—The law
Protects us not. Then why should we be tender
To let an arrogant2 piece of flesh threat us!
Play judge and executioner.
—Cymbeline.
While the Teton thus enacted3 his subtle and characteristic part, not a sound broke the stillness of the surrounding prairie. The whole band lay at their several posts, waiting, with the well-known patience of the natives, for the signal which was to summon them to action. To the eyes of the anxious spectators who occupied the little eminence4, already described as the position of the captives, the scene presented the broad, solemn view of a waste, dimly lighted by the glimmering5 rays of a clouded moon. The place of the encampment was marked by a gloom deeper than that which faintly shadowed out the courses of the bottoms, and here and there a brighter streak7 tinged8 the rolling summits of the ridges9. As for the rest, it was the deep, imposing10 quiet of a desert.
But to those who so well knew how much was brooding beneath this mantle11 of stillness and night, it was a scene of high and wild excitement. Their anxiety gradually increased, as minute after minute passed away, and not the smallest sound of life arose out of the calm and darkness which enveloped12 the brake. The breathing of Paul grew louder and deeper, and more than once Ellen trembled at she knew not what, as she felt the quivering of his active frame, while she leaned dependently on his arm for support.
The shallow honesty, as well as the besetting13 infirmity of Weucha, have already been exhibited. The reader, therefore, will not be surprised to learn that he was the first to forget the regulations he had himself imposed. It was at the precise moment when we left Mahtoree yielding to his nearly ungovernable delight, as he surveyed the number and quality of Ishmael's beasts of burden, that the man he had selected to watch his captives chose to indulge in the malignant14 pleasure of tormenting15 those it was his duty to protect. Bending his head nigh the ear of the trapper, the savage16 rather muttered than whispered—
“If the Tetons lose their great chief by the hands of the Long-knives[*], old shall die as well as young!”
[*] The whites are so called by the Indians, from their swords.
“Life is the gift of the Wahcondah,” was the unmoved reply. “The burnt-wood warrior17 must submit to his laws, as well as his other children. Men only die when he chooses; and no Dahcotah can change the hour.”
“Look!” returned the savage, thrusting the blade of his knife before the face of his captive. “Weucha is the Wahcondah of a dog.”
The old man raised his eyes to the fierce visage of his keeper, and, for a moment, a gleam of honest and powerful disgust shot from their deep cells; but it instantly passed away, leaving in its place an expression of commiseration18, if not of sorrow.
“Why should one made in the real image of God suffer his natur' to be provoked by a mere19 effigy20 of reason?” he said in English, and in tones much louder than those in which Weucha had chosen to pitch the conversation. The latter profited by the unintentional offence of his captive, and, seizing him by the thin, grey locks, that fell from beneath his cap, was on the point of passing the blade of his knife in malignant triumph around their roots, when a long, shrill21 yell rent the air, and was instantly echoed from the surrounding waste, as if a thousand demons22 opened their throats in common at the summons. Weucha relinquished23 his grasp, and uttered a cry of exultation24.
“Now!” shouted Paul, unable to control his impatience25 any longer, “now, old Ishmael, is the time to show the native blood of Kentucky! Fire low, boys—level into the swales, for the red skins are settling to the very earth!”
His voice was, however, lost, or rather unheeded, in the midst of the shrieks26, shouts, and yells that were, by this time, bursting from fifty mouths on every side of him. The guards still maintained their posts at the side of the captives, but it was with that sort of difficulty with which steeds are restrained at the starting-post, when expecting the signal to commence the trial of speed. They tossed their arms wildly in the air, leaping up and down more like exulting27 children than sober men, and continued to utter the most frantic28 cries.
In the midst of this tumultuous disorder29 a rushing sound was heard, similar to that which might be expected to precede the passage of a flight of buffaloes30, and then came the flocks and cattle of Ishmael in one confused and frightened drove.
“They have robbed the squatter31 of his beasts!” said the attentive32 trapper. “The reptiles33 have left him as hoofless as a beaver35!” He was yet speaking, when the whole body of the terrified animals rose the little acclivity, and swept by the place where he stood, followed by a band of dusky and demon-like looking figures, who pressed madly on their rear.
The impulse was communicated to the Teton horses, long accustomed to sympathise in the untutored passions of their owners, and it was with difficulty that the keepers were enabled to restrain their impatience. At this moment, when all eyes were directed to the passing whirlwind of men and beasts, the trapper caught the knife from the hands of his inattentive keeper, with a power that his age would have seemed to contradict, and, at a single blow, severed36 the thong37 of hide which connected the whole of the drove. The wild animals snorted with joy and terror, and tearing the earth with their heels, they dashed away into the broad prairies, in a dozen different directions.
Weucha turned upon his assailant with the ferocity and agility38 of a tiger. He felt for the weapon of which he had been so suddenly deprived, fumbled39 with impotent haste for the handle of his tomahawk, and at the same moment glanced his eyes after the flying cattle, with the longings40 of a Western Indian. The struggle between thirst for vengeance41 and cupidity42 was severe but short. The latter quickly predominated in the bosom43 of one whose passions were proverbially grovelling44; and scarcely a moment intervened between the flight of the animals and the swift pursuit of the guards. The trapper had continued calmly facing his foe45, during the instant of suspense46 that succeeded his hardy47 act; and now that Weucha was seen following his companions, he pointed48 after the dark train, saying, with his deep and nearly inaudible laugh—
“Red-natur' is red-natur', let it show itself on a prairie, or in a forest! A knock on the head would be the smallest reward to him who should take such a liberty with a Christian49 sentinel; but there goes the Teton after his horses as if he thought two legs as good as four in such a race! And yet the imps50 will have every hoof34 of them afore the day sets in, because it's reason ag'in instinct. Poor reason, I allow; but still there is a great deal of the man in an Indian. Ah's me! your Delawares were the redskins of which America might boast; but few and scattered51 is that mighty52 people, now! Well! the traveller may just make his pitch where he is; he has plenty of water, though natur' has cheated him of the pleasure of stripping the 'arth of its lawful53 trees. He has seen the last of his four-footed creatures, or I am but little skilled in Sioux cunning.”
“Had we not better join the party of Ishmael?” said the bee-hunter. “There will be a regular fight about this matter, or the old fellow has suddenly grown chicken-hearted.”
“No—no—no,” hastily exclaimed Ellen.
She was stopped by the trapper, who laid his hand gently on her mouth, as he answered—
“Hist—hist!—the sound of voices might bring us into danger. Is your friend,” he added, turning to Paul, “a man of spirit enough?”
“Don't call the squatter a friend of mine!” interrupted the youth. “I never yet harboured with one who could not show hand and zeal54 for the land which fed him.”
“Well—well. Let it then be acquaintance. Is he a man to maintain his own, stoutly55 by dint56 of powder and lead?”
“His own! ay, and that which is not his own, too! Can you tell me, old trapper, who held the rifle that did the deed for the sheriff's deputy, that thought to rout57 the unlawful settlers who had gathered nigh the Buffaloe lick in old Kentucky? I had lined a beautiful swarm58 that very day into the hollow of a dead beech59, and there lay the people's officer at its roots, with a hole directly through the 'grace of God;' which he carried in his jacket pocket covering his heart, as if he thought a bit of sheepskin was a breastplate against a squatter's bullet! Now, Ellen, you needn't be troubled for it never strictly60 was brought home to him; and there were fifty others who had pitched in that neighbourhood with just the same authority from the law.”
The poor girl shuddered61, struggling powerfully to suppress the sigh which arose in spite of her efforts, as if from the very bottom of her heart.
Thoroughly62 satisfied that he understood the character of the emigrants64, by the short but comprehensive description conveyed in Paul's reply, the old man raised no further question concerning the readiness of Ishmael to revenge his wrongs, but rather followed the train of thought which was suggested to his experience, by the occasion.
“Each one knows the ties which bind65 him to his fellow-creatures best,” he answered. “Though it is greatly to be mourned that colour, and property, and tongue, and l'arning should make so wide a difference in those who, after all, are but the children of one father! Howsomever,” he continued, by a transition not a little characteristic of the pursuits and feelings of the man, “as this is a business in which there is much more likelihood of a fight than need for a sermon, it is best to be prepared for what may follow.—Hush! there is a movement below; it is an equal chance that we are seen.”
“The family is stirring,” cried Ellen, with a tremor66 that announced nearly as much terror at the approach of her friends, as she had before manifested at the presence of her enemies. “Go, Paul, leave me. You, at least, must not be seen!”
“If I leave you, Ellen, in this desert before I see you safe in the care of old Ishmael, at least, may I never hear the hum of another bee, or, what is worse, fail in sight to line him to his hive!”
“You forget this good old man. He will not leave me. Though I am sure, Paul, we have parted before, where there has been more of a desert than this.”
“Never! These Indians may come whooping67 back, and then where are you! Half way to the Rocky Mountains before a man can fairly strike the line of your flight. What think you, old trapper? How long may it be before these Tetons, as you call them, will be coming for the rest of old Ishmael's goods and chattels68?”
“No fear of them,” returned the old man, laughing in his own peculiar69 and silent manner; “I warrant me the devils will be scampering70 after their beasts these six hours yet! Listen! you may hear them in the willow71 bottoms at this very moment; ay, your real Sioux cattle will run like so many long-legged elks72. Hist! crouch73 again into the grass, down with ye both; as I'm a miserable74 piece of clay, I heard the ticking of a gunlock!”
The trapper did not allow his companions time to hesitate, but dragging them both after him, he nearly buried his own person in the fog of the prairie, while he was speaking. It was fortunate that the senses of the aged75 hunter remained so acute, and that he had lost none of his readiness of action. The three were scarcely bowed to the ground, when their ears were saluted76 with the well-known, sharp, short, reports of the western rifle, and instantly, the whizzing of the ragged77 lead was heard, buzzing within dangerous proximity78 of their heads.
“Well done, young chips! well done, old block!” whispered Paul, whose spirits no danger nor situation could entirely79 depress. “As pretty a volley, as one would wish to bear on the wrong end of a rifle! What d'ye say, trapper! here is likely to be a three-cornered war. Shall I give 'em as good as they send?”
“Give them nothing but fair words,” returned the other, hastily, “or you are both lost.”
“I'm not certain it would much mend the matter, if I were to speak with my tongue instead of the piece,” said Paul, in a tone half jocular half bitter.
“For the sake of heaven, do not let them hear you!” cried Ellen. “Go, Paul, go; you can easily quit us now!”
Several shots in quick succession, each sending its dangerous messenger, still nearer than the preceding discharge, cut short her speech, no less in prudence80 than in terror.
“This must end,” said the trapper, rising with the dignity of one bent81 only on the importance of his object. “I know not what need ye may have, children, to fear those you should both love and honour, but something must be done to save your lives. A few hours more or less can never be missed from the time of one who has already numbered so many days; therefore I will advance. Here is a clear space around you. Profit by it as you need, and may God bless and prosper82 each of you, as ye deserve!”
Without waiting for any reply, the trapper walked boldly down the declivity83 in his front, taking the direction of the encampment, neither quickening his pace in trepidation84, nor suffering it to be retarded85 by fear. The light of the moon fell brighter for a moment on his tall, gaunt, form, and served to warn the emigrants of his approach. Indifferent, however to this unfavourable circumstance, he held his way, silently and steadily86 towards the copse, until a threatening voice met him with a challenge of—
“Who comes; friend or foe?”
“Friend,” was the reply; “one who has lived too long to disturb the close of life with quarrels.”
“But not so long as to forget the tricks of his youth,” said Ishmael, rearing his huge frame from beneath the slight covering of a low bush, and meeting the trapper, face to face; “old man, you have brought this tribe of red devils upon us, and to-morrow you will be sharing the booty.”
“What have you lost?” calmly demanded the trapper.
“Eight as good mares as ever travelled in gears, besides a foal that is worth thirty of the brightest Mexicans that bear the face of the King of Spain. Then the woman has not a cloven hoof for her dairy, or her loom6, and I believe even the grunters, foot sore as they be, are ploughing the prairie. And now, stranger,” he added, dropping the butt87 of his rifle on the hard earth, with a violence and clatter88 that would have intimidated89 one less firm than the man he addressed, “how many of these creatures may fall to your lot?”
“Horses have I never craved91, nor even used; though few have journeyed over more of the wide lands of America than myself, old and feeble as I seem. But little use is there for a horse among the hills and woods of York—that is, as York was, but as I greatly fear York is no longer—as for woollen covering and cow's milk, I covet92 no such womanly fashions! The beasts of the field give me food and raiment. No, I crave90 no cloth better than the skin of a deer, nor any meat richer than his flesh.”
The sincere manner of the trapper, as he uttered this simple vindication93, was not entirely thrown away on the emigrant63, whose dull nature was gradually quickening into a flame, that might speedily have burst forth94 with dangerous violence. He listened like one who doubted, not entirely convinced: and he muttered between his teeth the denunciation, with which a moment before he intended to precede the summary vengeance he had certainly meditated95.
“This is brave talking,” he at length grumbled96; “but to my judgment97, too lawyer-like, for a straight forward, fair-weather, and foul-weather hunter.”
“I claim to be no better than a trapper,” the other meekly98 answered.
“Hunter or trapper—there is little difference. I have come, old man, into these districts because I found the law sitting too tight upon me, and am not over fond of neighbours who can't settle a dispute without troubling a justice and twelve men; but I didn't come to be robb'd of my plunder99, and then to say thank'ee to the man who did it!”
“He, who ventures far into the prairies, must abide100 by the ways of its owners.”
“Owners!” echoed the squatter, “I am as rightful an owner of the land I stand on, as any governor in the States! Can you tell me, stranger, where the law or the reason, is to be found, which says that one man shall have a section, or a town, or perhaps a county to his use, and another have to beg for earth to make his grave in? This is not nature, and I deny that it is law. That is, your legal law.”
“I cannot say that you are wrong,” returned the trapper, whose opinions on this important topic, though drawn101 from very different premises102, were in singular accordance with those of his companion, “and I have often thought and said as much, when and where I have believed my voice could be heard. But your beasts are stolen by them who claim to be masters of all they find in the deserts.”
“They had better not dispute that matter with a man who knows better,” said the other in a portentous103 voice, though it seemed deep and sluggish104 as he who spoke105.
“I call myself a fair trader, and one who gives to his chaps as good as he receives. You saw the Indians?”
“I did—they held me a prisoner, while they stole into your camp.”
“It would have been more like a white man and a Christian, to have let me known as much in better season,” retorted Ishmael, casting another ominous106 sidelong glance at the trapper, as if still meditating107 evil. “I am not much given to call every man, I fall in with, cousin, but colour should be something, when Christians108 meet in such a place as this. But what is done, is done, and cannot be mended, by words. Come out of your ambush109, boys; here is no one but the old man: he has eaten of my bread, and should be our friend; though there is such good reason to suspect him of harbouring with our enemies.”
The trapper made no reply to the harsh suspicion which the other did not scruple110 to utter without the smallest delicacy111, notwithstanding the explanations and denials to which he had just listened. The summons of the unnurtured squatter brought an immediate112 accession to their party. Four or five of his sons made their appearance from beneath as many covers, where they had been posted under the impression that the figures they had seen, on the swell113 of the prairie, were a part of the Sioux band. As each man approached, and dropped his rifle into the hollow of his arm, he cast an indolent but enquiring114 glance at the stranger, though neither of them expressed the least curiosity to know whence he had come or why he was there. This forbearance, however, proceeded only in part, from the sluggishness115 of their common temper; for long and frequent experience in scenes of a similar character, had taught them the virtue116 of discretion117. The trapper endured their sullen118 scrutiny119 with the steadiness of one as practised as themselves, and with the entire composure of innocence120. Content with the momentary121 examination he had made, the eldest122 of the group, who was in truth the delinquent123 sentinel by whose remissness124 the wily Mahtoree had so well profited, turned towards his father and said bluntly—
“If this man is all that is left of the party I saw on the upland, yonder, we haven't altogether thrown away our ammunition125.”
“Asa, you are right,” said the father, turning suddenly on the trapper, a lost idea being recalled by the hint of his son. “How is it, stranger; there were three of you, just now, or there is no virtue in moonlight?”
“If you had seen the Tetons racing126 across the prairies, like so many black-looking evil ones, on the heels of your cattle, my friend, it would have been an easy matter to have fancied them a thousand.”
“Ay, for a town bred boy, or a skeary woman; though for that matter, there is old Esther; she has no more fear of a red-skin than of a suckling cub127, or of a wolf pup. I'll warrant ye, had your thievish devils made their push by the light of the sun, the good woman would have been smartly at work among them, and the Siouxes would have found she was not given to part with her cheese and her butter without a price. But there'll come a time, stranger, right soon, when justice will have its dues, and that too, without the help of what is called the law. We ar' of a slow breed, it may be said, and it is often said, of us; but slow is sure; and there ar' few men living, who can say they ever struck a blow, that they did not get one as hard in return, from Ishmael Bush.”
“Then has Ishmael Bush followed the instinct of the beasts rather than the principle which ought to belong to his kind,” returned the stubborn trapper. “I have struck many a blow myself, but never have I felt the same ease of mind that of right belongs to a man who follows his reason, after slaying128 even a fawn129 when there was no call for his meat or hide, as I have felt at leaving a Mingo unburied in the woods, when following the trade of open and honest warfare130.”
“What, you have been a soldier, have you, trapper! I made a forage131 or two among the Cherokees, when I was a lad myself; and I followed mad Anthony,[*] one season, through the beeches132; but there was altogether too much tatooing and regulating among his troops for me; so I left him without calling on the paymaster to settle my arrearages. Though, as Esther afterwards boasted, she had made such use of the pay-ticket, that the States gained no great sum, by the oversight133. You have heard of such a man as mad Anthony, if you tarried long among the soldiers.”
[*] Anthony Wayne, a Pennsylvanian distinguished134 in the war of the
revolution, and subsequently against the Indians of the west, for
his daring as a general, by which he gained from his followers135 the
title of Mad Anthony. General Wayne was the son of the person
mentioned in the life of West as commanding the regiment136 which
excited his military ardour.
“I fou't my last battle, as I hope, under his orders,” returned the trapper, a gleam of sunshine shooting from his dim eyes, as if the event was recollected137 with pleasure, and then a sudden shade of sorrow succeeding, as though he felt a secret admonition against dwelling138 on the violent scenes in which he had so often been an actor. “I was passing from the States on the sea-shore into these far regions, when I cross'd the trail of his army, and I fell in, on his rear, just as a looker-on; but when they got to blows, the crack of my rifle was heard among the rest, though to my shame it may be said, I never knew the right of the quarrel as well as a man of threescore and ten should know the reason of his acts afore he takes mortal life, which is a gift he never can return!”
“Come, stranger,” said the emigrant, his rugged139 nature a good deal softened140 when he found that they had fought on the same side in the wild warfare of the west, “it is of small account, what may be the ground-work of the disturbance141, when it's a Christian ag'in a savage. We shall hear more of this horse-stealing to-morrow; to-night we can do no wiser or safer thing than to sleep.”
So saying, Ishmael deliberately142 led the way back towards his rifled encampment, and ushered143 the man, whose life a few minutes before had been in real jeopardy144 from his resentment145, into the presence of his family. Here, with a very few words of explanation, mingled146 with scarce but ominous denunciations against the plunderers, he made his wife acquainted with the state of things on the prairie, and announced his own determination to compensate147 himself for his broken rest, by devoting the remainder of the night to sleep.
The trapper gave his ready assent148 to the measure, and adjusted his gaunt form on the pile of brush that was offered him, with as much composure as a sovereign could resign himself to sleep, in the security of his capital and surrounded by his armed protectors. The old man did not close his eyes, however, until he had assured himself that Ellen Wade149 was among the females of the family, and that her relation, or lover, whichever he might be, had observed the caution of keeping himself out of view: after which he slept, though with the peculiar watchfulness150 of one long accustomed to vigilance, even in the hours of deepest night.
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1
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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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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7
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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besetting
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| adj.不断攻击的v.困扰( beset的现在分词 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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tormenting
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| 使痛苦的，使苦恼的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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effigy
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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squatter
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| n.擅自占地者 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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35
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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36
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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37
thong
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| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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38
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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39
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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40
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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41
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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42
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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43
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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44
grovelling
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| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
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45
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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46
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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47
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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48
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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49
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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50
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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51
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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52
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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53
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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54
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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55
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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56
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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57
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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58
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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59
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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60
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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61
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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62
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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63
emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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64
emigrants
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| n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
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65
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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66
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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67
whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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68
chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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69
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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70
scampering
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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71
willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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72
elks
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| n.麋鹿( elk的名词复数 ) | |
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73
crouch
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| v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏 | |
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74
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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75
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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76
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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77
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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78
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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79
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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80
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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81
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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82
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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83
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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84
trepidation
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| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
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85
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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86
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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87
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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88
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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89
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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90
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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91
craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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92
covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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93
vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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94
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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95
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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96
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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97
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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98
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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99
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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100
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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101
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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102
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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103
portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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104
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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105
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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106
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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107
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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108
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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109
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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110
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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111
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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112
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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113
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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114
enquiring
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| a.爱打听的，显得好奇的 | |
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115
sluggishness
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| 不振，萧条，呆滞；惰性；滞性；惯性 | |
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116
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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117
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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118
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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119
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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120
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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121
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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122
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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123
delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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124
remissness
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| n.玩忽职守；马虎；怠慢；不小心 | |
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125
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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126
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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127
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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128
slaying
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| 杀戮。 | |
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129
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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130
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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131
forage
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| n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻 | |
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132
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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133
oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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134
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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135
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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136
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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137
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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139
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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140
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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141
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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142
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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143
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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145
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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146
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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147
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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148
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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149
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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150
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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