Awell, you see, it happened that a well-grown, handsome, proper looking young shepherd lad, called Robin3 Stuart, had possessed4 himself of the young affections of a bonny lassie, the daughter of Donald Rose, one of the better sort of tenants5 of these parts. Their love for one another had grown up with them, they could not well say how. Its origin was lost in the innocent forgetfulness of their childhood, as the origin of a nation is buried in the fabulous6 history of its infancy7; but, however born, this they both felt, that it had grown in strength and vigour8 every day of their lives, until with Robin it began to ripen9 into that honest and ardent10 attachment11 natural to a manly12 young heart, which was responded to on the part of bonny Mary Rose by all the delicacy13 and softness that ought to characterise the modest young maiden14’s return of a first love. But however natural it was for the tender heart of the daughter to beat in unison15, or, as I may say, to swing in equal arcs with that of her lover, just as if they had been two pendulums16 of like proportions and construction, it was equally selon les règles, as the modern men of Gaul would say, that the churlish and sordid17 old tyke of a father, who had been accustomed to estimate merit more by the rule of proportion than anything else, exactly perhaps as he would have valued one of his own muttons according to the number of its pounds, should have stormed like a fury when he actually deteckit the callant Robin Stuart in the very ack of making love to his daughter in his own house! [137]
A desperate feud18 of some years’ standing19 had made Donald the declared enemy of Robin’s father, old Harry20 the herd2 of the Limekilns, a cognomen21 which he had from the circumstance of his cottage being placed on the side of yonder hill of that name, so called from a prevailing22 tradition that the lime used in the building of the Castle of Loch-an-Dorbe was brought in the state of stone in creels on horses’ backs from the quarries23 near to Grantown, and burned there. Old Harry was a poor man and a herd, whilst Donald Rose was wealthy, and especially prided himself on being a Duniwassel, or small gentleman, so that there thus existed three most active awgents, to wit, enmity, avarice24, and pride, which combined to compel him to put an instantaneous stop to all such proceedings25 between Robin Stuart and his daughter Mary. Without one moment’s delay, he thrust the young shepherd, head and shoulders, violently forth26 from his door, and smacking27 the palm of his hand significantly and with great force and birr on his dirk sheath, so as to cause the weepon to ring again—
“I’ll tell ye what it is, my young birkie,” said he, in a voice like thunder, “gif I catch ye again within haulf a mile o’ my dochter, ye sall ha’e a taste o’ sweetlips here! An’ as for you, Mary, an’ ye daur to let siccan a beggarly chield as that come within a penny stane cast o’ ye, by my saul but I’ll turn ye out ower my door hauld wi’ as leetle ceremony as I ha’e done the same thing to Rab himsell yonder!”
But, as one of the ancient heathen poets hath it, love is a fire which no storm can extinguish; it feeds itself with hope, and only burns the brighter the more it is blown against by adverse29 blasts. You know, gentlemen, how Pyramus and Thisbe contrived30 to hold secret converse31 together. Though Robin and Mary had no crack in a wall through which to pour the stream of their mutual32 love,—nay, although their respective dwellings33 were some mile or two separate from each other, yet many were the private meetings which the youth and maiden contrived to obtain, during which they employed their time in fostering their mutual hopes, and in strengthening their belief that better and happier days were yet in store for them. And happy indeed would have been those days of their anticipation34, if they could have proved happier than were [138]those stolen hours which they thus occasionally enjoyed together.
Now, it happened one beautiful day, in the beginning of summer, that Donald Rose rode off from his door to go to a distant market, whence there was no chance of his returning till late at night. The old saying hath it, that when the cat is away the mice will play. This was too favourable35 an opportunity to be lost by a pair of young lovers so quick-sighted as Robin and Mary. It had been marked by both of them for some weeks before it came; and the farmer’s long-tailed rough grey garron had no sooner borne his master’s bulky body in safety along the ticklish36 and treacherous37 path that went by a short cut through the long moss38, and over the distant rising ground, than Robin Stuart, true to his tryst39, appeared to escort his bonny lassie on a ramble40 of love. No one was at home to spy out their intentions but old Mysie Morrison, the good-natured hireling woman of all work; and she was too much taken up with her household affairs to trouble her head about watching the young lad and lass. Indeed, if she had thoughts of them at all, she was too much attached to her young mistress, and too well acquainted with her secret, and too shrewd to betray her either by design or by accident.
As you may see, gentlemen, there was no great choice of pleasure walks in this bleak41 destrick, but the two young creatures were so taken up with each other, and so full of joy in each other’s company, that the dreariest42 spot of it was as a rich and blooming garden in their delighted eyes. They tripped along merrily together, and bounded like roe43 deer over the heathery knolls44, scarcely knowing, and not in the least caring, which way they went, until they found themselves by the side of the little lochan which we have but just left behind us. It was then the season when the wilderness46 of this upland country was clad in a mantle47 of wild flowers, and thereabouts especially they grew in so great variety and profusion48 that it seemed as if the goddess Flora49 had resolved to hold her court in that place. There, then, they resolved to rest a while; and Robin, producing the simple contents of a little wallet which he carried under his plaid, they sat down together and feasted luxuriously50.
When they had finished their meal the lovers began to [139]waste the hours in idle but innocent sport. They roamed about here and there, gathering51 the gaudy52 flowering plants that grew around them; and after filling their arms with these wildling treasures, they again seated themselves side by side, to employ their hands in arranging and plaiting them into rustic53 ornaments54. Whilst thus occupied they were too happy and too much taken up with their own pleasing prattle55 to think of the progress of the sun, who was all this time most industriously56 urging his ceaseless journey over their heads, without exciting any of their attention, except in so far as his beams might have lent a livelier hue57 to the gay garlands they were weaving for each other, or yielded a fresher glow to the cheeks, or a brighter sparkle to the eyes, of those who were to wear them.
Whilst they were thus so happily and so harmlessly occupied, they went on, with all the innocent simplicity58 of rustic life, repeating over and over again to each other their solemn vows59 of eternal love and fidelity60, as if they could never have been tired of these their sweet and sooth-fast asseverations, whilst, at the same time, they uttered them with a copiousness62 of phraseology and a variety of dialogue truly marvellous in such a muirland pair as they were. It would have absolutely astonished all your writers of novelles to have overheard them, and it would have puzzled any of these fiction-mongers to have invented the like.
“Oh that your father was but as poor and as humble64 as mine, Mary!” exclaimed the youth at last, “or, rich and proud as he is, that you could leave him and content yoursel’ wi’ bein’ a poor man’s wife!”
“Na, Robin!” replied she, shaking her head gravely, and then laying her hand upon his arm, and looking up wistfully into his eyes, “you would never ask me, my father’s ae bairn, to leave him noo that he has grown auld28, and that my dear mother has left us baith and gane to heeven! Gif, indeed, he could be but brought to look wi’ a kind ee on you—then—then”—continued she, with a faultering tongue, whilst she blushed deeply, and threw her eyes down amidst the heap of flowers that lay at her feet,—“then, indeed, we might baith be his bairns.”
“Oh! I wish again that he were but a poor man!” cried Robin enthusiastically, “for then might thir twa arms o’ mine mak’ me as gude a match in his een as a’ the bit [140]tocher he could gie might warrant him to look for. Weel and stoutly66 wad I work for sic a prize as you, Mary!”
“An’ weel wad I be pleased that ye should ha’e it, Robin, little worth as it is!” said Mary, with an expression of undisguised fondness. “Though I could na gie up my father, I could gie up a’ my father’s gowd, gif it wad but bring you hame to help him. And gif it warna for him,” added she, with a tear trembling in her eye, “I trow I could gang wi’ you to the warld’s end, an’ I war never to see anither human face!”
“O Mary!” exclaimed Robin, in a transport, “I could live wi’ you in a desert. I could live wi’ you in some wee uninhabited spot in the midds o’ the muckle ocean, aye, though it war nae bigger than the bit witches’ island there afore ye, aye, and as fond o’ flittin’ as it is too, and that we sould never leave its wee bit bouns.”
There was something so absurdly extravagant68 in the very idea of two people being confined together to a space of a few yards square, to live the sport of every varying breeze that might blow over the surface of the deep, that Mary’s gravity was fairly overcome, notwithstanding the high pitch of devoted69 feeling to which she had been wound up at the moment. She could not control herself; and she gave way to loud peals70 of laughter, in which her lover as heartily71 joined her. “See!” cried she, the moment she could get her breath, whilst she pointed72 sportively to the little floating islet which was at that moment lying motionless, and almost in contact with the shore near to the spot where they were sitting, “see, see, Robby, how our wee bit fairy kingdom is waitin’ yonder to bid us welcome!”
“Come, then, my queen, let us take possession o ’t then in baith our names!” cried Robin, in the same tone, and gaily73 and gallantly74 seizing her hand at the same time, he, with great pretended pomp and ceremony, led her, half laughing, and half afraid, towards the place where the island rested.
At the time my story speaks of the borders of the loch were less encroached upon by weeds and rushes than you have seen that they now are, and the island lay, as if it had been moored76, as mariners77 would say, in deep water close to the shore. It was, therefore, but a short step to reach it, and Robin easily handed the trembling Mary into it with as much natural grace, I’ll warrant me, as the pious63 [141]?neas himself could have handed Queen Dido. The lassie’s light foot hardly made its grassy78 surface quiver as it reached it; but, full of his own frolic, and altogether forgetful for that moment of the precarious79 and kittle nature of the ground he had to deal with, he sprang in after her with a degree of force which was far from being required to effect his purpose, and so great was the impetus80 which he thus communicated to the floating islet, that it was at once pushed several yards away from the shore. With one joint81 exclamation82 of terror both stood appalled83, and they silently beheld84 the small fragment of ground that supported them moving, almost insensibly, yet farther and farther towards the middle of the loch, so long as any of the force which Robin had so unfortunately applied85 to it remained, and then it settled on the motionless bosom86 of the deep and black looking waters, at such a distance even from the bank which they had just left as to forbid all hope of escape to those who could not swim.
Fled indeed, gentlemen, was now all the mirth of this unlucky pair. Poor Mary was at once possessed by a thousand fears; and even the firmer mind of her companion, though sufficiently87 occupied with its anxiety for her, was not without its full share of those individual superstitious88 apprehensions89 naturally produced by the place where they were, and which secretly affected91 both of them. Neither of them could resist the belief that supernatural interference had had some share in producing their present distress93. But whatever Robin’s private thoughts may have been, he was too manly to allow them to become apparent to Mary. Plucking up some long grass and sedges, therefore, and making them into a large bundle, he took off his jacket, threw it over it, and by this means made a dry seat for her in the very middle of the quivering and spongy surface of the islet. Then casting his red plaid over his shoulder, he stood beside her, now bending over her to whisper words of comfort and encouragement into her ear, and by and by stretching his neck erect94, that his eyes might have the better vantage to sweep around the whole circuit of the dull and monotonous95 surface of the surrounding wastes. How mixed, yet how antagonist96 to each other were the ideas which now passed rapidly through his mind! At one moment he felt a strange and indescribable rapture97 as the mere98 thought crossed him that this small floating [142]spot of earth did indeed contain no other human being but himself and her whom he would wish to sever61 from all the world besides, that she might be the more perfectly99 dependent on himself alone, and therefore the more indissolubly bound to him; and then would he utter some endearing words to Mary. Then, again, the shivering conviction would strike him, that although there was no human being but themselves there, there might yet be other unknown and unseen beings in their company that neither of them wist of, and he looked fearfully around him, scanning with suspicious eye, not only the whole surface of the lake, but every little nook and crevice100 of the shore. And then bethinking him of night, he lifted up his eyes with anxious solicitude101 from time to time, to note the position of the sun, whose progress he and his fair companion had previously102 so much disregarded; and great was his internal vexation when he perceived how rapidly his car was now rolling downwards103, not, as the auncient poets would say, in his haste to lay himself in the lap of Thetis, but as if he had been eager to escape behind yon great lump of a muirland hill yonder to the westward104.
But a yet more trying discovery soon began to force itself upon his attention. The islet on which they stood seemed, as he narrowly measured it with his eye, to have sunk some inches into the water! Already in idea he felt its bubbling wavelets closing over his own head and the dear head of her whom he so much loved! His heart grew sick at the very thought. Summoning up courage, however, he contrived to allow no outward sign to betray his feelings to Mary; and taking certain marks with his eye, he set himself to watch them with an anxiety so intense, and with a look so fixed105, that he was unable rationally to reply, either by word or sign, to anything that the poor lassie said to him, so that she began at length to entertain new apprehensions at the wild expression which his countenance106 exhibited. By degrees, however, she became more assured, for, after long and accurate observation had led him to believe that at least no very rapid change was taking place, his features gradually relaxed, and hers were for the time relieved by that very sympathy which had so enchained them.
And now the sun was fast approaching the horizon, and Robin’s eyes were eagerly employed in endeavouring to [143]penetrate even the most distant shadows that were rapidly settling down upon the hills, behind which he was about to disappear, whence they began to spread themselves over the wide extent of brown moors107 and black mosses108 that stretched everywhere around them. As the light passed away, his glances flew more hastily in every direction, in the vain search for some human being. Above all, he earnestly surveyed the road where he for some time sanguinely109 hoped that he might discover some one returning from the market, who might yet lend them an aid, though he felt that it quite defied him to form any rational conception as to what the nature of that aid could be. Again, he would most inconsistently shrink back, and instinctively110 shut his eyes, as if that could have concealed112 his person, from very dread113 that Donald Rose might come home that way and discover them in this their distressing114 and dangerous situation, for he was fully65 aware that he had but little chance of rising in the old man’s estimation by having thus had the misfortune to bring the life of his only child into so great peril115. As he thus ruminated116, he remembered that although this was not old Donald’s shortest way home, yet it was that which he was most likely to take towards night, as being the best. And he moreover distinctly perceived, that if he did come that way before it was dark, he could not fail to discover them. For as the rugged117 and irregular muirland road wound round nearly one-third of the whole margin118 of the little loch, by reason of its having to cross the bit brook119 that issues from its western extremity120, it was self-evident that no one could travel that way without having his eyes intently fixed, for a considerable time, in a direction that must compel him to survey the whole surface of the sheet of water, so that not a duck or a dab-chick could yescape them. And what if the farmer did not come? Might they not be discovered by some other hard-hearted person, who, instead of assisting them, might be so wicked as to carry the news of their situation directly to old Rose, whose rage, he felt persuaded, would be enough to burn up the waters of the loch. Such a finis to the adventure was the least misfortune they could look for from the malice121 of those evil spirits of the islet, by whom he believed that he and Mary had been thus entrapped122. Anxious as he had at first been to descry123 some one, he now longed for night to fall down [144]on them and render them invisible. Then the utter hopelessness of eventual125 concealment126 occurred to him, for he reflected that the farmer must return home at some hour during the night; that when he did so return, he must find his daughter absent, and that his ungovernable fury would not be diminished by the tormenting127 suspense128 in which he would be kept regarding her until next day, when they should certainly be discovered. Robin’s mind was tossed to and fro among such unpleasant thoughts as these, till they were all put to flight by the overwhelming force of that superstitious dread which taught him to believe that night would soon give an uncontrolled power to those evil beings who had thus so cruelly used them.
“Oh, for a breeze of wind!” cried poor Robin in his agony, as a thousand formidable and ghastly shapes began to dance before his disturbed fancy. And—
“Oh, for a breeze!” sighed the soft and tremulous voice of Mary Rose, whose mind had all this while been silently following the same irregular train of thought, and sympathetically participating in the distressing emotions which had been agitating129 her lover.
And now the sun went down in a blaze of glory beyond the western hills, and his last beams took leave of the surface of the water, after having shed a radiance over it, as well as a cheerful glow over the countenances130 of the two lovers, that but ill assorted131 with the misery132 of soul which they were enduring. By degrees a soft summer exhalation began to arise from the bosom of the loch, as well as from all the neighbouring pools, peatpots, and marshes133. But balmy, and cheering, and invigorating as it was to all the parched134 offspring of nature that grew in this desert, which opened their bosoms135 to receive it, and gratefully exhaled136 their richest perfumes, it chilled the very hearts of the lovers, as night fell darkly and dismally137 around them.
“Robin,” said Mary in a voice that quivered from the effects of the chilling damp, combined with those secret terrors which were every instant taking more and more powerful possession of her, in spite of all her reason and resolution to resist them. “Robin, put on your jacket, you will starve.”
“Mair need for me, Mary, to gie ye this plaid o’ mine,” [145]replied he in a tender tone. “Here, tak’ it about ye, my dearest lassie, and keep up a gude heart.”
“Na, I’ll no tak’ nae mair aff ye,” said Mary gently, refusing to allow him to throw the plaid over her.
“Let me—let me gie ye haulf o’t then,” said he, with a modest hesitation138.
After some little further discussion, the matter was at last arranged, for Mary stood up by Robin’s side, and the ample plaid having been thrown over both of them, somewhat in the manner of a tent, the edges of it were held together by her lover’s nervous arm, so as in a great measure to exclude the cold damp air. If it was not altogether shut out, Robin at least for some time felt none of its influence, for, finding himself thus the sole protector of his beloved Mary, his heart burned within him with love and pride, and all thoughts of evil spirits were banished139 for a time.
Things had not been long accommodated in this manner, when Mary complained that her feet began to grow cold and wet, and the change in Robin’s thoughts may be conceived when he too became convinced that the water was certainly somehow or other gaining upon them. The darkness was now such as to render it impossible for him to make any such minute observation as he had done before. He could only now guess vaguely140, and his whole frame shivered with horror as the suspicion crossed him, that the unusual weight which the islet now bore having pressed it downwards, the upper and more porous141 parts of it, which were formerly142 comparatively dry, had imbibed143 a greater quantity of water than usual, and the specific gravity of the whole being thus increased, it was gradually sinking, and must soon be altogether submerged. I say not that the poor lad reasoned thus upon pheelosophical principles, but, nevertheless, he did come to the conclusion that this treacherous bit of ground was sinking fast. How long or how short a time it might possibly take before the awful catastrophe144 should arrive, was more than he had any means of determining. He had nothing now left but to nerve himself with resolution to enable him to conceal111 his fears and his horrors from Mary, though, at the same time, he could not help clinging to her with an earnestness and a wildness of manner that did anything but allay145 her terrors. Dark as the night was, all those superstitious [146]fancies which had disturbed their minds were banished by the overpowering conviction of speedily approaching dissolution which individually possessed them in secret. The black gulf146 by which they were environed seemed, in the mind’s eye of each of them, to be yawning to swallow them up; and the thought that they should die in each other’s arms, was the only consolation147 that visited their afflicted148 souls in that awful moment.
“Let us pray to the Lord!” said Mary solemnly, “for our death-hour is come!”
Robert, who would now have deemed it to be a sinful ack to speak to her of hope, which he had himself so utterly149 abandoned, immediately obeyed her command. You know, gentlemen, that it is the glorious preevilege of our Scottish peasantry to receive education from the pious and well conducked teachers of our parochial schools. Even the youngest men are thereby150 exerceesed in prayer, so that it becomes so much of a habit with them, that they are at all times prepared to pour out their souls in extemporaneous151 offerings to the Deevine Being. You can easily understand, therefore, that at such a moment when convinced that he himself, and she whom he loved beyond all yearthly things, were about to be summoned to the footstool of their Creator, his prayer was solemn, yearnest, simple, and sublime152. So certain did the sealing of their doom153 now appear, that he put up few petitions for present help in this world. The whole force of his supplication154 was directed to their salvation155 through the merits of a Saviour156, in that on which they were so soon to enter, and Mary clung closer to him as he spoke157, and continued to follow all his expressions, now internally and now audibly, with a fervour that sufficiently proved the intensity158 of her faith and hope.
Whilst the poor creatures were thus employed a dim gleam of light from the eastern horizon seemed as if struggling through the dense159 fog that hung over the loch, and soon afterwards a gentle passing breath of air was distinctly felt by both of them. It murmured around them, and fanned them, as it were, for a moment, and found its way even within the hollow of the plaid. Its voice was to them as the voice of their guardian160 angel, and it refreshed their drooping161 souls, although they knew not very well how it did so. In a very few minutes afterwards, [147]however, the mist being broken up by the influence of a full moon that had just risen, began to collect itself into distinct spiral columns, which dissipated themselves one after another, as if they had been so many spirits melting into air. The long wished-for breeze then at length came singing most musically as it skimmed over the surface of the perfumed heath. And it had not long curled the hitherto still surface of the loch, till Robin and Mary began to perceive that the half-drowned island was sensibly increasing its distance from the shore whence they had taken their departure. There was something very fearful in this, and the poor lassie clung closer to her lover. But with all their fears it now seemed as if Hope was sitting beckoning162 to them on the opposite shore, towards which the breeze was so evidently, though so slowly, propelling them.
The moon now shone forth in full radiance, and speedily dissipated the broken fragments of the fog that yet remained. One mass only, denser163 than the rest, still hung poised164 over their heads, naturally maintained in that position by the attraction of the damp floating earth they stood on. To their great joy they perceived that the breeze was increasing, and that their motion was gradually accelerating.
“Mary, my dear,” cried Robin, “keep a gude heart; I’m thinking that we’ll maybe mak out yet. Let’s hoize up the plaid till it catches mair o’ the wund.”
And, accordingly, they raised their arms and kept the plaid high over their heads, till it was bellied165 out by the breeze like the lugsail of a herring buss, and their velocity166 was tripled.
They were thus moving gallantly onwards, in anxious expectation that a very few minutes more would moor75 them in safety to the shore, so that there might yet be time for Mary to hurry home before her father should arrive to question her absence, when they suddenly perceived a horseman riding along the road which sweep’t around the end of the loch they were now nearing so fast. What think ye, gentlemen, was the astonishment167, dread, and mortification168 of the poor lassie and her lad when they beheld the moonbeams reflecked from a face as broad and as pale as the disc of the luminary169 from which they had been last projected? It was Donald Rose himself! As their [148]supporting bit of earth drifted onwards with them, they stood together for a moment petrified170 with surprise and fear, whilst they beheld him check his horse, and turn his head towards the loch, as if to gaze at them; and then, with one shriek171 from Mary and a deep groan172 from Robin, which might have made a good treble and bass173 for the psalmody of the martyrs174, both the two of them, by one simultaneous movement, sank down together among the rank grass and water-weeds in which they were standing, and the folds of the plaid collapsing175 around them, both were completely shrouded176 beneath it. There they lay, abandoning themselves to their perverse177 fate, and fearing to move or speak, until, in a very few seconds, they were drifted to the very spot where they too well knew that the enraged178 farmer must be already standing like a roaring lion ready to devour179 them; and they were thus prostrated180, as it were, at the very feet of him whose ungovernable rage they had so much reason to wish to have avoided.
The floating island had touched the terra firma for some seconds, but still the conscious pair dared not to peep from beneath the covering that enveloped181 them. They lay, as I might say, as quiet as two mice in a bag of meal. They uttered not a word. They hardly even dared to breathe. But tremblingly in need of support under circumstances so very trying, the poor lassie Mary clasped her Robin about the waist with an energy equal to the terror she was moved by. It was the feeling of this her utter dependence182 upon him for support and defence that first subdued183 Robert’s own fears, and awakened184 him to a sense of his own dignity as a man.
“An’ ye’ll hae but a thoughty o’ patience, Maister Rose, I’ll tell ye a’ aboot it,” said he, commencing his peroration185 from beneath the plaid, somewhat sotto voce, as the degenerate186 modern Romans would say. But gaining greater boldness as he heard the sound of his own voice, and that his words remained as yet unanswered, he went on to speak, gradually raising his tone as he did so, and at the same time erecting187 his person by slow degrees from his abject188 attitude, though without unveiling himself.
“Ye may think as ye like, Maister Rose, but I canna help lovin’ Miss Mary; I maun love her spite o’ mysell, an’ gin ye wad hae me no to love her nae mair, ye maun just dirk me here at aince. But for the sake o’ a’ that’s [149]good!” continued he, blubbering from very emotion, “dinna offer to hurt ae hair o’ her bonny head, for by my troth an’ ye do, Maister Rose!”——
These last words were uttered in so loud and impassioned a key, that it sufficiently indicated the nature as well as the resolute189 determination of the threat that was intended to follow, even if the furious action of the uplifted arm and clenched190 fist had not left it quite unequivocal. So violent was the effect, that the plaid which had risen along with the speaker, and which had up to this point continued to muffle191 his head and eyes, was suddenly thrown off.
“Gude keep hus a’ he’s gane!” cried Robin with a stare of horror. “As I’m a leevin’ man!—as I houp and believe I am”—continued he, pinching his own arms and thighs192 as he said so, to convince himself of the fack that he really was alive, “it was your father’s wraith193 we saw, Mary!”
Half fainting from the effect of the complication of terrors which had surrounded her, Mary Rose was hardly conscious of what Robin had said, and he for his part having gained that self-command of which the sudden nature of his alarm had for a moment deprived him, now bit his lip and studiously avoided uttering one word that might convey to her the least inkling of that conviction which had just then flashed upon him, or that might distress her mind with any share of that superstitious dread which at this moment so completely filled his own.
“He’s gane indeed, dear Mary,” said he as he gently assisted her to rise; “let’s be thankful that we’re safe on dry land, and let me help you hame to your ain house as fast as I can, and may the Lord be aboot us!”
Adjusting his plaid over her, and placing his arm around her slender waist to support her tottering194 steps, he guided her homewards by the light of the moon through the rugged moor by a short path. Often as they went did each of them secretly remember how auspiciously195 the morning sun had shone upon them as they had danced lightly together over the blooming heather! But they were both too much sunk by the unfortunate issue of their day’s adventures, believing as they, poor things, foolishly did, that the powers of evil themselves had combined to thwart196 them; they were too much sunk, I say, to be able to utter much more than monosyllables to each other, or such words at least as were expressive197 of gratitude198 to [150]Heaven for having permitted them to yescape with life, whilst an indefinite dread of the fate that awaited them hung secretly lowering over each of their minds.
Lights blazed within the white-washed windows of Donald Rose’s cottage as it appeared on a knoll45 before Mary’s dizzy eyes. Whether these might indicate her father’s presence or not, she could not daur to guess. The poor lassie was so feared, that she hesitated to approach the door herself; yet she felt that there was still greater danger there for Robin, and, with a delicate pressure of the young lad’s hand, she bade him tenderly farewell.
“Robin, haste ye hame to the Limekilns,” said she. “Ye maunna face my father. Leave me to face him mysell.”
“No!” said Robin boldly and with peculiar199 emphasis, “I ha’e noo faced mair than your father, Mary; and sae I’m no ga’in’ to flee your father himsell, though he does wear a durk. Gif he be comed hame, ye may the mair want my help to meet him.”
Fearfully alarmed for the consequences, and still more apprehensive200 for her father’s wrath201 against him than against herself, she endeavoured to argue with him on the folly202 of his rashness; and whilst they were both engaged in an animated203 and somewhat imprudently loud discussion on this subject, they were startled by the voice of Mysie Morrison, who came suddenly upon them from the cottage.
“Bless ye, my bairns, is that you?” exclaimed this good domestic. “What i’ the warld has keepit ye sae lang oot daffin’? An’ is that the end o’ a’ your courtin’ after a’, that you’re to come hame an’ end it that gate wi’ a colly-shangy?”
“Has my father come back frae the market yet, Mysie?” tremblingly demanded Mary.
“Na, he’s no come hame yet,” replied the old woman, “and I’m thinkin’ that he’ll no be comin’ hame the night noo. I ‘se warrant he’s been weel set wi’ some drouthy customer, an’ he’ll hae staid whar he wuz. But come ye’re ways in, my bairns, an’ get some meat; I trow ye maun be clean starvin’.”
With Robin’s recollection of the spectre which he had beheld riding by the loch-side he had little heart, at that hour, to cross the wide muir that lay between Donald Rose’s house, where he then was, and his father’s cottage on the [151]hill of the Limekilns. He much preferred the risk of meeting Donald’s substantial body of flesh and blood, dirk and fury and all, within the four walls of a well lighted up room, to having his moonlight path crossed upon the heath by the terrific simulacrum or wraith which had already blasted his sight. In addition, therefore, to the seducing204 attractions which Mary’s society held out to him, coupled with those urgent admonitions which he was receiving at that moment from hunger and thirst, he had thus some vurra strong and powerful secret reasons for preferring to remain, to which he did not choose to give utterance205. Mary, for her part, was sorely buffeted206 between her wishes and her fears. She had every desire to do that hospitality to her lover which her own faintness began to remind her must now be so highly necessary to him. On the other hand, she had the strongest apprehension90 that her father might suddenly return, in spite of all that Mysie had said to the contrary, and she thus hung for a moment in dootful equilibrio, as a body may say, between the two opposing forces which were thus operating on her. But Mysie, who was much less timorous207, having done all she could to assure her that there was no danger of a surprise, she at length hushed her fears and tacitly yielded to her wishes. She and Robin, therefore, were soon seated over some comfortable viands208 by a blazing hearth209, whilst Mysie, with a judgment210 and prudence211 that might have well befitted an attendant of Queen Dido herself when she took refuge from the storm with the Trojan king in the cave, retired212 to make security doubly sure, by setting herself to watch at the window of the neighbouring apartment, where, by the light of the moon, she might see her master return, so that she might give timeous notice to Robin Stuart to yescape by the back-door, whilst old Rose was occupied in putting his horse into the stable.
This was well enough arranged in the old woman, gentlemen. Caius Julius C?sar himself could not have made better dispositions213 to have prevented a night surprise. But, as our immortal214 bard215, William Shakespeare, hath it, in the words which he hath put into the mouth of the lively Rosalind, time goes at different paces with different individuals. Upon this occasion it certainly went fast enough with Robin Stuart and Mary Rose. For, though their minds were for a short time crossed occasionally by very fearful [152]visions of the past, of some of which they dared hardly to speak to each other, yet these were soon banished altogether by their mutual smiles, and by the ardent and endearing expressions which they went on interchanging together. Swift flew the minutes, and their conversation was still waxing more and more interesting. They were seated close together; and, as their tender dialogue became more intensely moving, Robin’s arm had unconsciously found its way around Mary’s waist, whilst hers had fallen carelessly over his shoulder, and had accidentally carried with it the folds of his plaid, which she had not yet thrown off. The cheerful gleam from the blazing moss-fir faggots threw a strong effect of light from the ample chimney over their figures. They indeed believed, from their inaccurate216 calculation, that this their felicity had endured for some short half hour only, whilst, by the drowsy217 account of old Mysie, who had sat nodding, and every now and then catching218 her head up to save it, if she possibly could, from dropping irrecoverably into the lap of Morpheus, the god of sleep, four good hours had gone by. As the truth probably lay between, I shall take the mean of these two extremes, and therefore I may say, with some degree of confidence, that about two hours had yelapsed when she at last yielded to the soporific influence, and fell into a sleep so profound, that ere it had endured for ten minutes, ten cannons219 or ten claps of thunder could hardly have awakened her; and whilst matters were in this state the door of the apartment where Robin and Mary were so comfortably seated as I have just described them to be,—the door of the apartment was suddenly opened, and Donald Rose himself, covered with mud from neck to heel, and with a countenance pale and haggard as death, entered,—followed, gentlemen, still stranger to tell, by—Harry Stuart, the herd of the Limekilns! The surprise by which the lovers were thus taken was perfectly complete. Their presence of mind was altogether gone. They started up together at once, without even attempting to unfold or withdraw their arms from the different positions which they had respectively assumed, whilst the drapery of the plaid hung over both of them, mingled220 with the garlands which they still wore. They stood as if they had been converted into statues.
“Gude keep us a’ frae evil!” cried Donald Rose the moment he entered, whilst, to their utter astonishment, [153]he started back as he said so, his eyes glaring at them with a ghastly look of fear and horror that was much too natural not to be perfectly genuine. “Gude keep us frae a’ evil, are ye wraiths221 or are ye real? The same plaid! the same garlands! and the same guise67! Speak! speak! what are ye? But I see,” continued he, after a pause, during which he recovered himself a little; “I see, Gude be thankit! that ye are baith flesh and bluid.”
“Aye, flesh and bluid we are,” said Robin Stuart, summoning up all his resolution and speaking in a determined222 tone. “We are flesh and bluid truly, and I trust that we shall soon be one flesh and one bluid too! Our souls are already as one! sae let not ane auld man’s avarice rend124 asunder223 twa leal hearts already joined by Heeven!”
“Joined by Heeven, indeed, Rabby!” replied old Rose, with a solemn and mysterious air; “and Heeven forbid that sic a miserable224 vratch as I am sould daur to interfere92. What Heeven hath joined let not man put asunder! O bairns! bairns!” continued he, as he swopped himself down into his great oaken elbow chair, as if quite overcome with fatigue225 both of body and mind; “och, bairns! bairns! what ane awfu’ gliff I hae gotten this blessed night! As I was on my road hame frae the market—an’ at a decent hour, too,—for the drover an’ me had but three half mutchkins a-piece whan we pairted at Grantown—whan I was on my road hame, as I was sayin’, an’ just as I was gaein’ to pass round this end o’ the Witches’ Loch, to cross at the bit fuirdy yonder, what does I see, it gars my very flesh a’ creep again to think on’t—what does I see, I say, but your twa figures, as plain as I see ye baith at this precious moment, in thay very garments ye hae on, an’ wi’ thay very garlands about your necks, an’ shouthers, an’ breasts, an’ baith claspit thegither, as ye war just yenoo whan I came in. I say, I saw ye baith in that very guise, an’ in that very pouster, comin’ skimmin’ o’er the surface o’ the deep water o’ the loch, wi’ that very red plaid aboon ye baith for a sail. But, Gude proteck us a’!—what think ye?—The full moon was just risen in the east, an’ her very light was shinin’ through the twa spirits, an’ aboot them there was a kind o’ a glory, just like unto the mony coloured brugh that ye hae nae doot aften seen about the moon hersel’. Och me, it wuz a grusome sight! I wish I may e’er won ower wi’t!” [154]
Robin and Mary exchanged intelligent glances with each other during this part of old Rose’s narrative226; but he was too much overpowered with what he had seen, and too full of his subject, to observe what passed between them.
“Tak a wee drap o’ this, father,” said Mary, handing him a brimming cuach; “you will be muckle the better o’t.”
“Thank ye, thank ye, my bonny bairn!” said the farmer, giving her back the empty cuach, and kindly227 patting her head as he did so. “I’m sure, my dauty, it was ill my pairt to cross ye as I did. But, stay!—whaur was I?—Weel, ye see, just as the twa speerits war comin’ whush athort the loch upon me far faster than ony wild duke could flee,—the very dumb brute228 that I was on started back wi’ fear, whurled aboot in a moment, an’ whuppit me awa’ back o’er the moss in spite o’ mysel’, regairdless o’ ony road; and I trow I never stoppit till I wuz on the t’ither side o’ Craig Bey, whar, by good luck, I forgathered wi’ Harry o’ the Limekilns there—fear, like death, will pit oot the fire o’ the auldest feud; and whan Harry heard the cause o’ my flight,—for whan he met me I was fleein’ like a muir-cock down the wund,—I say, whan Harry heard o’ what an a sight I had seen, an’ he bein’, as it were, in some degree conneckit wi’ it, as weel as mysel’, I trow he wuz as glad to hae me wi’ him as I wuz to hae him wi me, wi’ the houp o’ keepin’ aff waur company. Harry had nae better wull to gae by the Witches’ Loch than I had, and sae we cam’ ower by the short cut through the lang moss thegither. A bonny road, truly, for sic an afu’ late hour of the night, for a’ that we had the moon, as ye may see well eneugh by the dabbled229 state o’ my trews. I’m sure my puir beast ’ill no be able to crawl the morn after a’ the gliffin’, an’ galloppin’, aye, an’ I may say soomin’ too, that he has had, for I hae some doots gif there be ae moss hole atween Craig Bey an’ this hoose that he has na’ had to swatter through.”
“Let me get dry stockin’s for ye, father,” said Mary.
“Na, my dauty, its no worth while for a’ the time!” replied Donald. “An’ noo, Harry, man,” continued he, turning to his companion, who had been all this while standing near the door, “cum ben, man, an’ sit doon; what [155]for dinna ye sit doon? An’ noo, I say, although ye are but a poor man, Harry, an’ no just sae weel come by deschent as I am, wha, as ye are maybe awaur, am come o’ a cousin sax times removed of the Laird of Kilravock himself, which a’ the warld kens230 to be ane o’ the maist auncientest families in Scotland,—I say, though ye are no just descended231 frae siccan honourable232 forebears, yet ye are ane honest man.”
“I trust that I am sae, neebour,” said Harry modestly, but with his head yereck, as ane honest man’s always should be.
“Aweel, aweel!” cried old Rose impatiently, “as I was gaein’ to say, we’s just owerlook a’ thae things, an’ souther up a’ oonkindness that may hae been atween us, an’ sae we’ll mak’ the best o’t, an’ hae your laddie an’ my lassie buckled233 thegither as soon as the minister can mak’ them ane. Come, man, gie’s your hand on’t!”
“Wi’ a’ my heart!” replied Harry Stuart, with a good-natured chuckle234; “an’ I’ll tell ye what it is, Carl, maybe ye’ll find after a’ that the son o’ Harry the herd o’ the Limekilns is no just sae bare a bargain as ye wad hae yemagined. The herdin’ trade gif it maks little it spends less; an’ I hae na been at it for better nor fifety years without layin’ by a wee bit pose o’ my ain; an’ gif a gude bien bit hill farmie can be gotten for the twa, I’se no say but I may come doon wi’ as muckle as may buy the best end o’ the plenishen an’ stockin’.”
“That’s my hearty235 cock!” exclaimed old Rose, slapping Harry soundly on the back. “Mary, my dauty! I was sae muckle the better o’ the wee drap ye gied me yon time, that I think neither Harry nor me wad be the waur o’ anither tasse.”
It would be yequally vain and unnecessar, gentlemen, for me to attempt to describe the happiness of the two lovers, or the general joy of that night. If Homer or Maro were alive, and here present, they would fail to do justice to such a theme. I may shortly conclude by simply telling you, however, that Mysie’s slumbers236 were rudely broken by the stentorian237 voice of her master,—that she was speedily put to work at her yespecial occupation in the kitchen,—that the rustic feast was quickly spread,—that the bowl circulated, or, rather, to speak with a due regard to fack, that it passed backwards238 and forwards very [156]frequently from lip to lip of the two thirsty seniors,—that the young couple were in Elysium,—that the old men were garrulously239 joyous,—that Mysie was frantic240, and danced about like a daft woman, and that the sun peeped in upon them from the distant eastern hills ere they even began to think of terminating their revels241.
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1
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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2
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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4
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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5
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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6
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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7
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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8
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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ripen
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| vt.使成熟；vi.成熟 | |
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10
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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11
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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12
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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13
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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14
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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16
pendulums
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| n.摆，钟摆( pendulum的名词复数 )；摇摆不定的事态（或局面） | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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18
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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19
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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21
cognomen
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| n.姓；绰号 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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23
quarries
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| n.（采）石场( quarry的名词复数 )；猎物（指鸟，兽等）；方形石；（格窗等的）方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 )；从（书本等中）努力发掘（资料等）；在采石场采石 | |
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24
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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25
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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smacking
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| 活泼的，发出响声的，精力充沛的 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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30
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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31
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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32
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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33
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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34
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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36
ticklish
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| adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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38
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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tryst
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| n.约会；v.与…幽会 | |
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ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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41
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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42
dreariest
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| 使人闷闷不乐或沮丧的( dreary的最高级 )； 阴沉的； 令人厌烦的； 单调的 | |
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43
roe
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| n.鱼卵；獐鹿 | |
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44
knolls
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| n.小圆丘，小土墩( knoll的名词复数 ) | |
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45
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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46
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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47
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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48
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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49
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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50
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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51
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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52
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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53
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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54
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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55
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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56
industriously
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57
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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58
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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59
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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60
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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61
sever
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| v.切开，割开；断绝，中断 | |
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62
copiousness
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| n.丰裕，旺盛 | |
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63
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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64
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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65
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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66
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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67
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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68
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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69
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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70
peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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72
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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73
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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74
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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75
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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76
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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77
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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78
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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79
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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80
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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81
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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82
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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83
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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84
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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85
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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86
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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87
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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88
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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89
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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90
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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91
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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92
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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93
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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94
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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95
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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96
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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97
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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98
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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99
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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100
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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101
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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102
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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103
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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104
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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105
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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106
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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107
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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108
mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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109
sanguinely
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| 乐观的，充满希望的； 面色红润的； 血红色的 | |
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110
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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111
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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112
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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113
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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114
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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115
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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116
ruminated
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| v.沉思( ruminate的过去式和过去分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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117
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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118
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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119
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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120
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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121
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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122
entrapped
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| v.使陷入圈套，使入陷阱( entrap的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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124
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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125
eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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126
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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127
tormenting
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| 使痛苦的，使苦恼的 | |
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128
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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129
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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130
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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131
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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132
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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133
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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134
parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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135
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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136
exhaled
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|
| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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137
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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138
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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139
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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141
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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142
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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143
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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144
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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145
allay
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| v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等) | |
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146
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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147
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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148
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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150
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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151
extemporaneous
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| adj.即席的，一时的 | |
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152
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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153
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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154
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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155
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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156
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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157
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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158
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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159
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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160
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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161
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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162
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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163
denser
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| adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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164
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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165
bellied
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| adj.有腹的，大肚子的 | |
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166
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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167
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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168
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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169
luminary
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| n.名人，天体 | |
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170
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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171
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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172
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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173
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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174
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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175
collapsing
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| 压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂 | |
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176
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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177
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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178
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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179
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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180
prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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181
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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182
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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183
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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184
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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185
peroration
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| n.（演说等之）结论 | |
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186
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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187
erecting
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| v.使直立，竖起( erect的现在分词 )；建立 | |
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188
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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189
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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190
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
muffle
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| v.围裹；抑制；发低沉的声音 | |
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192
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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193
wraith
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| n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人 | |
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194
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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195
auspiciously
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| adv.吉利； 繁荣昌盛； 前途顺利； 吉祥 | |
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196
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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197
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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198
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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199
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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200
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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201
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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202
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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seducing
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| 诱奸( seduce的现在分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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buffeted
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| 反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续猛击； 打来打去； 推来搡去 | |
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timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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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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wraiths
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| n.幽灵( wraith的名词复数 )；（传说中人在将死或死后不久的）显形阴魂 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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kens
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| vt.知道（ken的第三人称单数形式） | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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234
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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garrulously
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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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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