When we returned to Florence for the winter, however, I confess I began to chafe5. 'This is slow work, Elsie!' I said. 'I started out to go round the world; it has taken me eighteen months to travel no further than Italy! At this rate, I shall reach New York a gray-haired old lady, in a nice lace cap, and totter6 back into London a venerable crone on the verge7 of ninety.'
However, those invaluable8 doctors came to my rescue unexpectedly. I do love doctors; they are always sending you off at a moment's notice to delightful9 places you never dreamt of. Elsie was better, but still far from strong. I[Pg 171] took it upon me to consult our medical attendant; and his verdict was decisive. He did just what a doctor ought to do. 'She is getting on very well in Florence,' he said; 'but if you want to restore her health completely, I should advise you to take her for a winter to Egypt. After six months of the dry, warm desert air, I don't doubt she might return to her work in London.'
That last point I used as a lever with Elsie. She positively11 revels12 in teaching mathematics. At first, to be sure, she objected that we had only just money enough to pay our way to Cairo, and that when we got there we might starve—her favourite programme. I have not this extraordinary taste for starving; my idea is, to go where you like, and find something decent to eat when you get there. However, to humour her, I began to cast about me for a source of income. There is no absolute harm in seeing your way clear before you for a twelvemonth, though of course it deprives you of the plot-interest of poverty.
'Elsie,' I said, in my best didactic style—I excel in didactics—'you do not learn from the lessons that life sets before you. Look at the stage, for example; the stage is universally acknowledged at the present day to be a great teacher of morals. Does not Irving say so?—and he ought to know. There is that splendid model for imitation, for instance, the Clown in the pantomime. How does Clown regulate his life? Does he take heed14 for the morrow? Not a bit of it! "I wish I had a goose," he says, at some critical juncture15; and just as he says it—pat—a super strolls upon the stage with a property goose on a wooden tray; and Clown cries, "Oh, look here, Joey; here's a goose!" and proceeds to appropriate it. Then he puts his fingers in his mouth and observes, "I wish I had a few apples to make the sauce with"; and as the words escape him—pat again—a[Pg 172] small boy with a very squeaky voice runs on, carrying a basket of apples. Clown trips him up, and bolts with the basket. There's a model for imitation! The stage sets these great moral lessons before you regularly every Christmas; yet you fail to profit by them. Govern your life on the principles exemplified by Clown; expect to find that whatever you want will turn up with punctuality and dispatch at the proper moment. Be adventurous16 and you will be happy. Take that as a new maxim17 to put in your copy-book!'
'I wish I could think so, dear,' Elsie answered. 'But your confidence staggers me.'
That evening at our table-d'h?te, however, it was amply justified18. A smooth-faced young man of ample girth and most prosperous exterior19 happened to sit next us. He had his wife with him, so I judged it safe to launch on conversation. We soon found out he was the millionaire editor-proprietor20 of a great London daily, with many more strings21 to his journalistic bow; his honoured name was Elworthy. I mentioned casually22 that we thought of going for the winter to Egypt. He pricked23 his ears up. But at the time he said nothing. After dinner, we adjourned24 to the cosy25 salon26. I talked to him and his wife; and somehow, that evening, the devil entered into me. I am subject to devils. I hasten to add, they are mild ones. I had one of my reckless moods just then, however, and I reeled off rattling27 stories of our various adventures. Mr. Elworthy believed in youth and audacity28; I could see I interested him. The more he was amused, the more reckless I became. 'That's bright,' he said at last, when I told him the tale of our amateur exploits in the sale of Manitous. 'That would make a good article!'
'Yes,' I answered, with bravado29, determined30 to strike[Pg 173] while the iron was hot. 'What the Daily Telephone lacks is just one enlivening touch of feminine brightness.'
He smiled. 'What is your forte31?' he inquired.
'My forte,' I answered, 'is—to go where I choose, and write what I like about it.'
He smiled again. 'And a very good new departure in journalism32, too! A roving commission! Have you ever tried your hand at writing?'
Had I ever tried! It was the ambition of my life to see myself in print; though, hitherto, it had been ineffectual. 'I have written a few sketches,' I answered, with becoming modesty33. As a matter of fact, our office bulged34 with my unpublished manuscripts.
'Could you let me see them?' he asked.
I assented35, with inner joy, but outer reluctance36. 'If you wish it,' I murmured; 'but—you must be very lenient37!'
HE READ THEM, CRUEL MAN, BEFORE MY VERY EYES. HE READ THEM, CRUEL MAN, BEFORE MY VERY EYES.
Though I had not told Elsie, the truth of the matter was, I had just then conceived an idea for a novel—my magnum opus—the setting of which compelled Egyptian local colour; and I was therefore dying to get to Egypt, if chance so willed it. I submitted a few of my picked manuscripts accordingly to Mr. Elworthy, in fear and trembling. He read them, cruel man, before my very eyes; I sat and waited, twiddling my thumbs, demure38 but apprehensive39.
When he had finished, he laid them down.
'Racy!' he said. 'Racy! You're quite right, Miss Cayley. That's just what we want on the Daily Telephone. I should like to print these three,' selecting them out, 'at our usual rate of pay per thousand.'
'You are very kind.' But the room reeled with me.
'Not at all. I am a man of business. And these are good copy. Now, about this Egypt. I will put the matter[Pg 174] in the shape of a business proposition. Will you undertake, if I pay your passage, and your friend's, with all travelling expenses, to let me have three descriptive articles a week, on Cairo, the Nile, Syria, and India, running to about two thousand words apiece, at three guineas a thousand?'
My breath came and went. It was positive opulence40. The super with the goose couldn't approach it for patness. My editor had brought me the apple sauce as well, without even giving me the trouble of cooking it.[Pg 175]
The very next day everything was arranged. Elsie tried to protest, on the foolish ground that she had no money: but the faculty41 had ordered the apex42 of her right lung to go to Egypt, and I couldn't let her fly in the face of the faculty. We secured our berths43 in a P. and O. steamer from Brindisi; and within a week we were tossing upon the bosom44 of the blue Mediterranean45.
People who haven't crossed the blue Mediterranean cherish an absurd idea that it is always calm and warm and sunny. I am sorry to take away any sea's character; but I speak of it as I find it (to borrow a phrase from my old gyp at Girton); and I am bound to admit that the Mediterranean did not treat me as a lady expects to be treated. It behaved disgracefully. People may rhapsodize as long as they choose about a life on the ocean wave; for my own part, I wouldn't give a pin for sea-sickness. We glided46 down the Adriatic from Brindisi to Corfu with a reckless profusion47 of lateral48 motion which suggested the idea that the ship must have been drinking.
I tried to rouse Elsie when we came abreast49 of the Ionian Islands, and to remind her that 'Here was the home of Nausicaa in the Odyssey50.' Elsie failed to respond; she was otherwise occupied. At last, I succumbed51 and gave it up. I remember nothing further till a day and a half later, when we got under lee of Crete, and the ship showed a tendency to resume the perpendicular52. Then I began once more to take a languid interest in the dinner question.
I may add parenthetically that the Mediterranean is a mere2 bit of a sea, when you look at it on the map—a pocket sea, to be regarded with mingled53 contempt and affection; but you learn to respect it when you find that it takes four clear days and nights of abject54 misery55 merely to run across its eastern basin from Brindisi to Alexandria. I respected[Pg 176] the Mediterranean immensely while we lay off the Peloponnesus in the trough of the waves with a north wind blowing; I only began to temper my respect with a distant liking56 when we passed under the welcome shelter of Crete on a calm, star-lit evening.
It was deadly cold. We had not counted upon such weather in the sunny south. I recollected57 now that the Greeks were wont58 to represent Boreas as a chilly59 deity60, and spoke61 of the Thracian breeze with the same deferentially62 deprecating adjectives which we ourselves apply to the east wind of our fatherland; but that apt classical memory somehow failed to console or warm me. A good-natured male passenger, however, volunteered to ask us, 'Will I get ye a rug, ladies?' The form of his courteous63 question suggested the probability of his Irish origin.
'You are very kind,' I answered. 'If you don't want it for yourself, I'm sure my friend would be glad to have the use of it.'
'Is it meself? Sure I've got me big ulsther, and I'm as warrum as a toast in it. But ye're not provided for this weather. Ye've thrusted too much to those rascals64 the po-uts. 'Where breaks the blue Sicilian say,' the rogues65 write. I'd like to set them down in it, wid a nor'-easter blowing!'
He fetched up his rug. It was ample and soft, a smooth brown camel-hair. He wrapped us both up in it. We sat late on deck that night, as warm as a toast ourselves, thanks to our genial66 Irishman.
'TIS DOCTOR MACLOGHLEN, HE ANSWERED. 'TIS DOCTOR MACLOGHLEN, HE ANSWERED.
We asked his name. ''Tis Dr. Macloghlen,' he answered. 'I'm from County Clare, ye see; and I'm on me way to Egypt for thravel and exploration. Me fader whisht me to see the worruld a bit before I'd settle down to practise me profession at Liscannor. Have ye ever been in County Clare? Sure, 'tis the pick of Oireland.'[Pg 177]
'We have that pleasure still in store,' I answered, smiling. 'It spreads gold-leaf over the future, as George Meredith puts it.'
'Is it Meredith? Ah, there's the foine writer! 'Tis jaynius the man has: I can't undtherstand a word of him. But he's half Oirish, ye know. What proof have I got of it? An' would he write like that if there wasn't a dhrop of the blood of the Celt in him?'[Pg 178]
Next day and next night, Mr. Macloghlen was our devoted67 slave. I had won his heart by admitting frankly68 that his countrywomen had the finest and liveliest eyes in Europe—eyes with a deep twinkle, half fun, half passion. He took to us at once, and talked to us incessantly69. He was a red-haired, raw-boned Munster-man, but a real good fellow. We forgot the aggressive inequalities of the Mediterranean while he talked to us of 'the pizzantry.' Late the second evening he propounded70 a confidence. It was a lovely night; Orion overhead, and the plashing phosphorescence on the water below conspired71 with the hour to make him specially72 confidential73. 'Now, Miss Cayley,' he said, leaning forward on his deck chair, and gazing earnestly into my eyes, 'there's wan10 question I'd like to ask ye. The ambition of me life is to get into Parlimint. And I want to know from ye, as a frind—if I accomplish me heart's wish—is there annything, in me apparence, ar in me voice, ar in me accent, ar in me manner, that would lade annybody to suppose I was an Oirishman?'
I succeeded, by good luck, in avoiding Elsie's eye. What on earth could I answer? Then a happy thought struck me. 'Dr. Macloghlen,' I said, 'it would not be the slightest use your trying to conceal74 it; for even if nobody ever detected a faint Irish intonation75 in your words or phrases—how could your eloquence76 fail to betray you for a countryman of Sheridan and Burke and Grattan?'
He seized my hand with such warmth that I thought it best to hurry down to my state-room at once, under cover of my compliment.
At Alexandria and Cairo we found him invaluable. He looked after our luggage, which he gallantly77 rescued from the lean hands of fifteen Arab porters, all eagerly[Pg 179] struggling to gain possession of our effects; he saw us safe into the train; and he never quitted us till he had safely ensconced us in our rooms at Shepheard's. For himself, he said, with subdued78 melancholy79, 'twas to some cheaper hotel he must go; Shepheard's wasn't for the likes of him; though if land in County Clare was wort' what it ought to be, there wasn't a finer estate in all Oireland than his fader's.
Our Mr. Elworthy was a modern proprietor, who knew how to do things on the lordly scale. Having commissioned me to write this series of articles, he intended them to be written in the first style of art, and he had instructed me accordingly to hire one of Cook's little steam dahabeeahs, where I could work at leisure. Dr. Macloghlen was in his element arranging for the trip. 'Sure the only thing I mind,' he said, 'is—that I'll not be going wid ye.' I think he was half inclined to invite himself; but there again I drew a line. I will not sell salt fish; and I will not go up the Nile, unchaperoned, with a casual man acquaintance.
He did the next best thing, however: he took a place in a sailing dahabeeah; and as we steamed up slowly, stopping often on the way, to give me time to write my articles, he managed to arrive almost always at every town or ruin exactly when we did.
I will not describe the voyage. The Nile is the Nile. Just at first, before we got used to it, we conscientiously81 looked up the name of every village we passed on the bank in our Murray and our Baedeker. After a couple of days' Niling, however, we found that formality quite unnecessary. They were all the same village, under a number of aliases82. They did not even take the trouble to disguise themselves anew, like Dr. Fortescue-Langley, on each fresh appearance. They had every one of them a small whitewashed84 mosque85,[Pg 180] with a couple of tall minarets86; and around it spread a number of mud-built cottages, looking more like bee-hives than human habitations. They had also every one of them a group of date-palms, overhanging a cluster of mean bare houses; and they all alike had a picturesque87 and even imposing88 air from a distance, but faded away into indescribable squalor as one got abreast of them. Our progress was monotonous89. At twelve, noon, we would pass Aboo-Teeg, with its mosque, its palms, its mud-huts, and its camels; then for a couple of hours we would go on through the midst of a green field on either side, studded by more mud-huts, and backed up by a range of gray desert mountains; only to come at 2 p.m., twenty miles higher up, upon Aboo-Teeg once more, with the same mosque, the same mud-huts, and the same haughty90 camels, placidly91 chewing the same aristocratic cud, but under the alias83 of Koos-kam. After a wild hubbub92 at the quay93, we would leave Koos-kam behind, with its camels still serenely94 munching95 day-before-yesterday's dinner; and twenty miles further on, again, having passed through the same green plain, backed by the same gray mountains, we would stop once more at the identical Koos-kam, which this time absurdly described itself as Tahtah. But whether it was Aboo-Teeg or Koos-kam or Tahtah or anything else, only the name differed: it was always the same town, and had always the same camels at precisely96 the same stage of the digestive process. It seemed to us immaterial whether you saw all the Nile or only five miles of it. It was just like wall-paper. A sample sufficed; the whole was the sample infinitely97 repeated.
However, I had my letters to write, and I wrote them valiantly98. I described the various episodes of the complicated digestive process in the camel in the minutest detail. I gloated over the date-palms, which I knew in three days[Pg 181] as if I had been brought up upon dates. I gave word-pictures of every individual child, veiled woman, Arab sheikh, and Coptic priest whom we encountered on the voyage. And I am open to reprint those conscientious80 studies of mud-huts and minarets with any enterprising publisher who will make me an offer.
TOO MUCH NILE. TOO MUCH NILE.
Another disillusion99 weighed upon my soul. Before I[Pg 182] went up the Nile, I had a fancy of my own that the bank was studded with endless ruined temples, whose vast red colonnades100 were reflected in the water at every turn. I think Macaulay's Lays were primarily answerable for that particular misapprehension. As a matter of fact, it surprised me to find that we often went for two whole days' hard steaming without ever a temple breaking the monotony of those eternal date-palms, those calm and superciliously101 irresponsive camels. In my humble103 opinion, Egypt is a fraud; there is too much Nile—very dirty Nile at that—and not nearly enough temple. Besides, the temples, when you do come up with them, are just like the villages; they are the same temple over again, under a different name each time, and they have the same gods, the same kings, the same wearisome bas-reliefs, except that the gentleman in a chariot, ten feet high, who is mowing104 down enemies a quarter his own size, with unsportsmanslike recklessness, is called Rameses in this place, and Sethi in that, and Amen-hotep in the other. With this trifling105 variation, when you have seen one temple, one obelisk106, one hieroglyphic107 table, you have seen the whole of Ancient Egypt.
At last, after many days' voyage through the same scenery daily—rising in the morning off a village with a mosque, ten palms, and two minarets, and retiring late at night off the same village once more, with mosque, palms, and minarets, as before, da capo—we arrived one evening at a place called Geergeh. In itself, I believe, Geergeh did not differ materially from all the other places we had passed on our voyage: it had its mosque, its ten palms, and its two minarets as usual. But I remember its name, because something mysterious went wrong there with our machinery108; and the engineer informed us we must wait at least three days to mend it. Dr. Macloghlen's dahabeeah happened[Pg 183] opportunely109 to arrive at the same spot on the same day; and he declared with fervour he would 'see us through our throubles.' But what on earth were we to do with ourselves through three long days and nights at Geergeh? There were the ruins of Abydus close at hand, to be sure; though I defy anybody not a professed110 Egyptologist to give more than one day to the ruins of Abydus. In this emergency, Dr. Macloghlen came gallantly to our aid. He discovered by inquiring from an English-speaking guide that there was an unobtrusive oasis111, never visited by Europeans, one long day's journey off, across the desert. As a rule, it takes at least three days to get camels and guides together for such an expedition: for Egypt is not a land to hurry in. But the indefatigable112 Doctor further unearthed113 the fact that a sheikh had just come in, who (for a consideration) would lend us camels for a two days' trip; and we seized the chance to do our duty by Mr. Elworthy and the world-wide circulation. An unvisited oasis—and two Christian114 ladies to be the first to explore it: there's journalistic enterprise for you! If we happened to be killed, so much the better for the Daily Telephone. I pictured the excitement at Piccadilly Circus. 'Extra Special, Our Own Correspondent brutally115 murdered!' I rejoiced at the opportunity.
I cannot honestly say that Elsie rejoiced with me. She cherished a prejudice against camels, massacres116, and the new journalism. She didn't like being murdered: though this was premature117, for she had never tried it. She objected that the fanatical Mohammedans of the Senoosi sect118, who were said to inhabit the oasis in question, might cut our throats for dogs of infidels. I pointed119 out to her at some length that it was just that chance which added zest120 to our expedition as a journalistic venture: fancy the glory of being the first lady journalists martyred in the cause! But she[Pg 184] failed to grasp this aspect of the question. However, if I went, she would go too, she said, like a dear girl that she is: she would not desert me when I was getting my throat cut.
EMPHASIS. EMPHASIS.
Dr. Macloghlen made the bargain for us, and insisted on accompanying us across the desert. He told us his method of negotiation121 with the Arabs with extreme gusto. '"Is it pay in advance ye want?" says I to the dirty beggars:[Pg 185] "divvil a penny will ye get till ye bring these ladies safe back to Geergeh. And remimber, Mr. Sheikh," says I, fingering me pistol, so, by way of emphasis, "we take no money wid us; so if yer friends at Wadi Bou choose to cut our throats, 'tis for the pleasure of it they'll be cutting them, not for anything they'll gain by it." "Provisions, effendi?" says he, salaaming122. "Provisions, is it?" says I. "Take everything ye'll want wid you; I suppose ye can buy food fit for a Crischun in the bazaar123 in Geergeh; and never wan penny do ye touch for it all till ye've landed us on the bank again, as safe as ye took us. So if the religious sintiments of the faithful at Wadi Bou should lade them to hack124 us to pieces," says I, just waving me revolver, "thin 'tis yerself that will be out of pocket by it." And the ould divvil cringed as if he took me for the Prince of Wales. Faix, 'tis the purse that's the best argumint to catch these haythen Arabs upon.'
When we set out for the desert in the early dawn next day, it looked as if we were starting for a few months' voyage. We had a company of camels that might have befitted a caravan125. We had two large tents, one for ourselves, and one for Dr. Macloghlen, with a third to dine in. We had bedding, and cushions, and drinking water tied up in swollen126 pig-skins, which were really goat-skins, looking far from tempting127. We had bread and meat, and a supply of presents to soften128 the hearts and weaken the religious scruples129 of the sheikhs at Wadi Bou. 'We thravel en prince,' said the Doctor. When all was ready we got under way solemnly, our camels rising and sniffing130 the breeze with a superior air, as who should say, 'I happen to be going where you happen to be going; but don't for a moment suppose I do it to please you. It is mere coincidence. You are bound for Wadi Bou: I have business of my own which chances to take me there.'[Pg 186]
RIDING A CAMEL DOES NOT GREATLY DIFFER FROM SEA-SICKNESS. RIDING A CAMEL DOES NOT GREATLY DIFFER FROM SEA-SICKNESS.
Over the incidents of the journey I draw a veil. Riding a camel, I find, does not greatly differ from sea-sickness. They are the same phenomenon under altered circumstances.[Pg 187] We had been assured beforehand on excellent authority that 'much of the comfort on a desert journey depends upon having a good camel.' On this matter, I am no authority. I do not set up as a judge of camel-flesh. But I did not notice any of the comfort; so I venture to believe my camel must have been an exceptionally bad one.
We expected trouble from the fanatical natives; I am bound to admit, we had most trouble with Elsie. She was not insubordinate, but she did not care for camel-riding. And her beast took advantage of her youth and innocence131. A well-behaved camel should go almost as fast as a child can walk, and should not sit down plump on the burning sand without due reason. Elsie's brute132 crawled, and called halts for prayer at frequent intervals133; it tried to kneel like a good Mussulman many times a day; and it showed an intolerant disposition134 to crush the infidel by rolling over on top of Elsie. Dr. Macloghlen admonished135 it with Irish eloquence, not always in language intended for publication; but it only turned up its supercilious102 lip and inquired in its own unspoken tongue what he knew about the desert.
'I feel like a wurrum before the baste,' the Doctor said, nonplussed136.
If the Nile was monotonous, the road to Wadi Bou was nothing short of dreary137. We crossed a great ridge138 of bare, gray rock, and followed a rolling valley of sand, scored by dry ravines, and baking in the sun. It was ghastly to look upon. All day long, save at the midday rest by some brackish139 wells, we rode on and on, the brutes140 stepping forward with slow, outstretched legs; though sometimes we walked by the camels' sides to vary the monotony; but ever through that dreary upland plain, sand in the centre, rocky mountain at the edge, and not a thing to look at. We were relieved towards evening to stumble against stunted141 tamarisks,[Pg 188] half buried in sand, and to feel we were approaching the edge of the oasis.
When at last our arrogant142 beasts condescended143 to stop, in their patronising way, we saw by the dim light of the moon a sort of uneven144 basin or hollow, studded with date-palms, and in the midst of the depression a crumbling145 walled town, with a whitewashed mosque, two minarets by its side, and a crowd of mud-houses. It was strangely familiar. We had come all this way just to see Aboo-Teeg or Koos-kam over again!
We camped outside the fortified146 town that night. Next morning we essayed to make our entry.
At first, the servants of the Prophet on watch at the gate raised serious objections. No infidel might enter. But we had a pass from Cairo, exhorting147 the faithful in the name of the Khedive to give us food and shelter; and after much examination and many loud discussions, the gatemen passed us. We entered the town, and stood alone, three Christian Europeans, in the midst of three thousand fanatical Mohammedans.
I confess it was weird148. Elsie shrank by my side. 'Suppose they were to attack us, Brownie?'
'Thin the sheikh here would never get paid,' Dr. Macloghlen put in with true Irish recklessness. 'Faix, he'll whistle for his money on the whistle I gave him.' That touch of humour saved us. We laughed; and the people about saw we could laugh. They left off scowling149, and pressed around trying to sell us pottery150 and native brooches. In the intervals of fanaticism151, the Arab has an eye to business.
We passed up the chief street of the bazaar. The inhabitants told us in pantomime the chief of the town was away at Asioot, whither he had gone two days ago on[Pg 189] business. If he were here, our interpreter gave us to understand, things might have been different; for the chief had determined that, whatever came, no infidel dog should settle in his oasis.
HER AGITATION152 WAS EVIDENT. HER AGITATION WAS EVIDENT.
The women with their veiled faces attracted us strangely. They were wilder than on the river. They ran when one[Pg 190] looked at them. Suddenly, as we passed one, we saw her give a little start. She was veiled like the rest, but her agitation was evident even through her thick covering.
'She is afraid of Christians,' Elsie cried, nestling towards me.
The woman passed close to us. She never looked in our direction, but in a very low voice she murmured, as she passed, 'Then you are English!'
I had presence of mind enough to conceal my surprise at this unexpected utterance153. 'Don't seem to notice her, Elsie,' I said, looking away. 'Yes, we are English.'
She stopped and pretended to examine some jewellery on a stall. 'So am I,' she went on, in the same suppressed low voice. 'For Heaven's sake, help me!'
'What are you doing here?'
'I live here—married. I was with Gordon's force at Khartoum. They carried me off. A mere girl then. Now I am thirty.'
'And you have been here ever since?'
She turned away and walked off, but kept whispering behind her veil. We followed, unobtrusively. 'Yes; I was sold to a man at Dongola. He passed me on again to the chief of this oasis. I don't know where it is; but I have been here ever since. I hate this life. Is there any chance of a rescue?'
'Anny chance of a rescue, is it?' the Doctor broke in, a trifle too ostensibly. 'If it costs us a whole British Army, me dear lady, we'll fetch you away and save you.'
'But now—to-day? You won't go away and leave me? You are the first Europeans I have seen since Khartoum fell. They may sell me again. You will not desert me?'
'No,' I said. 'We will not.' Then I reflected a moment.[Pg 191]
What on earth could we do? This was a painful dilemma154. If we once lost sight of her, we might not see her again. Yet if we walked with her openly, and talked like friends, we would betray ourselves, and her, to those fanatical Senoosis.
I made my mind up promptly155. I may not have much of a mind; but, such as it is, I flatter myself I can make it up at a moment's notice.
'Can you come to us outside the gate at sunset?' I asked, as if speaking to Elsie.
The woman hesitated. 'I think so.'
'Then keep us in sight all day, and when evening comes, stroll out behind us.'
She turned over some embroidered156 slippers157 on a booth, and seemed to be inspecting them. 'But my children?' she murmured anxiously.
The Doctor interposed. 'Is it childern she has?' he asked. 'Thin they'll be the Mohammedan gintleman's. We mustn't interfere158 wid them. We can take away the lady—she's English, and detained against her will: but we can't deprive anny man of his own childern'.
I was firm, and categorical. 'Yes, we can,' I said, stoutly159; 'if he has forced a woman to bear them to him whether she would or not. That's common justice. I have no respect for the Mohammedan gentleman's rights. Let her bring them with her. How many are there?'
'Two—a boy and girl; not very old; the eldest160 is seven.' She spoke wistfully. A mother is a mother.
'Then say no more now, but keep us always in sight, and we will keep you. Come to us at the gate about sundown. We will carry you off with us.'
She clasped her hands and moved off with the peculiar161 gliding162 air of the veiled Mohammedan woman. Our eyes[Pg 192] followed her. We walked on through the bazaar, thinking of nothing else now. It was strange how this episode made us forget our selfish fears for our own safety. Even dear timid Elsie remembered only that an Englishwoman's life and liberty were at stake. We kept her more or less in view all day. She glided in and out among the people in the alleys163. When we went back to the camels at lunch-time, she followed us unobtrusively through the open gate, and sat watching us from a little way off, among a crowd of gazers; for all Wadi Bou was of course agog164 at this unwonted invasion.
We discussed the circumstance loudly, so that she might hear our plans. Dr. Macloghlen advised that we should tell our sheikh we meant to return part of the way to Geergeh that evening by moonlight. I quite agreed with him. It was the only way out. Besides, I didn't like the looks of the people. They eyed us askance. This was getting exciting now. I felt a professional journalistic interest. Whether we escaped or got killed, what splendid business for the Daily Telephone!
The sheikh, of course, declared it was impossible to start that evening. The men wouldn't move—the camels needed rest. But Dr. Macloghlen was inexorable. 'Very well, thin, Mr. Sheikh,' he answered, philosophically165. 'Ye'll plaze yerself about whether ye come on wid us or whether ye shtop. That's yer own business. But we set out at sundown; and whin ye return by yerself on foot to Geergeh, ye can ask for yer camels at the British Consulate166.'
All through that anxious afternoon we sat in our tents, under the shade of the mud-wall, wondering whether we could carry out our plan or not. About an hour before sunset the veiled woman strolled out of the gate with her two children. She joined the crowd of sight-seers once[Pg 193] more, for never through the day were we left alone for a second. The excitement grew intense. Elsie and I moved up carelessly towards the group, talking as if to one another. I looked hard at Elsie: then I said, as though I were speaking about one of the children, 'Go straight along the road to Geergeh till you are past the big clump167 of palms at the edge of the oasis. Just beyond it comes a sharp ridge of rock. Wait behind the ridge where no one can see you. When we get there,' I patted the little girl's head, 'don't say a word, but jump on my camel. My two friends will each take one of the children. If you understand and consent, stroke your boy's curls. We will accept that for a signal.'
She stroked the child's head at once without the least hesitation168. Even through her veil and behind her dress, I could somehow feel and see her trembling nerves, her beating heart. But she gave no overt13 token. She merely turned and muttered something carelessly in Arabic to a woman beside her.
We waited once more, in long-drawn suspense169. Would she manage to escape them? Would they suspect her motives170?
After ten minutes, when we had returned to our crouching171-place under the shadow of the wall, the woman detached herself slowly from the group, and began strolling with almost overdone172 nonchalance173 along the road to Geergeh. We could see the little girl was frightened and seemed to expostulate with her mother: fortunately, the Arabs about were too much occupied in watching the suspicious strangers to notice this episode of their own people. Presently, our new friend disappeared; and, with beating hearts, we awaited the sunset.
CROUCHING BY THE ROCKS SAT OUR MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. CROUCHING BY THE ROCKS SAT OUR MYSTERIOUS STRANGER.
Then came the usual scene of hubbub with the sheikh, the camels, the porters, and the drivers. It was eagerness[Pg 194] against apathy174. With difficulty we made them understand we meant to get under way at all hazards. I stormed in bad Arabic. The Doctor inveighed175 in very choice Irish. At last they yielded, and set out. One by one the camels rose, bent176 their slow knees, and began to stalk in their lordly way with outstretched necks along the road to the river. We moved through the palm groves177, a crowd of boys following us and shouting for backsheesh. We began to be afraid they would accompany us too far and discover our fugitive178; but fortunately they all turned back with one accord at a little whitewashed shrine179 near the edge of the oasis. We reached the clump of palms; we turned the corner of the ridge. Had we missed one another? No! There, crouching[Pg 195] by the rocks, with her children by her side, sat our mysterious stranger.
The Doctor was equal to the emergency. 'Make those bastes180 kneel!' he cried authoritatively181 to the sheikh.
The sheikh was taken aback. This was a new exploit burst upon him. He flung his arms up, gesticulating wildly. The Doctor, unmoved, made the drivers understand by some strange pantomime what he wanted. They nodded, half terrified. In a second, the stranger was by my side, Elsie had taken the girl, the Doctor the boy, and the camels were passively beginning to rise again. That is the best of your camel. Once set him on his road, and he goes mechanically.
The sheikh broke out with several loud remarks in Arabic, which we did not understand, but whose hostile character could not easily escape us. He was beside himself with anger. Then I was suddenly aware of the splendid advantage of having an Irishman on our side. Dr. Macloghlen drew his revolver, like one well used to such episodes, and pointed it full at the angry Arab. 'Look here, Mr. Sheikh,' he said, calmly, yet with a fine touch of bravado; 'do ye see this revolver? Well, unless ye make yer camels thravel sthraight to Geergeh widout wan other wurrud, 'tis yer own brains will be spattered, sor, on the sand of this desert! And if ye touch wan hair of our heads, ye'll answer for it wid yer life to the British Government.'
I do not feel sure that the sheikh comprehended the exact nature of each word in this comprehensive threat, but I am certain he took in its general meaning, punctuated182 as it was with some flourishes of the revolver. He turned to the drivers and made a gesture of despair. It meant, apparently183, that this infidel was too much for him. Then he called out a few sharp directions in Arabic. Next minute,[Pg 196] our camels' legs were stepping out briskly along the road to Geergeh with a promptitude which I'm sure must have astonished their owners. We rode on and on through the gloom in a fever of suspense. Had any of the Senoosis noticed our presence? Would they miss the chief's wife before long, and follow us under arms? Would our own sheikh betray us? I am no coward, as women go, but I confess, if it had not been for our fiery184 Irishman, I should have felt my heart sink. We were grateful to him for the reckless and good-humoured courage of the untamed Celt. It kept us from giving way. 'Ye'll take notice, Mr. Sheikh,' he said, as we threaded our way among the moon-lit rocks, 'that I have twinty-wan cartridges185 in me case for me revolver; and that if there's throuble to-night, 'tis twinty of them there'll be for your frinds the Senoosis, and wan for yerself; but for fear of disappointing a gintleman, 'tis yer own special bullet I'll disthribute first, if it comes to fighting.'
The sheikh's English was a vanishing quantity, but to judge by the way he nodded and salaamed186 at this playful remark, I am convinced he understood the Doctor's Irish quite as well as I did.
We spoke little by the way; we were all far too frightened, except the Doctor, who kept our hearts up by a running fire of wild Celtic humour. But I found time meanwhile to learn by a few questions from our veiled friend something of her captivity187. She had seen her father massacred before her eyes at Khartoum, and had then been sold away to a merchant, who conveyed her by degrees and by various exchanges across the desert through lonely spots to the Senoosi oasis. There she had lived all those years with the chief to whom her last purchaser had trafficked her. She did not even know that her husband's village was an integral part of the Khedive's territory; far less that the English were now in[Pg 197] practical occupation of Egypt. She had heard nothing and learnt nothing since that fateful day; she had waited in vain for the off-chance of a deliverer.
'But did you never try to run away to the Nile?' I cried, astonished.
'Run away? How could I? I did not even know which way the river lay; and was it possible for me to cross the desert on foot, or find the chance of a camel? The Senoosis would have killed me. Even with you to help me, see what dangers surround me; alone, I should have perished, like Hagar in the wilderness188, with no angel to save me.'
'An' ye've got the angel now,' Dr. Macloghlen exclaimed, glancing at me. 'Steady, there, Mr. Sheikh. What's this that's coming?'
It was another caravan, going the opposite way, on its road to the oasis! A voice halloaed from it.
Our new friend clung tight to me. 'My husband!' she whispered, gasping189.
They were still far off on the desert, and the moon shone bright. A few hurried words to the Doctor, and with a wild resolve we faced the emergency. He made the camels halt, and all of us, springing off, crouched190 down behind their shadows in such a way that the coming caravan must pass on the far side of us. At the same moment the Doctor turned resolutely191 to the sheikh. 'Look here, Mr. Arab,' he said in a quiet voice, with one more appeal to the simple Volapuk of the pointed revolver; 'I cover ye wid this. Let these frinds of yours go by. If there's anny unnecessary talking betwixt ye, or anny throuble of anny kind, remimber, the first bullet goes sthraight as an arrow t'rough that haythen head of yours!'
The sheikh salaamed more submissively than ever.
The caravan drew abreast of us. We could hear them[Pg 198] cry aloud on either side the customary salutes192: 'In Allah's name, peace!' answered by 'Allah is great; there is no god but Allah.'
Would anything more happen? Would our sheikh play us false? It was a moment of breathlessness. We crouched and cowered193 in the shade, holding our hearts with fear, while the Arab drivers pretended to be unsaddling the camels. A minute or two of anxious suspense; then, peering over our beasts' backs, we saw their long line filing off towards the oasis. We watched their turbaned heads, silhouetted194 against the sky, disappear slowly. One by one they faded away. The danger was past. With beating hearts we rose up again.
The Doctor sprang into his place and seated himself on his camel. 'Now ride on, Mr. Sheikh,' he said, 'wid all yer men, as if grim death was afther ye. Camels or no camels, ye've got to march all night, for ye'll never draw rein195 till we're safe back at Geergeh!'
And sure enough we never halted, under the persuasive196 influence of that loaded revolver, till we dismounted once more in the early dawn upon the Nile bank, under British protection.
Then Elsie and I and our rescued country-woman broke down together in an orgy of relief. We hugged one another and cried like so many children.
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1
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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exchequer
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| n.财政部；国库 | |
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chafe
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| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
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totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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10
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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12
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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13
overt
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| adj.公开的，明显的，公然的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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18
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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19
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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23
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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27
rattling
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| 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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28
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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30
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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31
forte
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| n.长处，擅长；adj.(音乐)强音的 | |
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32
journalism
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| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
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33
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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35
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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37
lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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38
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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39
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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40
opulence
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| n.财富，富裕 | |
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41
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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42
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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43
berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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44
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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45
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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46
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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47
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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48
lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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49
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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50
odyssey
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| n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险 | |
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51
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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52
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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53
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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54
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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55
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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56
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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57
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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59
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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60
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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61
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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62
deferentially
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| adv.表示敬意地，谦恭地 | |
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63
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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64
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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65
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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66
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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67
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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68
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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69
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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70
propounded
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| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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72
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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73
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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74
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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75
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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76
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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77
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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78
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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79
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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80
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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81
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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82
aliases
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| n.别名，化名( alias的名词复数 ) | |
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83
alias
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| n.化名；别名；adv.又名 | |
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84
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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86
minarets
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| n.（清真寺旁由报告祈祷时刻的人使用的）光塔( minaret的名词复数 ) | |
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87
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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88
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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89
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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90
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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91
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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92
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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93
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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94
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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95
munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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96
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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97
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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98
valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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99
disillusion
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| vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭 | |
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100
colonnades
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| n.石柱廊( colonnade的名词复数 ) | |
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101
superciliously
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| adv.高傲地；傲慢地 | |
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102
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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103
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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104
mowing
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| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
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105
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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106
obelisk
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| n.方尖塔 | |
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107
hieroglyphic
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| n.象形文字 | |
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108
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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109
opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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110
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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111
oasis
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| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方 | |
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112
indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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113
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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114
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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115
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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116
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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117
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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118
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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119
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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120
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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121
negotiation
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| n.谈判，协商 | |
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122
salaaming
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| 行额手礼( salaam的现在分词 ) | |
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123
bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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124
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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125
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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126
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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127
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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128
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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129
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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130
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；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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131
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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132
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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133
intervals
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| 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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134
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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135
admonished
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| 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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136
nonplussed
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| 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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137
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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138
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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139
brackish
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| adj.混有盐的；咸的 | |
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140
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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141
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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142
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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143
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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144
uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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145
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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146
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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147
exhorting
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的现在分词 ) | |
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148
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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149
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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150
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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151
fanaticism
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| n.狂热，盲信 | |
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152
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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153
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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154
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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155
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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156
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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157
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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158
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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159
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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160
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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161
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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162
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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163
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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164
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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165
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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166
consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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167
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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168
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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169
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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170
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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171
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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172
overdone
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| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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173
nonchalance
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| n.冷淡，漠不关心 | |
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174
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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175
inveighed
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| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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176
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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177
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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178
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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179
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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180
bastes
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| v.打( baste的第三人称单数 )；粗缝；痛斥；（烤肉等时）往上抹[浇]油 | |
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181
authoritatively
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| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
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182
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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183
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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184
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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185
cartridges
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| 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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186
salaamed
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| 行额手礼( salaam的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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188
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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189
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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190
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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192
salutes
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| n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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193
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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194
silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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195
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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196
persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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