At seven Mr. Fidus Neverbend, who had never yet been known to be untrue to an appointment by the fraction of a second, was standing7 over the breakfast-table alone. He was alone, but not on that account unhappy. He could hardly disguise the pleasure with which he asked the waiter whether Mr. Tudor was yet dressed, or the triumph which he felt when he heard that his colleague was not quite ready.
'Bring the tea and the eggs at once,' said Neverbend, very briskly.
'Won't you wait for Mr. Tudor?' asked the waiter, with an air of surprise. Now the landlord, waiter, boots, and chambermaid, the chambermaid especially, had all, in Mr. Neverbend's estimation, paid Tudor by far too much consideration; and he was determined9 to show that he himself was first fiddle10.
'Wait! no; quite out of the question—bring the hot water immediately—and tell the ostler to have the fly at the door at half-past seven exact.'
'Yes, sir,' said the man, and disappeared.
Neverbend waited five minutes, and then rang the bell impetuously. 'If you don't bring me my tea immediately, I shall send for Mr. Boteldale.' Now Mr. Boteldale was the landlord.
'Mr. Tudor will be down in ten minutes,' was the waiter's false reply; for up to that moment poor Alaric had not yet succeeded in lifting his throbbing12 head from his pillow. The boots was now with him administering soda-water and brandy, and he was pondering in his sickened mind whether, by a manful effort, he could rise and dress himself; or whether he would not throw himself backwards13 on his coveted14 bed, and allow Neverbend the triumph of descending16 alone to the nether17 world.
Neverbend nearly threw the loaf at the waiter's head. Wait ten minutes longer! what right had that vile18 Devonshire napkin-twirler to make to him so base a proposition? 'Bring me my breakfast, sir,' shouted Neverbend, in a voice that made the unfortunate sinner jump out of the room, as though he had been moved by a galvanic battery.
In five minutes, tea made with lukewarm water, and eggs that were not half boiled were brought to the impatient Commissioner6. As a rule Mr. Neverbend, when travelling on the public service, made a practice of enjoying his meals. It was the only solace19 which he allowed himself; the only distraction20 from the cares of office which he permitted either to his body or his mind. But on this great occasion his country required that he should forget his comforts; and he drank his tasteless tea, and ate his uncooked eggs, threatening the waiter as he did so with sundry21 pains and penalties, in the form of sixpences withheld22.
'Coming, sir,' said the waiter, as he disappeared round a corner.
In the meantime Alaric sat lackadaisical24 on his bedside, all undressed, leaning his head upon his hand, and feeling that his struggle to dress himself was all but useless. The sympathetic boots stood by with a cup of tea—well-drawn comfortable tea—in his hand, and a small bit of dry toast lay near on an adjacent plate.
'Try a bit o' toast, sir,' said boots.
'Ugh!' ejaculated poor Alaric.
'Have a leetle drop o' rum in the tea, sir, and it'll set you all to rights in two minutes.'
The proposal made Alaric very sick, and nearly completed the catastrophe25. 'Ugh!' he said.
'There's the trap, sir, for Mr. Neverbend,' said the boots, whose ears caught the well-known sound.
'The devil it is!' said Alaric, who was now stirred up to instant action. 'Take my compliments to Mr. Neverbend, and tell him I'll thank him to wait ten minutes.'
Boots, descending with the message, found Mr. Neverbend ready coated and gloved, standing at the hotel door. The fly was there, and the lame26 ostler holding the horse; but the provoking driver had gone back for his coat.
'Please, sir, Mr. Tudor says as how you're not to go just at present, but to wait ten minutes till he be ready.'
Neverbend looked at the man, but he would not trust himself to speak. Wait ten minutes, and it now wanted five-and-twenty minutes to eight!—no—not for all the Tudors that ever sat upon the throne of England.
There he stood with his watch in his hand as the returning Jehu hurried round from the stable yard. 'You are now seven minutes late,' said he, 'and if you are not at the place by eight o'clock, I shall not give you one farthing!'
'All right,' said Jehu. 'We'll be at Mary Jane in less than no time;' and off they went, not at the quickest pace. But Neverbend's heart beat high with triumph, as he reflected that he had carried the point on which he had been so intent.
Alaric, when he heard the wheels roll off, shook from him his lethargy. It was not only that Neverbend would boast that he alone had gone through the perils27 of their subterranean28 duty, but that doubtless he would explain in London how his colleague had been deterred29 from following him. It was a grievous task, that of dressing30 himself, as youthful sinners know but too well. Every now and then a qualm would come over him, and make the work seem all but impossible. Boots, however, stuck to him like a man, poured cold water over his head, renewed his tea-cup, comforted him with assurances of the bracing31 air, and put a paper full of sandwiches in his pocket.
'You'll want 'em, sir, afore you are half way to Mary Jane; and it a'n't no joke going down and up again. I know what's what, sir.'
The boots stuck to him like a man. He did not only get him sandwiches, but he procured34 for him also Mr. Boteldale's own fast-trotting pony35, and just as Neverbend was rolling up to the pit's mouth fifteen minutes after his time, greatly resolving in his own mind to button his breeches pocket firmly against the recreant36 driver, Alaric started on the chase after him.
Mr. Neverbend had a presentiment37 that, sick as his friend might be, nauseous as doubtless were the qualms38 arising from yesterday's intemperance39, he would make an attempt to recover his lost ground. He of the Woods and Works had begun to recognize the energy of him of the Weights and Measures, and felt that there was in it a force that would not easily be overcome, even by the fumes40 of bishop. But yet it would be a great thing for the Woods and Works if he, Neverbend, could descend15 in this perilous41 journey to the deep bowels42 of the earth, leaving the Weights and Measures stranded43 in the upper air. This descent among the hidden riches of a lower world, this visit to the provocations44 of evils not yet dug out from their durable45 confinement46, was the keystone, as it were, of the whole mission. Let Neverbend descend alone, alone inspect the wonders of that dirty deep, and Tudor might then talk and write as he pleased. In such case all the world of the two public offices in Question, and of some others cognate47 to them, would adjudge that he, Neverbend, had made himself master of the situation.
Actuated by these correct calculations, Mr. Neverbend was rather fussy48 to begin an immediate11 descent when he found himself on the spot. Two native gentlemen, who were to accompany the Commissioners, or the Commissioner, as appeared likely to be the case, were already there, as were also the men who were to attend upon them.
It was an ugly uninviting place to look at, with but few visible signs of wealth. The earth, which had been burrowed49 out by these human rabbits in their search after tin, lay around in huge ungainly heaps; the overground buildings of the establishment consisted of a few ill-arranged sheds, already apparently50 in a state of decadence51; dirt and slush, and pods of water confined by muddy dams, abounded52 on every side; muddy men, with muddy carts and muddy horses, slowly crawled hither and thither53, apparently with no object, and evidently indifferent as to whom they might overset in their course. The inferior men seemed to show no respect to those above them, and the superiors to exercise no authority over those below them. There was, a sullen54 equality among them all. On the ground around was no vegetation; nothing green met the eye, some few stunted55 bushes appeared here and there, nearly smothered56 by heaped-up mud, but they had about them none of the attractiveness of foliage57. The whole scene, though consisting of earth alone, was unearthly, and looked as though the devil had walked over the place with hot hoofs58, and then raked it with a huge rake.
'I am afraid I am very late,' said Neverbend, getting out of his fly in all the haste he could muster59, and looking at his watch the moment his foot touched the ground, 'very late indeed, gentlemen; I really must apologize, but it was the driver; I was punctual to the minute, I was indeed. But come, gentlemen, we won't lose another moment,' and Mr. Neverbend stepped out as though he were ready at an instant's notice to plunge60 head foremost down the deepest shaft61 in all that region of mines.
'Oh, sir, there a'n't no cause of hurry whatsomever,' said one of the mining authorities; 'the day is long enough.'
'Oh, but there is cause of hurry, Mr. Undershot,' said Neverbend angrily 'great cause of hurry; we must do this work very thoroughly62; and I positively63 have not time to get through all that I have before me.
'But-a'n't the other gen'leman a-coming?' asked Mr. Undershot.
'Surely Mr. Tooder isn't a going to cry off?' said the other. 'Why, he was so hot about it yesterday.'
'Mr. Tudor is not very well this morning,' said Mr. Neverbend. 'As his going down is not necessary for the inquiry64, and is merely a matter of taste on his part, he has not joined me this morning. Come, gentlemen, are we ready?'
It was then for the first time explained to Mr. Neverbend that he had to go through a rather complicated adjustment of his toilet before he would be considered fit to meet the infernal gods. He must, he was informed, envelop65 himself from head to foot in miner's habiliments, if he wished to save every stitch he had on him from dirt and destruction. He must also cover up his head with a linen66 cap, so constituted as to carry a lump of mud with a candle stuck in it, if he wished to save either his head from filth67 or his feet from falling. Now Mr. Neverbend, like most clerks in public offices, was somewhat particular about his wardrobe; it behoved him, as a gentleman frequenting the West End, to dress well, and it also behoved him to dress cheaply; he was, moreover, careful both as to his head and feet; he could not, therefore, reject the recommended precautions, but yet the time!—the time thus lost might destroy all.
He hurried into the shed where his toilet was to be made, and suffered himself to be prepared in the usual way. He took off his own great coat, and put on a muddy course linen jacket that covered the upper portion of his body completely; he then dragged on a pair of equally muddy overalls68; and lastly submitted to a most uninviting cap, which came down over his ears, and nearly over his eyes, and on the brow of which a lump of mud was then affixed69, bearing a short tallow candle.
But though dressed thus in miner's garb71, Mr. Neverbend could not be said to look the part he filled. He was a stout72, reddish-faced gentleman, with round shoulders and huge whiskers, he was nearly bald, and wore spectacles, and in the costume in which he now appeared he did not seem to be at his ease. Indeed, all his air of command, all his personal dignity and dictatorial73 tone, left him as soon as he found himself metamorphosed into a fat pseudo-miner. He was like a cock whose feathers had been trailed through the mud, and who could no longer crow aloud, or claim the dunghill as his own. His appearance was somewhat that of a dirty dissipated cook who, having been turned out of one of the clubs for drunkenness, had been wandering about the streets all night. He began to wish that he was once more in the well-known neighbourhood of Charing74 Cross.
The adventure, however, must now be carried through. There was still enough of manhood in his heart to make him feel that he could not return to his colleague at Tavistock without visiting the wonders which he had come so far to see. When he reached the head of the shaft, however, the affair did appear to him to be more terrible than he had before conceived. He was invited to get into a rough square bucket, in which there was just room for himself and another to stand; he was specially8 cautioned to keep his head straight, and his hands and elbows from protruding75, and then the windlass began to turn, and the upper world, the sunlight, and all humanity receded76 from his view.
The world receded from his view, but hardly soon enough; for as the windlass turned and the bucket descended77, his last terrestrial glance, looking out among the heaps of mud, descried78 Alaric Tudor galloping80 on Mr. Boteldale's pony up to the very mouth of the mine.
'Facilis descensus Averni.' The bucket went down easy enough, and all too quick. The manner in which it grounded itself on the first landing grated discordantly81 on Mr. Neverbend's finer perceptibilities. But when he learnt, after the interchange of various hoarse83 and to him unintelligible84 bellowings, that he was to wait in that narrow damp lobby for the coming of his fellow-Commissioner, the grating on his feelings was even more discordant82. He had not pluck enough left to grumble85: but he grunted86 his displeasure. He grunted, however, in vain; for in about a quarter of an hour Alaric was close to him, shoulder to shoulder. He also wore a white jacket, &c., with a nightcap of mud and candle on his head; but somehow he looked as though he had worn them all his life. The fast gallop79, and the excitement of the masquerade, which for him had charms the sterner Neverbend could not feel, had dissipated his sickness; and he was once more all himself.
'So I've caught you at the first stage,' said he, good-humouredly; for though he knew how badly he had been treated, he was much too wise to show his knowledge. 'It shall go hard but I'll distance you before we have done,' he said to himself. Poor Neverbend only grunted.
And then they all went down a second stage in another bucket; and then a third in a third bucket; and then the business commenced. As far as this point passive courage alone had been required; to stand upright in a wooden tub and go down, and down, and down, was in itself easy enough, so long as the heart did not utterly88 faint. Mr. Neverbend's heart had grown faintish, but still he had persevered89, and now stood on a third lobby, listening with dull, unintelligent ears to eager questions asked, by his colleague, and to the rapid answers of their mining guides. Tudor was absolutely at work with paper and pencil, taking down notes in that wretched Pandemonium90.
'There now, sir,' said the guide; 'no more of them ugly buckets, Mr. Neverbend; we can trust to our own arms and legs for the rest of it, and so saying, he pointed91 out to Mr. Neverbend's horror-stricken eyes a perpendicular92 iron ladder fixed70 firmly against the upright side of a shaft, and leading—for aught Mr. Neverbend could see—direct to hell itself.
'Down here, is it?' said Alaric peeping over.
'I'll go first,' said the guide; and down he went, down, down, down, till Neverbend looking over, could barely see the glimmer93 of his disappearing head light. Was it absolutely intended that he should disappear in the same way? Had he bound himself to go down that fiendish upright ladder? And were he to go down it, what then? Would it be possible that a man of his weight should ever come up again?
'Shall it be you or I next?' said Alaric very civilly. Neverbend could only pant and grunt87, and Alaric, with a courteous94 nod, placed himself on the ladder, and went down, down, down, till of him also nothing was left but the faintest glimmer. Mr. Neverbend remained above with one of the mining authorities; one attendant miner also remained with them.
'Now, Sir,' said the authority, 'if you are ready, the ladder is quite free.'
Free! What would not Neverbend have given to be free also himself! He looked down the free ladder, and the very look made him sink. It seemed to him as though nothing but a spider could creep down that perpendicular abyss. And then a sound, slow, sharp, and continuous, as of drops falling through infinite space on to deep water, came upon his ear; and he saw that the sides of the abyss were covered with slime; and the damp air made him cough, and the cap had got over his spectacles and nearly blinded him; and he was perspiring95 with a cold, clammy sweat.
'Well, sir, shall we be going on?' said the authority. 'Mr. Tooder'll be at the foot of the next set before this.'
Mr. Neverbend wished that Mr. Tudor's journey might still be down, and down, and down, till he reached the globe's centre, in which conflicting attractions might keep him for ever fixed. In his despair he essayed to put one foot upon the ladder, and then looked piteously up to the guide's face. Even in that dark, dingy96 atmosphere the light of the farthing candle on his head revealed the agony of his heart. His companions, though they were miners, were still men. They saw his misery97, and relented.
'I am sure I should never come up again,' said Neverbend, with a voice pleading for mercy, but with all the submission99 of one prepared to suffer without resistance if mercy should not be forthcoming.
'Thee bee'st for sartan too thick and weazy like for them stairs,' said the miner.
'I am, I am,' said Neverbend, turning on the man a look of the warmest affection, and shoving the horrid101, heavy, encumbered102 cap from off his spectacles; 'yes, I am too fat.' How would he have answered, with what aspect would he have annihilated103 the sinner, had such a man dared to call him weazy up above, on terra firma, under the canopy104 of heaven?
His troubles, however, or at any rate his dangers, were brought to an end. As soon as it became plainly manifest that his zeal105 in the public service would carry him no lower, and would hardly suffice to keep life throbbing in his bosom106 much longer, even in his present level, preparations were made for his ascent107. A bell was rung; hoarse voices were again heard speaking and answering in sounds quite unintelligible to a Cockney's ears; chains rattled108, the windlass whirled, and the huge bucket came tumbling down, nearly on their heads. Poor Neverbend was all but lifted into it. Where now was all the pride of the morn that had seen him go forth100 the great dictator of the mines? Where was that towering spirit with which he had ordered his tea and toast, and rebuked109 the slowness of his charioteer? Where the ambition that had soared so high over the pet of the Weights and Measures? Alas110, alas! how few of us there are who have within us the courage to be great in adversity. 'Aequam memento'—&c., &c.!—if thou couldst but have thought of it, O Neverbend, who need'st must some day die.
But Neverbend did not think of it. How few of us do remember such lessons at those moments in which they ought to be of use to us! He was all but lifted into the tub, and then out of it, and then again into another, till he reached the upper world, a sight piteous to behold111. His spectacles had gone from him, his cap covered his eyes, his lamp had reversed itself, and soft globules of grease had fallen on his nose, he was bathed in perspiration112, and was nevertheless chilled through to his very bones, his whiskers were fringed with mud, and his black cravat113 had been pulled from his neck and lost in some infernal struggle. Nevertheless, the moment in which he seated himself on a hard stool in that rough shed was perhaps the happiest in his life; some Christian114 brought him beer; had it been nectar from the brewery115 of the gods, he could not have drunk it with greater avidity.
By slow degrees he made such toilet as circumstances allowed, and then had himself driven back to Tavistock, being no more willing to wait for Tudor now than he had been in the early morning. But Jehu found him much more reasonable on his return; and as that respectable functionary116 pocketed his half-crown, he fully117 understood the spirit in which it was given. Poor Neverbend had not now enough pluck left in him to combat the hostility118 of a post-boy.
Alaric, who of course contrived119 to see all that was to be seen, and learn all that was to be learnt, in the dark passages of the tin mine, was careful on his return to use his triumph with the greatest moderation. His conscience was, alas, burdened with the guilty knowledge of Undy's shares. When he came to think of the transaction as he rode leisurely120 back to Tavistock, he knew how wrong he had been, and yet he felt a kind of triumph at the spoil which he held; for he had heard among the miners that the shares of Mary Jane were already going up to some incredible standard of value. In this manner, so said he to himself, had all the great minds of the present day made their money, and kept themselves afloat. 'Twas thus he tried to comfort himself; but not as yet successfully.
There were no more squabbles between Mr. Neverbend and Mr. Tudor; each knew that of himself, which made him bear and forbear; and so the two Commissioners returned to town on good terms with each other, and Alaric wrote a report, which delighted the heart of Sir Gregory Hardlines, ruined the opponents of the great tin mine, and sent the Mary Jane shares up, and up, and up, till speculating men thought that they could not give too high a price to secure them.
Alaric returned to town on Friday. It had been arranged that he, and Charley, and Norman, should all go down to Hampton on the Saturday; and then, on the following week, the competitive examination was to take place. But Alaric's first anxiety after his return was to procure33 the ?206, which he had to pay for the shares which he held in his pocket-book. He all but regretted, as he journeyed up to town, with the now tame Fidus seated opposite to him, that he had not disposed of them at Tavistock even at half their present value, so that he might have saved himself the necessity of being a borrower, and have wiped his hands of the whole affair.
He and Norman dined together at their club in Waterloo Place, the Pythagorean, a much humbler establishment than that patronized by Scott, and one that was dignified121 by no politics. After dinner, as they sat over their pint122 of sherry, Alaric made his request.
Norman was much less quick in his mode of speaking than his friend, and at the present moment was inclined to be somewhat slower than usual. This affair of the examination pressed upon his spirits, and made him dull and unhappy. During the whole of dinner he had said little or nothing, and had since been sitting listlessly gazing at vacancy124, and balancing himself on the hind-legs of his chair.
'O yes—certainly,' said he; but he said it without the eagerness with which Alaric thought that he should have answered his request.
'If it's inconvenient125, or if you don't like it,' said Alaric, the blood mounting to his forehead, 'it does not signify. I can do without it.'
'I can lend it you without any inconvenience,' said Harry. 'When do you want it—not to-night, I suppose?'
'No—not to-night—I should like to have it early to-morrow morning; but I see you don't like it, so I'll manage it some other way.'
'I don't know what you mean by not liking126 it. I have not the slightest objection to lending you any money I can spare. I don't think you'll find any other of your friends who will like it better. You can have it by eleven o'clock to-morrow.'
Intimate as the two men were, there had hitherto been very little borrowing or lending between them; and now Alaric felt as though he owed it to his intimacy127 with his friend to explain to him why he wanted so large a sum in so short a time. He felt, moreover, that he would not himself be so much ashamed of what he had done if he could confess it to some one else. He could then solace himself with the reflection that he had done nothing secret. Norman, he supposed, would be displeased128; but then Norman's displeasure could not injure him, and with Norman there would be no danger that the affair would go any further.
'You must think it very strange,' said he, 'that I should want such a sum; but the truth is I have bought some shares.'
'Railway shares?' said Norman, in a tone that certainly did not signify approval. He disliked speculation129 altogether, and had an old-fashioned idea that men who do speculate, should have money wherewith to do it.
'No—not railway shares exactly.'
'Canal?' suggested Norman.
'No—not canal.'
'Gas?'
Harry Norman's brow grew very black. 'Not that mine that you've been down about, I hope,' said he.
'Yes—that very identical Mary Jane that I went down, and down about,' said Alaric, trying to joke on the subject. 'Don't look so very black, my dear fellow. I know all that you have to say upon the matter. I did what was very foolish, I dare say; but the idea never occurred to me till it was too late, that I might be suspected of making a false report on the subject, because I had embarked131 a hundred pounds in it.'
'Alaric, if it were known—'
'Then it mustn't be known,' said Tudor. 'I am sorry for it; but, as I told you, the idea didn't occur to me till it was too late. The shares are bought now, and must be paid for to-morrow. I shall sell them the moment I can, and you shall have the money in three or four days.'
'I don't care one straw about the money,' said Norman, now quick enough, but still in great displeasure; 'I would give double the amount that you had not done this.'
'Don't be so suspicious, Harry,' said the other—'don't try to think the worst of your friend. By others, by Sir Gregory Hardlines, Neverbend, and such men, I might expect to be judged harshly in such a matter. But I have a right to expect that you will believe me. I tell you that I did this inadvertently, and am sorry for it; surely that ought to be sufficient.'
Norman said nothing more; but he felt that Tudor had done that which, if known, would disgrace him for ever. It might, however, very probably never be known; and it might also be that Tudor would never act so dishonestly again. On the following morning the money was paid; and in the course of the next week the shares were resold, and the money repaid, and Alaric Tudor, for the first time in his life, found himself to be the possessor of over three hundred pounds.
Such was the price which Scott, Manylodes, & Co., had found it worth their while to pay him for his good report on Mary Jane.
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beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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tipple
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| n.常喝的酒；v.不断喝，饮烈酒 | |
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denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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standing
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specially
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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immediate
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throbbing
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backwards
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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descending
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nether
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vile
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solace
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distraction
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sundry
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withheld
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morsel
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lackadaisical
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catastrophe
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lame
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27
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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33
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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35
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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36
recreant
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| n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的 | |
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37
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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38
qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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39
intemperance
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| n.放纵 | |
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40
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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41
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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42
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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43
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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44
provocations
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| n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因 | |
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45
durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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46
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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47
cognate
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| adj.同类的，同源的，同族的；n.同家族的人，同源词 | |
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fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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49
burrowed
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻 | |
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50
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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51
decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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52
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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54
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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57
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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58
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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60
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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61
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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62
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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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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64
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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envelop
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| vt.包，封，遮盖；包围 | |
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66
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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67
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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68
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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71
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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dictatorial
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| adj. 独裁的，专断的 | |
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74
charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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75
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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76
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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77
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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78
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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79
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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80
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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81
discordantly
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| adv.不一致地，不和谐地 | |
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82
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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83
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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84
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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85
grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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86
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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87
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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88
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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89
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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91
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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92
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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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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94
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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95
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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96
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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97
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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98
bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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99
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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100
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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101
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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102
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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103
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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104
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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105
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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106
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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107
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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108
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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109
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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111
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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112
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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113
cravat
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| n.领巾，领结；v.使穿有领结的服装，使结领结 | |
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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
brewery
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| n.啤酒厂 | |
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116
functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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117
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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118
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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119
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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120
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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121
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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122
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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123
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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124
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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125
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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126
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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127
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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128
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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129
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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130
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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131
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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