"Put yer clobber1 under yer bolster2, likewise yer boots," was the last instruction of his new friend and "father."
There had been a bath—or something equally cleansing—in a pail near a fire where ragged3 but agreeable people were cooking herrings, sausages, and other delicacies4 on little gridirons or pans that they unrolled from the strange bundles that were their luggage. One man who had no gridiron cooked a piece of steak on the kitchen tongs5. Dickie thought him very clever. A very fat woman asked Dickie to toast a herring for her on a bit of wood; and when he had done it she gave him two green apples.
He laid in bed and heard jolly voices talking and singing in the kitchen below. And he thought how pleasant it was to be a tramp, and what jolly fellows the tramps were; for it seemed that all these nice people were "on the[32] road," and this place where the kitchen was, and the good company and the clean bed for fourpence, was a Tramps' Hotel—one of many that are scattered6 over the country and called "Common Lodging-Houses."
The singing and laughing went on long after he had fallen asleep, and if, later in the evening, there were loud-voiced arguments, or quarrels even, Dickie did not hear them.
Next morning, quite early, they took the road. From some mysterious source Mr. Beale had obtained an old double perambulator, which must have been made, Dickie thought, for very fat twins, it was so broad and roomy. Artfully piled on the front part was all the furniture needed by travellers who mean to sleep every night at the Inn of the Silver Moon. (That is the inn where they have the beds with the green curtains.)
"What's all that there?" Dickie asked, pointing to the odd knobbly bundles of all sorts and shapes tied on to the perambulator's front.
"All our truck what we'll want on the road," said Beale.
"And that pillowy bundle on the seat."
"That's our clothes. I've bought you a little jacket to put on o' nights if it's cold or wet. An' when you want a lift—why, here's your carriage, and you can sit up 'ere and ride like the Lord Mayor, and I'll be yer horse; the[33] bundles'll set on yer knee like a fat babby. Tell yer what, mate—looks to me as if I'd took a fancy to you."
"I 'ave to you, I know that," said Dickie, settling his crutch7 firmly and putting his hand into Mr. Beale's. Mr. Beale looked down at the touch.
"Swelp me!" he said helplessly. Then, "Does it hurt you—walking?"
"Not like it did 'fore8 I went to the orspittle. They said I'd be able to walk to rights if I wore that there beastly boot. But that 'urts worsen anythink."
"Well," said Mr. Beale, "you sing out when you get tired and I'll give yer a ride."
"Oh, look," said Dickie—"the flowers!"
"They're only weeds," said Beale. They were, in fact, convolvuluses, little pink ones with their tendrils and leaves laid flat to the dry earth by the wayside, and in a water-meadow below the road level big white ones twining among thick-growing osiers and willows9.
Dickie filled his hands with the pink ones, and Mr. Beale let him.
"They'll die directly," he said.
"But I shall have them while they're alive," said Dickie, as he had said to the pawnbroker10 about the moonflowers.
It was a wonderful day. All the country sights and sounds, that you hardly notice because[34] you have known them every year as long as you can remember, were wonderful magic to the little boy from Deptford. The green hedge, the cows looking over them; the tinkle11 of sheep-bells; the "baa" of the sheep; the black pigs in a sty close to the road, their breathless rooting and grunting12 and the shiny, blackleaded cylinders13 that were their bodies; the stubbly fields where barley14 stood in sheaves—real barley, like the people next door but three gave to their hens; the woodland shadows and the lights of sudden water; shoulders of brown upland pressed against the open sky; the shrill15 thrill of the skylark's song, "like canary birds got loose"; the splendor17 of distance—you never see distance in Deptford; the magpie18 that perched on a stump19 and cocked a bright eye at the travellers; the thing that rustled21 a long length through dead leaves in a beech22 coppice, and was, it appeared, a real live snake—all these made the journey a royal progress to Dickie of Deptford. He forgot that he was lame23, forgot that he had run away—a fact that had cost him a twinge or two of fear or conscience earlier in the morning. He was happy as a prince is happy, new-come to his inheritance, and it was Mr. Beale, after all, who was the first to remember that there was a carriage in which a tired little boy might ride.
"In you gets," he said suddenly; "you'll be[35] fair knocked. You can look about you just as well a-sittin' down," he added, laying the crutch across the front of the perambulator. "Never see such a nipper for noticing, neither. Hi! there goes a rabbit. See 'im? Crost the road there? See him?"
Dickie saw, and the crown was set on his happiness. A rabbit. Like the ones that his fancy had put in the mouldering24 hutch at home.
"It's got loose," said Dickie, trying to scramble25 out of the perambulator; "let's catch 'im and take 'im along."
"'E ain't loose—'e's wild," Mr. Beale explained; "'e ain't never bin26 caught. Lives out 'ere with 'is little friendses," he added after a violent effort of imagination—"in 'oles in the ground. Gets 'is own meals and larks27 about on 'is own."
"How beautiful!" said Dickie, wriggling28 with delight. This life of the rabbit, as described by Mr. Beale, was the child's first glimpse of freedom. "I'd like to be a rabbit."
"You much better be my little nipper," said Beale. "Steady on, mate. 'Ow'm I to wheel the bloomin' pram29 if you goes on like as if you was a bag of eels30?"
They camped by a copse for the midday meal, sat on the grass, made a fire of sticks, and cooked herrings in a frying-pan, produced from one of the knobbly bundles.[36]
"It's better'n Fiff of November," said Dickie; "and I do like you. I like you nexter my own daddy and Mr. Baxter next door."
"That's all right," said Mr. Beale awkwardly.
It was in the afternoon that, half-way up a hill, they saw coming over the crest32 a lady and a little girl.
"Hout yer gets," said Mr. Beale quickly; "walk as 'oppy as you can, and if they arsts you you say you ain't 'ad nothing to eat since las' night and then it was a bit o' dry bread."
"Right you are," said Dickie, enjoying the game.
"An' mind you call me father."
"Yuss," said Dickie, exaggerating his lameness33 in the most spirited way. It was acting34, you see, and all children love acting.
Mr. Beale went more and more slowly, and as the lady and the little girl drew near he stopped altogether and touched his cap. Dickie, quick to imitate, touched his.
"Could you spare a trifle, mum," said Beale, very gently and humbly35, "to 'elp us along the road? My little chap, 'e's lame like wot you see. It's a 'ard life for the likes of 'im, mum."
"He ought to be at home with his mother," said the lady.
Beale drew his coat sleeve across his eyes.
"'E ain't got no mother," he said; "she was took bad sudden—a chill it was, and struck to[37] her innards. She died in the infirmary. Three months ago it was, mum. And us not able even to get a bit of black for her."
Dickie sniffed36.
"Poor little man!" said the lady; "you miss your mother, don't you?"
"Yuss," said Dickie sadly; "but farver, 'e's very good to me. I couldn't get on if it wasn't for farver."
"Oh, well done, little 'un!" said Mr. Beale to himself.
"We lay under a 'aystack last night," he said aloud, "and where we'll lie to-night gracious only knows, without some kind soul lends us a 'elping 'and."
The lady fumbled37 in her pocket, and the little girl said to Dickie—
"Where are all your toys?"
"I ain't got but two," said Dickie, "and they're at 'ome; one of them's silver—real silver—my grandfarver 'ad it when 'e was a little boy."
"But if you've got silver you oughtn't to be begging," said the lady, shutting up her purse. Beale frowned.
"It only pawns38 for a shilling," said Dickie, "and farver knows what store I sets by it."
"A shillin's a lot, I grant you that," said Beale eagerly; "but I wouldn't go to take away the nipper's little bit o' pleasure, not for[38] no shilling I wouldn't," he ended nobly, with a fond look at Dickie.
"'IT ONLY PAWNS FOR A SHILLIN',' SAID DICKIE"
"'IT ONLY PAWNS FOR A SHILLIN',' SAID DICKIE"
[Page 37
"You're a kind father," said the lady.
"Yes, isn't he, mother?" said the little girl. "May I give the little boy my penny?"
The two travellers were left facing each other, the richer by a penny, and oh—wonderful good fortune—a whole half-crown. They exchanged such glances as might pass between two actors as the curtain goes down on a successful dramatic performance.
"You did that bit fine," said Beale—"fine, you did. You been there before, ain't ye?"
"No, I never," said Dickie; "'ere's the steever."
"You stick to that," said Beale, radiant with delight; "you're a fair masterpiece, you are; you earned it honest if ever a kid done. Pats you on the napper, she does, and out with 'arf a dollar! A bit of all right, I call it!"
They went on up the hill as happy as any one need wish to be.
They had told lies, you observe, and had by these lies managed to get half a crown and a penny out of the charitable; and far from being ashamed of their acts, they were bubbling over with merriment and delight at their own cleverness. Please do not be too shocked. Remember that neither of them knew any better. To the elder tramp lies and begging were natural[39] means of livelihood39. To the little tramp the whole thing was a new and entrancing game of make-believe.
By evening they had seven-and-sixpence.
"Us'll 'ave a fourpenny doss outer this," said Beale. "Swelp me Bob, we'll be ridin' in our own moty afore we know where we are at this rate."
"But you said the bed with the green curtains," urged Dickie.
"Well, p'rhaps you're right. Lay up for a rainy day, eh? Which this ain't, not by no means. There's a 'aystack a bit out of the town, if I remember right. Come on, mate."
And Dickie for the first time slept out-of-doors. Have you ever slept out-of-doors? The night is full of interesting little sounds that will not, at first, let you sleep—the rustle20 of little wild things in the hedges, the barking of dogs in distant farms, the chirp40 of crickets and the croaking41 of frogs. And in the morning the birds wake you, and you curl down warm among the hay and look up at the sky that is growing lighter42 and lighter, and breathe the chill, sweet air, and go to sleep again wondering how you have ever been able to lie of nights in one of those shut-up boxes with holes in them which we call houses.
The new game of begging and inventing stories to interest the people from whom it was[40] worth while to beg went on gaily43, day by day and week by week; and Dickie, by constant practice, grew so clever at taking his part in the acting that Mr. Beale was quite dazed with admiration44.
"Blessed if I ever see such a nipper," he said, over and over again.
And when they got nearly to Hythe, and met with the red-whiskered man who got up suddenly out of the hedge and said he'd been hanging off and on expecting them for nigh on a week, Mr. Beale sent Dickie into a field to look for mushrooms—which didn't grow there—expressly that he might have a private conversation with the red-whiskered man—a conversation which began thus—
"Couldn't get 'ere afore. Couldn't get a nipper."
"'E's 'oppy, 'e is; 'e ain't no good."
"No good?" said Beale. "That's all you know! 'E's a wunner, and no bloomin' error. Turns the ladies round 'is finger as easy as kiss yer 'and. Clever as a traindawg 'e is—an' all outer 'is own 'ead. And to 'ear the way 'e does the patter to me on the road. It's as good as a gaff any day to 'ear 'im. My word! I ain't sure as I 'adn't better stick to the road, and keep away from old 'ands like you, Jim."
"Doin' well, eh?" said Jim.
"Not so dusty," said Mr. Beale cautiously;[41] "we mugger along some'ow. An' 'e's got so red in the face, and plumped out so, they'll soon say 'e doesn't want their dibs."
"Starve 'im a bit," said the red-whiskered man cheerfully.
Mr. Beale laughed. Then he spat45 thoughtfully. Then he said—
"It's rum—I likes to see the little beggar stokin' up, for all it spoils the market. If 'e gets a bit fat 'e makes it up in cleverness. You should 'ear 'im!" and so forth46 and so on, till the red-whiskered man said quite crossly—
"Seems to me you're a bit dotty about this 'ere extry double nipper. I never knew you took like it afore."
"Fact is," said Beale, with an air of great candor47, "it's 'is cleverness does me. It ain't as I'm silly about 'im—but 'e's that clever."
"I 'ope 'e's clever enough to do wot 'e's told. Keep 'is mug shut—that's all."
"He's clever enough for hanythink," said Beale, "and close as wax. 'E's got a silver toy 'idden away somewhere—it only pops for a bob—and d'you think 'e'll tell me where it's stowed? Not 'im, and us such pals48 as never was, and 'is jaw49 wagging all day long. But 'e's never let it out."
"Oh, stow it!" said the other impatiently; "I don't want to 'ear no more about 'im. If 'e's straight 'e'll do for me, and if he ain't I'll do for[42] 'im. See? An' now you and me'll have a word or two particler, and settle up about this 'ere job. I got the plan drawed out. It's a easy job as ever I see. Seems to me Tuesday's as good a day as any. Tip-topper—Sir Edward Talbot, that's 'im—'e's in furrin parts for 'is 'ealth, 'e is. Comes 'ome end o' next month. Little surprise for 'im, eh? You'll 'ave to train it. Abrams 'e'll be there Monday. And see 'ere . . ." He sank his voice to a whisper.
When Dickie came back, without mushrooms, the red-whiskered man was gone.
"See that bloke just now?" said Mr. Beale.
"Yuss," said Dickie.
"Well, you never see 'im. If any one arsts you if you ever see 'im, you never set eyes on 'im in all your born—not to remember 'im. Might a passed 'im in a crowd—see?"
"Yuss," said Dickie again.
"'Tasn't been 'arf a panto neither! Us two on the road," Mr. Beale went on.
"Not 'arf!"
"Well, now we're a-goin' in the train like dooks—an' after that we're a-goin' to 'ave a rare old beano. I give you my word!"
Dickie was full of questions, but Mr. Beale had no answers for them. "You jes' wait;" "hold on a bit;" "them as lives longest sees most"—these were the sort of remarks which were all that Dickie could get out of him.[43]
It was not the next day, which was a Saturday, that they took the train like dukes. Nor was it Sunday, on which they took a rest and washed their shirts, according to Mr. Beale's rule of life.
They took the train on Monday, and it landed them in a very bright town by the sea. Its pavements were of red brick and its houses of white stone, and its bow-windows and balconies were green, and Dickie thought it was the prettiest town in the world. They did not stay there, but walked out across the downs, where the skylarks were singing, and on a dip of the downs came upon great stone walls and towers very strong and gray.
"What's that there?" said Dickie.
"It's a carstle—like wot the King's got at Windsor."
"Is it a king as lives 'ere, then?" Dickie asked.
"No! Nobody don't live 'ere, mate," said Mr. Beale. "It's a ruin, this is. Only howls and rats lives in ruins."
"Did any one ever live in it?"
"I shouldn't wonder," said Mr. Beale indifferently. "Yes, course they must 'ave, come to think of it. But you learned all that at school. It's what they call 'ist'ry."
Dickie, after some reflection, said, "D'jever 'ear of Here Ward31?"
"I knowed a Jake Ward wunst."[44]
"Here Ward the Wake. He ain't a bloke you'd know—'e's in 'istry. Tell you if you like."
The tale of Hereward the Wake lasted till the jolting50 perambulator came to anchor in a hollow place among thick furze bushes. The bare, thick stems of the furze held it up like a roof over their heads as they sat. It was like a little furze house.
Next morning Mr. Beale shaved, a thing he had not done since they left London. Dickie held the mug and the soap. It was great fun, and, afterwards, Mr. Beale looked quite different. That was great fun too. And he got quite a different set of clothes out of his bundles, and put them on. And that was the greatest fun of all.
"Now, then," he said, "we're a-goin' to lay low 'ere all d'y, we are. And then come evening we're a-goin' to 'ave our beano. That red'eaded chap wot you never see 'e'll lift you up to a window what's got bars to it, and you'll creep through, you being so little, and you'll go soft's a mouse the way I'll show you, and undo51 the side-door. There's a key and a chain and a bottom bolt. The top bolt's cut through, and all the others is oiled. That won't frighten you, will it?"
"No," said Dickie. "What should it frighten me for?"[45]
"Well, it's like this," said Mr. Beale a little embarrassed. "Suppose you was to get pinched?"
"What 'ud pinch me? A dawg?"
"There won't be no dawg. A man, or a lady, or somebody in the 'ouse. Supposen they was to nab you—what 'ud you say?"
Dickie was watching his face carefully.
"Whatever you tells me to say," he said.
The man slapped his leg gently.
"If that ain't the nipper all over! Well, if they was to nab you, you just say what I tells you to. And then, first chance you get, you slip away from 'em and go to the station. An' if they comes arter you, you say you're a-goin' to your father at Dover. And first chance you get you slip off, and you come to that 'ouse where you and me slep' at Gravesend. I've got the dibs for yer ticket done up in this 'ere belt I'm a-goin' to put on you. But don't you let on to any one it's Gravesend you're a-coming to. See?"
"An' if I don't get pinched?"
"Then you just opens the door and me and that redheaded bloke we comes in."
"What for?" asked Dickie.
"To look for some tools 'e mislaid there a year ago when 'e was on a plumbing52 job—and they won't let 'im 'ave them back, not by fair means, they won't. That's what for."[46]
"Rats!" said Dickie briefly53. "I ain't a baby. It's burgling, that's what it is."
"You'll a jolly sight too fond of calling names," said Beale anxiously. "Never mind what it is. You be a good boy, matey, and do what you're told. That's what you do. You know 'ow to stick it on if you're pinched. If you ain't you just lay low till we comes out with the . . . the plumber's tools. See?"
"And if I'm nabbed, what is it I am to say?"
"You must let on as a strange chap collared you on the road, a strange chap with a black beard and a red 'ankercher, and give you a licking if you didn't go and climb in at the window. Say you lost your father in the town, and this chap said he knew where 'e was, and if you see me you don't know me. Nor yet that redheaded chap wot you never see." He looked down at the small, earnest face turned up to his own. "You are a little nipper," he said affectionately. "I don't know as I ever noticed before quite wot a little 'un you was. Think you can stick it? You shan't go without you wants to, matey. There!"
"It's splendid!" said Dickie; "it is an adventure for a bold knight54. I shall feel like Here Ward when he dressed in the potter's clothes and went to see King William."
He spoke55 in the book voice.
"There you go," said Mr. Beale, "but don't[47] you go and talk to 'em like that if they pinches you; they'd never let you loose again. Think they'd got a marquis in disguise, so they would."
Dickie thought all day about this great adventure. He did not tell Mr. Beale so, but he was very proud of being so trusted. If you come to think of it, burgling must be a very exciting profession. And Dickie had no idea that it was wrong. It seemed to him a wholly delightful56 and sporting amusement.
While he was exploring the fox-runs among the thick stems of the grass Mr. Beale lay at full length and pondered.
"I don't more'n 'arf like it," he said to himself. "Ho yuss. I know that's wot I got him for—all right. But 'e's such a jolly little nipper. I wouldn't like anything to 'appen to 'im, so I wouldn't."
Dickie took his boots off and went to sleep as usual, and in the middle of the night Mr. Beale woke him up and said, "It's time."
There was no moon that night, and it was very, very dark. Mr. Beale carried Dickie on his back for what seemed a very long way along dark roads, under dark trees, and over dark meadows. A dark bush divided itself into two parts and one part came surprisingly towards them. It turned out to be the red-whiskered man, and presently from a ditch another[48] man came. And they all climbed a chill, damp park-fence, and crept along among trees and shrubs57 along the inside of a high park wall. Dickie, still on Mr. Beale's shoulders, was astonished to find how quietly this big, clumsy-looking man could move.
Through openings in the trees and bushes Dickie could see the wide park, like a spread shadow, dotted with trees that were like shadows too. And on the other side of it the white face of a great house showed only a little paler than the trees about it. There were no lights in the house.
They got quite close to it before the shelter of the trees ended, for a little wood lay between the wall and the house.
Dickie's heart was beating very fast. Quite soon, now, his part in the adventure would begin.
"'Ere—catch 'old," Mr. Beale was saying, and the red-whiskered man took Dickie in his arms, and went forward. The other two crouched58 in the wood.
Dickie felt himself lifted, and caught at the window-sill with his hands. It was a damp night and smelled of earth and dead leaves. The window-sill was of stone, very cold. Dickie knew exactly what to do. Mr. Beale had explained it over and over again all day. He settled himself on the broad window-ledge[49] and held on to the iron window-bars while the red-whiskered man took out a pane59 of glass, with treacle60 and a handkerchief, so that there should be no noise of breaking or falling glass. Then Dickie put his hand through and unfastened the window, which opened like a cupboard door. Then he put his feet through the narrow space between two bars and slid through. He hung inside with his hands holding the bars, till his foot found the table that he had been told to expect just below, and he got from that to the floor.
"Now I must remember exactly which way to go," he told himself. But he did not need to remember what he had been told. For quite certainly, and most oddly, he knew exactly where the door was, and when he had crept to it and got it open he found that he now knew quite well which way to turn and what passages to go along to get to that little side-door that he was to open for the three men. It was exactly as though he had been there before, in a dream. He went as quietly as a mouse, creeping on hands and knee, the lame foot dragging quietly behind him.
I will not pretend that he was not frightened. He was, very. But he was more brave than he was frightened, which is the essence of bravery, after all. He found it difficult to breathe quietly, and his heart beat so loudly[50] that he felt almost sure that if any people were awake in the house they would hear it, even up-stairs in their beds. But he got to the little side-door, and feeling with sensitive, quick fingers found the well-oiled bolt, and shot it back. Then the chain—holding the loose loop of it in his hand so that it should not rattle61, he slipped its ball from the socket62. Only the turning of the key remained, and Dickie accomplished63 that with both hands, for it was a big key, kneeling on his one sound knee. Then very gently he turned the handle, and pulled—and the door opened, and he crept from behind it and felt the cool, sweet air of the night on his face.
It seemed to him that he had never known what silence was before—or darkness. For the door opened into a close box arbor64, and no sky could be seen, or any shapes of things. Dickie felt himself almost bursting with pride. What an adventure! And he had carried out his part of it perfectly65. He had done exactly what he had been told to do, and he had done it well. He stood there, on his one useful foot, clinging to the edge of the door, and it was not until something touched him that he knew that Mr. Beale and the other men were creeping through the door that he had opened.
And at that touch a most odd feeling came to Dickie—the last feeling he would have expected—a[51] feeling of pride mixed with a feeling of shame. Pride in his own cleverness, and another kind of pride that made that cleverness seem shameful66. He had a feeling, very queer and very strong, that he, Dickie, was not the sort of person to open doors for the letting in of burglars. He felt as you would feel if you suddenly found your hands covered with filth67, not good honest dirt, but slimy filth, and would not understand how you could have let it get there.
He caught at the third shape that brushed by him.
"Father," he whispered, "don't do it. Go back, and I'll fasten it all up again. Oh! don't, father."
"Shut your mug!" whispered the red-whiskered man. Dickie knew his voice even in that velvet-black darkness. "Shut your mug, or I'll give you what for!"
"Don't, father," said Dickie, and said it all the more for that threat.
"I can't go back on my pals, matey," said Mr. Beale; "you see that, don't yer?"
Dickie did see. The adventure was begun: it was impossible to stop. It was helped and had to be eaten, as they say in Norfolk. He crouched behind the open door, and heard the soft pad-pad of the three men's feet on the stones of the passage grow fainter and fainter.[52] They had woolen68 socks over their boots, which made their footsteps sound no louder than those of padded pussy-feet. Then the soft rustle-pad died away, and it was perfectly quiet, perfectly dark. Dickie was tired; it was long past his proper bedtime, and the exertion69 of being so extra clever had been very tiring. He was almost asleep when a crack like thunder brought him stark70, staring awake—there was a noise of feet on the stairs, boots, a blundering, hurried rush. People came rushing past him. There was another sharp thunder sound and a flash like lightning, only much smaller. Some one tripped and fell; there was a clatter71 like pails, and something hard and smooth hit him on the knee. Then another hurried presence dashed past him into the quiet night. Another—No! there was a woman's voice.
"Edward, you shan't! Let them go! You shan't—no!"
And suddenly there was a light that made one wink72 and blink. A tall lady in white, carrying a lamp, swept down the stairs and caught at a man who sprang into being out of the darkness into the lamplight.
"Take the lamp," she said, and thrust it on him. Then with unbelievable quickness she bolted and chained the door, locked it, and, turning, saw Dickie.
"What's this?" she said. "Oh, Edward,[53] quick—here's one of them!. . . Why—it's a child——"
Some more people were coming down the stairs, with candles and excited voices. Their clothes were oddly bright. Dickie had never seen dressing73-gowns before. They moved in a very odd way, and then began to go round and round like tops.
The next thing that Dickie remembers is being in a room that seemed full of people and lights and wonderful furniture, with some one holding a glass to his lips, a little glass, that smelled of public-houses, very nasty.
"No!" said Dickie, turning away his head.
"Better?" asked a lady; and Dickie was astonished to find that he was on her lap.
"Yes, thank you," he said, and tried to sit up, but lay back again because that was so much more pleasant. He had had no idea that any one's lap could be so comfortable.
"Now, young man," said a stern voice that was not a lady's, "just you tell us how you came here, and who put you up to it."
"I got in," said Dickie feebly, "through the butler's pantry window," and as he said it he wondered how he had known that it was the butler's pantry. It is certain that no one had told him.
"What for?" asked the voice, which Dickie now perceived came from a gentleman in[54] rumpled74 hair and a very loose pink flannel75 suit, with cordy things on it such as soldiers have.
"To let——" Dickie stopped. This was the moment he had been so carefully prepared for. He must think what he was saying.
"Yes," said the lady gently, "it's all right—poor little chap, don't be frightened—nobody wants to hurt you!"
"I'm not frightened," said Dickie—"not now."
"To let——?" reminded the lady, persuasively76.
"To let the man in."
"What man?"
"I dunno."
"There were three or four of them," said the gentleman in pink; "four or five——"
"What man, dear?" the lady asked again.
"The man as said 'e knew w'ere my farver was," said Dickie, remembering what he had been told to say; "so I went along of 'im, an' then in the wood 'e said 'e'd give me a dressing down if I didn't get through the winder and open the door; 'e said 'e'd left some tools 'ere and you wouldn't let 'im 'ave them."
"You see," said the lady, "the child didn't know. He's perfectly innocent." And she kissed Dickie's hair very softly and kindly77.
Dickie did not understand then why he[55] suddenly felt as though he were going to choke. His head felt as though it were going to burst. His ears grew very hot, and his hands and feet very cold.
"I know'd right enough," he said suddenly and hoarsely78; "an' I needn't a-gone if I 'adn't wanted to."
"He's feverish," said the lady, "he doesn't know what he's saying. Look how flushed he is."
"I wanted to," said Dickie; "I thought it 'ud be a lark16. And it was too."
He expected to be shaken and put down. He wondered where his crutch was. Mr. Beale had had it under his arm. How could he get to Gravesend without a crutch? But he wasn't shaken or put down; instead, the lady gathered him up in her arms and stood up, holding him.
"I shall put him to bed," she said; "you shan't ask him any more questions to-night. There's time enough in the morning."
She carried Dickie out of the drawing-room and away from the other people to a big room with blue walls and blue and gray curtains and beautiful furniture. There was a high four-post bed with blue silk curtains and more pillows than Dickie had ever seen before. The lady washed him with sweet-smelling water in a big basin with blue and gold flowers on it, dressed him in a lace-trimmed nightgown,[56] which must have been her own, for it was much too big for any little boy.
Then she put him into the soft, warm bed that was like a giant's pillow, tucked him up and kissed him. Dickie put thin arms round her neck.
"I do like you," he said, "but I want farver."
"Where is he? No, you must tell me that in the morning. Drink up this milk"—she had it ready in a glass that sparkled in a pattern—"and then go sound asleep. Everything will be all right, dear."
"May Heavens," said Dickie, sleepily, "bless you, generous Bean Factress!"
"A most extraordinary child," said the lady, returning to her husband. "I can't think who it is that he reminds me of. Where are the others?"
"I packed them off to bed. There's nothing to be done," said her husband. "We ought to have gone after those men."
"They didn't get anything," she said.
"No—dropped it all when I fired. Come on, let's turn in. Poor Eleanor, you must be worn out."
"Edward," said the lady, "I wish we could adopt that little boy. I'm sure he comes of good people—he's been kidnapped or something."[57]
"Don't be a dear silly one!" said Sir Edward.
That night Dickie slept in sheets of the finest linen79, scented80 with lavender. He was sunk downily among pillows, and over him lay a down quilt covered with blue-flowered satin. On the foot-board of the great bed was carved a shield and a great dog on it.
Dickie's clothes lay, a dusty, forlorn little heap, in a stately tapestry-covered chair. And he slept, and dreamed of Mr. Beale, and the little house among the furze, and the bed with the green curtains.
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1
clobber
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| v.打垮 | |
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bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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tongs
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| n.钳；夹子 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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crutch
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| n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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pawnbroker
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| n.典当商，当铺老板 | |
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tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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17
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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18
magpie
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| n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者 | |
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19
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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20
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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21
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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27
larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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28
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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pram
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| n.婴儿车，童车 | |
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eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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ward
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| 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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32
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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33
lameness
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| n. 跛, 瘸, 残废 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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36
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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37
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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38
pawns
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| n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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40
chirp
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| v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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41
croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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42
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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43
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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45
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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46
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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48
pals
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| n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙 | |
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49
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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50
jolting
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| adj.令人震惊的 | |
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51
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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52
plumbing
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| n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究 | |
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53
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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54
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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55
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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56
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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57
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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58
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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60
treacle
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| n.糖蜜 | |
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61
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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62
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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63
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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arbor
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| n.凉亭；树木 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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66
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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67
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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68
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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69
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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71
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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72
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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73
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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74
rumpled
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| v.弄皱，使凌乱( rumple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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76
persuasively
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| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
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77
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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78
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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79
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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80
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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