dissembling abominable1 varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy2,
doting3, foolish young knave4 in his helm.
—Troilus and Cressida.
It is necessary, in order that the thread of the narrative5 should not be spun6 to a length which might fatigue7 the reader, that he should imagine a week to have intervened between the scene with which the preceding chapter closed and the events with which it is our intention to resume its relation in this. The season was on the point of changing its character; the verdure of summer giving place more rapidly to the brown and party-coloured livery of the fall.[*] The heavens were clothed in driving clouds, piled in vast masses one above the other, which whirled violently in the gusts8; opening, occasionally, to admit transient glimpses of the bright and glorious sight of the heavens, dwelling9 in a magnificence by far too grand and durable10 to be disturbed by the fitful efforts of the lower world. Beneath, the wind swept across the wild and naked prairies, with a violence that is seldom witnessed in any section of the continent less open. It would have been easy to have imagined, in the ages of fable11, that the god of the winds had permitted his subordinate agents to escape from their den12, and that they now rioted, in wantonness, across wastes, where neither tree, nor work of man, nor mountain, nor obstacle of any sort, opposed itself to their gambols13.
[*] The Americans call the autumn the “fall,” from the fall of the
leaf.
Though nakedness might, as usual, be given as the pervading14 character of the spot, whither it is now necessary to transfer the scene of the tale, it was not entirely15 without the signs of human life. Amid the monotonous16 rolling of the prairie, a single naked and ragged17 rock arose on the margin18 of a little watercourse, which found its way, after winding19 a vast distance through the plains, into one of the numerous tributaries20 of the Father of Rivers. A swale of low land lay near the base of the eminence21; and as it was still fringed with a thicket22 of alders23 and sumack, it bore the signs of having once nurtured24 a feeble growth of wood. The trees themselves had been transferred, however, to the summit and crags of the neighbouring rocks. On this elevation25 the signs of man, to which the allusion26 just made applies, were to be found.
Seen from beneath, there were visible a breast-work of logs and stones, intermingled in such a manner as to save all unnecessary labour, a few low roofs made of bark and boughs28 of trees, an occasional barrier, constructed like the defences on the summit, and placed on such points of the acclivity as were easier of approach than the general face of the eminence; and a little dwelling of cloth, perched on the apex29 of a small pyramid, that shot up on one angle of the rock, the white covering of which glimmered30 from a distance like a spot of snow, or, to make the simile31 more suitable to the rest of the subject, like a spotless and carefully guarded standard, which was to be protected by the dearest blood of those who defended the citadel32 beneath. It is hardly necessary to add, that this rude and characteristic fortress33 was the place where Ishmael Bush had taken refuge, after the robbery of his flocks and herds34.
On the day to which the narrative is advanced, the squatter36 was standing37 near the base of the rocks, leaning on his rifle, and regarding the sterile38 soil that supported him with a look in which contempt and disappointment were strongly blended.
“'Tis time to change our natur's,” he observed to the brother of his wife, who was rarely far from his elbow; “and to become ruminators, instead of people used to the fare of Christians39 and free men. I reckon, Abiram, you could glean40 a living among the grasshoppers41: you ar' an active man, and might outrun the nimblest skipper of them all.”
“The country will never do,” returned the other, who relished42 but little the forced humour of his kinsman44; “and it is well to remember that a lazy traveller makes a long journey.”
“Would you have me draw a cart at my heels, across this desert for weeks,—ay, months?” retorted Ishmael, who, like all of his class, could labour with incredible efforts on emergencies, but who too seldom exerted continued industry, on any occasion, to brook45 a proposal that offered so little repose46. “It may do for your people, who live in settlements, to hasten on to their houses; but, thank Heaven! my farm is too big for its owner ever to want a resting-place.”
“Since you like the plantation47, then, you have only to make your crop.”
“That is easier said than done, on this corner of the estate. I tell you, Abiram, there is need of moving, for more reasons than one. You know I'm a man that very seldom enters into a bargain, but who always fulfils his agreements better than your dealers48 in wordy contracts written on rags of paper. If there's one mile, there ar' a hundred still needed to make up the distance for which you have my honour.”
As he spoke50, the squatter glanced his eye upward at the little tenement51 of cloth which crowned the summit of his ragged fortress. The look was understood and answered by the other; and by some secret influence, which operated either through their interests or feelings, it served to re-establish that harmony between them, which had just been threatened with something like a momentary52 breach53.
“I know it, and feel it in every bone of my body. But I remember the reason, why I have set myself on this accursed journey too well to forget the distance between me and the end. Neither you nor I will ever be the better for what we have done, unless we thoroughly54 finish what is so well begun. Ay, that is the doctrine55 of the whole world, I judge: I heard a travelling preacher, who was skirting it down the Ohio, a time since, say, if a man should live up to the faith for a hundred years, and then fall from his work a single day, he would find the settlement was to be made for the finishing blow that he had put to his job, and that all the bad, and none of the good, would come into the final account.”
“And you believed the hungry hypocrite!”
“Who said that I believed it?” retorted Abiram with a bullying56 look, that betrayed how much his fears had dwelt on the subject he affected57 to despise. “Is it believing to tell what a roguish—And yet, Ishmael, the man might have been honest after all! He told us that the world was, in truth, no better than a desert, and that there was but one hand that could lead the most learned man through all its crooked58 windings59. Now, if this be true of the whole, it may be true of a part.”
“Abiram, out with your grievances60 like a man,” interrupted the squatter, with a hoarse61 laugh. “You want to pray! But of what use will it be, according to your own doctrine, to serve God five minutes and the devil an hour? Harkee, friend; I'm not much of a husband-man, but this I know to my cost; that to make a right good crop, even on the richest bottom, there must be hard labour; and your snufflers liken the 'arth to a field of corn, and the men, who live on it, to its yield. Now I tell you, Abiram, that you are no better than a thistle or a mullin; yea, ye ar' wood of too open a pore to be good even to burn!”
The malign62 glance, which shot from the scowling63 eye of Abiram, announced the angry character of his feelings, but as the furtive65 look quailed66, immediately, before the unmoved, steady, countenance67 of the squatter, it also betrayed how much the bolder spirit of the latter had obtained the mastery over his craven nature.
Content with his ascendency, which was too apparent, and had been too often exerted on similar occasions, to leave him in any doubt of its extent, Ishmael coolly continued the discourse68, by adverting69 more directly to his future plans.
“You will own the justice of paying every one in kind,” he said; “I have been robbed of my stock, and I have a scheme to make myself as good as before, by taking hoof70 for hoof; or for that matter, when a man is put to the trouble of bargaining for both sides, he is a fool if he don't pay himself something in the way of commission.”
As the squatter made this declaration in a tone which was a little excited by the humour of the moment, four or five of his lounging sons, who had been leaning against the foot of the rock, came forward with the indolent step so common to the family.
“I have been calling Ellen Wade71, who is on the rock keeping the look-out, to know if there is any thing to be seen,” observed the eldest72 of the young men; “and she shakes her head, for an answer. Ellen is sparing of her words for a woman; and might be taught manners at least, without spoiling her good looks.”
Ishmael cast his eye upward to the place, where the offending, but unconscious girl was holding her anxious watch. She was seated at the edge of the uppermost crag, by the side of the little tent, and at least two hundred feet above the level of the plain. Little else was to be distinguished73, at that distance, but the outline of her form, her fair hair streaming in the gusts beyond her shoulders, and the steady and seemingly unchangeable look that she had riveted74 on some remote point of the prairie.
“What is it, Nell?” cried Ishmael, lifting his powerful voice a little above the rushing of the element. “Have you got a glimpse of any thing bigger than a burrowing75 barker?”
The lips of the attentive76 Ellen parted; she rose to the utmost height her small stature77 admitted, seeming still to regard the unknown object; but her voice, if she spoke at all, was not sufficiently78 loud to be heard amid the wind.
“It ar' a fact that the child sees something more uncommon79 than a buffaloe or a prairie dog!” continued Ishmael. “Why, Nell, girl, ar' ye deaf? Nell, I say;—I hope it is an army of red-skins she has in her eye; for I should relish43 the chance to pay them for their kindness, under the favour of these logs and rocks!”
As the squatter accompanied his vaunt with corresponding gestures, and directed his eyes to the circle of his equally confident sons while speaking, he drew their gaze from Ellen to himself; but now, when they turned together to note the succeeding movements of their female sentinel, the place which had so lately been occupied by her form was vacant.
“As I am a sinner,” exclaimed Asa, usually one of the most phlegmatic80 of the youths, “the girl is blown away by the wind!”
Something like a sensation was exhibited among them, which might have denoted that the influence of the laughing blue eyes, flaxen hair, and glowing cheeks of Ellen, had not been lost on the dull natures of the young men; and looks of amazement81, mingled27 slightly with concern, passed from one to the other as they gazed, in dull wonder, at the point of the naked rock.
“It might well be!” added another; “she sat on a slivered82 stone, and I have been thinking of telling her she was in danger for more than an hour.”
“Is that a riband of the child, dangling83 from the corner of the hill below?” cried Ishmael; “ha! who is moving about the tent? have I not told you all—”
“Ellen! 'tis Ellen!” interrupted the whole body of his sons in a breath; and at that instant she re-appeared to put an end to their different surmises84, and to relieve more than one sluggish85 nature from its unwonted excitement. As Ellen issued from beneath the folds of the tent, she advanced with a light and fearless step to her former giddy stand, and pointed86 toward the prairie, appearing to speak in an eager and rapid voice to some invisible auditor87.
“Nell is mad!” said Asa, half in contempt and yet not a little in concern. “The girl is dreaming with her eyes open; and thinks she sees some of them fierce creatur's, with hard names, with which the Doctor fills her ears.”
“Can it be, the child has found a scout88 of the Siouxes?” said Ishmael, bending his look toward the plain; but a low, significant whisper from Abiram drew his eyes quickly upward again, where they were turned just in time to perceive that the cloth of the tent was agitated89 by a motion very evidently different from the quivering occasioned by the wind. “Let her, if she dare!” the squatter muttered in his teeth. “Abiram; they know my temper too well to play the prank90 with me!”
“Look for yourself! if the curtain is not lifted, I can see no better than the owl64 by daylight.”
Ishmael struck the breach of his rifle violently on the earth, and shouted in a voice that might easily have been heard by Ellen, had not her attention still continued rapt on the object which so unaccountably attracted her eyes in the distance.
“Nell!” continued the squatter, “away with you, fool! will you bring down punishment on your own head? Why, Nell!—she has forgotten her native speech; let us see if she can understand another language.”
Ishmael threw his rifle to his shoulder, and at the next moment it was pointed upward at the summit of the rock. Before time was given for a word of remonstrance91, it had sent forth92 its contents, in its usual streak93 of bright flame. Ellen started like the frightened chamois, and uttering a piercing scream, she darted94 into the tent, with a swiftness that left it uncertain whether terror or actual injury had been the penalty of her offence.
The action of the squatter was too sudden and unexpected to admit of prevention, but the instant it was done, his sons manifested, in an unequivocal manner, the temper with which they witnessed the desperate measure. Angry and fierce glances were interchanged, and a murmur95 of disapprobation was uttered by the whole, in common.
“What has Ellen done, father,” said Asa, with a degree of spirit, which was the more striking from being unusual, “that she should be shot at like a straggling deer, or a hungry wolf?”
“Mischief97,” deliberately98 returned the squatter; but with a cool expression of defiance99 in his eye that showed how little he was moved by the ill-concealed100 humour of his children. “Mischief, boy; mischief! take you heed101 that the disorder102 don't spread.”
“It would need a different treatment in a man, than in yon screaming girl!”
“Asa, you ar' a man, as you have often boasted; but remember I am your father, and your better.”
“I know it well; and what sort of a father?”
“Harkee, boy: I more than half believe that your drowsy103 head let in the Siouxes. Be modest in speech, my watchful104 son, or you may have to answer yet for the mischief your own bad conduct has brought upon us.”
“I'll stay no longer to be hectored like a child in petticoats. You talk of law, as if you knew of none, and yet you keep me down, as though I had not life and wants of my own. I'll stay no longer to be treated like one of your meanest cattle!”
“The world is wide, my gallant105 boy, and there's many a noble plantation on it, without a tenant106. Go; you have title deeds signed and sealed to your hand. Few fathers portion their children better than Ishmael Bush; you will say that for me, at least, when you get to be a wealthy landholder.”
“Look! father, look!” exclaimed several voices at once, seizing with avidity, an opportunity to interrupt a dialogue which threatened to become more violent.
“Look!” repeated Abiram, in a voice which sounded hollow and warning; “if you have time for any thing but quarrels, Ishmael, look!”
The squatter turned slowly from his offending son, and cast an eye, that still lowered with deep resentment107 upward; but which, the instant it caught a view of the object that now attracted the attention of all around him, changed its expression to one of astonishment108 and dismay.
A female stood on the spot, from which Ellen had been so fearfully expelled. Her person was of the smallest size that is believed to comport109 with beauty, and which poets and artists have chosen as the beau ideal of feminine loveliness. Her dress was of a dark and glossy110 silk, and fluttered like gossamer111 around her form. Long, flowing, and curling tresses of hair, still blacker and more shining than her robe, fell at times about her shoulders, completely enveloping112 the whole of her delicate bust113 in their ringlets; or at others streaming in the wind. The elevation at which she stood prevented a close examination of the lineaments of a countenance which, however, it might be seen was youthful, and, at the moment of her unlooked-for appearance, eloquent114 with feeling. So young, indeed, did this fair and fragile being appear, that it might be doubted whether the age of childhood was entirely passed. One small and exquisitely115 moulded hand was pressed on her heart, while with the other she made an impressive gesture, which seemed to invite Ishmael, if further violence was meditated116, to direct it against her bosom117.
The silent wonder, with which the group of borderers gazed upward at so extraordinary a spectacle, was only interrupted as the person of Ellen was seen emerging with timidity from the tent, as if equally urged, by apprehensions118 in behalf of herself and the fears which she felt on account of her companion, to remain concealed and to advance. She spoke, but her words were unheard by those below, and unheeded by her to whom they were addressed. The latter, however, as if content with the offer she had made of herself as a victim to the resentment of Ishmael, now calmly retired120, and the spot she had so lately occupied became vacant, leaving a sort of stupid impression on the spectators beneath, not unlike that which it might be supposed would have been created had they just been gazing at some supernatural vision.
More than a minute of profound silence succeeded, during which the sons of Ishmael still continued gazing at the naked rock in stupid wonder. Then, as eye met eye, an expression of novel intelligence passed from one to the other, indicating that to them, at least, the appearance of this extraordinary tenant of the pavilion was as unexpected as it was incomprehensible. At length Asa, in right of his years, and moved by the rankling121 impulse of the recent quarrel, took on himself the office of interrogator122. Instead, however, of braving the resentment of his father, of whose fierce nature, when aroused, he had had too frequent evidence to excite it wantonly, he turned upon the cowering123 person of Abiram, observing with a sneer—
“This then is the beast you were bringing into the prairies for a decoy! I know you to be a man who seldom troubles truth, when any thing worse may answer, but I never knew you to outdo yourself so thoroughly before. The newspapers of Kentuck have called you a dealer49 in black flesh a hundred times, but little did they reckon that you drove the trade into white families.”
“Who is a kidnapper124?” demanded Abiram, with a blustering125 show of resentment. “Am I to be called to account for every lie they put in print throughout the States? Look to your own family, boy; look to yourselves. The very stumps126 of Kentucky and Tennessee cry out ag'in ye! Ay, my tonguey gentleman, I have seen father and mother and three children, yourself for one, published on the logs and stubs of the settlements, with dollars enough for reward to have made an honest man rich, for—”
He was interrupted by a back-handed but violent blow on the mouth, that caused him to totter127, and which left the impression of its weight in the starting blood and swelling128 lips.
“Asa,” said the father, advancing with a portion of that dignity with which the hand of Nature seems to have invested the parental129 character, “you have struck the brother of your mother!”
“I have struck the abuser of the whole family,” returned the angry youth; “and, unless he teaches his tongue a wiser language, he had better part with it altogether, as the unruly member. I'm no great performer with the knife, but, on an occasion, could make out, myself, to cut off a slande—”
“Boy, twice have you forgotten yourself to-day. Be careful that it does not happen the third time. When the law of the land is weak, it is right the law of nature should be strong. You understand me, Asa; and you know me. As for you, Abiram, the child has done you wrong, and it is my place to see you righted. Remember; I tell you justice shall be done; it is enough. But you have said hard things ag'in me and my family. If the hounds of the law have put their bills on the trees and stumps of the clearings, it was for no act of dishonesty as you know, but because we maintain the rule that 'arth is common property. No, Abiram; could I wash my hands of things done by your advice, as easily as I can of the things done by the whisperings of the devil, my sleep would be quieter at night, and none who bear my name need blush to hear it mentioned. Peace, Asa, and you too, man; enough has been said. Let us all think well before any thing is added, that may make what is already so bad still more bitter.”
Ishmael waved his hand with authority, as he ended, and turned away with the air of one who felt assured, that those he had addressed would not have the temerity130 to dispute his commands. Asa evidently struggled with himself to compel the required obedience131, but his heavy nature quietly sunk into its ordinary repose, and he soon appeared again the being he really was; dangerous, only, at moments, and one whose passions were too sluggish to be long maintained at the point of ferocity. Not so with Abiram. While there was an appearance of a personal conflict, between him and his colossal132 nephew, his mien133 had expressed the infallible evidences of engrossing134 apprehension119, but now, that the authority as well as gigantic strength of the father were interposed between him and his assailant, his countenance changed from paleness to a livid hue135, that bespoke136 how deeply the injury he had received rankled137 in his breast. Like Asa, however, he acquiesced138 in the decision of the squatter; and the appearance, at least, of harmony was restored again among a set of beings, who were restrained by no obligations more powerful than the frail139 web of authority with which Ishmael had been able to envelope his children.
One effect of the quarrel had been to divert the thoughts of the young men from their recent visitor. With the dispute, that succeeded the disappearance140 of the fair stranger, all recollection of her existence appeared to have vanished. A few ominous141 and secret conferences, it is true, were held apart, during which the direction of the eyes of the different speakers betrayed their subject; but these threatening symptoms soon disappeared, and the whole party was again seen broken into its usual, listless, silent, and lounging groups.
“I will go upon the rock, boys, and look abroad for the savages,” said Ishmael shortly after, advancing towards them with a mien which he intended should be conciliating, at the same time that it was authoritative142.
“If there is nothing to fear, we will go out on the plain; the day is too good to be lost in words, like women in the towns wrangling143 over their tea and sugared cakes.”
Without waiting for approbation96 or dissent144, the squatter advanced to the base of the rock, which formed a sort of perpendicular145 wall, nearly twenty feet high around the whole acclivity. Ishmael, however, directed his footsteps to a point where an ascent146 might be made through a narrow cleft147, which he had taken the precaution to fortify148 with a breast-work of cottonwood logs, and which, in its turn, was defended by a chevaux-de-frise of the branches of the same tree. Here an armed man was usually kept, as at the key of the whole position, and here one of the young men now stood, indolently leaning against the rock, ready to protect the pass, if it should prove necessary, until the whole party could be mustered149 at the several points of defence.
From this place the squatter found the ascent still difficult, partly by nature and partly by artificial impediments, until he reached a sort of terrace, or, to speak more properly, the plain of the elevation, where he had established the huts in which the whole family dwelt. These tenements150 were, as already mentioned, of that class which are so often seen on the borders, and such as belonged to the infancy151 of architecture; being simply formed of logs, bark, and poles. The area on which they stood contained several hundred square feet, and was sufficiently elevated above the plain greatly to lessen152 if not to remove all danger from Indian missiles. Here Ishmael believed he might leave his infants in comparative security, under the protection of their spirited mother, and here he now found Esther engaged at her ordinary domestic employments, surrounded by her daughters, and lifting her voice, in declamatory censure153, as one or another of the idle fry incurred154 her displeasure, and far too much engrossed155 with the tempest of her own conversation to know any thing of the violent scene which had been passing below.
“A fine windy place you have chosen for the camp, Ishmael!” she commenced, or rather continued, by merely diverting the attack from a sobbing156 girl of ten, at her elbow, to her husband. “My word! if I haven't to count the young ones every ten minutes, to see they are not flying away among the buzzards, or the ducks. Why do ye all keep hovering157 round the rock, like lolloping reptiles158 in the spring, when the heavens are beginning to be alive with birds, man. D'ye think mouths can be filled, and hunger satisfied, by laziness and sleep!”
“You'll have your say, Eester,” said the husband, using the provincial159 pronunciation of America for the name, and regarding his noisy companions, with a look of habitual160 tolerance161 rather than of affection. “But the birds you shall have, if your own tongue don't frighten them to take too high a flight. Ay, woman,” he continued, standing on the very spot whence he had so rudely banished162 Ellen, which he had by this time gained, “and buffaloe too, if my eye can tell the animal at the distance of a Spanish league.”
“Come down; come down, and be doing, instead of talking. A talking man is no better than a barking dog. I shall hang out the cloth, if any of the red-skins show themselves, in time to give you notice. But, Ishmael, what have you been killing163, my man; for it was your rifle I heard a few minutes agone, unless I have lost my skill in sounds.”
“Poh! 'twas to frighten the hawk164 you see sailing above the rock.”
“Hawk, indeed! at your time of day to be shooting at hawks165 and buzzards, with eighteen open mouths to feed. Look at the bee, and at the beaver166, my good man, and learn to be a provider. Why, Ishmael! I believe my soul,” she continued, dropping the tow she was twisting on a distaff, “the man is in that tent ag'in! More than half his time is spent about the worthless, good-for-nothing—”
The sudden re-appearance of her husband closed the mouth of the wife; and, as the former descended167 to the place where Esther had resumed her employment, she was content to grumble168 forth her dissatisfaction, instead of expressing it in more audible terms.
The dialogue that now took place between the affectionate pair was sufficiently succinct169 and expressive170. The woman was at first a little brief and sullen171 in her answers, but care for her family soon rendered her more complaisant172. As the purport173 of the conversation was merely an engagement to hunt during the remainder of the day, in order to provide the chief necessary of life, we shall not stop to record it.
With this resolution, then, the squatter descended to the plain and divided his forces into two parts, one of which was to remain as a guard with the fortress, and the other to accompany him to the field. He warily174 included Asa and Abiram in his own party, well knowing that no authority short of his own was competent to repress the fierce disposition175 of his headlong son, if fairly awakened176. When these arrangements were completed, the hunters sallied forth, separating at no great distance from the rock, in order to form a circle about the distant herd35 of buffaloes177.
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1
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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scurvy
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| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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7
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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8
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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gambols
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| v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的第三人称单数 ) | |
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pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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tributaries
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| n. 支流 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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26
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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27
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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28
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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29
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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30
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
simile
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| n.直喻，明喻 | |
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32
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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33
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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34
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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35
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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36
squatter
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| n.擅自占地者 | |
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37
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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38
sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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39
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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40
glean
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| v.收集(消息、资料、情报等) | |
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41
grasshoppers
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| n.蚱蜢( grasshopper的名词复数 )；蝗虫；蚂蚱；（孩子）矮小的 | |
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42
relished
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| v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望 | |
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43
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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44
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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45
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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46
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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47
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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48
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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49
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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50
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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51
tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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52
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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53
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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54
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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55
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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56
bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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57
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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58
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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59
windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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60
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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61
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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62
malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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63
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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64
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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65
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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66
quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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68
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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69
adverting
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| 引起注意（advert的现在分词形式） | |
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70
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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71
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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72
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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73
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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74
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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75
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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76
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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77
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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78
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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79
uncommon
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|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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80
phlegmatic
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|
| adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的 | |
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81
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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82
slivered
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| 使成薄片（sliver的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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83
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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84
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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85
sluggish
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|
| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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86
pointed
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|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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87
auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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88
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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89
agitated
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|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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90
prank
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|
| n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己 | |
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91
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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92
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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93
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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94
darted
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|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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95
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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96
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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97
mischief
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|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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98
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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99
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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100
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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101
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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102
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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103
drowsy
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|
| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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104
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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105
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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106
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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107
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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108
astonishment
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|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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109
comport
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| vi.相称，适合 | |
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110
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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111
gossamer
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| n.薄纱，游丝 | |
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112
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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113
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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114
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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115
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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116
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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117
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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118
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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119
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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120
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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121
rankling
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的现在分词 ) | |
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122
interrogator
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| n.讯问者；审问者；质问者；询问器 | |
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123
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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124
kidnapper
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| n.绑架者，拐骗者 | |
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125
blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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126
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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127
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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128
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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129
parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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130
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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131
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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132
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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133
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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134
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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135
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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136
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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137
rankled
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| v.（使）痛苦不已，（使）怨恨不已( rankle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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138
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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139
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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140
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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141
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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142
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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143
wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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144
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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145
perpendicular
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|
| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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146
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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147
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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148
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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149
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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150
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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151
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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152
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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153
censure
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|
| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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154
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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157
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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158
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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162
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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163
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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164
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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165
hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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166
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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167
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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168
grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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succinct
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| adj.简明的，简洁的 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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complaisant
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| adj.顺从的，讨好的 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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174
warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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175
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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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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