 comparisons to himself. Wes' Trickett, Matthews, Mixer, and Staley were a hard-headed, scornful, tobacco-chewing quartet.
The deckhouse was a rough shanty44 with a wide sliding door at each side, and one in front. From where he sat near the capstan Ralph could see Nahnya within, sitting on a box by one of the side doors with her hands in her lap, and her eyes bent12 on the river. Her quiet and self-contained air stimulated45 his curiosity. He wondered what she was thinking about. The fact that she had forbidden him to approach her on the boat kept his desire to do so ever fresh. He cast around in his mind for some way to get around her prohibition46. She had removed the ridiculous hat to her lap, and her bare head bound round with a thick, black braid of hair was wholly beautiful and graceful47 against the light.
"Where did she get that proud look from?" thought Ralph. "All she needs is a diadem48 and an ermine cloak."
Ralph was not the only man on board who had remarked the handsome passenger. By and by Joe Mixer woke up, and blinked at her sidewise from between his thick lids.
"Good-looking gal49, Joe," said Pete Staley.
Joe grunted50 by way of affirmation.
Joe Mixer was a well-known character up and down the Campbell. Outside he had been a butcher, they said, and had come North owing to an unpleasantness following upon his attempt to carve a piece of human meat. He was a factor in the little community of the river by reason of his bulk and the noise he made, but privately51 he was not regarded with much affection. In a rough, new society much is condoned52 through the fear of being thought self-righteous. The first commandment of the frontier is: Thou shalt not appear any better than thy neighbour. Hence Joe was accepted for one of the crowd, while stories were circulated behind his back of lingering butchering tendencies, of a dog he had tortured, of a native woman who had sought safety from him through a priest.
"Who is she?" asked Staley.
"Darned if I know," said Wes'. "She ain't any of the Cheval Noir crowd, that's sure, or from Campbell Lake neither. Says she's goin' to your dump at Gisborne."
"She come down the river on a little raft early yesterday morning," said Matthews, the engineer. "Five o'clock it was, I guess. I come out on deck to take a look at the sky, and I seen her landing below Thomson's store there. Thinking nobody saw her, she pushed the raft off in the current."
"They're a sly lot," said Staley. "A white man never can tell what they're up to."
They continued to discuss Nahnya with a freedom that caused Ralph to grind his teeth. To avoid arousing their suspicions he was obliged to keep a smooth face, and to enter into the discussion. Up to this time Ralph had thought of these four as "good enough heads" and had drunk with them at Maroney's like everybody else. Now they suddenly seemed like foul-mouthed satyrs that a man ought to knock down one by one for decency's sake. They were not as bad as all that, of course; the change was in Ralph, not in them.
Finally Joe said with what seemed to Ralph an egregious53 display of male vanity: "I can handle them. I'll find out who she is."
He went inside the deckhouse with a propitiatory54 leer on his fat red face that caused Ralph's gorge55 to rise. Ralph sat on pins and needles watching out of the corners of his eyes, and straining his ears in vain to hear what was said.
The conversation was like all such conversations.
"Hello, dearie!" said Joe.
The girl turned a bland56, blank face toward him. "Hello," she said.
Joe pulled up another box and sat down. "Thought you might be lonely all by yourself," he said agreeably.
"I like be by myself me," she said, affecting a na?ve simplicity57 of speech and manner.
Joe glanced at her sharply. Her eyes were modestly cast down. He decided that she meant no offence, and went on:
"What's your name, girly?"
"Mary Black, please."
"Where do you live when you're home?"
"McIlwraith Lake. My fat'er him Scarface Jack58 Black. Him very good hunter."
Her air of humble59 timidity encouraged Joe enormously. This was plain sailing. "What do you want to live in the woods for?" he said condescendingly. "That's no place for a good-lookin' gal like you—among a pack of savages60."
She shrugged61 deprecatingly.
"You ought to be down here on the river where there's something doing. White men know how to enjoy life."
"Yes," she said demurely63.
"If you stayed down at the Fort you'd knock the spots off the other gals64 there. There ain't one of them can touch you!"
"I got no place," she said.
"That's easy," said Joe. "I'll build you a shack."
"I think about it," she said.
"Dominion65 Day there's going to be a whale of a time at the Fort," Joe went on. "Racing66 and fireworks and dancing and free eats for everybody. Like that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you come down to my place ahead of time, and we'll float down to the Fort on a raft."
"Thank you," she said.
Joe, overjoyed at the progress he was making, drew his box closer, and laid a ham of a hand on one of her slender brown ones. Ralph, observing the move from outside, ground his teeth afresh.
"You're all right!" said Joe unctuously67. "You and me'll be good friends. I'm a liberal feller, I am. A good-lookin' gal can get what she likes out of me."
The girl drew away. "They see you outside," she said warningly.
Joe laughed thickly. "You're shy, eh? That's all right, sis. I like 'em a little bashful at first. Me and you'll have a talk later on when there ain't nobody around."
When Joe returned to the others it was with the air of a conqueror68. Ralph's right fist instinctively69 doubled at the sight of his fat complacency, but for the present he had to content himself with picking out the spots where he would like to plant it.
"She's all right," said Joe patronizingly. "Nice little gal."
"What's her name? Where does she live?" asked Staley.
Joe repeated what she had told him. Ralph breathed more freely.
"She's lying," said Staley coolly. "I traded at McIlwraith Lake six years off and on. I ought to know. She never come of Sikannis stock; they're an undersized people and narrow-eyed."
"Well, she's half-white, maybe," said Joe.
"She never showed her face on McIlwraith Lake when I was there," said Staley. "I knew them all. There's no hunter in the tribe called Scarface Jack Black. She was stringing you."
"I don't care," said Joe. "It don't hurt her looks any."
During the afternoon each one of the other three men made an occasion to sidle up to the girl; Matthews the sardonic70 Scotchman, Staley with his pale, sharp, storekeeper's face, and the lubberly old Wes' with his wandering pale eye, and his tobacco-stained chin. The girl's manner was the same to each; demure62, receptive, simple-minded. Ralph could make nothing of her. All this was hard on his temper. He was divided between anger at the ill-concealed grossness of the men, and anger at Nahnya for not resenting it. He no longer took any pleasure in the beauty of the river.
At dusk they tied up to a tree on the shore and ran out a plank71. The boys built a rousing fire under the pines, and as the darkness increased it made a fantastic chiaroscuro72 in crimson73 and black; the fire leaping under the boughs74, the silhouettes75 of the half-breeds moving about it preparing supper, and on the river side the quaint76 little steamboat sticking her nose into the red glow.
When supper was ready the five white men sat down beside the fire, but the girl, notwithstanding the hearty77 and jocular invitations of four of them, carried her portion back on the boat.
"Let her go," said Joe. "She's dainty about eating in company."
His air of proprietorship78 was almost more than Ralph could brook79. Joe, sitting cross-legged, with his stomach on his knees, was not a beautiful sight. He had divested80 himself of all unnecessary clothing. He ate and drank with a noisy gusto that was all his own, and his cheeks and the bald spot on his crown became purple with the effort. A mat of dank black hair hung over his forehead, and the long ends of his moustache dripped tea.
Nahnya sat down on the deck to her supper in view of the men, for it was not yet perfectly81 dark. Ralph, watching her covertly82, was filled with a heavy anxiety at the thought of her position alone on the boat during the night. If she felt apprehensive83 herself she showed nothing, and it did not affect her appetite.
Joe, observing Ralph's glances toward the steamboat, laughed in his uproarious way. "The kid's askeered of a petticoat!" he cried. "Go ahead, boy; it won't bite you!"
Ralph could cheerfully have brained Joe where he sat. He was obliged, however, to turn it off with the best smile he could muster84. At the same time Joe's jibe85 gave him an idea. He took care to finish before the others, and went on the boat, muttering something about getting tobacco.
"Be up and down with her, kid," cried Joe. "Half measures won't get you nowhere!"
"Fine night," said Ralph to Nahnya, loud enough for those on shore to hear.
"Yes," she said, with exactly the same manner she had adopted toward them all.
It dashed him a little. He went on inside to get tobacco out of his dunnage bag. When he came out again, she pointedly86 looked away across the river.
Ralph came close to her, and lowered his voice; anxiety made him rough. "How are you going to manage to-night?" he asked.
"What do you want to know for?" she said coolly, without looking at him.
The blood rushed to Ralph's face; his temper had already been put to a strain one way and another. "I was only thinking of your safety," he said hotly.
"You don't have to," she said. "I can take care of myself."
"Do you know Joe Mixer lets on that he has won you?" Ralph went on harshly. "That swine! What are you going to do about it?"
"I don't care what he says," she said indifferently. "I know what to do."
Ralph did not really suspect her, but it suited his sore and angry mood to make out that he did. "I trusted you!" he said bitterly.
This pierced her inscrutability. Her eyes flashed a hurt and angry look at him. "What you want?" she said swiftly and softly. "If I slap Joe Mixer's ugly face he make Wes' Trickett stop the boat and put me on shore. I don't want any trouble. I fool them all the same."
"Oh!" said Ralph, disconcerted and relieved.
"Go ashore87," she said. "I tell you not to talk to me on the steamboat."
"They all make up to you," Ralph explained in justification88. "It looks funny if I'm the only one that stays away. They've started to jolly me about it. You let them come around all they want. Why can't you be the same to me?"
"Go!" she said. "You can't act the same like them to me. They see the difference. If I friendly with you right away there will be trouble. Go stay with them."
This was unanswerable. "But I'm anxious about you," Ralph persisted in more humble tones. "What are you going to do?"
She shrugged coolly. "Do not worry," she said. "I can take care of myself. These are not the first foolish white men I have to manage."
Ralph turned over the gangplank more puzzled than ever by her, but on the whole easier in his mind. Her confidence in herself was infectious.
As he resumed his place by the fire, Joe said with his fat laugh: "Nothing doing, eh, Kid?"
"A man can't always cop the first prize," Ralph returned.
"I was ahead of you on this," Joe said with another guffaw89.
Ralph still smiled. "We'll see," he thought.
The night was drawing on clear and still. The black flies had ceased their malignant90 activity at sunset, and it was too cold for mosquitoes. Joe suggested that they sleep ashore, and it was voted a good idea. The pine needles offered a softer bed than the planks91 of the steamboat's deck. Nevertheless Ralph divined an ulterior motive92 behind the suggestion, and Joe's transparent93 efforts to break up the talk around the fire heightened his suspicions.
"They ain't no rush," said Wes' Trickett comfortably. "They's all day to-morrow to make the rapids."
"'Ain't no rush' is your motter, Wes'," remarked Pete Staley.
"I do' want no better motter," returned the captain. "That's why I come North, I guess. Outside men fret94 theirselves to death tryin' to do each other. What do they get for it?—a gold-plated casket, maybe, and a marble mouse-olium with a angel pointing to the skies. Pretty cold comfort, if you ast me. I'd a sight ruther take my ease sleepin' warm under a blanket, and wake up to good bacon and cawfee. There was Tinker Beasley now, he was always in a sweat. I mind how Tinker——"
"Oh, for God's sake, Wes', I heard that story twenty times!" cried Joe Mixer. "It's near twelve o'clock. Get your blankets off the boat, men."
Joe finally prevailed. As soon as the men had taken their blankets ashore, Nahnya disappeared inside the deckhouse, closing the front door after her, and likewise closing the door on the side that faced the shore. There were no locks on these doors for her protection.
One by one each white man knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and crawling between his blankets, feet to the fire, added a trumpet95 to the chorus of snores. The breed boys were already quiet beside their dying fire. Ralph lay down with the others, privately resolving not to give way to sleep. He filled his pipe afresh, and propping96 his head on his elbow, stared at the blushing embers, and assorted97 the impressions of the day in his mind. Looking over his shoulder he could see through the chinks of the boards that Nahnya had made a light within her rude cabin.
In spite of him, the still night began to have its way, and peace descended98 on his spirit. The slow, ruby99 progress of the fire, the spicy100 scent101 of the pines, and the pleasant murmur102 of the current against the forefoot of the moored103 steamboat all combined to undermine wakefulness. The very concert of snores irresistibly104 suggested sleep to his subconsciousness105. This was the camp-scene Ralph had desirously pictured to himself. It was good. His late agitation106 began to seem a little foolish to him.
"One would think I was falling in love with the girl," he thought. "That's absurd!"
He repeated "absurd!" to himself several times over for safety's sake. His head gradually slipped off the supporting palm, and pillowed itself on the thick of his arm.
Before he was altogether lost to consciousness, Joe Mixer, two figures removed from him, came to a stop in the middle of a snore, stirred in his blankets, and sat up abruptly107, snuffling and shaking his head to rid himself of the incubus108 of sleep. His little eyes passed with a cautious glance from one to another of the recumbent forms.
Ralph was instantly on the alert again. "Hello!" he said. "What's the matter?"
Joe started and scowled109. Joe had but an imperfect command over his features; his frustrated110 design was clearly evident. Muttering an unmistakable oath, he lay down again.
Ralph's desire to sleep was effectually disposed of. He lay still with his eyes closed. Very soon Joe, who apparently111 could go to sleep and wake up at will, recommenced snoring with inimitable naturalness. Ralph looked over his shoulder. The light was still burning within the deckhouse. A spring of compassion112 started in his breast.
"Poor girl!" he thought. "She's afraid to turn in!"
He was keenly distressed113 by the mental picture of Nahnya sitting alone, fighting sleep, and awaiting the approach of danger. He got up without having a very clear idea of what he meant to do—except that she must be reassured. He crossed the plank to the boat's deck. He knew he could not open either of the two closed doors without causing a screech114 sufficient to awaken115 the entire party, but he found that the door on the river side was still open, for he could see the rays of light streaming out on the dusty surface of the water. There was a narrow deck all the way around outside the house. He made for the open doorway116, but stopped before showing himself. Ralph had conceived a respect for the resources of this inexplicable117 girl. One could never be sure in advance of what she might do.
"Hello!" he said softly. "It's the doctor."
There was no answer.
With a fast-beating heart he looked in. She was sleeping on the deck in the middle of an open space between the piles of freight forward and the boiler118 aft. To a beam over her head she had fastened the engineer's lantern, and Ralph, instantly comprehending, had to approve both her courage and her good sense. The light was her safeguard.
She had spread a piece of canvas on the deck, and lay wrapped in a gray blanket, her head pillowed on her outflung arm. Her face, slightly turned up, was revealed under the light, calm and partly smiling in sleep. The hard, watchful119 look that had so often nonplussed120 him during the day had disappeared. Once again he was compelled to rearrange all his impressions of her.
"She's only a kid!" he thought tenderly. He had not presumed to take the protective attitude toward her before.
Her long, curved lashes121 swept her dusky cheeks; her lips were a little parted as if in expectation; the hand that was flung out toward him lay palm upward, the fingers bent, as if mutely asking for a comrade hand. Abandoned to sleep as she lay, there was something at once appealing and holy in her aspect: something that made his whole being yearn122 over her, and that caused him to draw back outside the door.
He could not bear to look at her. A feeling he could not have named made him return to the forward deck. He turned up his face to the night sky, and let his heart quiet down. The essence of the poetry of womanhood had been shown to him, and the starry123 night thrilled with the wonder of it. In a flash there was revealed to him a new understanding of all the love-poems he had ever read, and perhaps secretly despised.
"She sleeps like a lily on the water," he murmured to himself without the least shame.
By and by, prose reasserting itself, he began to reflect upon what he should do next. "If I go back to the fire I'll surely fall asleep," he thought. "But if I lie down here nobody can disturb her without waking me first."
Procuring124 his blankets from beside the fire, he made his bed on the deck in such a position that any one seeking the open door must step over his body. There he waited for sleep, dwelling125 with rapt tenderness on the sight he had seen, graving it lovingly on his subconsciousness for a shrine126 that he might revisit as long as consciousness endured. He drifted away to the accompaniment of the distant drumming of a partridge in the woods.
Suddenly he found himself wide awake without being able to tell what had aroused him. The campfire was now black out, and nothing but a blacker shadow was visible toward the shore. He waited a little breathlessly for confirmation127 of the alarm he had received. Finally the plank to the shore creaked under a heavy weight, and Ralph became aware of a looming128 figure. He sat up.
The figure stopped at the edge of the deck. "Who's there?" came in Joe Mixer's thick voice, quick with alarm.
"Cowdray," said Ralph coolly.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Ralph sprang up, kicking his legs free of the entangling129 blanket. "What the hell are you after?" he retorted.
"I don't have to account to you," snarled130 Joe.
There was a silence. They stood with clenched131 fists, straining their eyes to take each other's measure in the dark.
Evidently Joe thought better of his truculence132, for when he spoke133 again it was in conciliatory tones. "Gad134! You give me a start to see you rise up like that! I thought I had 'em! You shouldn't scare a man to death before you knock him down, Doc!"
Joe's greasy135 obsequiousness136 was more offensive to Ralph than his anger. He remained silent.
"When the fire went out I woke up cold," Joe went on plausibly137. "I come aboard to get me a sweater out of my bag."
Ralph was not deceived. The thought of Joe's evil, swimming little eyes profaning138 the picture of the sleeping girl inside, by so much as looking at her, filled him with a cold, unreasonable139 rage, and he was ready to go to any lengths to prevent it. At the same time he reflected that it would serve her better to avoid a fight, if he could, and he put his wits to work.
"Take one of my blankets," he said. "I have more than I need!"
Joe demurred140. They argued the matter with sarcastic141 politeness on both sides. Each was aware that the other saw through his game.
Ralph soon tired of it. "Very well, if you want to go in there, you go by the front door, see?" he said shortly.
Joe knew as well as Ralph that the screech of the door would awaken her before he got in. "What's the matter with you?" snarled Joe.
"What's the use of beating around the bush?" retorted Ralph. "I tell you straight I won't allow that girl to be bothered."
"You won't let her be bothered!" sneered142 Joe. "Holy mackerel, listen to what's talking! Did she put you out here as a guard?"
"She did not," said Ralph.
"I know darn well she didn't," said Joe. "And she wouldn't thank you for it neither. She's got a date with me to-night."
"You lie!" said Ralph. Rage made him cold.
Joe advanced until their bodies almost touched, Ralph held himself in readiness. He meant to make Joe strike first. But the blow was not delivered.
"Damn you!" Joe whispered thickly. "I'll make you swallow that some day. I never forget a thing. I make men pay."
"Why postpone143 it?" said Ralph clearly.
Joe's voice weakened. "Well, I don't want to make a racket," he grumbled144.
"Sure, you don't want to make a racket!" cried Ralph with quick scorn. "A racket would spoil your game! You like darkness and quiet, don't you?" Suddenly the comic aspect of the situation presented itself to him, and he laughed. "There's nothing doing to-night, Joe," he said. "I'm on the job. You might as well go back and have your sleep out."
It was an incontrovertible truth. Joe turned abruptly, and went back over the gangplank, swearing under his breath.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
hoisting
|
|
| 起重，提升 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
shack
|
|
| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
unduly
|
|
| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
envious
|
|
| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
adjourned
|
|
| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
lumber
|
|
| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
anecdote
|
|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
incumbent
|
|
| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
strictly
|
|
| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
utilitarian
|
|
| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
paraphrase
|
|
| vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
shingle
|
|
| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
attenuated
|
|
| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
braced
|
|
| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
joints
|
|
| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
reassured
|
|
| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
caustic
|
|
| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
bonnet
|
|
| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
cemetery
|
|
| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
hearsay
|
|
| n.谣传，风闻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
piston
|
|
| n.活塞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
outfit
|
|
| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
lulling
|
|
| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
philosophically
|
|
| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
boredom
|
|
| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
serenely
|
|
| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
insolently
|
|
| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
lavishly
|
|
| adv.慷慨地，大方地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
gilding
|
|
| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
inverted
|
|
| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
turquoise
|
|
| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
shanty
|
|
| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
stimulated
|
|
| a.刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
prohibition
|
|
| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
diadem
|
|
| n.王冠，冕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
gal
|
|
| n.姑娘，少女 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
grunted
|
|
| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
condoned
|
|
| v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
egregious
|
|
| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
propitiatory
|
|
| adj.劝解的；抚慰的；谋求好感的；哄人息怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
gorge
|
|
| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
bland
|
|
| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
savages
|
|
| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
demure
|
|
| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
demurely
|
|
| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
gals
|
|
| abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
dominion
|
|
| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
racing
|
|
| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
unctuously
|
|
| adv.油腻地，油腔滑调地；假惺惺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
68
conqueror
|
|
| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
sardonic
|
|
| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
plank
|
|
| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
chiaroscuro
|
|
| n.明暗对照法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
silhouettes
|
|
| 轮廓( silhouette的名词复数 )； （人的）体形； （事物的）形状； 剪影 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
quaint
|
|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
proprietorship
|
|
| n.所有（权）；所有权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
brook
|
|
| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
divested
|
|
| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
covertly
|
|
| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
apprehensive
|
|
| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
muster
|
|
| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
jibe
|
|
| v.嘲笑，与...一致，使转向；n.嘲笑，嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
pointedly
|
|
| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
justification
|
|
| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
guffaw
|
|
| n.哄笑；突然的大笑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
malignant
|
|
| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
planks
|
|
| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
fret
|
|
| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
trumpet
|
|
| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
propping
|
|
| 支撑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
assorted
|
|
| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
ruby
|
|
| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
spicy
|
|
| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
moored
|
|
| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
irresistibly
|
|
| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
subconsciousness
|
|
| 潜意识；下意识 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
incubus
|
|
| n.负担；恶梦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
scowled
|
|
| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
frustrated
|
|
| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
distressed
|
|
| 痛苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
screech
|
|
| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
awaken
|
|
| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
inexplicable
|
|
| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
boiler
|
|
| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
nonplussed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的，陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
lashes
|
|
| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
yearn
|
|
| v.想念；怀念；渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
starry
|
|
| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
procuring
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
shrine
|
|
| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
confirmation
|
|
| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
looming
|
|
| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
entangling
|
|
| v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
snarled
|
|
| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
clenched
|
|
| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
truculence
|
|
| n.凶猛，粗暴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
gad
|
|
| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
greasy
|
|
| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
obsequiousness
|
|
| 媚骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
plausibly
|
|
| 似真地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
profaning
|
|
| v.不敬( profane的现在分词 )；亵渎，玷污 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
demurred
|
|
| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
sarcastic
|
|
| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
postpone
|
|
| v.延期，推迟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
grumbled
|
|
| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |