Chapter XXV. Insistence of Captain Blunt

 Now attempting to follow Miss Milne, and have further conversation with her, I found myself presently in a wild tangle¹ of the wood, so that I had much difficulty in forcing my way through it.  Not finding her, bramble-scratched and moss-stained at last I reached the wall, and followed it down, thinking to find the breach² by which I had left the garden.  But as I approached it, I halted suddenly, hearing voices from the garden; and, knowing them for the voices of Blunt and Martin Baynes and my uncle, engaged in an unseemly wrangle³, I rejoiced that I was still hidden by the creepers hanging over the wall.

 

Blunt was growling⁴, “Ay, ay, you’ve given me to know you’ll be rich, when the old man’s gone.  You think to lay your hands then on the spoil he’s piled up and held all these years.  Ay, but the old man’s alive, and I’m sailin’ again with never a penny of profit to me.”

 

“And the lad’s come to the old man,” Martin broke in, “and by all saying he’s likely to have p. 202every penny, and you not the colour of a farthing.  What d’ye say to that, Mr. Craike? what d’ye say?”

 

My uncle answered disdainfully, “You get nothing from me.  You’re a pretty pair of rogues⁶ to come and threaten.  I trust you, Baynes, to hold the rogue⁵ and you to take him aboard, Blunt; and he slips through your hands.  I wonder at your audacity⁷.”

 

“Fine talk!” cried Blunt; and Martin burst out, “You’ll pay nothing!  Will you not?  What if I go to old Sir Gavin?  What if I give him the tale?  He’d listen and he’d set you by the heels, as gladly as he’d set Roger Galt.  Though you’re one of his kind—”

 

“You have it,” my uncle assented⁸, “one of Sir Gavin’s kind.  Do you threaten me, Martin Baynes, you, for all the repute of the Stone House and Mistress Baynes and her grandsons?  Are there not strange tales of the Stone House—of travellers lost on the moors⁹?  Of a pedlar whose dog was heard wailing¹⁰ at the gates of the Stone House, as dogs wail¹¹ for their dead masters?  Do you threaten me, Martin Baynes?  And you, Blunt?  Did you never sail further than the coasts of France?  Did you never plunder¹² an English ship?  Were you never more than smuggler¹³?”

 

p. 203“Never more,” cried Blunt, “than Edward Craike, and never so much.”

 

“A gentleman of fortune,” said my uncle, “a voyager born a hundred years and odd after his time.  Tush, that my father profited by his voyages is nothing, Blunt; he plundered¹⁵ no English ships; if his men spilt any blood, it was not English.”

 

“Barwise in his cups—” Blunt began.

 

“Barwise is just such a besotted fellow,” cried my uncle, “as should pitch you the tale you’d wish to hear, Blunt.  Now ere you two presume to threaten me, think who’ll believe you?  If I sought to keep John Howe out of the house, and have him shipped overseas—what of it?  What should this count against me save with a few virtuous¹⁶ fools to whose praise or blame I am indifferent?  D’ye think I’ve no credit with His Majesty’s Ministers?  D’ye think that the Town would ever regard me as other than a man of birth and fashion?  What if there be rumours¹⁷ of my father’s past, or scandal against me?  Your words would avail you nothing.  But you, you rogues; the word from me would hang you both.  Tush, when you threaten me, you’re fools.”

 

“We want no more than payment,” Blunt growled¹⁸.

 

p. 204“That I’d not have to give you, if you’d earned it.”

 

“There’s money in the house,” Blunt urged.  “There’s plate.  There’s talk of a great chest of gold and jewels.”

 

“I would,” said my uncle softly, “I might dip my hands into it.”

 

“D’ye not know of it?” Blunt asked.  “D’ye not know it’s talk among all the folk of the house that the old man hid the richest stuff he ever took?”

 

“I do not know this, Blunt—upon my honour.”

 

“And I know,” Martin struck in, “that whatsoever¹⁹ the old man has is like to go to his grandson.  And that the old man’s threatened you, if you so much as lift a finger against the boy, he’ll not spare you.  I have it from old Thrale.”

 

“Tush,” said my uncle, “I’ve listened too long, my friends.  Your threats do not perturb²⁰ me.  I hold the cards, not you.  I know nothing of such a chest.  Pray, go!  Well for you to be sailing, Blunt.  Sir Gavin is no fool, and the Wasp²¹ lies off the coast too long for your security.  And well for you, Martin Baynes, to be sailing with Blunt; you’re idle; you’re mischievous²²; you’d be well away.”

 

p. 205“Ay, and the lad?” Blunt asked.  “Would you have him sail with us yet?”

 

“I have no preference.”

 

“Ay, but if you knew he was safe aboard, and sailing with me—not for France, for pickings in the Indies—would you find me the hundred guineas then, Mr. Craike, ere I sailed?”

 

“I should find one hundred guineas with ease,” my uncle answered.  “I suggest nothing, direct nothing—have no share in any plot against my nephew.  Yet if I knew—and none here knew—that he was safely under hatches, Blunt, I’d pay this hundred guineas ere you sailed.”

 

“He’ll be out of the house this night, aboard by the morning,” Blunt vowed²³.

 

I heard my uncle’s light laughter; I heard him humming a tune¹⁴ as he walked away.  Blunt and Martin came scrambling²⁴ over the wall, and not detecting me hidden under the creepers, tramped away through the wood.

 

1 tangle   

n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱

参考例句：

• I shouldn't tangle with Peter.He is bigger than me.我不应该与彼特吵架。他的块头比我大。
• If I were you, I wouldn't tangle with them.我要是你，我就不跟他们争吵。

2 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

3 wrangle   

vi.争吵

参考例句：

• I don't want to get into a wrangle with the committee.我不想同委员会发生争执。
• The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。

4 growling   

n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼

参考例句：

• We heard thunder growling in the distance. 我们听见远处有隆隆雷声。
• The lay about the deck growling together in talk. 他们在甲板上到处游荡，聚集在一起发牢骚。

5 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

6 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

7 audacity   

n.大胆，卤莽，无礼

参考例句：

• He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
• He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。

8 assented   

同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
• "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对，”汤姆表示赞同地说，“他们不杀女人——真伟大！

9 moors   

v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
• They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。

11 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

12 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

13 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

14 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

15 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

16 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

17 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

18 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

20 perturb   

v.使不安，烦扰，扰乱，使紊乱

参考例句：

• Stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets.行星的运行会使彗星的轨道发生扰动。
• They perturb good social order with their lie and propaganda.他们以谎言和宣传扰乱良好的社会秩序。

21 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

22 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

23 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

24 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》