There had been a night, glooming very dark in the past, an unwary night when the row of log houses, all connected by the palisades from one to the other, presenting a blank wall without, broken only by loopholes for musketry, had been scaled by the crafty14 Cherokees, swarming15 over the roofs, and attacking the English settlers through the easy access of the unglazed windows and flimsy batten doors that opened upon the quadrangle. Although finally beaten off, the Indians had inflicted16 great loss. Her father had been one of the slain17 settlers who thus paid penalty for the false sense of security, fostered by long immunity18. Even more troublous times came later,—the tumult19 of open war was rife20 in all the land; the station was repeatedly attacked, and although it held out stanchly, fear and suspense22 and grief filled the stockade,—yet still there was space for Cupid to go swaggering hither and thither23 within the guarded gates, and aim his arrows with his old-time dainty skill, albeit24 his bow and quiver might seem somewhat archaic25 in these days of powder and lead. For Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane spent much of her time in the moulding of bullets. Perhaps it was appropriate, since both she and her young pioneer lover dealt so largely in missiles, that it was thus the sentimental26 dart27 was sped. Lead was precious in those days, but sundry28 bullets, that she had moulded, Ralph Emsden never rammed29 down into the long barrel of his flintlock rifle. Some question as to whether the balls had cooled, or perhaps some mere30 meditative31 pause, had carried the bits of lead in her fingers to her lips, as they sat together on the hearth32 and talked and worked in the fire-lit dusk for their common defense8. He was wont33 to watch, lynx-eyed, the spot where these consecrated34 bullets were placed, and afterward35 carried them in a separate buckskin bag over his heart, and mentally called them his "kisses;" for the youths of those days were even such fools as now, although in the lapse37 of time they have come to pose successfully in the dignified39 guise40 of the "wise patriots41 of the pioneer period." More than once when the station was attacked and the women loaded the guns of the men to expedite the shooting, she kept stanchly at his elbow throughout the thunderous conflict, and charged and primed the alternate rifles which he fired.[1] Over the trigger, in fact, the fateful word was spoken.
"Oh, Nan," he exclaimed, looking down at her while taking the weapon from her hand in the vague dusk where she knelt beside him,—he stood on the shelf that served as banquette to bring him within reach of the loophole, placed so high in the hope that a chance shot entering might range only among the rafters,—"How quick you are! How you help me!"
The thunderous crash of the double volley of the settlers firing twice, by the aid of their feminine auxiliaries44, to every volley of the Indians, overwhelmed for the moment the tumult of the fiendish whoops45 in the wild darkness outside, and then the fusillade of the return fire, like leaden hail, rattled46 against the tough log walls of the station.
"Are you afraid, Nan?" he asked, as he received again the loaded weapon from her hand.
"Afraid?—No!" exclaimed Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane—hardly taller than the ramrod with which she was once more driving the charge home.
He saw her face, delicate and blonde, in the vivid white flare48 from the rifle as he thrust it through the loophole and fired. "You think I can take care of you?" he demanded, while the echo died away, and a lull49 ensued.
"I know you can," she replied, adjusting with the steady hand of an expert the patching over the muzzle51 of the discharged weapon in the semi-obscurity.
A blood-curdling shout came from the Cherokees in the woods with a deeper roar of musketry at closer quarters; and a hollow groan52 within the blockhouse, where there was a sudden commotion53 in the dim light, told that some bullet had found its billet.
"They are coming to the attack again—Hand me the rifle—quick—quick—Oh, Nan, how you help me! How brave you are—I love you! I love you!"
"Look out now for a flash in the pan!" Peninnah Penelope Anne merely admonished54 him.
Being susceptible55 to superstition56 and a ponderer on omens57, Ralph Emsden often thought fretfully afterward on the double meaning of these words, and sought to displace them in their possible evil influence on his future by some assurance more cheerful and confident. With this view he often earnestly beset58 her, but could secure nothing more pleasing than a reference to the will of her grandfather and a protestation to abide59 by his decision in the matter.
Now Peninnah Penelope Anne's grandfather was deaf. His was that hopeless variety of the infirmity which heard no more than he desired. His memory, however, was unimpaired, and it may be that certain recollections of his own experiences in the past remained with him, making him a fine judge of the signs of the present. Emsden, appalled60 by the necessity of shrieking61 out his love within the acute and well-applied62 hearing facilities of the families of some ten "stationers," to use the phrase of the day, diligently63 sought to decoy, on successive occasions, Richard Mivane out to the comparative solitudes64 of the hunting, the fishing, the cropping. In vain. Richard Mivane displayed sudden extreme prudential care against surprise and capture by Indians, when this was possible, and when impossible he developed unexpected and unexampled resources of protective rheumatism65. The young lover was equally precluded66 from setting forth67 the state of his affections and the prospects69 of his future in writing. Apart from the absurdity70 of thus approaching a man whom he saw twenty times a day, old Mivane would permit no such intimation of the extent of his affliction,—it being a point of pride with him that he was merely slightly hard of hearing, and suffered only from the indistinctness of the enunciation71 of people in general. And indeed, it was variously contended that he was so deaf that he could not hear a gun fired at his elbow; and yet that he heard all manner of secrets which chanced to be detailed72 in his presence, in inadvertent reliance on his incapacity, and had not the smallest hesitation73 afterward in their disclosure, being entitled to them by right of discovery, as it were.
Emsden, in keen anxiety, doubtful if his suit were seriously disapproved75, or if these demonstrations76 were only prompted by old Mivane's selfish aversion to give away his granddaughter, finally summoned all his courage, and in a stentorian77 roar proclaimed to the old gentleman his sentiments.
Richard Mivane was a man of many punctilious78 habitudes, who wore cloth instead of buckskin, however hard it might be to come by, and silver knee-buckles79 and well-knit hose on his still shapely calves80, and a peruke carefully powdered and tended. He had a keen, wrinkled, bloodless face, discerning, clever, gray eyes, heavy, overhanging, grizzled eyebrows81, and a gentlemanly mouth of a diplomatic, well-bred, conservative expression.
It was said at Blue Lick Station that he had fled from his own country, the north of England, on account of an affair of honor,—a duel83 in early life,—and that however distasteful the hardships and comparative poverty of this new home, it was far safer for him than the land of his birth. His worldly position there gave him sundry claims of superiority, for all of which his hardy84 pioneer son had had scant85 sympathy; and Ralph Emsden, in the difficult crisis of the disclosure of the state of his affections, heaved many a sigh for this simple manly82 soul's untimely fate.
The elder Mivane, with his head bent87 forward, his hand behind his ear, sat in his arm-chair while he hearkened blandly89 to the sentimental statements which Emsden was obliged to shout forth twice. Then Richard Mivane cleared his throat with a sort of preliminary gentlemanly embarrassment91, and went fluently on with that suave92 low voice so common to the very deaf. "Command me, sir, command me! It will give me much pleasure to use my influence on your behalf to obtain an ensigncy. I will myself write at the first opportunity, the first express, to Lieutenant93-Governor Bull, who is acquainted with my family connections in England. It is very praiseworthy, very laudable indeed, that you should aspire94 to a commission in the military service,—the provincial95 forces. I honor you for your readiness to fight—although, to be sure, being Irish, you can't help it. Still, it is to your credit that you are Irish. I am very partial to the Irish traits of character—was once in Ireland myself—visited an uncle there"—and so forth and so forth.
And thus poor Ralph Emsden, who was only Irish by descent, and could not have found Ireland on the map were he to hang for his ignorance, and had been born and bred in the Royal province of South Carolina,—which country he considered the crown and glory of the world,—was constrained97 to listen to all the doings and sayings of Richard Mivane in Ireland from the time that he embarked98 on the wild Irish Sea, which scrupled99 not to take unprecedented100 liberties with so untried a sailor, till the entrance of other pioneers cut short a beguiling102 account of his first meeting with potheen in its native haunts, and the bewildering pranks103 that he and that tricksy sprite played together in those the irresponsible days of his youth.
Emsden told no one, not even Peninnah Penelope Anne, of his discomfiture104; but alack, there were youngsters in the family of unaffected minds and unimpaired hearing. This was made amply manifest a day or so afterward, when he chanced to pause at the door of the log cabin and glance in, hoping that, perhaps, the queen of his dreams might materialize in this humble106 domicile.
The old gentleman slept in his chair, with dreams of his own, perchance, for his early life might have furnished a myriad107 gay fancies for his later years. The glare of noonday lay on the unshaded spaces of the quadrangle without; for all trees had been felled, even far around the inclosure, lest thence they might afford vantage and ambush108 for musketry fire or a flight of arrows into the stockade. Through rifts109 in the foliage110 at considerable distance one could see the dark mountain looming12 high above, and catch glimpses of the further reaches of the Great Smoky Range, blue and shimmering111 far away, and even distinguish the crest112 of "Big Injun Mountain" on the skyline. The several cabins, all connected by that row of protective palisades from one to another like a visible expression of the chord of sympathy and mutual113 helpful neighborliness, were quiet, their denizens114 dining within. At the blockhouse a guard was mounted—doubtless a watchful116 and stanch21 lookout117, but unconforming to military methods, for he sang, to speed the time, a metrical psalm118 of David's; the awkward collocation of the words of this version would forever distort the royal poet's meaning if he had no other vehicle of his inspiration. There were long waits between the drowsy120 lines, and in the intervals121 certain callow voices, with the penetrating122 timbre123 of youth, came to Emsden's ear. His eyes followed the sound quickly.
The little sisters of Peninnah Penelope Anne were on the floor before a playhouse, outlined by stones and sticks, and with rapt faces and competent fancies, saw whatsoever124 they would. In these riches of imagination a little brother also partook. A stick, accoutred in such wise with scraps125 of buckskin as to imitate a gallant126 of the place and period, was bowing respectfully before another stick, vested in the affabilities of age and the simulacrum of a dressing127-gown.
"I love your granddaughter, sir, and wish to make her my wife," said the bowing stick.
"Command me, sir; command me!" suavely128 replied the stick stricken in years.
The scene had been an eye-opener to the tender youth of the little Mivanes; the pomp and circumstance of a sentimental disclosure they would never forget.
Emsden, as hardy a pioneer as ever drew a bead129 on a panther or an Indian, passed on, quaking at the thought of the wits of the Station as he had never yet feared man, and his respected Irish blood ran cold. And when it waxed warm with wrath130 once more it came to pass that to utter the simple phrase "Command me" was as much as a man's life was worth at Blue Lick Station.
Emsden thought ruefully of the girl's mother and wondered if her intercession would avail aught with the old autocrat131. But he had not yet ventured upon this. There was nothing certain about Mrs. Mivane but her uncertainty133. She never gave a positive opinion. Her attitude of mind was only to be divined by inference. She never gave a categorical answer. And indeed he would not have been encouraged to learn that Richard Mivane himself had already consulted his daughter-in-law, as in this highhanded evasion134 of any decision he felt the need of support. For once the old gentleman was not displeased135 with her reply, comprehensive, although glancing aside from the point. Since there were so many young men in the country, said Mrs. Mivane, she saw no reason for despair! With this approval of his temporizing136 policy Richard Mivane left the matter to the development of the future.
Emsden's depression would have been more serious had he not fortunately sundry tokens of the old man's favor to cherish in his memory, which seemed to intimate that this elusiveness138 was only a shrewd scheme to delay and thwart139 him rather than a positive and reasonable disposition140 to deny his suit. In short, Emsden began to realize that instead of a damsel of eighteen he had to court a coquette rising sixty, of the sterner sex, and deafer than an adder141 when he chose. His artful quirks142 were destined143 to try the young lover's diplomacy144 to the utmost, and Emsden appreciated this, but he reassured145 himself with the reflection that it was better thus than if it were the girl who vacillated and delighted to torture him with all the arts of a first-class jilt. He was constantly in and out of the house almost as familiarly as if he were already betrothed146, for in the troublous period that seemed now closing, with its sudden flights, its panics, its desperate conflicts with the Indians, he had been able to give an almost filial aid to Richard Mivane in the stead of the son whom the old man had lost.
Richard Mivane had always felt himself an alien, a sojourner149 in this new land, and perchance he might not have been able even partially150 to reconcile himself to the ruder conditions of his later life if the bursting of a financial bubble had not swept away all hope of returning to the status of his earlier home in England when the tragedy of the duel had been sunk in oblivion. The frontier was a fine place to hide one's poverty and fading graces, he had once remarked, and thereafter had seemed to resign himself to its hardships,—indeed, sometimes he consigned151 his negro body-servant, C?sar, to other duties than his exclusive attendance. He had even been known to breakfast with his head tied up in a handkerchief when some domestic crisis had supervened, such as the escape of all the horses from the pinfold, to call away his barber. As this functionary153 was of an active temperament154 and not at all averse155 to the labor156 in the fields, he proved of more value thus utilized158 than in merely furnishing covert159 amusement to the stationers by his pompous160 duplication of his master's attitude of being too cultured, traveled, and polished for his surroundings. He was a trained valet, however, expert in all the details of dressing hair, powdering, curling, pomatuming, and other intricacies of the toilet of a man of fashion of that day. C?sar had many arts at command touching162 the burnishing163 of buckles and buttons, and even in clear-starching steinkirks and the cambric ruffles165 of shirts. As he ploughed he was wont to tell of his wonderful experiences while in his master's service in London (although he had never crossed the seas); and these being accepted with seeming seriousness, he carried his travels a step farther and described the life he remembered in the interior of Guinea (although he had never seen the shores of Africa). This life so closely resembled that of London that it was often difficult to distinguish the locality of the incidents, an incongruity166 that enchanted167 the wags of the settlement, who continually incited168 him to prodigies169 of narration170. The hairbreadth escapes that he and his fellow-servants, as well as the white people, had had from the wrath of the Indians, whom the negroes feared beyond measure, and their swift flights from one stockade to another in those sudden panics during the troubled period preceding the Cherokee War, might have seemed more exciting material for romancing for a venturesome Munchausen, but perhaps these realities were too stern to afford any interest in the present or glamour171 in the past.
It was somewhat as a prelude172 to the siege of Fort Loudon by the Cherokees in 1760 that they stormed and triumphantly173 carried several minor174 stations to the southeast. Although Blue Lick sustained the attack, still, in view of the loss of a number of its gallant defenders176, the settlers retreated at the first opportunity to the more sheltered frontier beyond Fort Prince George, living from hand to mouth, some at Long Cane178 and some at Ninety-Six, through those years when first Montgomerie and then Grant made their furious forays through the Cherokee country. Emsden, having served in the provincial regiment179, eagerly coveted180 a commission, of which Richard Mivane had feigned181 to speak. Now that the Cherokees were ostensibly pacified,—that is, exhausted182, decimated, their towns burned, their best and bravest slain, their hearts broken,—the fugitives183 from this settlement on the Eupharsee River, as the Hiwassee was then called, gathered their household gods and journeyed back to Blue Lick, to cry out in the wilderness184 that they were "home" once more, and clasp each other's hands in joyful185 gratulation to witness the roofs and stockade rise again, rebuilt as of yore. Strangely enough, there were old Cherokee friends to greet them anew and to be welcomed into the stockade; for even the rigid186 rule of war and hate must needs be proved by its exceptions. And there were one or two pensive187 philosophers among the English settlers vaguely188 sad to see all the Cherokee traditions and prestige, and remnants of prehistoric189 pseudo-civilization, shattered in the dust, and the tremulous, foreign, unaccustomed effort—half-hearted, half-believing, half-understanding—to put on the habitude of a new civilization.
"The white man's religion permits poverty, but the Indian divides his store with the needy191, and there are none suffered to be poor," said Atta-Kulla-Kulla, the famous chief. "The white men wrangle192 and quarrel together, even brother with brother; with us the inner tribal193 peace is ever unbroken. The white men slay194 and rob and oppress the poor, and with many cunning treaties take now our lands and now our lives; then they offer us their religion;—why does it seem so like an empty bowl?"
"Atta-Kulla-Kulla, you know that I am deaf," said Richard Mivane, "and you ask me such hard questions that I am not able to hear them."
It is more than probable that these stationers in the vanguard of the irrepressible march of western emigration had been trespassers, and thus earned their misfortunes, in some sort, by their encroachment195 on Indian territory; although since the war the Cherokee boundaries had become more vague than heretofore, it being considered that Grant's operations had extended the frontier by some seventy miles. It may be, too, that the Blue Lick settlers held their own by right of private purchase; for the inhibition to the acquisition of land in this way from the Indians was not enacted196 till the following year, 1763, after the events to be herein detailed, and, indeed, such purchases even further west and of an earlier date are of record, albeit of doubtful legality.
Now that peace in whatever maimed sort had come to this stricken land and these adventurous197 settlers, who held their lives, their all, by such precarious198 tenure199, internecine200 strife201 must needs arise among them; not the hand of brother against brother,—they were spared that grief,—but one tender, struggling community against another.
And it came about in this wise.
One day Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane, watching from the "port-hole" of the blockhouse, where the muzzle of that dog of war the little swivel gun had once been wont to look forth, beheld202 Ralph Emsden ride out from the stockade gate for a week's absence with a party of hunters; with bluff203 but tender assurance he waved his hat and hand to her in farewell.
"Before all the men!" she said to herself, half in prudish204 dismay at his effrontery205, and yet pleased that he did not sheepishly seek to conceal206 his preference. And although the men (there were but two or three and not half the province, as her horror of this publicity207 would seem to imply) said with a grin "Command me!" they said it sotto voce and only to each other.
Spring was once more afoot in the land. They daily marked her advance as they went. Halfway208 up the mountains she had climbed: for the maples209 were blooming in rich dark reds that made the nearer slopes even more splendid of garb210 than the velvet211 azure212 of the distant ranges, the elms had put forth delicate sprays of emerald tint213, and the pines all bore great wax-like tapers214 amidst their evergreen215 boughs216, as if ready for kindling217 for some great festival. It is a wonderful thing to hear a wind singing in myriads218 of their branches at once. The surging tones of this oratorio221 of nature resounded223 for miles along the deep indented224 ravines and the rocky slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains. Now and again the flow of a torrent225 or the dash of a cataract226 added fugue-like effects. The men were constantly impressed by these paeans227 of the forests; the tuft of violets abloom beneath a horse's hoofs228 might be crushed unnoticed, but the acoustic230 conditions of the air and the high floating of the tenuous231 white clouds against a dense232 blue sky, promising233 rain in due season, evoked234 a throb235 of satisfaction in the farmer's heart not less sincere because unaesthetic. The farmer's toil161 had hardly yet begun, the winter's hunt being just concluded, and each of the stationers with a string of led horses was bound for his camps and caches to bring in the skins that made the profit of the season.
One of this group of three was the psalm-singer of the blockhouse. His name was Xerxes Alexander Anxley, and he was unceremoniously called by the community "X," and by Mivane "the unknown quantity," for he was something of an enigma237, and his predilections239 provoked much speculation240. He was a religionist of ascetic241, extreme views,—a type rare in this region,—coming originally from the colony of the Salzburgers established in Georgia.
We are less disposed to be tolerant of individual persuasions243 which imply a personal and unpleasant reflection. Xerxes Alexander Anxley disapproved of dancing, and the community questioned his sanity244; for these early pioneers in the region of the Great Smoky Range carried the rifle over one shoulder and the fiddle245 over the other. He disapproved of secular246 songs and idle stories, and the settlement questioned his taste; for it was the delight of the stationers, old and young, to gather around the hearth, and, while the chestnuts247 roasted in the fire for the juniors, and the jovial248 horn, as it was called, circulated among the elders, the oft-told story was rehearsed and the old song sung anew. He even disapproved of the jovial horn—and the settlement questioned his sincerity249.
This man Anxley looked his ascetic character. He had a hard pragmatic countenance250, and one of those noses which though large and bony come suddenly short and blunted. His eyes, small, gray, and inscrutable, seemed unfriendly, so baffling, introspective, unnoting was their inattentiveness. His hair was of a sort of carrot tint, which color was reproduced in paler guise in his fringed buckskin shirt and leggings, worn on a sturdy and powerful frame. His mouth was shut hard and fast upon his convictions, as if to denote that he could not be argued out of them, and when the lips parted its lines were scarcely more mobile, and his words were usually framed to doubt one's state of grace and to contravene252 one's tenets as to final salvation253. He rode much of the time with the reins254 loose on his horse's neck, and perhaps no man in the saddle had ever been so addicted255 to psalmody since the days of Cromwell's troopers. His theological disputations grated peculiarly upon Emsden's mood, and he always laid at his door the disaster that followed.
"If I hadn't been so traveled that day,—dragged through hell and skirting of purgatory257 and knocking at the gates of heaven,—I wouldn't have lost my wits so suddenly when I came back to earth with a bounce," Emsden afterward declared.
For as the hunters were coming at a brisk trot147 in single file along the "old trading path," as it was called even then, the fleecy white clouds racing258 above in the dense blue of the sky, their violet shadows fleeting259 as swift along the slopes of the velvet-soft azure mountains, and the wind far outstripping260 them in the vernal budding woods, a sudden stir near at hand caused Emsden to turn his head. Just above him, on a rugged261 slope where no trees grew save a scraggy cedar262 here and there amidst the shelving ledges263 of rock outcropping through the soft verdant264 turf, he saw a stealthy, furtive265 shape; he was aware of a hasty cowed glance over the shoulder, and then a stretching of supple266 limbs in flight. Before he himself hardly knew it the sharp crack of his rifle rang out,—the aim was almost instinctive267.
And it was as true as instinct,—a large black wolf, his pelt268 glossy269 and fresh with the renewal270 of the season, lay stretched dead in an instant upon the slope. Emsden sprang from his horse, tossed the reins to "X," and, drawing his knife, ran up the steep ascent271 to secure the animal's skin.
Only vaguely, as in a dream, he heard a sudden deep roar, beheld a horned creature leaping heavily upon its fore119 quarters, tossing its hind88 legs and tail into the air. Then an infuriated bull, breaking from the bushes, charged fiercely down upon him. Emsden threw himself into a posture272 of defense as instantly as if he had been a trained bullfighter and the arena273 his wonted sphere, holding the knife close in front of him, presenting the blade with a quick keen calculation for the animal's jugular274. The knife was Emsden's only weapon, for his pistols were in the holster on the saddle, and his discharged rifle lay where he had flung it on the ground after firing. He had only time to wonder that his comrades vouchsafed275 him no assistance in his extremity276. Men of such accurate aim and constant practice could easily risk sending a rifle-ball past him to stop that furious career. He could see the pupil of the bull's wild dilated277 eyes, fiery278 as with a spark of actual flame. He could even feel the hot puffs279 of the creature's breath upon his cheeks, when all at once the horned head so close above his own swerved280 aside with a snort from the dead body of the wolf at his feet. The bull passed him like a thunderbolt, and he heard the infuriated stamping which fairly shook the ground in the thicket281 below, where this king of the herds282 paused to bellow284 and paw the earth, throwing clods high above the environing copse.
The woods seemed full of maddened, frightened cattle, and Emsden's horse was frantically285 galloping287 after the cavalcade288 of hunters and their pack-train, all the animals more or less beyond the control of the men. He felt it an ill chance that left him thus alone and afoot in this dense wilderness, several days' travel from the station. He was hardly sure that he would be missed by his comrades, themselves scattered289, the pack-horses having broken from the path which they had traveled in single file, and now with their burdens of value all foolishly careering wildly through the woods. The first prudential care of the hunters he knew would be to recover them and re-align the train, lest some miscreant290, encountering the animals, plunder291 the estrays of their loads of hard-won deerskins and furs.
The presence of cattle suggested to Emsden the proximity292 of human dwellings293, and yet this was problematic, for beyond branding and occasional saltings the herds ranged within large bounds on lands selected for their suitability as pasturage. The dwellings of these pioneer herdsmen might be far away indeed, and in what direction he could not guess. Since the Cherokee War, and the obliteration295 of all previous marks of white settlements in this remote region, Emsden was unfamiliar296 with the more recent location of "cow-pens," as the ranches219 were called, and was only approximately acquainted with the new site of the settlers' stations. Nothing so alters the face of a country as the moral and physical convulsion of war. Even many of the Indian towns were deserted297 and half charred,—burned by the orders of the British commanders. One such stood in a valley through which he passed on his homeward way; the tender vernal aspect of this green cove74, held in the solemn quiet of the encircling mountains, might typify peace itself. Yet here the blue sky could be seen through the black skeleton rafters of the once pleasant homes; and there were other significant skeletons in the absolute solitude,—the great ribs298 of dead chargers, together with broken bits and bridles299, and remnants of exploded hand-grenades, and a burst gun-barrel, all lying on the bank of a lovely mountain stream at the point where he crossed it, as it flowed, crystal clear, through this sequestered300 bosky nook.
Something of a job this transit301 was, for with the spring freshets the water was high and the current strong, and he was compelled to use only one hand for swimming, the other holding high out of the water's reach his powder horn. For, despite any treaties of peace, this was no country for a man to traverse unarmed, and an encounter with an inimical wandering Indian might serve to make for his comrades' curiosity concerning his fate, when they should chance to have leisure to feel it, a perpetual conundrum303.
He had never, however, made so lonely a journey. Not one human being did he meet—neither red man nor white—in all the long miles of the endless wilderness; naught304 astir save the sparse305 vernal shadows in the budding woods and the gentle spring zephyr306 swinging past and singing as it went. Now and again he noted307 how the sun slowly dropped down the skies that were so fine, so fair, so blue that it seemed loath308 to go and leave the majestic309 peace of the zenith. The stars scintillated310 in the dark night as if a thousand bivouac fires were kindled311 in those far spaces of the heavens responsive to the fire which he kept aglow312 to cook the supper that his rifle fetched him and to ward36 off the approach of wolf or panther while he slept. He was doubtless in jeopardy313 often enough, but chance befriended him and he encountered naught inimical till the fourth day when he came in at the gate of the station and met the partners of the hunt, themselves not long since arrived.
They waited for no reproaches for their desertion. They were quick to upbraid314. As they hailed him in chorus he was bewildered for a moment, and stood in the gateway315 leaning on his rifle, his coonskin cap thrust back on his brown hair, his bright, steady gray eyes concentrated as he listened. His tall, lithe316 figure in his buckskin hunting shirt and leggings, the habitual317 garb of the frontiersmen, grew tense and gave an intimation of gathering318 all its forces for the defensive319 as he noted how the aspect of the station differed from its wonted guise. Every house of the assemblage of little log cabins stood open; here and there in the misty320 air, for there had been a swift, short spring shower, fires could be seen aglow on the hearths321 within; the long slant322 of the red sunset rays fell athwart the gleaming wet roofs and barbed the pointed323 tops of the palisades with sharp glints of light, and a rainbow showed all the colors of the prism high against the azure mountain beyond, while a second arch below, a dim duplication, spanned the depths of a valley. The frontiersmen were all in the open spaces of the square excitedly wrangling—and suddenly he became conscious of a girlish face at the embrasure for the cannon324 at the blockhouse, a face with golden brown hair above it, and a red hood325 that had evidently been in the rain. "Looking out for me, I wonder?" he asked himself, and as this glow of agitated326 speculation swept over him the men who plied50 him with questions angrily admonished his silence.
"He has seen a wolf! He has seen a wolf! 'Tis plain!" cried old Mivane, as he stood in his metropolitan327 costume among the buckskin-clad pioneers. "One would know that without being told!"
"You shot the wolf and stampeded the cattle, and the herders at the cow-pens on the Keowee River can't round them up again!" cried one of the settlers.
"The cattle have run to the Congarees by this time!" declared another pessimistically.
"And it was you that shot the wolf!" cried "X" rancorously.
"The herders are holding us responsible and have sent an ambassador," explained John Ronackstone, anxiously knitting his brows, "to inform us that not a horse of the pack-train from Blue Lick Station shall pass down to Charlestown till we indemnify them for the loss of the cattle."
"Gadso! they can't all be lost!" exclaimed old Mivane floutingly.
"No, no! the herders go too far for damages—too far! They are putting their coulter too deep!" said a farmer fresh from the field. He had still a bag of seed-grain around his neck, and now and again he thrust in his hand and fingered the kernels331.
"They declare they'll seize our skins," cried another ambiguously,—then, conscious of this, he sought to amend332 the matter,—"Not the hides we wear,"—this was no better, for they were all arrayed in hides, save Richard Mivane. "Not the hides that we were born in, but our deerhides, our peltry,—they'll seize the pack-train from Blue Lick, and they declare they'll call on the commandant of Fort Prince George to oppose its passing with the king's troops."
An appalled silence fell on the quadrangle,—save for the fresh notes of a mockingbird, perching in jaunty334 guise on the tower of the blockhouse, above which the rainbow glowed in the radiant splendors335 of a misty amber336 sky.
"The king's troops? Would the commandant respond?" anxiously speculated one of the settlers.
The little handful of pioneers, with their main possessions in the fate of the pack-train, looked at one another in dismay.
"And tell me, friend Feather-pate337, why did it seem good to you to shoot a wolf in the midst of a herd283 of cattle?" demanded Richard Mivane.
Ralph Emsden, bewildered by the results of this untoward338 chance, and the further catastrophe339 shadowed forth in the threatened seizure340 of the train, rallied with all his faculties341 at the note of scorn from this quarter.
"Sir, I did not shoot the wolf among the cattle. There was not a horn nor a hoof229 to be seen when I fired."
Mivane turned to "X" with both hands outstretched as much as to say, "Take that for your quietus!" and shouldering his stick, which had an ivory head and a sword within, strode off after his jaunty fashion as if there were no more to be said.
It was now Alexander Anxley's turn to sustain the questioning clamor. "I will not deny"—"That is, I said"—"I meant to say,"—but these qualifications were lost in the stress of Emsden's voice, once more rising stridently.
"Not a horn nor a hoof to be seen till after I had fired. I didn't know there were any cow-pens about—didn't use to be till after you had crossed the Keowee. But if there had been, is a man to see a wolf pull down a yearling, say, and not fire a rifle because Madam Cow will take the high-strikes or Cap'n Bull will go on the rampage? Must I wait till I can make a leg,"—he paused to execute an exaggerated obeisance342, graceful343 enough despite its mockery,—"'Under your favor, Cap'n Bull,' and 'With your ladyship's permission,' before I kill the ravening344 brute345, big enough to pull down a yearling? Don't talk to me! Don't talk to me!" He held out the palms of his hands toward them in interdiction346, and made as if to go—yet went not!
For a reactionary347 sentiment toward him had set in, and there were those fair-minded enough, although with their little all at stake, to admit that he had acted with reasonable prudence348, and that it was only an unlucky chance which had sent the panic through the herds with such disastrous349 effect.
"The herders should not stop the pack-train, if I had my will," declared one of the settlers with a belligerent350 note.
"No, no," proclaimed another; "not if it takes all the men at Blue Lick Station to escort it!"
"Those blistered351 redcoats at Fort Prince George are a deal too handy to be called on by such make-bates as the herders on the Keowee River."
"Fudge! The commandant would never let a bayonet stir."
"Gad329! I'd send an ambassador for an ambassador. Tit for tat," declared Emsden. "I'd ask 'em what's gone with all our horses,—last seen in those desolated352 cow-pens,—that the voice of mourning is now lifted about!"
There was a chuckle353 of sheer joy, so abrupt354 and unexpected that it rose with a clatter355 and a cackle of delight, and culminated356 in a yell of pleasurable derision.
Now everybody knew that the horses bought in that wild country would, unless restrained, return every spring to "their old grass," as it was called,—to the places where they had formerly357 lived. When this annual hegira358 took place in large numbers, some permanent losses were sure to ensue. The settlers at Blue Lick had experienced this disaster, and had accepted it as partly the result of their own lack of precaution during the homing fancy of the horses. But since the herders manifested so little of the suavity359 that graces commercial intercourse360, and as some of the horses had been seen in their cow-pens, it was a happy thought to feather the arrow with this taunt361.
"And who do you suppose will promise to carry such a message to those desperate, misguided men, riding hither an' thither, searching this wild and woeful wilderness for hundreds o' head o' cattle lost like needles in a hayrick, and eat by wolves an' painters by this time?" demanded "X" derisively364.
"I promise, I promise!—and with hearty365 good will, too!" declared Emsden. "And I'll tell 'em that we are coming down soon armed to the teeth to guard our pack-train, and fight our way through any resistance to its passage through the country on the open trading-path. And I'll acquaint the commandant of Fort Prince George of the threats of the herders against the Blue Lick Stationers, and warn him how he attempts to interfere366 with the liberties of the king's loyal subjects in their peaceful vocations367."
Thus Emsden gayly volunteered for the mission.
The next morning old Richard Mivane, thinking of it, shook his head over the fire,—and not only once, but shook it again, which was a great deal of trouble for him to take. Having thus exerted his altruistic368 interest to the utmost, Richard Mivane relapsed into his normal placidity369. He leaned back in his arm-chair, the only one at the station, fingering his gold-lined silver snuffbox, with its chain and ladle, his eyes dwelling294 calmly on the fire, and his thoughts busy with far away and long ago.
He was old enough now to enter into the past as a sort of heritage, a promised land which memory had glozed with a glamour that can never shine upon the uncertain aspects of the future. The burning sense of regret, the anguish370 of nostalgia371, the relinquishment372 of an accustomed sphere, its prospects and ideals, the revolt against the uncouth373 and rude conditions of the new status, the gradual reluctant naturalization to a new world,—these were forgotten save as the picturesque374 elements of sorrow and despair that balanced the joys, the interest, the devil-may-care joviality375, the adventure, the strange wild companionship,—all that made the tale worth rehearsing in the flare and the flicker376 of the fireside glow.
The rains had come. The dark slate-tinted377 clouds hung low over the station, but every log house, freshly dight with whitewash378 of the marly clay, after the Indian method, still shone in the shadow as if the sun were upon it. The turf was green, despite the passing of many feet, and where a slight depression held water, a few ducks, Carolina bred, were quacking379 and paddling about; now and then these were counted with great interest, for they had a trick of taking to the woods with others of their kind, and relapsing to savagery381,—truly distressing382 to the domestic poultry383 prospects of the station. The doors of the Mivane cabin were all ajar,—the one at the rear opening into a shed-room, unfloored, which gave a vista384 into more sheds, merely roofed spaces, inclosed at either end. A loom11 was in the shed-room, and at it was seated on the bench in front, as a lady sits at an organ, the mistress of the house, fair but faded, in a cap and a short gown and red quilted petticoat, giving some instruction, touching an intricate weave, to a negro woman, neatly385 arrayed in homespun, with a gayly turbaned head, evidently an expert herself, from the bland90 and smiling manner and many self-sufficient and capable nods with which she perceived and appropriated the knotty386 points of the discourse387.
In the outer shed, C?sar, clad like the Indians and the pioneers in buckskin, was mending the plough-gear, and talking with great loquacity388 to another negro, of the type known then and later as "the new nigger," the target of the plantation389 jokes, because of his "greenness," being of a fresh importation. He possibly remembered much of Africa, but he accepted without demur390 and with admiring and submissive meekness391 stories of the great sights that C?sar protested he had seen there,—Vauxhall Gardens and Temple Bar (which last C?sar thought in his simplicity392 was a bar for the refreshment393 of the inner man) and a certain resort indisputably for that purpose called White's Chocolate House,—all represented as pleasantly and salubriously situated394 in the interior of Guinea. But after all, if a story is well told, why carp at slight anachorisms?
Richard Mivane's attention had been diverted from the thread of his own reminiscences by the fact that the little flax-wheel of Peninnah Penelope Anne had ceased to whirl, and the low musical monody of its whir that was wont to bear a pleasant accompaniment to the burden of his thoughts was suddenly silent. He lifted his eyes and saw that she was gazing dreamily into the flare of the great fire, the spinning-wheel still, the end of the thread motionless in her hand. The burnished395 waves of her golden brown hair were pushed a bit awry396, and her face was so wan302 and thoughtful that even her dress of crimson397 wool did not lessen398 its pallor. The voices of the three children on the floor grated on the old man's mood as they were busied in defending a settler's fort, insecurely constructed of stones and sticks, and altogether roofless, garrisoned400 by a number of pebbles402, while a poke43 full of wily Indian kernels of corn swarmed403 to the attack.
"Why is my pretty pet so idle?" he asked, for while the wheel should whirl he could dream.
She made no answer, only turned her troubled, soft hazel eyes upon him.
"And have you seen a wolf, too, that you have lost your tongue?"
At the word "wolf" she burst into tears. And then, discarding all caution in the breaking down of her reserve, she sprang up, overturning the wheel and rushing to his chair.
Now Richard Mivane had never encouraged his grandchildren to clamber over his chair. He protested great fear of the sticky fingers of the more youthful in contact with his preternaturally fine clothes; he declared they reminded him of squirrels, which he detested404; he was not sure they did not look like rats. All this was of great effect; for his many contemptuous whimsical prejudices were earnestly respected.
For instance, whenever 'possum was served at the pioneer board they who partook carried their plates for the purpose to a side table. "The look of the animal's tail is enough for me—it curls," he would say.
"So does a pig's tail curl," his son used to remonstrate406 sensibly.
"Not having kept a straight course so long,—then twirling up deceitfully like a second thought. This fellow is a monstrosity,—and his wife has a pocket for a cradle,—and I don't know who they are nor where they came from,—they were left over from before the Flood, perhaps,—they look somehow prehistoric to me. I am not acquainted with the family."
And turning his head aside he would wave away the dainty, the delight of the pioneer epicure407 time out of mind.
The diplomatic reason, however, that Richard Mivane was wont to shove off his grandchildren from the arm of that stately chair was that here they got on his blind side,—his simple, grandfatherly, affectionate predilection238. The touch of them, their scrambling408, floundering, little bodies, their soft pink cheeks laid against his, their golden hair in his clever eyes, their bright glances at close range,—he was then like other men and could deny them nothing! His selfishness, his vanity, his idleness, his frippery were annulled409 in the instant. He was resolved into the simple constituent410 elements of a grandfather, one part doting411 folly412, one part loving pride, and the rest leniency413, and he was as wax in their hands.
None of them had so definitely realized this, accurately414 discriminating415 cause and effect, as Peninnah Penelope Anne. She felt safe the moment that she was perched on the arm of her grandfather's chair, her soft clasp about his stiff old neck, her tears flowing over her cheeks, all pink anew, escaping upon his wrinkled, bloodless, pale visage and taking all the starch164 out of his old-fashioned steinkirk. He struggled futilely417 once or twice, but she only hugged him the closer.
"Oh, don't let him go! Oh, don't let him go!" she cried.
"The wolf that we were talking about? By no means! Lovely creature that he is! We'll preserve, if you like, wolves instead of pheasants! I remember a gentleman's estate in Northumberland—a little beyond the river"—
"Oh, grandfather, don't let him go!" she sobbingly419 interrupted. "It was he who shot the wolf and stampeded the herds, and the cow-drivers will quarrel with him when they would not have angry words with another ambassador. They will kill him! They will kill him!"
"What for? Poaching?—shooting their wolf?"
"Any one else would be safe, grandfather—except poor Ralph!"
"Go yourself then. May-day!"
"I would, grandfather! I would not be afraid!" She put her soft little hand on his cheek to turn his head to look into her confident eyes.
"An able and worshipful ambassador!" he said banteringly.
"Oh, grandfather, this is no time to risk quarrels among the settlers, and bloodshed. Oh, the herders would kill him! And the Injuns all so unfriendly—they might take the chance to get on the war-path again when the settlers are busy killing420 each other—and oh, the cow-drivers will kill Ralph Emsden!"
All this persuasion242 was of necessity in a distinct loud voice; unnoticed, however, for a crisis had supervened in the play of the children by the chimney-place settle, and the sanguinary struggles and scalping in the storming of the fort were blood-curdling to behold421 to any one with enough imagination to discern a full-armed and fierce savage380 in a kernel330 of corn, and a stanch and patriotic422 Carolinian in a pebble401. But when Peninnah Penelope Anne, all attuned423 to this high key, burst out weeping with commensurate resonance424, all the vocations of the household came to a standstill, and her mother appeared, surprised and reproving, in the doorway425.
"Peninnah Penelope Anne," she said with her peculiar256 exact deliberation and gift of circumlocution426, "it is better to go and sew your sampler than to tease your grandfather."
"She does not tease me—I have not shed a tear! That was not the sound of my weeping!" he declared facetiously427, one arm protectingly about the little sobbing418 figure.
"He does not like his grandchildren to climb about him like squirrels and wild cattle," the lady continued. Then irrelevantly428, "Long stitches were always avoided in our family. The work you last did in your sampler has been taken out, child, and you can sew it again and to better advantage."
"And earn your name of Penelope," said Richard Mivane.
But he was putting on his hat and evidently had some effort in prospect68, for how could he resist,—she looked so childish and appealing as she sat before the fire, weeping those large tears, and absently preparing to sew her sampler anew.
While Richard Mivane, by virtue429 of his early culture, the scanty430 remains431 of his property, his fine-gentleman habits and traditions, and the anomaly of his situation, was the figure of most mark at the station, its ruling spirit was of far alien character. This was John Ronackstone, a stanch Indian fighter; a far-seeing frontier politician; a man of excellent native faculties, all sharpened by active use and frequent emergencies; skilled and experienced in devious432 pioneer craft; and withal infinitely433 stubborn, glorying in the fact of the unchangeableness of his opinions and his immutable434 abiding435 by his first statements. After one glance at his square countenance, his steady noncommittal black eyes, the upward bulldog cant86 of a somewhat massive nose, the firm compression of his long thin lips, one would no more expect him to depart from the conditions of a conclusion than that a signpost would enter into argument and in view of the fatigue436 of a traveler mitigate437 and recant its announcement.
Nevertheless Richard Mivane expected "some sense," as he phrased it, from this adamantine pioneer. Such a man naturally arrogated438 and obtained great weight among his fellows, and perhaps his lack of vacillation439 furthered this pre?minence. He was a good man in the main as well as forceful, but an early and a very apt expression of the demagogue. And as he tolerated amongst his mental furniture no illusions and fostered no follies440, his home life harbored no fripperies. His domicile was a contrast to the better ordered homes of the station, but here one might have meat and shelter, and what more should mortal ask of a house! He often boasted that not an atom of iron entered into its structure more than into an Indian's wigwam. Even the clapboards were fastened on to the rafters with wooden pegs441 in lieu of nails, although nails were not difficult to procure442. He had that antagonism443 to the mere conventions of civilization often manifested by those who have been irked by such fetters444 before finally casting them off. It was a wholesome445 life and a free, and if the inmates446 of the house did not mind the scent96 of the drying deerskins hanging from the beams, which made the nose of Richard Mivane very coy, the visitor saw no reason why they should not please themselves. The stone-flagged hearth extended half across the room, and sprawling447 upon it in frowsy disorder448 was a bevy449 of children of all ages, as fat as pigs and as happy-go-lucky. He had hardly seated himself, having stepped about carefully among their chubby450 fingers and toes lest a crushing disaster supervene, than he regretted his choice of a confidant. He had his own, unsuspected sensitiveness, which was suddenly jarred when the wife in the corner, rocking the cradle with one foot while she turned a hoe-cake baking on the hearth with a dextrous flip451 of a knife, and feeling secure in his deafness, cast a witty452 fling at his fastidious apparel. With that frequent yet unexplained phenomenon of acoustics453, her voice was so strung that its vibrations454 reached his numb175 perceptions as duly as if intended for his ears. He made no sign, in his pride and politeness, both indigenous455. But he said to himself, "I don't laugh at her gown,—it is what she likes and what she is accustomed to wear. And why can't she let me dress in peace as I was early trained to do? God knows I feel myself better than nobody."
And he was sensible of his age, his infirmity, his isolation456, and his jauntiness457 was eclipsed.
Thus he entered the race with a handicap, and John Ronackstone would hear none of his reasons with grace. He could not and he would not consent to the nomination458 of an ambassador in the stead of Emsden, who had volunteered for the service, which was the more appropriate since it was he who had shot the wolf and brought the stampede and its attendant difficulties upon the herders of the Keowee River, and this threat of retaliation459 upon the Blue Lick Stationers. If there were danger at hand, let a volunteer encounter it! In vain Mivane argued that there was danger to no one else. John Ronackstone, who found an added liberty of disputation in the emphasis imposed by the necessity of roaring out his immutable opinions in an exceeding loud voice, retorted that so far as he was informed the "cow-drivers" on the Keowee were not certain who it was that had committed this atrocity460, unless perhaps their messenger during his sojourn148 at Blue Lick Station had learned the name from "X." But this uncertainty, Mivane argued, was the very point of difficulty. It was the maddest folly to dispatch to angry men, smarting under a grievous injury, messages of taunt and defiance461 by the one person who in their opinion, perhaps, had carelessly or willfully wrought462 this wrong. His life would pay the forfeit463 of the folly of his fellow-stationers.
Mivane noted suddenly that the woman rocking the cradle was laughing with an ostentatious affectation of covert slyness, and a responsive twinkle gleamed in the eyes of John Ronackstone. As he caught the grave and surprised glance of his visitor he made a point of dropping the air of a comment aside, which he, as well as she, had insistently464 brought to notice, and Mivane was aware that here was something which sought an opportunity of being revealed as if by necessity.
"Well, sir," Ronackstone began in a tone of a quasi-apology, "we were just saying—that is, I sez to X, who was in here a while ago,—I sez, 'I'll tell you what is goin' to happen,'—I sez, 'old Gentleman Rick,'—excuse the freedom, sir,—'he'll be wantin' to send somebody else in Ralph Emsden's place.' X, he see the p'int, just as you see it. He sez, 'Somebody that won't be missed—somebody not genteel enough to play loo with him after supper,' sez X. 'Or too religious,' sez I. 'Or can't sing a good song or tell a rousing tale,' sez X. 'Or listen an' laugh in the right places at the gentleman's old cracks about the great world,' sez I. 'He'll never let Ralph Emsden go,' sez X. 'Jus' some poor body will do,' sez I. 'Jus' man enough to be scalped by the Injuns if the red sticks take after him,' sez X. 'Or have his throat cut if the cow-drivers feel rough yet,' sez I. 'Jus' such a one ez me,' sez X. 'Or me,' sez I."
"Sir," said old Mivane, rising, and the impressive dignity of his port was such that the cradle stopped rocking as if a spell were upon it, and every child paused in its play, sprawling where it lay, "I am obliged to you for your polite expression of opinion of me, which I have never done aught to justify465. I have nothing more to urge upon the question of the details which brought me hither, but of one thing be certain,—if Emsden does not go upon this mission I shall be the ambassador. I apprehend466 no danger whatever to myself, and I wish you a very good day."
And he stepped forth with his wonted jaunty alacrity467, leaving the man and his wife staring at each other with as much surprise as if the roof had fallen in.
A greater surprise awaited Mivane without. The rain was falling anew. In vast transparent468 tissues it swept with the gusty469 wind over the nearest mountains of the Great Smoky Range, whose farther reaches were lost in fog. The slanting470 lines, vaguely discerned in the downpour, almost obliterated471 the presence of the encompassing472 forests about the stockade. He noted how wildly the great trees were yet swaying, and he realized, for he could not have heard the blast, that a sudden severe wind-storm had passed over the settlement while he was within doors. The blockhouse, the tallest of the buildings, loomed473 up darkly amidst the gathering gray vapor474, and through the great gates of the stockade, which opened on the blank cloud, were coming at the moment several men bearing a rude litter, evidently hastily constructed. On this was stretched the insensible form of Ralph Emsden, who had been stricken down in the woods with a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm by the falling of a branch of a great tree uprooted475 by the violence of the gusts476. He had almost miraculously477 escaped being crushed, and was not fatally hurt, but examination disclosed that he was absolutely and hopelessly disabled for the time being, and Richard Mivane realized that he himself was the duly accredited478 ambassador to the herders on the Keowee River.
He went home in a pettish479 fume480. No sooner was he within and the door fast shut, that none might behold save only those of his own household, who were accustomed to the aberrations481 of his temper and who regarded them with blended awe482 and respect, than he reft his cocked hat from his head and flung it upon the floor. Peninnah Penelope Anne sprang up so precipitately483 at the dread484 sight that she overturned her stool and drew a stitch awry in her sampler, longer than the women of her family were accustomed to take. The children gazed spellbound. The weavers485 at the loom were petrified486; even the creak of the treadle and the noisy thumping487 of the batten—those perennial488 sounds of a pioneer home—sunk into silence. The two negroes at the end of the vista beyond the shed-room, with the ox-yoke and plough-gear which they were mending between them, opened wide mouths and became immovable save for the whites of astonished rolling eyes. Then, and this exceeded all precedent101, Richard Mivane clutched his valued peruke and, with an inward plaintive489 deprecation of the extremity of this act of desperation, he cast it upon the hat, and looked around, bald, despairing, furious, and piteous.
It was, however, past the fortitude490 of woman to behold without protest this desecration491 of decoration. Peninnah Penelope Anne sprang forward, snatched the glossy locks from the puncheons, and with a tender hand righted the structure, while the powder flew about in light puffs at her touch, readjusting a curl here and a cleverly wrought wave there. The valet's pious492 aspiration493 from the doorway, "Bress de Lord!" betokened494 the acuteness of the danger over-past.
"Why, grandfather!" the girl admonished Mivane; "your beautiful peruke!—sure, sir, the loveliest curls in the world! And sets you like your own hair,—only that nobody could really have such very genteel curls to grow—Oh—oh—grandfather!"
She did not offer to return it, but stood with it poised496 on one hand, well out of harm's way, while she surveyed Mivane reproachfully yet with expectant sympathy.
Perhaps he himself was glad that he could wreak497 no further damage which he would later regret, and contented498 himself with furiously pounding his cane upon the puncheon floor, a sturdy structure and well calculated to bear the brunt of such expressions of pettish rage.
"Dolt499, ass1, fool, that I am!" he cried. "That I should so far forget myself as to offer to go as an ambassador to the herders on the Keowee!" And once more he banged the floor after a fashion that discounted the thumping of the batten, and the room resounded with the thwacks.
An old dog, a favorite of yore, lying asleep on the hearth, only opened his eyes and wrinkled his brows to make sure, it would seem, who had the stick; then closing his lids peacefully snoozed away again, presently snoring in the fullness of his sense of security. But a late acquisition, a gaunt deerhound, after an earnest observation of his comrade's attitude, as if referring the crisis to his longer experience, scrutinized500 severally the faces of the members of the family, and, wincing501 at each resounding502 whack503, finally gathered himself together apprehensively504, as doubtful whose turn might come next, and discreetly505 slunk out unobserved by the back door.
Peninnah Penelope Anne rushed to the rescue.
"And why should you not be an ambassador, sir?" she demanded.
"Why—why—because, girl, I am deafer than the devil's dam! I cannot fetch and carry messages of import. I could only give occasion for ridicule506 and scorn in even offering to assume such an office."
Peninnah Penelope Anne had flushed with the keen sensitiveness of her pride. She instantly appreciated the irking of the dilemma507 into which he had thrust himself forgetting his infirmity, and she could have smitten508 with hearty enmity and a heavy stick any lips which had dared to smile. She responded, however, with something of her mother's indirection.
"Under your favor, sir, you don't know how deaf the devil's dam may be—and it is not your wont to speak in that strain. I'm sure it reminds me of that man they call 'X,'—a sort of churl509 person,—who talks of the devil and blue blazes and brimstone and hell as if—as if he were a native."
This was a turning of the sword of the pious "X" upon himself with a vengeance510, for he was prone511 in his spiritual disquisitions to detail much of the discomfort512 of the future state that awaited his careless friends.
The allusion513 so far pleased old Mivane, who resented a suspected relegation514 of himself to a warm station in the schemes of "X," that, although his head was still bald and shining like a billiard ball, he suffered himself to drop into his chair, his stick resting motionless on the long-suffering puncheon floor.
"If I could only hear for a day I'd forgive twenty soundless years!" he declared piteously, for he so deprecated the enforced withdrawal515 from the enterprise that he had heedlessly undertaken, and felt so keenly the reflections upon his sentiments and sincerity surreptitiously canvassed517 between Ronackstone and "X," and then cavalierly rehearsed in his presence.
"You are only deaf to certain whanging voices in queer keys," his granddaughter declared.
"And how do I know in what sort of key the herders on the Keowee talk? They may 'moo' like the cow, or 'mew' like the cat! I should be in danger of losing half that was said. And that is what these varlets here in the station know right well. It must seem but a mere bit of bombast518 on my part. It could never be seriously countenanced—unless I had an interpreter. Stop me! but if you were a grandson instead of a granddaughter, I would not mind taking you with me to interpret for me, though, Gadzooks, I'd be like a heathen red Injun with a linguister!"
"And why am I not as good as any grandson?" demanded Peninnah Penelope Anne, with a spirited flash of her bright hazel eyes and great temerity519 of speculation; for be it remembered the days of the theories of woman's equality with man had not yet dawned. "Sure, sir, I can speak when I am spoken to. I understand the English language; and"—her voice rising into a liquid crescendo520 of delight—"I can wear my gray sergedusoy sack made over my carnation521 taffeta bodice and cashmere petticoat, all pranked out with bows of black velvet, most genteel, and my hat of quilled primrose522 sarcenet, grandfather. I'd take them in a bundle, for if we should have rain I would rather be in my old red hood and blue serge riding-coat on the way, grandfather."
And thus it was settled before she had fairly readjusted the peruke on his head as he sat in his great chair and she clambered on its arm.
She had not heard of the disaster that had befallen Ralph Emsden, and she turned rather pale and wistful when the news was communicated to her. Then realizing how opportune523 was the accident, how slight was its ultimate danger in comparison with the jeopardy of the mission from which he was rescued, she fairly gloated upon the chance which had conferred it upon her grandfather, and made her an instrument in its execution.
It was a queerly assorted524 embassy that rode out of the gates of the stockade, the ambassador and his linguister. Richard Mivane was mounted upon a strong, sprightly525 horse, with Peninnah Penelope Anne behind him upon a pillion. Following them at a little distance came his body-servant, C?sar, more fitted by temperament than either to enjoy the change, the spirit of adventure, and reveling in a sense of importance which was scarcely diminished by the fact that it was vicarious. He rode a sturdy nag526 and had charge of a led horse, that bore a pack-saddle with a store of changes of raiment, of edible527 provisions, and tents to fend177 off the chances of inclement528 weather. They were to travel under the protection of a trader's pack-train, from a re?stablished trading-house in the Overhill Towns of the Cherokees on the Tennessee River; and so accurately did they time their departure and the stages of their journey that they met this caravan529 just at the hour and place designated, and risked naught from the unsettled state of the country or an encounter with some ignorant or inimical savage, prone to wreak upon inoffensive units vengeance for wrongs, real or fancied, wrought by a nation.
The trader, being a man habituated by frequent sojourns530 in Charlestown to metropolitan customs and a worldly trend of thought, instantly recognized the quality of Mivane and his granddaughter, despite the old red hood and blue serge riding-coat and their residence here so far from all the graces that appertain to civilization; though, to be sure, Richard Mivane, in his trim "Joseph," his head cowled in an appropriate "trotcozy," and his jaunty self-possession quite restored by the cutting of the Gordian knot of his dilemma, demonstrating his capacity to duly perform all his undertakings531, bore himself in a manner calculated to enhance even the high estimation of his fellow-traveler. After the custom of a gentleman, however, he was most augustly free from unwarrantable self-assertion, but he could not have failed to be flattered by the phrase of the trader, could he have heard it, in delivering over his charge to the herders on the Keowee River. "Gadzooks, neighbors, but I shouldn't be a whit47 surprised if that old party is a duke in disguise!"
But the cow-drivers heard him not! They hardly heeded532 the coming and the going of the pack-train and their gossips the packmen! They cared naught for the news the caravan brought of the country-side far above, nor the commissions they were wont to give for the various settlements and the metropolis534 far below! For so featly came riding in to the humble prosaic535 precincts of the cow-pens and into their hearts the vernal beauty of Spring herself, the living Bloom of charm and love, all arrayed in delicate gray sergedusoy opening upon carnation taffeta, and crowned with sheer quillings of primrose sarcenet, with a cheek that repeated these roseate tints536 and a glint of golden brown tresses curling softly against a nape of pearl, that the ranchmen were bewitched and dazed, and knew no more of good common-sense. Their equilibrium537 thus shaken, some busied themselves in what might be called "housewifely cares," that the dainty visitant might be acceptably lodged538 and fed, and afterward they cursed their industry and hospitality that thus left her conversation and charming aspect to the shirks and drones, who languished539 about her, and affected105 to seek her comfort and minister to her entertainment. For the cow-drivers, like the other pioneer settlers of that region and day, represented various states of society and degrees of refinement540, and to those to whom she was not as a blissful reminiscence of long ago, she appeared as a revelation, new and straight from heaven, a fancy, a dream! It seemed meet to them that she arrived in the illusory sunset of a sweet spring day, like some lovely forecast of the visions of the night.
With their artless bucolic541 ideals of entertainment they invited her out to show her the new calves. One of these little creatures, being exquisitely542 white and eminently543 pleasing to look upon, was straightway named, with her gracious permission, "Peninnah Penelope Anne," and she was assured that because of this name its owner, a slim, sentimental, red-haired youth, would never part from it. And it may be presumed that he was sincere, and that at the time of this fervent544 asseveration he had not realized the incongruity of living his life out in the constant heed516 of the well-being545 and companionship of a large white cow of the name of "Peninnah Penelope Anne." A more interesting denizen115 of the pen was a fawn546, a waif found there one morning, having prudently547 adopted as a mother a large red cow, and a heavy brindled548 calf549 as a foster-brother. The instant Peninnah admired this incongruous estray, bleating550 its queer alien note in resonant551 duet with the calf in the plea for supper, a cord was slipped about its neck and it was presented in due form. In order that she might not be harassed552 by its tendance, a gigantic Scotch553 herder, six feet six inches high and twenty-five years of age, showed how far involuntary inanity554 can coexist with presumptive sanity as he led it about, the creature holding back heavily at every step and now and again tangling555 itself, its cord, and its disconcerted bleats556 about its conductor's long and stalwart legs. Another of the herders,—all of whom were hunters and explorers as well,—whose mind was of a topographical cast, introduced her to much fine and high company in the various mountain peaks, gathered in solemn symposium557 dark and purple in the faintly tinted and opaline twilight558. He repeated their Cherokee names and gave an English translation, and called her attention to marks of difference in their configuration559 which rendered them distinguishable at a distance; and when she lent some heed to this and noted on the horizon contours of the mountains about her home, faint and far in an elusive137 amethystine560 apotheosis561 against the red and flaming west, and called out her glad recognition in a voice as sweet as a thrush, his comrades waxed jealous, and contravened562 his statements and argued and wrangled563 upon landmarks564 to which they had never before given a second thought in all their mountaineering experience, so keenly they competed for her favor. It was her little day of triumph, and right royally she reigned565 in it and was wont to tell of it for forty years thereafter!
At last the dusk was slipping down; the mountains grew a shadowy gray far away and a looming black close at hand; a star palpitated in the colorless crystal-clear concave of the fading skies; the vernal stretch of the savannas566, whose intense green was somehow asserted till the latest glimmer567 of light, ceased to resound222 with the voices of the herds; only here and there a keen metallic568 note of a bell clanked forth and was silent, and again the sound came from a farther pen like a belated echo; the fire flaring569 out from the open door of the nearest hut of the ranchmen's little hamlet gave a pleasant sense of hospitality and homely570 hearth-side cheer, for it requires only a few nights under a tent or the open canopy571 of heaven to make a woman, always the most artificially disposed of all creatures, exceedingly respectful to a roof.
To be sure the interior of this roof was well garnished572 with cobwebs, and Peninnah Penelope Anne's mother was so notable a housekeeper573 and had inculcated such horror of these untoward drapings and festoons that the girl was compelled to look sedulously574 away from them to avoid staring in amazement575 at their morbid576 development and proportions. The superintendent577 of the ranch220—being an establishment of magnitude it had several sub-agents also—was so occupied in putting the best foot of his menage foremost, not being prepared for such company that, like many a modern housekeeper, he let the opportunity for pleasure slip. When he proffered578 tea—he had sent a negro servant all the way to Fort Prince George for the luxury, where it could be found among the hospital stores, for tea was too mild a tipple579 for the pioneer cow-drivers—he suffered the egregious580 mortification581 of pouring out plain hot water, having forgotten to put in the tea leaves to steep. He looked very hot and ruefully distressed582 as he repaired his error, and would not, could not meet the laughing eyes of his comrades, nor yet the polite glances of his guests resolutely583 seeing naught amiss. He was oppressed with a sense of the number and prominence584 of his dogs about the wide hearth of his cabin; when the animals were therefore vigorously kicked out to make more space, instead of retiring with the usual plaintive yelp585 of protest appropriate to such occasions they took advantage of the presence of guests of distinction and made the rafters ring and resound with their ear-splitting shrieks586, and it was even necessary to chase them about the room before they could be ejected. Indeed, several with super-canine strategy succeeded in countermarching their tormentors and remained in the group about the fire, wearing that curiously587 attentive251 look peculiar to an intelligent animal when animated588 conversation is in progress.
The blazing fire in the great chimney-place, that stretched almost half across one end of the herder's cabin, illumined the walls and showed the medley589 of articles suspended upon them,—horns, whips, branding-irons, skins, cattle-bells, lariats, and such-like appurtenances of the ranch. The little lady was seated in the centre of the group of ranchmen ranged in a wide semicircle about the hearth of flagstones; the ethereal tints of her shimmering attire590 showed all their highlights; her face and golden brown hair seemed particularly soft and delicate in contrast with the rough tousled heads and bearded countenances591 about her; here and there the muzzle of a great animal, the flash of fangs592 and red glow of formidable jaws593, were half discriminated594 amidst the alternate flare of the flames and flicker of the shadows,—all might have suggested the "mystick Crew of Comus" to Richard Mivane, being the only person present who had ever heard of that motley company, had not his thoughts been otherwise engrossed595. He meditatively596 cleared his throat, took a sip533 of brandy and water, for he had long ago lost his genteel affiliations597 with tea, and hopefully opened the subject of his mission.
A change fell upon the scene, instant, definite, complete. In the mere broaching598 of business it might seem that beauty and charm are but tenuous at best, and powerless to subdue599 the fiercer nature of man when his acquisitive and aggressive commercial instincts are aroused. One of the most devout600 admirers of Peninnah Penelope Anne tossed his head with a very bellicose601 and bovine602 obduracy603 when he intimated an incredulity of the statement that the herd had been stampeded without an ulterior motive604 of malice605 or nefarious606 profit. The gentle soul who had assumed the tendance and protection of the fawn held down as he listened a shaggy intent head, like that of a bull about to charge, at the mere mention of the shooting of the wolf. In fact, the suggestion of shadowy monsters which the dusky flicker and evanescent flare of the fire fostered and which was intensified607 by the proximity of open jaws, sharp fangs, heavy muzzles608, and standing190 bristles609 amongst them, owed much of its effect to the unanimous expression of truculent610 challenge and averse disfavor. There were frequent confirmatory emphatic611 nods of great disheveled heads, the scarlet612 flushing of angry faces, already florid, and now and again a violent descriptive gesture of a long brawny613 arm with a clenched614 fist at its extremity. Richard Mivane's well-rounded periods and gentlemanly phrasings were like the educated thrusts and feints of an expert fencer who opposes his single rapier to the bludgeons and missiles of a furious mob. He saw in less than five minutes that the scheme of extenuation615 and conciliation616 was futile416, that retort and retaliation would be returned in kind, that the stoppage of the pack-train from Blue Lick on the way to Charlestown was inevitable617, and that the redcoats, invoked618 by both parties, would doubtless become embroiled619 with one or the other,—in short, bloodshed was a foregone conclusion.
Much as this was to be deprecated in any event, it was suicidal amongst these infant settlements by reason of the vicinage and antagonism of the fierce and only half-subdued Cherokees, sullenly620 nourishing schemes of revenge for their recent defeat and many woes621. But when he urged this upon the attention of the herders, the retort came quick and pointed: "We ain't talkin' 'bout132 no Injuns!—the Cherokees never meddled622 with our cattle! We'll settle about the stampede first, an' 'tend to the Cherokees in good time—all in good time!"
Richard Mivane was not possessed623 of much affinity624 with the ruder primitive qualities, the stalwart candor625 and uncultured forces of the natural man; and never had these inherent elements appeared to less advantage in his mind than when he was brought into disastrous conflict with them. He only held his ground for form's sake, and often his voice was overborne by the clamors of many responsive tones, all blaring and arguing together. Much that was said he could not hear, and refrained from speaking when he perceived from the loud contending faces that he was denied for the nonce a rejoinder. But ever and anon the silver vibrations of the little linguister's voice rose into the big bass328 tumult as she rehearsed what had been said for her grandfather's benefit, and the angry rush of sound stopped with an abrupt recoil626 for a moment, then surged on as before.
She looked very mild and petite among them, quite like a sedate627 child, her cheeks pinker than any of the rose tints of her apparel that were her pride, her lips red and breathlessly parted, her eyes bright and very watchful, her golden brown hair all red gold in the flicker of the fire. There was one wild taunting628 threat that she did not repeat, as if she thought it of no consequence,—the threat of personal violence against Ralph Emsden. They had found out his name patly enough from their own messenger to Blue Lick Station. They would take out their grudge629 against him on his hide, they averred,—if they had to go all the way to Blue Lick to get it!
Now and again they sufficiently630 remembered that indeterminate quantum of courtesy which they called their "manners" to interpolate "No offense631 to you, sir," or "Begging the lady's pardon." Throughout she preserved a cool, almost uncomprehending, passive manner; and it was in one of the moments of a heady tumult of words, in which they sometimes involved themselves beyond all interpretation632 or distinguishment, that she observed with a sort of childish inconsequence that they could get Ralph Emsden easily enough if they would go to Blue Lick Station,—he was there now, and his arm and shoulder were so hurt that he would not be able to make off,—they could get him easily enough, that is, if the French did not raze633 Blue Lick Station before the herders could reach there.
If a bomb had exploded in the midst of the hearthstone, the astonishment634 that ensued upon this simple statement could not have been greater. A sudden blank silence supervened. A dozen excited infuriated faces, the angry contortions635 of the previous moment still stark636 upon their features, were bent upon her while their eyes stared only limitless amazement.
"The French!" the herders cried at last in chorus. "Blue Lick Station!"
"It was razed637 once," she said statistically638, "to the ground. The Cherokees did it that time!"
Her grandfather, always averse to admit that he did not hear, noted the influx639 of excitement, and was fain to lean forward. He even placed his hand behind his ear.
"The French!" bellowed640 out one of the cow-drivers in a voice that might have graced the king of the herds. "The French! Threatening Blue Lick Station!"
The elderly gentleman drew back from, the painful surcharged vibrations of sound and the unseemly aspect of this interpreter, who was in good sooth like a bull in disguise. "To be sure—the French," Richard Mivane said in response, repeating the only words which he had heard. "Our nearest white neighbors—the dangerous Alabama garrison399!"
A tumult of questions assailed641 the little linguister.
"Be they mightily642 troubled at Blue Lick Station?" asked one sympathetically.
The little flower-like head was nodded with meaning, deep and serious. "Oh, sure!" she cried. "And having the Cow-pens against them too—'tis sad!"
"Zooks!" cried the bull in disguise, with a snort. "The Cow-pens ain't against 'em—when the French are coming!"
"Why haven't they sent word to the soldiers?" demanded another of the cow-drivers suspiciously.
"The soldiers?" she exclaimed incredulously. "Why—the Cow-pens sent word that the soldiers were against Blue Lick too, and were going to stop the station's pack-train. Maybe the stationers were afraid of the soldiers."
To a torrent of questions as to how the news had first come, how the menace lowered, what disposition for defense the stationers could make, the little girl seemed bewildered. She only answered definitely and very indifferently that they could easily get Ralph Emsden if they would go now to Blue Lick, and take his hide,—that is, if the French and their Choctaw Indians had not already possessed themselves of that valuable integument,—as if this were their primal643 object.
"Why, God-a-mercy, child," cried the superintendent of the ranch, "this news settles all scores; when it comes to a foreign foe644 the colonists645 are brothers."
"And besides," admitted one of the most truculent of the cow-drivers, "the cattle are all pretty well rounded in again; I doubt if more are lost than the wolves would have pulled down anyhow."
"And the Blue Lick Stationers' horses can be herded646 easy enough,—they are all on their old grass,—and be driven up to the settlement."
A courier had been sent off full tilt647 to the commandant at Fort Prince George, and night though it was, a detail of mounted soldiers appeared presently with orders to escort the ambassador and his linguister into the presence of that officer.
For this intelligence was esteemed648 serious indeed. Although hostilities649 had now practically ceased in America, the Seven Years' War being near its end, and peace negotiations650 actually in progress, still the treaty had not been concluded. So far on the frontier were such isolated651 garrisons652 as this of Fort Prince George, so imperfect and infrequent were their means of communicating with the outside world, that they were necessarily in ignorance of much that took place elsewhere, and a renewal of the conflict might have supervened long before their regular advices from headquarters could reach them. Even a chance rumor653 might bring them their first intimation of a matter of such great import to them. Therefore the commandant attached much significance to this account of an alarm at Blue Lick Station, because of a menace from the nearest French at Fort Toulouse, often called in that day, by reason of this propinquity, "the dangerous Alabama garrison."
For this reason, also, the hospitable654 hosts made no protest against the removal of the guests to Fort Prince George, although it might seem that the age of the one and the tender youth of the other ill fitted them to encounter this sudden transition from the cosy655 fireside to the raw vernal air on a misty midnight jaunt333 of a dozen miles through a primeval wilderness. And in truth the little lady seemed loath to leave the hearth; she visibly hesitated as she stood beside her chair with her hand on its back, and looked out at the black night, and the vague vista which the ruddy flare, from the wide door, revealed amidst the dense darkness; at the vanishing point of this perspective stood a group of mounted soldiers, "in column of twos" with two led horses, the scarlet uniforms and burnished accoutrements appearing and disappearing elusively656 as the flames rose and fell. The sounds of the champing of bits and the pawing of hoofs and the jingle657 of spurs were keenly clear on the chill rare air and seemed somehow consonant658 with the frosty glitter of the stars, very high in the black concave of the moonless sky. The smell of the rich mould, permeated659 with its vernal growths; the cool, distinct, rarefied perfume of some early flower already abloom; the antiphonal chant of frogs roused in the marsh660 or stream hard by, so imbued661 her senses with the realization662 of the hour and season that she never afterward thought of the spring without a vivid renewal of these impressions.
Her grandfather also seemed vaguely to hold back, even while he slowly mounted his horse; yet aware that naught is so imperative663 as military authority, it was only his inner consciousness that protested. Outwardly he professed664 alacrity, although in great surprise declaring that he could not imagine what the commandant could want with him. The little linguister, for her part, had no doubts. She was well aware indeed of the cause of the summons, and so dismayed by the prospect was even her doughty665 heart that the swift ride through the black forest was less terrible to her than the thought of the ordeal666 of the arrival. But the march was not without its peculiar trials. She shrank in instinctive affright from the unaccustomed escort of a dragoon on either side of her, looming up in the darkness like some phantom667 of the midnight. Even her volition668 seemed wrested669 from her by reason of the military training of the troop-horse which she rode;—he whirled about at the command "right-wheel!" ringing out in the darkness in the crisp peremptory670 tones of the non-commissioned officer, and plunged671 forward at the words "trot, march!" and adjusted his muscles instantaneously to the acceleration672 implied in "gallop286!" and came to an abrupt and immovable pause at "halt!"—all with no more regard to her grasp on the reins than if she had been a fly on the saddle. As they went the wind beset her with cool, damp buffets673 on chin and cheek; the overhanging budding boughs, all unseen, drenched674 her with perfumed dew as she was whisked through their midst; the pace was adopted rather with reference to military custom and the expectation of the waiting commandant than her convenience; at every sudden whirl responsive to the word of command she was in momentary675 fear of being flung beneath the swiftly trampling676 hoofs of the horses on either side of her, and despite her recoil from the bigness and bluffness677 and presumable bloody-mindedness of the two troopers beside her she was sensible of their sympathy as they took heed of the instability with which she bounced about, perched up side-wise on a military saddle. Indeed, one was moved to ask her if she would not prefer to be strapped678 on with a girth, and to offer his belt for the purpose; and the other took the opportunity to gird at the forgetfulness of the cow-drivers to furnish her with her own pillion.
Nevertheless she dreaded679 the journey's end; and as they came out of the forests on the banks of the Keowee River, and beheld the vague glimmers680 of the gray day slowly dawning, albeit night was yet in the woods, and the outline of the military works of Fort Prince George taking symmetry and wonted proportions against the dappled eastern sky, all of blended roseate tints and thin nebulous grays, her heart so sank, she felt so tremulously guilty that had all the sixteen guns from the four bastions opened fire upon her at once she would not have been surprised.
No such welcome, however, did the party encounter. The officer commanding it stopped the ambassador and the linguister and let the soldiers go on at a round trot toward the great gate, which stood open, the bayonet on the musket13 of the sentry681 shining with an errant gleam of light like the sword of fire at the entrance of Paradise. For now the sun was up, the radiance suffusing682 the blue and misty mountains and the seas of fog in the valleys. Albeit its dazzling focus was hardly visible above the eastern heights, it sent a red glow all along the parapet of the covered way and the slope beyond to the river bank, where only two years before Captain Coytmore, then the commandant, had been murdered at a conference by the treacherous683 Cherokees. The senior officer, Captain Howard, being absent on leave, the present commandant, a jaunty lieutenant, smart enough although in an undress uniform, was standing at the sally-port now, all bland and smiling, to receive the ambassador and his linguister. He perceived at once that the old gentleman was deaf beyond any save adroit684 and accustomed communication. He looked puzzled for a moment, then spoke42 to the sergeant685.
"And who is this pretty little girl?" he asked.
The sergeant, who had heard of her prowess in the havoc686 of hearts among the herders at the ranch, looked bewildered, then desperate, saluted687 mechanically, and was circumspectly688 silent.
"I am not a little girl," said Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane with adult dignity.
"Ah, indeed," said the embarrassed and discomfited689 officer. Then, turning to lead the way, he added civilly, "Beg pardon, I'm sure!"
If the sight of the sixteen guns on the four bastions of Fort Prince George had caused Peninnah Penelope Anne to shrink from her normal proportions, not too expansive at best, she dwindled690 visibly and continually when conducted within the palisaded parapets, across the parade, past the barracks, built for a hundred men but now somewhat lacking their complement691, and into the officers' quarters, where in a large mess-hall there sat all the commissioned officers at a table, near the foot of which the two strangers were accommodated with chairs. It had so much the air of a court-martial, despite their bland and reassuring692 suavity, that Peninnah Penelope Anne, albeit a free lance and serving under no banner but her own whim405, had much ado to keep up her courage to face them. Naturally she was disposed to lean upon her grandfather, but he utterly693 failed her. She had never known him so deaf! He could neither hear the officers nor her familiar voice. He would not even tell his name, although she had so often heard him voice it sonorously694 and in great pride, "Richard Mivane Huntley Mivane, youngest son of the late Sir Alexander Mivane Huntley Mivane, of Mivane Hall, Fenshire, Northumberland." Now he merely waved his hand to deputize her. In truth he shrank from rehearsing to these young men the reason of his flight from home, his duel and its fatal result, although his pride forbade him to suppress it. He had come to think the cause of quarrel a trifle, and the challenge a wicked folly. It was a bitter and remorseful695 recollection as his age came on, and its details were edifying696 in no sense. Hence, as Peninnah Penelope Anne knew naught of the story she could not tell it, and he escaped the distasteful pose of a merciless duelist.
She gave his name with much pride, noting the respect with which the officers heard it. She accounted for the incongruities697 of his presence here as the result of a trip from England to the province, where, as she said, "he was detained by the snare698 of matrimony." It was his own phrase, for as a snare he regarded the holy estate; but the younger of the officers were pleased to find it funny, and ventured to laugh; whereat she grew red and silent, and they perforce became grave again that they might hear of the French. Here she was vague and discursive699, and prone to detail at great length the feud700 between the Blue Lick Stationers and the "cow-drivers" on the Keowee, evidently hoping that it might lie within the latitude701 of the commandant's military authority to take some order with the herder gentry,—for which they would not have thanked her in the least! But the officers of the garrison of Fort Prince George had thought for naught but the French, and now and again conferred dubiously702 together on the unsatisfactory points of her evidence.
"Do you suppose she really knows anything about it?" the commandant said aside to one of his advisers703.
Suddenly, however, her grandfather's hearing improved, and they were able to elicit704 from him the reports which he had had at second hand from the cow-drivers themselves, in retailing705 which he honestly conceived that he was repeating genuine news, never dreaming that the information had blossomed forth from his own mission.
While less circumstantial and satisfactory than the commandant could have wished, the details were too significant and serious of import to be ignored, and therefore he acted upon his information as far as it was developed.
He ordered out a scouting706 party of ten men, and, that he might utilize157 Blue Lick Station as an outpost in some sort where they might find refuge and aid, he dispatched to the settlement a present of gunpowder707 to serve in the defense of the station, in case of attack by the French, and two of the small coehorns of that day, each of which could be carried between two men, to assist the little piece already at the station. In return for the prospective708 courtesy and shelter to his troops, he wrote a very polite letter urging the settlers to hold out if practicable, relying on his succor709 with men, ammunition710, and provisions; but if compelled to give way, assuring the stationers of a welcome at Fort Prince George.
The herders at the cow-pens on the Keowee had also determined711 to reinforce Blue Lick Station, and with a number of the runaway712 horses of the settlers, rounded up and driven in strings713, several of them set forth with the British soldiers from the fort. In this company Richard Mivane and his grand daughter also took their way to Blue Lick Station in lieu of waiting for a pack-train with provisions from Charlestown, as they had anticipated.
It was a merry camping party as they fared along through the wilderness, and she had occasion to make many sage362 observations on the inconsistency and the unwisdom of man! That the prospect of killing some Frenchman, or being themselves cruelly killed, in a national quarrel which neither faction236, the cow-drivers nor the Blue Lick Stationers, half understood, should so endear men to each other was a sentiment into which she could not enter. It was better, after all, to be a woman, she said to herself, and sit soberly at home and sew the rational sampler, and let the world wag on as it would and the cutthroats work their wild will on each other. The least suggestion that brought the thought of the French to their minds was received with eyes alight, and nerves aquiver, and blood all in a rush. The favorite of the whole camp was a young fellow who had achieved that enviable station by virtue of an inane714 yet inconceivably droll715 intonation716 of the phrase, "Bong chure" (Bon jour), delivered at all manner of unconformable times and in inappropriate connections, and invariably greeted with shouts of laughter. And when at last the party reached the vicinity of Blue Lick and the stationers swarmed out to meet them, taking the news of the French invasion at second hand, each repeating it to the other, and variously recounting it back again, never dreaming that it was supposed to have originally issued from the station, she meditated717 much upon this temperamental savagery in man, and the difficulty it occasioned in conforming him to those sagacious schemes for his benefit which she nourished in her inventive little pate. The antagonisms718 of the Blue Lick Stationers and the cow-drivers from the Keowee vanished like mist. On the one hand the stationers were assured that the stampede of the cattle was now regarded as inadvertent, and although it had occasioned an immense deal of vexatious trouble to the ranchmen, all were now well rounded up and restored to the cow-pens as of yore. And the ranchmen in turn received a thousand thanks for their neighborly kindness in the restoration of the horses of the Blue Lick Stationers, who knew that the animals had not been decoyed off by the herders, as a malicious719 report sought to represent, but had merely returned to their "old grass," according to their homing propensities720. And both parties loved the British soldiers, who had reinforced them, and intended to go a-scouting with the military expedition; and the soldiers earnestly reciprocated721 by assisting in the preparations for the defense of the station. Especially active and efficient was the only artilleryman among them, and the paradisaic peace amidst all the preparations for war was so complete that his acrid722 scorn of that pride of the settlement, the little swivel gun, and of the stationers' methods of handling it, occasioned not even a murmur723 of resentment724.
Peninnah Penelope Anne, although restored to private life and the maternal725 domicile, having retired726 from statecraft and the functions of linguister to the embassy, did not altogether escape public utility in these bellicose preparations. The young gunner, who had had the opportunity of observing her during the march hither, shortly applied to her for assistance in his professional devoir. He wanted a deft-handed young person to construct the cartridge727-bags for the ammunition which he was fixing for the little piece and the two coehorns. And thus it chanced that she found herself in the blockhouse, cheek by jowl with the little cannon, its grisly muzzle now looking out of the embrasure where she herself had once been fond of taking observations of the stockade entrance; the men came and went and speculated upon the chances of the scouting quest, now about to set forth, while spurs clanking, ramrods rattling728 down into gun-barrels, voices lifted in argument or joyous729 resonance, made the whitewashed730 walls ring anew. The gunner, seated at a table carefully and accurately measuring out the powder, now and again urged strict cautions against the lighting731 of pipes or striking of sparks from gun-flints. When he applied himself briskly to the cutting out of more bags from flannel732 for his cartridges733, he looked very harmless and domestic in his solicitude734 to follow his wooden pattern, or "pathron" as he called it, for the creature was Irish. He gave minute and scrupulous735 directions to Peninnah Penelope Anne to sew the cylinder736 with no more than twelve stitches to the inch, and to baste737 down the seams, "now, moind ye that!—ivery wan!—that no powther might slip through beyant!"
In the pride of the expert he was chary738 of commendation and eyed critically the circular bottom of every bag before he filled it with powder.
"See that, now," he said, snipping739 briskly with the scissors; "that string of woolen740 yarn741 that yez left there, a-burnin' away outside, might burst the whole gun, an' ivery sowl in the blockhouse would be kilt intirely,—moind ye that, now!—an they would n't be the Frenchies, nayther!" He gave her a keen warning glance at rather close range, then once more renewed his labors742.
The mockingbirds were singing in the woods outside. The sun was in the trees. The leafage had progressed beyond the bourgeoning period and the branches flung broad green splendors of verdure to the breeze. The Great Smoky Mountains were hardly less blue than the sky as the distant summits deployed743 against the fair horizon; only the nearest, close at hand, were sombre, and showed dark luxuriant foliage and massive craggy steeps, and their austere744, silent, magnificent domes152 looked over the scene with solemn uplifting meanings. Oh, life! life was so sweet, and love and friendship were so easy to come by and so hard to part withal, and glad, oh, glad was she that no men of the French nation or any other were on their march hitherward to be torn in cruel lacerations by those wicked cartridges, so cleverly and artfully and cheerfully constructed,—men with homes, wives, mothers, sisters, children, every soldier representing to some anxious, tender heart a whole world, a microcosm of affection, all illuminated745 with hope and joy or to be clouded with grief and terror and loss and despair,—oh, glad, glad was she that the French invasion was but a figment,—a tissue of misconceptions and vague innuendoes746 and groundless assumptions.
And yet she was sad and sorry and ashamed, because of the futile bustle747 and bluster748 and cheerful courageous749 activity about her. Not a cheek had blenched750; not a hand had trembled; not a voice had been lifted to protest or counsel surrender, despite their meagre capacities for defense and their number, but a handful. What would these men say to her if they knew that their patriotism751 and their valor752 were expended753 in vain,—above all, their mutual cause of quarrel wasted!—as pretty a bit of neighborhood spite as ever stopped a bullet—all foolishly and needlessly reconciled without a blow! She had saved them from a bloody feud, the chances of which were terrifying to her for their own sakes. But what would they say when discovery should come!
Still, it might never come. And yet, should they patrol the woods in vain and at last disperse754 and return each to his own home, she had no placidity in prospect,—she was troubled and sad and her sorry heart was heavy. Her scheme had succeeded beyond her wildest hopes. Her beneficent artifice755 had fully38 worked its mission. And now, since there was no more to be done, she had time to repent756 her varied757 deceits. Was it right? she asked herself in conscientious758 alarm, not the less sincere because belated. Ought she to have interfered759, with what forces it was possible for her limited capacity to wield760? Had they an inalienable right to cut each other's throats? Should she have so presumed? And now—
"Howly Moses!" a voice in shrill761 agitation762 broke in upon her preoccupation. "An' is it sheddin' tears ye are upon the blessed gunpowther? Sure the colleen's crazed! Millia Murther! the beautiful ca'tridges is ruint intoirely! Any man moight be proud an' plazed to be kilt by the loikes o' them! How many o' them big wathery tears have yez been after sheddin' into aich o' them lovely ca'tridges?"
He had risen; one hand was laid protectingly upon the completed pile of fixed763 ammunition as if to ward off the damping influences of her woe363, while he ruefully contemplated764 the suspected cartridge bags, all plump and tidy and workmanlike, save for their possible charge of tears. She made no answer, but sat quite motionless upon her low stool, a cartridge bag unfinished in her lap, her golden brown curls against the cannon, still weeping her large tears and looking very small.
His clamors brought half the force to the scene of the disturbance765. A keen question here, an inference heedfully taken there, and the situation was plain!
In the abrupt pause in this headlong career it was difficult to sustain one's poise495. Now and again, indeed, sheepish conscious glances were interchanged; for since the grievance766 of the cow-drivers had been publicly annulled and the horses of the Blue Lick Stationers had been restored in pure neighborly good-will, a resumption of the quarrel on the old invalid767 scores was impossible. Perhaps some token of their displeasure might have been visited upon her who had inaugurated so bold and extensive a wild goose chase, but she looked so small as she sat by the cannon weeping her large tears that she disarmed768 retaliation.
So small she looked, indeed, that certain of the young blades, who filed in to gaze upon her and filed out again, would not believe that she could have invented so large a French invasion, and for several days they futilely scouted769 the woods in search of some errant "parlez-vous," all of whom, however, were very discreetly tucked away within the strong defenses of Fort Toulouse.
The young gunner alone was implacable. He was the first of the returning force to reach Fort Prince George, and he carried with him all the powder that had been sent under mistake to the Blue Lick Station, together with the tear-shotted cartridges, whose problematic interior damage he explained to the amazed, chagrined770, and nonplussed771 commandant.
"Oh, sor," the gunner said in conclusion, solemnly shaking his head, "that gurl, sor!—she is a wily one! An' I should n't be surprised, sor, if she is a dale taller than she looks!"
The Blue Lick Station in time recovered its equilibrium, and was afterward prone to protest that of all frontier communities it bore the palm for the efficiency of its "linguister."
点击收听单词发音
1 ass | |
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人 | |
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2 quaintly | |
adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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3 dwindling | |
adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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4 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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5 stockade | |
n.栅栏,围栏;v.用栅栏防护 | |
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6 entangled | |
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7 lustrous | |
adj.有光泽的;光辉的 | |
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8 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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9 averred | |
v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 );证实;证明…属实;作为事实提出 | |
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10 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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11 loom | |
n.织布机,织机;v.隐现,(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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12 looming | |
n.上现蜃景(光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼)v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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13 musket | |
n.滑膛枪 | |
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14 crafty | |
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
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15 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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16 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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18 immunity | |
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权 | |
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19 tumult | |
n.喧哗;激动,混乱;吵闹 | |
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20 rife | |
adj.(指坏事情)充斥的,流行的,普遍的 | |
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21 stanch | |
v.止住(血等);adj.坚固的;坚定的 | |
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22 suspense | |
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑 | |
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23 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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24 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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25 archaic | |
adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的,已不通用的 | |
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26 sentimental | |
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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27 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
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28 sundry | |
adj.各式各样的,种种的 | |
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29 rammed | |
v.夯实(土等)( ram的过去式和过去分词 );猛撞;猛压;反复灌输 | |
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30 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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31 meditative | |
adj.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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32 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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33 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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34 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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35 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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36 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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37 lapse | |
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效 | |
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38 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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39 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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40 guise | |
n.外表,伪装的姿态 | |
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41 patriots | |
爱国者,爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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42 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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43 poke | |
n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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44 auxiliaries | |
n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 );辅助工,辅助人员 | |
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45 whoops | |
int.呼喊声 | |
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46 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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47 whit | |
n.一点,丝毫 | |
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48 flare | |
v.闪耀,闪烁;n.潮红;突发 | |
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49 lull | |
v.使安静,使入睡,缓和,哄骗;n.暂停,间歇 | |
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50 plied | |
v.使用(工具)( ply的过去式和过去分词 );经常供应(食物、饮料);固定往来;经营生意 | |
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51 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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52 groan | |
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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53 commotion | |
n.骚动,动乱 | |
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54 admonished | |
v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 );训诫;(温和地)责备;轻责 | |
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55 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
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56 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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57 omens | |
n.前兆,预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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58 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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59 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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60 appalled | |
v.使惊骇,使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的;丧胆的 | |
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61 shrieking | |
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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62 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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63 diligently | |
ad.industriously;carefully | |
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64 solitudes | |
n.独居( solitude的名词复数 );孤独;荒僻的地方;人迹罕至的地方 | |
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65 rheumatism | |
n.风湿病 | |
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66 precluded | |
v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 );排除;妨碍;使…行不通 | |
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67 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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68 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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69 prospects | |
n.希望,前途(恒为复数) | |
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70 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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71 enunciation | |
n.清晰的发音;表明,宣言;口齿 | |
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72 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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73 hesitation | |
n.犹豫,踌躇 | |
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74 cove | |
n.小海湾,小峡谷 | |
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75 disapproved | |
v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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77 stentorian | |
adj.大声的,响亮的 | |
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78 punctilious | |
adj.谨慎的,谨小慎微的 | |
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79 buckles | |
搭扣,扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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80 calves | |
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解 | |
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81 eyebrows | |
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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82 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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83 duel | |
n./v.决斗;(双方的)斗争 | |
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84 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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85 scant | |
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略 | |
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86 cant | |
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔 | |
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87 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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88 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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89 blandly | |
adv.温和地,殷勤地 | |
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90 bland | |
adj.淡而无味的,温和的,无刺激性的 | |
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91 embarrassment | |
n.尴尬;使人为难的人(事物);障碍;窘迫 | |
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92 suave | |
adj.温和的;柔和的;文雅的 | |
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93 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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94 aspire | |
vi.(to,after)渴望,追求,有志于 | |
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95 provincial | |
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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96 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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97 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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98 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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99 scrupled | |
v.感到于心不安,有顾忌( scruple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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101 precedent | |
n.先例,前例;惯例;adj.在前的,在先的 | |
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102 beguiling | |
adj.欺骗的,诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 );使陶醉;使高兴;消磨(时间等) | |
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103 pranks | |
n.玩笑,恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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104 discomfiture | |
n.崩溃;大败;挫败;困惑 | |
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105 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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106 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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107 myriad | |
adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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108 ambush | |
n.埋伏(地点);伏兵;v.埋伏;伏击 | |
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109 rifts | |
n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 );裂隙;分裂;不和 | |
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110 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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111 shimmering | |
v.闪闪发光,发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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112 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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113 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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114 denizens | |
n.居民,住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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115 denizen | |
n.居民,外籍居民 | |
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116 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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117 lookout | |
n.注意,前途,瞭望台 | |
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118 psalm | |
n.赞美诗,圣诗 | |
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119 fore | |
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部 | |
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120 drowsy | |
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的 | |
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121 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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122 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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123 timbre | |
n.音色,音质 | |
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124 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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125 scraps | |
油渣 | |
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126 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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127 dressing | |
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料 | |
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128 suavely | |
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129 bead | |
n.念珠;(pl.)珠子项链;水珠 | |
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130 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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131 autocrat | |
n.独裁者;专横的人 | |
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132 bout | |
n.侵袭,发作;一次(阵,回);拳击等比赛 | |
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133 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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134 evasion | |
n.逃避,偷漏(税) | |
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135 displeased | |
a.不快的 | |
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136 temporizing | |
v.敷衍( temporize的现在分词 );拖延;顺应时势;暂时同意 | |
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137 elusive | |
adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的 | |
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138 elusiveness | |
狡诈 | |
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139 thwart | |
v.阻挠,妨碍,反对;adj.横(断的) | |
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140 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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141 adder | |
n.蝰蛇;小毒蛇 | |
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142 quirks | |
n.奇事,巧合( quirk的名词复数 );怪癖 | |
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143 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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144 diplomacy | |
n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕 | |
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145 reassured | |
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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146 betrothed | |
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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147 trot | |
n.疾走,慢跑;n.老太婆;现成译本;(复数)trots:腹泻(与the 连用);v.小跑,快步走,赶紧 | |
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148 sojourn | |
v./n.旅居,寄居;逗留 | |
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149 sojourner | |
n.旅居者,寄居者 | |
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150 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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151 consigned | |
v.把…置于(令人不快的境地)( consign的过去式和过去分词 );把…托付给;把…托人代售;丟弃 | |
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152 domes | |
n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 );像圆屋顶一样的东西;圆顶体育场 | |
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153 functionary | |
n.官员;公职人员 | |
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154 temperament | |
n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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155 averse | |
adj.厌恶的;反对的,不乐意的 | |
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156 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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157 utilize | |
vt.使用,利用 | |
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158 utilized | |
v.利用,使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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159 covert | |
adj.隐藏的;暗地里的 | |
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160 pompous | |
adj.傲慢的,自大的;夸大的;豪华的 | |
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161 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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162 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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163 burnishing | |
n.磨光,抛光,擦亮v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的现在分词 );被擦亮,磨光 | |
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164 starch | |
n.淀粉;vt.给...上浆 | |
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165 ruffles | |
褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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166 incongruity | |
n.不协调,不一致 | |
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167 enchanted | |
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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168 incited | |
刺激,激励,煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169 prodigies | |
n.奇才,天才(尤指神童)( prodigy的名词复数 ) | |
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170 narration | |
n.讲述,叙述;故事;记叙体 | |
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171 glamour | |
n.魔力,魅力;vt.迷住 | |
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172 prelude | |
n.序言,前兆,序曲 | |
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173 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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174 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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175 numb | |
adj.麻木的,失去感觉的;v.使麻木 | |
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176 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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177 fend | |
v.照料(自己),(自己)谋生,挡开,避开 | |
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178 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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179 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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180 coveted | |
adj.令人垂涎的;垂涎的,梦寐以求的v.贪求,觊觎(covet的过去分词);垂涎;贪图 | |
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181 feigned | |
a.假装的,不真诚的 | |
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182 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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183 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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184 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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185 joyful | |
adj.欢乐的,令人欢欣的 | |
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186 rigid | |
adj.严格的,死板的;刚硬的,僵硬的 | |
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187 pensive | |
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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188 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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189 prehistoric | |
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的 | |
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190 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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191 needy | |
adj.贫穷的,贫困的,生活艰苦的 | |
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192 wrangle | |
vi.争吵 | |
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193 tribal | |
adj.部族的,种族的 | |
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194 slay | |
v.杀死,宰杀,杀戮 | |
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195 encroachment | |
n.侵入,蚕食 | |
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196 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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197 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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198 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
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199 tenure | |
n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期 | |
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200 internecine | |
adj.两败俱伤的 | |
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201 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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202 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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203 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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204 prudish | |
adj.装淑女样子的,装规矩的,过分规矩的;adv.过分拘谨地 | |
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205 effrontery | |
n.厚颜无耻 | |
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206 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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207 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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208 halfway | |
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途 | |
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209 maples | |
槭树,枫树( maple的名词复数 ); 槭木 | |
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210 garb | |
n.服装,装束 | |
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211 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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212 azure | |
adj.天蓝色的,蔚蓝色的 | |
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213 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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214 tapers | |
(长形物体的)逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 ); 微弱的光; 极细的蜡烛 | |
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215 evergreen | |
n.常青树;adj.四季常青的 | |
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216 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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217 kindling | |
n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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218 myriads | |
n.无数,极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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219 ranches | |
大农场, (兼种果树,养鸡等的)大牧场( ranch的名词复数 ) | |
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220 ranch | |
n.大牧场,大农场 | |
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221 oratorio | |
n.神剧,宗教剧,清唱剧 | |
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222 resound | |
v.回响 | |
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223 resounded | |
v.(指声音等)回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 );产生回响;(指某处)回荡着声音 | |
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224 indented | |
adj.锯齿状的,高低不平的;缩进排版 | |
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225 torrent | |
n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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226 cataract | |
n.大瀑布,奔流,洪水,白内障 | |
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227 paeans | |
n.赞歌,凯歌( paean的名词复数 ) | |
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228 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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229 hoof | |
n.(马,牛等的)蹄 | |
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230 acoustic | |
adj.听觉的,声音的;(乐器)原声的 | |
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231 tenuous | |
adj.细薄的,稀薄的,空洞的 | |
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232 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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233 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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234 evoked | |
[医]诱发的 | |
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235 throb | |
v.震颤,颤动;(急速强烈地)跳动,搏动 | |
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236 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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237 enigma | |
n.谜,谜一样的人或事 | |
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238 predilection | |
n.偏好 | |
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239 predilections | |
n.偏爱,偏好,嗜好( predilection的名词复数 ) | |
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240 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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241 ascetic | |
adj.禁欲的;严肃的 | |
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242 persuasion | |
n.劝说;说服;持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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243 persuasions | |
n.劝说,说服(力)( persuasion的名词复数 );信仰 | |
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244 sanity | |
n.心智健全,神智正常,判断正确 | |
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245 fiddle | |
n.小提琴;vi.拉提琴;不停拨弄,乱动 | |
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246 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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247 chestnuts | |
n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 );栗色;栗树;栗色马 | |
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248 jovial | |
adj.快乐的,好交际的 | |
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249 sincerity | |
n.真诚,诚意;真实 | |
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250 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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251 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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252 contravene | |
v.违反,违背,反驳,反对 | |
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253 salvation | |
n.(尤指基督)救世,超度,拯救,解困 | |
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254 reins | |
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带 | |
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255 addicted | |
adj.沉溺于....的,对...上瘾的 | |
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256 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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257 purgatory | |
n.炼狱;苦难;adj.净化的,清洗的 | |
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258 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
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259 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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260 outstripping | |
v.做得比…更好,(在赛跑等中)超过( outstrip的现在分词 ) | |
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261 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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262 cedar | |
n.雪松,香柏(木) | |
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263 ledges | |
n.(墙壁,悬崖等)突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 );(平窄的)壁架;横档;(尤指)窗台 | |
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264 verdant | |
adj.翠绿的,青翠的,生疏的,不老练的 | |
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265 furtive | |
adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的 | |
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266 supple | |
adj.柔软的,易弯的,逢迎的,顺从的,灵活的;vt.使柔软,使柔顺,使顺从;vi.变柔软,变柔顺 | |
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267 instinctive | |
adj.(出于)本能的;直觉的;(出于)天性的 | |
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268 pelt | |
v.投掷,剥皮,抨击,开火 | |
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269 glossy | |
adj.平滑的;有光泽的 | |
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270 renewal | |
adj.(契约)延期,续订,更新,复活,重来 | |
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271 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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272 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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273 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
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274 jugular | |
n.颈静脉 | |
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275 vouchsafed | |
v.给予,赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 );允诺 | |
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276 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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277 dilated | |
adj.加宽的,扩大的v.(使某物)扩大,膨胀,张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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278 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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279 puffs | |
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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280 swerved | |
v.(使)改变方向,改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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281 thicket | |
n.灌木丛,树林 | |
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282 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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283 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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284 bellow | |
v.吼叫,怒吼;大声发出,大声喝道 | |
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285 frantically | |
ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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286 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
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287 galloping | |
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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288 cavalcade | |
n.车队等的行列 | |
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289 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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290 miscreant | |
n.恶棍 | |
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291 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
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292 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
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293 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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294 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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295 obliteration | |
n.涂去,删除;管腔闭合 | |
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296 unfamiliar | |
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的 | |
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297 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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298 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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299 bridles | |
约束( bridle的名词复数 ); 限动器; 马笼头; 系带 | |
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300 sequestered | |
adj.扣押的;隐退的;幽静的;偏僻的v.使隔绝,使隔离( sequester的过去式和过去分词 );扣押 | |
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301 transit | |
n.经过,运输;vt.穿越,旋转;vi.越过 | |
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302 wan | |
(wide area network)广域网 | |
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303 conundrum | |
n.谜语;难题 | |
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304 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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305 sparse | |
adj.稀疏的,稀稀落落的,薄的 | |
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306 zephyr | |
n.和风,微风 | |
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307 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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308 loath | |
adj.不愿意的;勉强的 | |
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309 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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310 scintillated | |
v.(言谈举止中)焕发才智( scintillate的过去式和过去分词 );谈笑洒脱;闪耀;闪烁 | |
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311 kindled | |
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光 | |
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312 aglow | |
adj.发亮的;发红的;adv.发亮地 | |
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313 jeopardy | |
n.危险;危难 | |
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314 upbraid | |
v.斥责,责骂,责备 | |
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315 gateway | |
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法 | |
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316 lithe | |
adj.(指人、身体)柔软的,易弯的 | |
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317 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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318 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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319 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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320 misty | |
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的 | |
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321 hearths | |
壁炉前的地板,炉床,壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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322 slant | |
v.倾斜,倾向性地编写或报道;n.斜面,倾向 | |
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323 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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324 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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325 hood | |
n.头巾,兜帽,覆盖;v.罩上,以头巾覆盖 | |
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326 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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327 metropolitan | |
adj.大城市的,大都会的 | |
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328 bass | |
n.男低音(歌手);低音乐器;低音大提琴 | |
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329 gad | |
n.闲逛;v.闲逛 | |
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330 kernel | |
n.(果实的)核,仁;(问题)的中心,核心 | |
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331 kernels | |
谷粒( kernel的名词复数 ); 仁; 核; 要点 | |
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332 amend | |
vt.修改,修订,改进;n.[pl.]赔罪,赔偿 | |
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333 jaunt | |
v.短程旅游;n.游览 | |
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334 jaunty | |
adj.愉快的,满足的;adv.心满意足地,洋洋得意地;n.心满意足;洋洋得意 | |
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335 splendors | |
n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 );壮丽;光辉;显赫 | |
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336 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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337 pate | |
n.头顶;光顶 | |
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338 untoward | |
adj.不利的,不幸的,困难重重的 | |
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339 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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340 seizure | |
n.没收;占有;抵押 | |
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341 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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342 obeisance | |
n.鞠躬,敬礼 | |
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343 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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344 ravening | |
a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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345 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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346 interdiction | |
n.禁止;封锁 | |
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347 reactionary | |
n.反动者,反动主义者;adj.反动的,反动主义的,反对改革的 | |
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348 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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349 disastrous | |
adj.灾难性的,造成灾害的;极坏的,很糟的 | |
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350 belligerent | |
adj.好战的,挑起战争的;n.交战国,交战者 | |
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351 blistered | |
adj.水疮状的,泡状的v.(使)起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 );(使表皮等)涨破,爆裂 | |
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352 desolated | |
adj.荒凉的,荒废的 | |
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353 chuckle | |
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑 | |
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354 abrupt | |
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的 | |
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355 clatter | |
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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356 culminated | |
v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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357 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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358 hegira | |
n.逃亡 | |
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359 suavity | |
n.温和;殷勤 | |
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360 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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361 taunt | |
n.辱骂,嘲弄;v.嘲弄 | |
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362 sage | |
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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363 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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364 derisively | |
adv. 嘲笑地,嘲弄地 | |
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365 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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366 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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367 vocations | |
n.(认为特别适合自己的)职业( vocation的名词复数 );使命;神召;(认为某种工作或生活方式特别适合自己的)信心 | |
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368 altruistic | |
adj.无私的,为他人着想的 | |
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369 placidity | |
n.平静,安静,温和 | |
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370 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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371 nostalgia | |
n.怀乡病,留恋过去,怀旧 | |
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372 relinquishment | |
n.放弃;撤回;停止 | |
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373 uncouth | |
adj.无教养的,粗鲁的 | |
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374 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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375 joviality | |
n.快活 | |
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376 flicker | |
vi./n.闪烁,摇曳,闪现 | |
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377 tinted | |
adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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378 whitewash | |
v.粉刷,掩饰;n.石灰水,粉刷,掩饰 | |
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379 quacking | |
v.(鸭子)发出嘎嘎声( quack的现在分词 ) | |
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380 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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381 savagery | |
n.野性 | |
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382 distressing | |
a.使人痛苦的 | |
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383 poultry | |
n.家禽,禽肉 | |
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384 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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385 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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386 knotty | |
adj.有结的,多节的,多瘤的,棘手的 | |
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387 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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388 loquacity | |
n.多话,饶舌 | |
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389 plantation | |
n.种植园,大农场 | |
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390 demur | |
v.表示异议,反对 | |
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391 meekness | |
n.温顺,柔和 | |
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392 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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393 refreshment | |
n.恢复,精神爽快,提神之事物;(复数)refreshments:点心,茶点 | |
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394 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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395 burnished | |
adj.抛光的,光亮的v.擦亮(金属等),磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 );被擦亮,磨光 | |
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396 awry | |
adj.扭曲的,错的 | |
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397 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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398 lessen | |
vt.减少,减轻;缩小 | |
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399 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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400 garrisoned | |
卫戍部队守备( garrison的过去式和过去分词 ); 派部队驻防 | |
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401 pebble | |
n.卵石,小圆石 | |
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402 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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403 swarmed | |
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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404 detested | |
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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405 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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406 remonstrate | |
v.抗议,规劝 | |
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407 epicure | |
n.行家,美食家 | |
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408 scrambling | |
v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞 | |
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409 annulled | |
v.宣告无效( annul的过去式和过去分词 );取消;使消失;抹去 | |
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410 constituent | |
n.选民;成分,组分;adj.组成的,构成的 | |
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411 doting | |
adj.溺爱的,宠爱的 | |
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412 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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413 leniency | |
n.宽大(不严厉) | |
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414 accurately | |
adv.准确地,精确地 | |
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415 discriminating | |
a.有辨别能力的 | |
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416 futile | |
adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的 | |
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417 futilely | |
futile(无用的)的变形; 干 | |
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418 sobbing | |
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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419 sobbingly | |
啜泣地,呜咽地,抽抽噎噎地 | |
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420 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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421 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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422 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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423 attuned | |
v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 );调音 | |
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424 resonance | |
n.洪亮;共鸣;共振 | |
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425 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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426 circumlocution | |
n. 绕圈子的话,迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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427 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
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428 irrelevantly | |
adv.不恰当地,不合适地;不相关地 | |
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429 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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430 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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431 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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432 devious | |
adj.不坦率的,狡猾的;迂回的,曲折的 | |
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433 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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434 immutable | |
adj.不可改变的,永恒的 | |
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435 abiding | |
adj.永久的,持久的,不变的 | |
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436 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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437 mitigate | |
vt.(使)减轻,(使)缓和 | |
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438 arrogated | |
v.冒称,妄取( arrogate的过去式和过去分词 );没来由地把…归属(于) | |
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439 vacillation | |
n.动摇;忧柔寡断 | |
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440 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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441 pegs | |
n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 );挂钉;系帐篷的桩;弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 );使固定在某水平 | |
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442 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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443 antagonism | |
n.对抗,敌对,对立 | |
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444 fetters | |
n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 );束缚v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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445 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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446 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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447 sprawling | |
adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) | |
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448 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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449 bevy | |
n.一群 | |
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450 chubby | |
adj.丰满的,圆胖的 | |
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451 flip | |
vt.快速翻动;轻抛;轻拍;n.轻抛;adj.轻浮的 | |
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452 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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453 acoustics | |
n.声学,(复)音响效果,音响装置 | |
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454 vibrations | |
n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 );震动;感受;(偏离平衡位置的)一次性往复振动 | |
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455 indigenous | |
adj.土产的,土生土长的,本地的 | |
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456 isolation | |
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
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457 jauntiness | |
n.心满意足;洋洋得意;高兴;活泼 | |
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458 nomination | |
n.提名,任命,提名权 | |
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459 retaliation | |
n.报复,反击 | |
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460 atrocity | |
n.残暴,暴行 | |
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461 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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462 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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463 forfeit | |
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物 | |
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464 insistently | |
ad.坚持地 | |
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465 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
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466 apprehend | |
vt.理解,领悟,逮捕,拘捕,忧虑 | |
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467 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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468 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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469 gusty | |
adj.起大风的 | |
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470 slanting | |
倾斜的,歪斜的 | |
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471 obliterated | |
v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 );涂去;擦掉;彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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472 encompassing | |
v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 );包围;包含;包括 | |
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473 loomed | |
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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474 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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475 uprooted | |
v.把(某物)连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 );根除;赶走;把…赶出家园 | |
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476 gusts | |
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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477 miraculously | |
ad.奇迹般地 | |
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478 accredited | |
adj.可接受的;可信任的;公认的;质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 );委托;委任;把…归结于 | |
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479 pettish | |
adj.易怒的,使性子的 | |
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480 fume | |
n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟,气,汽 | |
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481 aberrations | |
n.偏差( aberration的名词复数 );差错;脱离常规;心理失常 | |
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482 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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483 precipitately | |
adv.猛进地 | |
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484 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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485 weavers | |
织工,编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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486 petrified | |
adj.惊呆的;目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆,使惊呆;变僵硬;使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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487 thumping | |
adj.重大的,巨大的;重击的;尺码大的;极好的adv.极端地;非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词);狠打;怦怦地跳;全力支持 | |
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488 perennial | |
adj.终年的;长久的 | |
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489 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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490 fortitude | |
n.坚忍不拔;刚毅 | |
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491 desecration | |
n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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492 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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493 aspiration | |
n.志向,志趣抱负;渴望;(语)送气音;吸出 | |
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494 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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495 poise | |
vt./vi. 平衡,保持平衡;n.泰然自若,自信 | |
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496 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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497 wreak | |
v.发泄;报复 | |
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498 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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499 dolt | |
n.傻瓜 | |
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500 scrutinized | |
v.仔细检查,详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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501 wincing | |
赶紧避开,畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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502 resounding | |
adj. 响亮的 | |
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503 whack | |
v.敲击,重打,瓜分;n.重击,重打,尝试,一份 | |
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504 apprehensively | |
adv.担心地 | |
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505 discreetly | |
ad.(言行)审慎地,慎重地 | |
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506 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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507 dilemma | |
n.困境,进退两难的局面 | |
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508 smitten | |
猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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509 churl | |
n.吝啬之人;粗鄙之人 | |
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510 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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511 prone | |
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的 | |
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|
512 discomfort | |
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便 | |
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513 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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514 relegation | |
n.驱逐,贬黜;降级 | |
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515 withdrawal | |
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销 | |
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516 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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517 canvassed | |
v.(在政治方面)游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 );调查(如选举前选民的)意见;为讨论而提出(意见等);详细检查 | |
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518 bombast | |
n.高调,夸大之辞 | |
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519 temerity | |
n.鲁莽,冒失 | |
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520 crescendo | |
n.(音乐)渐强,高潮 | |
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521 carnation | |
n.康乃馨(一种花) | |
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522 primrose | |
n.樱草,最佳部分, | |
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523 opportune | |
adj.合适的,适当的 | |
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524 assorted | |
adj.各种各样的,各色俱备的 | |
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525 sprightly | |
adj.愉快的,活泼的 | |
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526 nag | |
v.(对…)不停地唠叨;n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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527 edible | |
n.食品,食物;adj.可食用的 | |
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528 inclement | |
adj.严酷的,严厉的,恶劣的 | |
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|
529 caravan | |
n.大蓬车;活动房屋 | |
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530 sojourns | |
n.逗留,旅居( sojourn的名词复数 ) | |
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|
531 undertakings | |
企业( undertaking的名词复数 ); 保证; 殡仪业; 任务 | |
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532 heeded | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 );变平,使(某物)变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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533 sip | |
v.小口地喝,抿,呷;n.一小口的量 | |
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534 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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535 prosaic | |
adj.单调的,无趣的 | |
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536 tints | |
色彩( tint的名词复数 ); 带白的颜色; (淡色)染发剂; 痕迹 | |
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537 equilibrium | |
n.平衡,均衡,相称,均势,平静 | |
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538 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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539 languished | |
长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 ); 受折磨; 变得(越来越)衰弱; 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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540 refinement | |
n.文雅;高尚;精美;精制;精炼 | |
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|
541 bucolic | |
adj.乡村的;牧羊的 | |
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542 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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543 eminently | |
adv.突出地;显著地;不寻常地 | |
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544 fervent | |
adj.热的,热烈的,热情的 | |
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545 well-being | |
n.安康,安乐,幸福 | |
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546 fawn | |
n.未满周岁的小鹿;v.巴结,奉承 | |
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547 prudently | |
adv. 谨慎地,慎重地 | |
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548 brindled | |
adj.有斑纹的 | |
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549 calf | |
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮 | |
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550 bleating | |
v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的现在分词 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说 | |
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551 resonant | |
adj.(声音)洪亮的,共鸣的 | |
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552 harassed | |
adj. 疲倦的,厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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553 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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554 inanity | |
n.无意义,无聊 | |
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555 tangling | |
(使)缠结, (使)乱作一团( tangle的现在分词 ) | |
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556 bleats | |
v.(羊,小牛)叫( bleat的第三人称单数 );哭诉;发出羊叫似的声音;轻声诉说 | |
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557 symposium | |
n.讨论会,专题报告会;专题论文集 | |
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558 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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559 configuration | |
n.结构,布局,形态,(计算机)配置 | |
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560 amethystine | |
adj.紫水晶质的,紫色的;紫晶 | |
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561 apotheosis | |
n.神圣之理想;美化;颂扬 | |
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562 contravened | |
v.取消,违反( contravene的过去式 ) | |
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563 wrangled | |
v.争吵,争论,口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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564 landmarks | |
n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 );目标;(标志重要阶段的)里程碑 ~ (in sth);有历史意义的建筑物(或遗址) | |
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565 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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566 savannas | |
n.(美国东南部的)无树平原( savanna的名词复数 );(亚)热带的稀树大草原 | |
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567 glimmer | |
v.发出闪烁的微光;n.微光,微弱的闪光 | |
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568 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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569 flaring | |
a.火焰摇曳的,过份艳丽的 | |
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570 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
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571 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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572 garnished | |
v.给(上餐桌的食物)加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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573 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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574 sedulously | |
ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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575 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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576 morbid | |
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的 | |
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577 superintendent | |
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长 | |
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578 proffered | |
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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579 tipple | |
n.常喝的酒;v.不断喝,饮烈酒 | |
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580 egregious | |
adj.非常的,过分的 | |
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581 mortification | |
n.耻辱,屈辱 | |
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582 distressed | |
痛苦的 | |
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583 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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584 prominence | |
n.突出;显著;杰出;重要 | |
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585 yelp | |
vi.狗吠 | |
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586 shrieks | |
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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587 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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588 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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589 medley | |
n.混合 | |
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590 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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591 countenances | |
n.面容( countenance的名词复数 );表情;镇静;道义支持 | |
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592 fangs | |
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座 | |
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593 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
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594 discriminated | |
分别,辨别,区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 ); 歧视,有差别地对待 | |
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595 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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596 meditatively | |
adv.冥想地 | |
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597 affiliations | |
n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 );附属机构;亲和性;接纳 | |
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598 broaching | |
n.拉削;推削;铰孔;扩孔v.谈起( broach的现在分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体 | |
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599 subdue | |
vt.制服,使顺从,征服;抑制,克制 | |
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600 devout | |
adj.虔诚的,虔敬的,衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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|
601 bellicose | |
adj.好战的;好争吵的 | |
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602 bovine | |
adj.牛的;n.牛 | |
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603 obduracy | |
n.冷酷无情,顽固,执拗 | |
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604 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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605 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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606 nefarious | |
adj.恶毒的,极坏的 | |
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|
607 intensified | |
v.(使)增强, (使)加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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608 muzzles | |
枪口( muzzle的名词复数 ); (防止动物咬人的)口套; (四足动物的)鼻口部; (狗)等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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609 bristles | |
短而硬的毛发,刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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610 truculent | |
adj.野蛮的,粗野的 | |
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611 emphatic | |
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的 | |
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612 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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613 brawny | |
adj.强壮的 | |
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|
614 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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615 extenuation | |
n.减轻罪孽的借口;酌情减轻;细 | |
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|
616 conciliation | |
n.调解,调停 | |
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617 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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618 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
参考例句: |
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|
619 embroiled | |
adj.卷入的;纠缠不清的 | |
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620 sullenly | |
不高兴地,绷着脸,忧郁地 | |
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621 woes | |
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉 | |
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622 meddled | |
v.干涉,干预(他人事务)( meddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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623 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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624 affinity | |
n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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625 candor | |
n.坦白,率真 | |
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626 recoil | |
vi.退却,退缩,畏缩 | |
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627 sedate | |
adj.沉着的,镇静的,安静的 | |
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628 taunting | |
嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 ); 嘲弄; 辱骂; 奚落 | |
参考例句: |
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|
629 grudge | |
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做 | |
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|
630 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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631 offense | |
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪 | |
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632 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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633 raze | |
vt.铲平,把(城市、房屋等)夷为平地,拆毁 | |
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634 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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635 contortions | |
n.扭歪,弯曲;扭曲,弄歪,歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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636 stark | |
adj.荒凉的;严酷的;完全的;adv.完全地 | |
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637 razed | |
v.彻底摧毁,将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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638 statistically | |
ad.根据统计数据来看,从统计学的观点来看 | |
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639 influx | |
n.流入,注入 | |
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640 bellowed | |
v.发出吼叫声,咆哮(尤指因痛苦)( bellow的过去式和过去分词 );(愤怒地)说出(某事),大叫 | |
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641 assailed | |
v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
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642 mightily | |
ad.强烈地;非常地 | |
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643 primal | |
adj.原始的;最重要的 | |
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644 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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645 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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646 herded | |
群集,纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 ); 放牧; (使)向…移动 | |
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647 tilt | |
v.(使)倾侧;(使)倾斜;n.倾侧;倾斜 | |
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648 esteemed | |
adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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649 hostilities | |
n.战争;敌意(hostility的复数);敌对状态;战事 | |
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650 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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651 isolated | |
adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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652 garrisons | |
守备部队,卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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653 rumor | |
n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
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654 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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655 cosy | |
adj.温暖而舒适的,安逸的 | |
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656 elusively | |
adv.巧妙逃避地,易忘记地 | |
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657 jingle | |
n.叮当声,韵律简单的诗句;v.使叮当作响,叮当响,押韵 | |
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658 consonant | |
n.辅音;adj.[音]符合的 | |
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659 permeated | |
弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 ); 遍布; 渗入; 渗透 | |
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660 marsh | |
n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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661 imbued | |
v.使(某人/某事)充满或激起(感情等)( imbue的过去式和过去分词 );使充满;灌输;激发(强烈感情或品质等) | |
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662 realization | |
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
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663 imperative | |
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的 | |
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664 professed | |
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的 | |
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665 doughty | |
adj.勇猛的,坚强的 | |
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666 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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667 phantom | |
n.幻影,虚位,幽灵;adj.错觉的,幻影的,幽灵的 | |
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668 volition | |
n.意志;决意 | |
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669 wrested | |
(用力)拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 ); 费力取得; (从…)攫取; ( 从… ) 强行取去… | |
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670 peremptory | |
adj.紧急的,专横的,断然的 | |
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671 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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672 acceleration | |
n.加速,加速度 | |
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673 buffets | |
(火车站的)饮食柜台( buffet的名词复数 ); (火车的)餐车; 自助餐 | |
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674 drenched | |
adj.湿透的;充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 );在某人(某物)上大量使用(某液体) | |
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675 momentary | |
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的 | |
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676 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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677 bluffness | |
率直,坦率,直峭 | |
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678 strapped | |
adj.用皮带捆住的,用皮带装饰的;身无分文的;缺钱;手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词);用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带 | |
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679 dreaded | |
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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680 glimmers | |
n.微光,闪光( glimmer的名词复数 )v.发闪光,发微光( glimmer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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681 sentry | |
n.哨兵,警卫 | |
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682 suffusing | |
v.(指颜色、水气等)弥漫于,布满( suffuse的现在分词 ) | |
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683 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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684 adroit | |
adj.熟练的,灵巧的 | |
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685 sergeant | |
n.警官,中士 | |
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686 havoc | |
n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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687 saluted | |
v.欢迎,致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 );赞扬,赞颂 | |
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688 circumspectly | |
adv.慎重地,留心地 | |
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689 discomfited | |
v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词);使狼狈;使挫折;挫败 | |
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690 dwindled | |
v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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691 complement | |
n.补足物,船上的定员;补语;vt.补充,补足 | |
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692 reassuring | |
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的 | |
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693 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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694 sonorously | |
adv.圆润低沉地;感人地;堂皇地;朗朗地 | |
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695 remorseful | |
adj.悔恨的 | |
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696 edifying | |
adj.有教训意味的,教训性的,有益的v.开导,启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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697 incongruities | |
n.不协调( incongruity的名词复数 );不一致;不适合;不协调的东西 | |
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698 snare | |
n.陷阱,诱惑,圈套;(去除息肉或者肿瘤的)勒除器;响弦,小军鼓;vt.以陷阱捕获,诱惑 | |
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699 discursive | |
adj.离题的,无层次的 | |
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700 feud | |
n.长期不和;世仇;v.长期争斗;世代结仇 | |
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701 latitude | |
n.纬度,行动或言论的自由(范围),(pl.)地区 | |
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702 dubiously | |
adv.可疑地,怀疑地 | |
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703 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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704 elicit | |
v.引出,抽出,引起 | |
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705 retailing | |
n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词) | |
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706 scouting | |
守候活动,童子军的活动 | |
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|
707 gunpowder | |
n.火药 | |
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708 prospective | |
adj.预期的,未来的,前瞻性的 | |
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709 succor | |
n.援助,帮助;v.给予帮助 | |
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710 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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711 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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712 runaway | |
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的 | |
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713 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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714 inane | |
adj.空虚的,愚蠢的,空洞的 | |
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715 droll | |
adj.古怪的,好笑的 | |
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716 intonation | |
n.语调,声调;发声 | |
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717 meditated | |
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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718 antagonisms | |
对抗,敌对( antagonism的名词复数 ) | |
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719 malicious | |
adj.有恶意的,心怀恶意的 | |
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720 propensities | |
n.倾向,习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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721 reciprocated | |
v.报答,酬答( reciprocate的过去式和过去分词 );(机器的部件)直线往复运动 | |
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722 acrid | |
adj.辛辣的,尖刻的,刻薄的 | |
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723 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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724 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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725 maternal | |
adj.母亲的,母亲般的,母系的,母方的 | |
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726 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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727 cartridge | |
n.弹壳,弹药筒;(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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728 rattling | |
adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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729 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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730 whitewashed | |
粉饰,美化,掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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731 lighting | |
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
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732 flannel | |
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服 | |
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733 cartridges | |
子弹( cartridge的名词复数 ); (打印机的)墨盒; 录音带盒; (唱机的)唱头 | |
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734 solicitude | |
n.焦虑 | |
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735 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
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736 cylinder | |
n.圆筒,柱(面),汽缸 | |
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737 baste | |
v.殴打,公开责骂 | |
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738 chary | |
adj.谨慎的,细心的 | |
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739 snipping | |
n.碎片v.剪( snip的现在分词 ) | |
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740 woolen | |
adj.羊毛(制)的;毛纺的 | |
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741 yarn | |
n.纱,纱线,纺线;奇闻漫谈,旅行轶事 | |
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742 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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743 deployed | |
(尤指军事行动)使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 ); 施展; 部署; 有效地利用 | |
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744 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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745 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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746 innuendoes | |
n.影射的话( innuendo的名词复数 );讽刺的话;含沙射影;暗讽 | |
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|
747 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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|
748 bluster | |
v.猛刮;怒冲冲的说;n.吓唬,怒号;狂风声 | |
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749 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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750 blenched | |
v.(因惊吓而)退缩,惊悸( blench的过去式和过去分词 );(使)变白,(使)变苍白 | |
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751 patriotism | |
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
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752 valor | |
n.勇气,英勇 | |
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753 expended | |
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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754 disperse | |
vi.使分散;使消失;vt.分散;驱散 | |
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755 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
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756 repent | |
v.悔悟,悔改,忏悔,后悔 | |
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757 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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758 conscientious | |
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的 | |
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759 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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760 wield | |
vt.行使,运用,支配;挥,使用(武器等) | |
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761 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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762 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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763 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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764 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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765 disturbance | |
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调 | |
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766 grievance | |
n.怨愤,气恼,委屈 | |
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767 invalid | |
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的 | |
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768 disarmed | |
v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 );使息怒 | |
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769 scouted | |
寻找,侦察( scout的过去式和过去分词 ); 物色(优秀运动员、演员、音乐家等) | |
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770 chagrined | |
adj.懊恼的,苦恼的v.使懊恼,使懊丧,使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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771 nonplussed | |
adj.不知所措的,陷于窘境的v.使迷惑( nonplus的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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