Leaning against the combing, feet braced4 upon the slippery and treacherous5 deck, he clung to tiller and mainsheet and peered ahead with anxious eyes, a pucker6 of daring graven deep between his brows.
A mile to westward7, three or more ahead, he could see the brigantine standing8 close in under the Essex shore. At times she was invisible; again he could catch merely the glint of her canvas, white against the dark loom9 of the littoral10, toned by a mist of flying spindrift. He strained his eyes, watching for the chance which would take place in the rake of her masts and sails, when she should come about.
For the longer that manoeuver was deferred11, the better was his chance of attaining12 his object. It was a forlorn hope. But in time the brigantine, to escape Maplin Sands, would be forced to tack13 and stand out past the lightship, the wind off her port bows. Then their courses would intersect. It remained to be demonstrated whether the cat-boat was speedy enough to arrive at this point of contact in advance of, or simultaneously14 with, the larger vessel15. Every minute that the putative16 Alethea put off coming about brought the cat-boat nearer that goal, but Kirkwood could do no more than hope and try to trust in the fisherman's implied admission that it could be done. It was all in the boat and the way she handled.
He watched her anxiously, quick to approve her merits as she displayed them. He had sailed small craft before—frail center-board cat-boats, handy and swift, built to serve in summer winds and protected waters: never such an one as this. Yet he liked her.
Deep bosomed17 she was, with no center-board, dependent on her draught18 and heavy keel to hold her on the wind; stanch19 and seaworthy, sheathed20 with stout21 plank22 and ribbed with seasoned timber, designed to keep afloat in the wickedest weather brewed23 by the foul-tempered German Ocean. Withal her lines were fine and clean; for all her beam she was calculated to nose narrowly into the wind and make a pretty pace as well. A good boat: he had the grace to give the credit to his luck.
Her disposition24 was more fully25 disclosed as they drew away from the beach. Inshore with shoaling water, the waves had been choppy and spiteful but lacking force of weight. Farther out, as the bottom fell away, the rollers became more uniform and powerful; heavy sweeping26 seas met the cat-boat, from their hollows looming27 mountainous to the man in the tiny cockpit; who was nevertheless aware that to a steamer they would be negligible.
His boat breasted them gallantly28, toiling29 sturdily up the steep acclivities, poising31 breathlessly on foam-crested summits for dizzy instants, then plunging32 headlong down the deep green swales; and left a boiling wake behind her,—urging ever onward33, hugging the wind in her wisp of blood-red sail, and boring into it, pulling at the tiller with the mettle34 of a race-horse slugging at the bit.
Offshore35, too, the wind stormed with added strength, or, possibly, had freshened. For minutes on end the leeward36 gunwales would run green, and now and again the screaming, pelting37 squalls that scoured38 the estuary39 would heel her over until the water cascaded40 in over the lee combing, and the rudder, lifted clear, would hang idle until, smitten41 by some racing42 billow, the tiller would be all but torn from Kirkwood's hands. Again and again this happened; and those were times of trembling. But always the cat-boat righted, shaking the clinging waters from her and swinging her stem into the wind again; and there would follow an abbreviated43 breathing spell, during which Kirkwood was at liberty to dash the salt spray from his eyes and search the wind-harried waste for the brigantine. Sometimes he found her, sometimes not.
Long after he had expected her to, she went about and they began to close in upon each other. He could see that even with shortened canvas she was staggering drunkenly under the fierce impacts of the wind. For himself, it was nip-and-tuck, now, and no man in his normal sense would have risked a sixpence on the boat's chance to live until she crossed the brigantine's bows.
Time out of reckoning he was forced to kneel in the swimming cockpit, steering44 with one hand, using the bailing45-dish with the other, and keeping his eyes religiously turned to the bellying46 patch of sail. It was heartbreaking toil30; he began reluctantly to concede that it could not last much longer. And if he missed the brigantine he would be lost; mortal strength was not enough to stand the unending strain upon every bone, muscle and sinew, required to keep the boat upon her course; though for a time it might cope with and solve the problems presented by each new, malignant47 billow and each furious, howling squall, the end inevitably48 must be failure. To struggle on would be but to postpone49 the certain end ... save and except the possibility of his gaining the brigantine within the period of time strictly50 and briefly51 limited by his powers of endurance.
Long since he had become numb52 with cold from incessant53 drenchings of icy spray, that piled in over the windward counter, keeping the bottom ankle-deep regardless of his laborious54 but intermittent55 efforts with the bailing dish. And the two, brigantine and cockle-shell, were drawing together with appalling56 deliberation.
A dozen times he was on the point of surrender, as often plucked up hope; as the minutes wore on and he kept above water, he began to believe that if he could stick it out his judgment and seamanship would be justified57 ... though human ingenuity58 backed by generosity59 could by no means contrive60 adequate excuse for his foolhardiness.
But that was aside, something irreparable. Wan61 and grim, he fought it out.
But that his voice stuck in his parched62 throat, he could have shouted in his elation63, when eventually he gained the point of intersection64 an eighth of a mile ahead of the brigantine and got sight of her windward freeboard as, most slowly, the cat-boat forged across her course.
For all that, the moment of his actual triumph was not yet; he had still to carry off successfully a scheme that for sheer audacity65 of conception and contempt for danger, transcended66 all that had gone before.
Holding the cat-boat on for a time, he brought her about handsomely a little way beyond the brigantine's course, and hung in the eye of the wind, the leach67 flapping and tightening68 with reports like rifle-shots, and the water sloshing about his calves—bailing-dish now altogether out of mind—while he watched the oncoming vessel, his eyes glistening69 with anticipation70.
She was footing it smartly, the brigantine—lying down to it and snoring into the wind. Beneath her stem waves broke in snow-white showers, whiter than the canvas of her bulging71 jib—broke and, gnashing their teeth in impotent fury, swirled72 and eddied73 down her sleek74 dark flanks. Bobbing, courtesying, she plunged75 onward, shortening the interval76 with mighty77, leaping bounds. On her bows, with each instant, the golden letters of her name grew larger and more legible until—Alethea!—he could read it plain beyond dispute.
Joy welled in his heart. He forgot all that he had undergone in the prospect78 of what he proposed still to do in the name of the only woman the world held for him. Unquestioning he had come thus far in her service; unquestioning, by her side, he was prepared to go still farther, though all humanity should single her out with accusing fingers....
They were watching him, aboard the brigantine; he could see a line of heads above her windward rail. Perhaps she was of their number. He waved an audacious hand. Some one replied, a great shout shattering itself unintelligibly79 against the gale80. He neither understood nor attempted to reply; his every faculty81 was concentrated on the supreme82 moment now at hand.
Calculating the instant to a nicety, he paid off the sheet and pulled up the tiller. The cat-boat pivoted83 on her heel; with a crack her sail flapped full and rigid84; then, with the untempered might of the wind behind her, she shot like an arrow under the brigantine's bows, so close that the bowsprit of the latter first threatened to impale85 the sail, next, the bows plunging, crashed down a bare two feet behind the cat-boat's stern.
Working in a frenzy86 of haste, Kirkwood jammed the tiller hard alee, bringing the cat about, and, trimming the mainsheet as best he might, found himself racing under the brigantine's leeward quarter,—water pouring in generously over the cat's.
Luffing, he edged nearer, handling his craft as though intending to ram87 the larger vessel, foot by foot shortening the little interval. When it was four feet, he would risk the jump; he crawled out on the overhang, crouching88 on his toes, one hand light upon the tiller, the other touching89 the deck, ready ... ready....
Abruptly90 the Alethea shut off the wind; the sail flattened91 and the cat dropped back. In a second the distance had doubled. In anguish92 Kirkwood uttered an exceeding bitter cry. Already he was falling far off her counter....
A shout reached him. He was dimly conscious of a dark object hurtling through the air. Into the cockpit, splashing, something dropped—a coil of rope. He fell forward upon it, into water eighteen inches deep; and for the first time realized that, but for that line, he had gone to his drowning in another minute. The cat was sinking.
As he scrambled93 to his feet, clutching the life-line, a heavy wave washed over the water-logged craft and left it all but submerged; and a smart tug94 on the rope added point to the advice which, reaching his ears in a bellow95 like a bull's, penetrated96 the panic of his wits.
"Jump! Jump, you fool!"
In an instant of coherence97 he saw that the brigantine was luffing; none the less much of the line had already been paid out, and there was no reckoning when the end would be reached. Without time to make it fast, he hitched98 it twice round his waist and chest, once round an arm, and, grasping it above his head to ease its constriction99 when the tug should come, leaped on the combing and overboard. A green roaring avalanche100 swept down upon him and the luckless cat-boat, overwhelming both simultaneously.
The agony that was his during the next few minutes can by no means be exaggerated. With such crises the human mind is not fitted adequately to cope; it retains no record of the supreme moment beyond a vague and incoherent impression of poignant101, soul-racking suffering. Kirkwood underwent a prolonged interval of semi-sentience, his mind dominated and oppressed by a deathly fear of drowning and a deadening sense of suffocation102, with attendant tortures as of being broken on the wheel—limb rending103 from limb; of compression of his ribs104 that threatened momentarily to crush in his chest; of a world a-welter with dim swirling105 green half-lights alternating with flashes of blinding white; of thunderings in his ears like salvoes from a thousand cannon106....
And his senses were blotted107 out in blackness....
Then he was breathing once more, the keen clean air stabbing his lungs, the while he swam unsupported in an ethereal void of brilliance108. His mouth was full of something that burned, a liquid hot, acrid109, and stinging. He gulped110, swallowed, slobbered, choked, coughed, attempted to sit up, was aware that he was the focal center of a ring of glaring, burning eyes, like eyes of ravening111 beasts; and fainted.
His next conscious impression was of standing up, supported by friendly arms on either side, while somebody was asking him if he could walk a step or two.
He lifted his head and let it fall in token of assent112, mumbling113 a yes; and looked round him with eyes wherein the light of intelligence burned more clear with every second. By degrees he catalogued and comprehended his weirdly114 altered circumstances and surroundings.
He was partly seated, partly held up, on the edge of the cabin sky-light, an object of interest to some half-dozen men, seafaring fellows all, by their habit, clustered round between him and the windward rail. Of their number one stood directly before him, dwarfing115 his companions as much by his air of command as by his uncommon116 height: tall, thin-faced and sallow, with hollow weather-worn cheeks, a mouth like a crooked117 gash118 from ear to ear, and eyes like dying coals, with which he looked the rescued up and down in one grim, semi-humorous, semi-speculative glance. In hands both huge and red he fondled tenderly a squat119 brandy flask120 whose contents had apparently121 been employed as a first aid to the drowning.
As Kirkwood's gaze encountered his, the man smiled sourly, jerking his head to one side with a singularly derisive122 air.
"Hi, matey!" he blustered123. "'Ow goes it now? Feelin' 'appier, eigh?"
'Hi, matey!' he blustered. ''Ow goes it now?'
"Some, thank you ... more like a drowned rat." Kirkwood eyed him sheepishly. "I suppose you're the man who threw me that line? I'll have to wait till my head clears up before I can thank you properly."
"Don't mention it." He of the lantern jaws124 stowed the bottle away with jealous care in one of his immense coat pockets, and seized Kirkwood's hand in a grasp that made the young man wince125. "You're syfe enough now. My nyme's Stryker, Capt'n Wilyum Stryker.... Wot's the row? Lookin' for a friend?" he demanded suddenly, as Kirkwood's attention wandered.
For the memory of the errand that had brought him into the hands of Captain William Stryker had come to the young man very suddenly; and his eager eyes were swiftly roving not along the decks but the wide world besides, for sight or sign of his heart's desire.
After luffing to pick him up, the brigantine had been again pulled off on the port tack. The fury of the gale seemed rather to have waxed than waned126, and the Alethea was bending low under the relentless127 fury of its blasts, driving hard, with leeward channels awash. Under her port counter, a mile away, the crimson128 light-ship wallowed in a riot of breaking combers. Sheerness lay abeam129, five miles or more. Ahead the northeast headland of the Isle130 of Sheppey was bulking large and near. The cat-boat had vanished....
More important still, no one aboard the brigantine resembled in the remotest degree either of the Calendars, father or daughter, or even Mulready, the black-avised.
"I sye, 're you lookin' for some one you know?"
"Yes—your passengers. I presume they're below—?"
"Passengers!"
A hush131 fell upon the group, during which Kirkwood sought Stryker's eye in pitiful pleading; and Stryker looked round him blankly.
"Where's Miss Calendar?" the young man demanded sharply. "I must see her at once!"
The keen and deep-set eyes of the skipper clouded as they returned to Kirkwood's perturbed132 countenance133. "Wot're you talking about?" he demanded brusquely.
"I must see Miss Calendar, or Calendar himself, or Mulready." Kirkwood paused, and, getting no reply, grew restive134 under Stryker's inscrutable regard.
"That's why I came aboard," he amended135, blind to the absurdity136 of the statement; "to see—er—Calendar."
"Well ... I'm damned!"
Stryker managed to infuse into his tone a deal of suspicious contempt.
"Why?" insisted Kirkwood, nettled137 but still uncomprehending.
"D'you mean to tell me you came off from—wherever in 'ell you did come from—intendin' to board this wessel and find a party nymed Calendar?"
"Certainly I did. Why—?"
"Well!" cried Mr. Stryker, rubbing his hands together with an air oppressively obsequious138, "I'm sorry to hin-form you you've come to the wrong shop, sir; we don't stock no Calendars. We're in the 'ardware line, we are. You might try next door, or I dessay you'll find what you want at the stytioner's, round the corner."
A giggle139 from his audience stimulated140 him. "If," he continued acidly, "I'd a-guessed you was such a damn' fool, blimmy if I wouldn't've let you drownd!"
Staggered, Kirkwood bore his sarcastic141 truculence142 without resentment143.
"Calendar," he stammered144, trying to explain, "Calendar said—"
"I carn't 'elp wot Calendar said. Mebbe 'e did myke an engygement with you, an' you've gone and went an' forgot the dyte. Mebbe it's larst year's calendar you're thinkin' of. You Johnny" (to a lout145 of a boy in the group of seamen), "you run an' fetch this gentleman Whitaker's for Nineteen-six. Look sharp, now!"
"But—!" With an effort Kirkwood mustered146 up a show of dignity. "Am I to understand," he said, as calmly as he could, "that you deny knowing George B. Calendar and his daughter Dorothy and—"
"I don't 'ave to. Listen to me, young man." For the time the fellow discarded his clumsy facetiousness147. "I'm Wilyum Stryker, Capt'n Stryker, marster and 'arf-owner of this wessel, and wot I says 'ere is law. We don't carry no passengers. D'ye understand me?"—aggressively. "There ain't no pusson nymed Calendar aboard the Allytheer, an' never was, an' never will be!"
"What name did you say?" Kirkwood inquired.
"This ship? The Allytheer; registered from Liverpool; bound from London to Hantwerp, in cargo148. Anythink else?"
Kirkwood shook his head, turning to scan the seascape with a gloomy gaze. As he did so, and remarked how close upon the Sheppey headland the brigantine had drawn149, the order was given to go about. For the moment he was left alone, wretchedly wet, shivering, wan and shrunken visibly with the knowledge that he had dared greatly for nothing. But for the necessity of keeping up before Stryker and his crew, the young man felt that he could gladly have broken down and wept for sheer vexation and disappointment.
Smartly the brigantine luffed and wore about, heeling deep as she spun150 away on the starboard tack.
Kirkwood staggered round the skylight to the windward rail. From this position, looking forward, he could see that they were heading for the open sea, Foulness151 low over the port quarter, naught152 before them but a brawling153 waste of leaden-green and dirty white. Far out one of the sidewheel boats of the Queensborough-Antwerp line was heading directly into the wind and making heavy weather of it.
Some little while later, Stryker again approached him, perhaps swayed by an unaccustomed impulse of compassion154; which, however, he artfully concealed155. Blandly156 ironic157, returning to his impersonation of the shopkeeper, "Nothink else we can show you, sir?" he inquired.
"I presume you couldn't put me ashore158?" Kirkwood replied ingenuously159.
In supreme disgust the captain showed him his back. "'Ere, you!" he called to one of the crew. "Tyke this awye—tyke 'im below and put 'im to bed; give 'im a drink and dry 'is clo's. Mebbe 'e'll be better when 'e wykes up. 'E don't talk sense now, that's sure. If you arsk me, I sye 'e's balmy and no 'ope for 'im."
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收听单词发音
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1
flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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2
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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3
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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4
braced
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| 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 | |
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5
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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6
pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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7
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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8
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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9
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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10
littoral
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| adj.海岸的；湖岸的；n.沿（海）岸地区 | |
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11
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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12
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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13
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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14
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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15
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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16
putative
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| adj.假定的 | |
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17
bosomed
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| 胸部的 | |
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18
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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19
stanch
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| v.止住（血等）；adj.坚固的；坚定的 | |
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20
sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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22
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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23
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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25
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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looming
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| 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 | |
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28
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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29
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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30
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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31
poising
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| 使平衡( poise的现在分词 )； 保持（某种姿势）； 抓紧； 使稳定 | |
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32
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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mettle
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| n.勇气，精神 | |
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offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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37
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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38
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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39
estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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40
cascaded
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| 级联的 | |
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41
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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42
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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43
abbreviated
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| adj. 简短的，省略的 动词abbreviate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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45
bailing
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| （凿井时用吊桶）排水 | |
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46
bellying
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| 鼓出部；鼓鼓囊囊 | |
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47
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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48
inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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49
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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50
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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51
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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52
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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53
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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54
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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55
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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56
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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57
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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58
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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59
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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60
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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61
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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62
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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63
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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64
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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65
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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66
transcended
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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67
leach
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| v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器 | |
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68
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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69
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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70
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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71
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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72
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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75
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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76
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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77
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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78
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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79
unintelligibly
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| 难以理解地 | |
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80
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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81
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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82
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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83
pivoted
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| adj.转动的，回转的，装在枢轴上的v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的过去式和过去分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
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84
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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85
impale
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| v.用尖物刺某人、某物 | |
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86
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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87
ram
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| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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88
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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89
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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90
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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91
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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92
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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93
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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94
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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95
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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96
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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97
coherence
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| n.紧凑；连贯；一致性 | |
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98
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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99
constriction
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| 压缩； 紧压的感觉； 束紧； 压缩物 | |
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100
avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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101
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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102
suffocation
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| n.窒息 | |
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103
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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104
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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105
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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106
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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107
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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108
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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109
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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110
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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111
ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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112
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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113
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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114
weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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115
dwarfing
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| n.矮化病 | |
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116
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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117
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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118
gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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119
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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120
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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121
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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122
derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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123
blustered
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| v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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124
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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125
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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126
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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127
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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128
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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129
abeam
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| adj.正横着(的) | |
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130
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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131
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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132
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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134
restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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135
Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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136
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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137
nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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138
obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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139
giggle
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| n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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140
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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141
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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142
truculence
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| n.凶猛，粗暴 | |
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143
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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144
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
lout
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| n.粗鄙的人；举止粗鲁的人 | |
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146
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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147
facetiousness
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| n.滑稽 | |
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148
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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149
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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150
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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151
foulness
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| n. 纠缠, 卑鄙 | |
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152
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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153
brawling
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| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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154
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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155
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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156
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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157
ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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158
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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159
ingenuously
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| adv.率直地，正直地 | |
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