Under the circumstances we could hardly pretend to take as anything but good fortune the news that the ruthless, vindictive6 autocrat’s power for harm was practically at an end. From Von Lindheim, now safe in Paris, I had received news; the end of the Chancellor’s reign7 would make all the difference to him; for, however matters might have otherwise changed (as by the failure of Rallenstein’s marriage scheme), he would never have dared to risk a return to his native country under the old régime. I sent the good news to my friend, with a suggestion that he should [Pg 239]join us at Verona. Strode, now well again, was expected; naturally Asta’s parents were most anxious to make his acquaintance and thank him personally for the indispensable part he had taken in the rescue. We were going to be a very happy and merry party; but the night before our friend’s arrival a startling event happened which showed me on the brink8 of what an awful danger we were trifling9.
That night we were invited to a rather grand reception at the Guacini Palace. Naturally the rooms were crowded, so crowded that Asta and I made our way from the crush, and finding a little room leading out of one of the salons10 we sat there cosily11, out of touch, yet in sight of the restless crowd just beyond.
“What a change,” Asta remarked, “in my hopes, in my life, from only a few days ago. Think of me in that dismal12 room, a prisoner expecting every time the door opened that death would enter. Could I ever have dreamt to have seen the world again like this?”
“You must not let your mind run on that gloomy time now that it is so happily past,” I remonstrated13, clasping the hand which was slid into mine. “We have now only joy to look forward to, for it shall not be my fault if the future does not compensate14 for all you have gone through. It is hard, but you must try, dearest, to dismiss it all as a hideous15 dream.”
“We are going to be so happy,” she said lovingly, “that I am sure as time goes on I shall think less of those terrible days. But can I forget them without ignoring a certain dear brave Englishman who——”
I stopped her. “Asta, I wish you would forget that part of our acquaintance. I don’t want you to love me for that.”
She laughed. “For that only, you mean, sir. But as to forgetting one little incident—no; not if by that I might have no recollection of my terror and sufferings. And now all is life and joy again. A few [Pg 240]days ago I had nothing before me but the choice of death—or worse.” She shuddered16. “Of becoming the Countess Furello; the wife of a murderer. Can I ever thank you, ever love you enough? It is so hot here,” she said, after a pause which was not altogether blank; “let us come and see whether we can find our way to the garden.”
As we rose I noticed that a jewel in her hair had become disarranged and was in danger of falling out. She turned to a great mirror on the wall and made the ornament18 fast. Suddenly, as she turned again, she gave a little half-gasping cry. I thought she must have hurt her head with the pin of the ornament, but soon saw that her cry had been called forth19 by something much worse than that, for she clasped my hand convulsively, and for some moments seemed speechless for very terror. At length she could answer me, in a frightened whisper:
“Furello! I saw him there as I turned from the glass. His face there, looking in at us. He is here.”
“Here!” I echoed incredulously, though with an uneasy feeling that the thing was quite possible.
“Here, yes; I saw the hateful face in the doorway20, I tell you. He looked into this room, only for a moment. Jasper, my darling, you will save me from him, will you not?”
I reassured21 her as best I could, both on that point and on the likelihood of her being mistaken. “Your mind is full of the man,” I argued. “Some one resembling him looked in, and your nerves not having quite recovered made you think it was he.”
But she insisted; she was sure. “Do you suppose I could ever be mistaken in that face?” she said. “It was Count Furello.”
“But what should he be doing here?” I reasoned. “Here in one of the most exclusive gatherings22 in Verona. His evil reputation is such that no decent [Pg 241]countryman of his own would know him. Of that you may be sure. And to think that Prince Guacini would admit him across his threshold is absurd.”
Reason as I would, nothing would shake her conviction that it had been Furello and none other that she had seen. It was distressing23 to me to see the mortal fear into which the sight, fancied or real, had thrown my darling.
“I will settle this at once,” I said. “Come back to your father while I search the rooms. If the Count is here I will find him. But I think it far more likely I shall light on the double who has frightened you.”
She clung to me as we made our way through the crowd to where her parents were sitting. So far no one in the least like Count Furello came under my notice, though I kept a sharp look-out on all sides. I gave General von Winterstein a hint of what had happened, and with a word of encouragement to Asta went off on my search.
It was vain. The thorough scrutiny24 I made in the rooms and all likely and unlikely places in the palace showed me no Count Furello or any one resembling him closely enough to have deceived Asta. One man, indeed, I pitched upon as being perhaps sufficiently25 near to the Count’s general appearance to have suggested that arch villain26, especially when seen casually27 for a moment. But upon my pointing him out to Asta she was quite convinced that he was not the man she had seen, and that it had indeed been Furello.
The episode, mysterious and disquieting28 enough, seemed suddenly to plunge29 us from an unclouded happiness and confidence into fear. Not that there was any danger of open violence there. It was quite certain that if Furello was really among the guests, a word to the Prince would be enough to have him [Pg 242]turned out not only of the palace but probably of the country. The worst part of it was, though, that the Count’s methods were essentially30 cunning and secret; had he been an open enemy there would have been little ground for fear.
I was inclined, however, to regard the whole affair as the effect of Asta’s unstrung nerves. Rallenstein was now practically hors de combat, and it was scarcely likely that the Count would have ventured to follow us with any sinister31 purpose on his own account. The idea in my mind was that he was somewhat of a coward who required the impelling32 will of a stronger man behind his fell enterprises.
For the rest of the time I stayed at the palace I did not cease to look about for the man; had he been there I certainly must have lighted upon him. The report of my fruitless search at last reassured Asta a little, and when I parted from her at her aunt’s house I was glad to see that she seemed to have got over the worst of her fear. We had arranged to meet Strode next day, and I turned towards my hotel full of pleasant anticipations33.
When I arrived there it was past midnight; a sleepy porter let me in, and I went straight to my apartment, which consisted of a sitting-room34, with a bedroom, en suite35. Here I found a long letter awaiting me from Von Lindheim. Tired as I was, I lighted the candles on my table and began to read it, being eager to know what his plans were. This was the first letter of any length I had received from him; it was closely written, and contained an account of the incidents of his long journey, including some narrow escapes he had had from being detected and falling into the hands of Rallenstein’s emissaries. I had drawn36 a chair to the table and sat down to study the closely-written pages, when, in turning over one and raising my eyes to the beginning of the next, they caught on the opposite wall [Pg 243]an arresting movement, a stirring of the shadow thrown by a full moon on the opposite wall. My back was to the window, and the phenomenon betokened37 that the drawn curtains behind me were being stealthily moved apart. Realizing this, I raised the letter to the level of my eyes, as though it were difficult to decipher. Looking over the paper, I watched the wall before me. Slowly the streak38 widened, and in the middle there appeared a shadow—the form, unmistakably, of a man’s head, framed, as it were, in the aperture39.
Then, with a thrill, I knew that a crisis, the most desperate of all, had come. Assuredly nothing but sheer presence of mind was between me and death. This thought nerved me; every moment now was critical. A suspicious movement on my part would mean a bullet through me; before I could turn I should be a dead man. My one chance lay in taking my concealed40 enemy by surprise.
“Tchut! I do wish, my dear friend, you would write legibly,” I said aloud. “Was there ever such a fist! I shall have to get a reading-glass to you, mein Herr. Let’s see, there was one on this table.”
Muttering thus, always distinctly enough for my words to be heard, I moved away quickly and crossed to a little writing-table that stood in the corner of the room. By this I was somewhat out of that uncomfortable direct line of fire. The bell was at the other side of the room; to have attempted to reach it would have been madness. Making a pretence41 of seeking the glass among the nick-nacks on the writing-table I was able to get out my revolver, which events had now taught me never to be without.
“Ah, here it is!” I said, going back as to my chair.
Next instant, by a quick movement, I had turned and flung aside the curtain, my revolver covering the place where I knew the intruder must be.
[Pg 244]
“Count Furello!” I cried. “Come out and show yourself, you cowardly villain!”
I do not know why my revolver hung fire, for I had resolved to shoot him on sight. But the moment’s hesitation42 as I brought the Count—it was he—to view, showed him to me standing43 against the window with dropped hands, and none of the expected signs of attack. I could not shoot, even him, like that; if only he had made the slightest aggressive movement I would not have hesitated. As it was I stayed looking at him. He stood there quite motionless, his arms by his side, and, so far as I could see, with no weapon in his hand. His face looked absolutely white, the mouth was drawn behind the bristling44 moustache into the suggestion of an ugly grin, not reflected in the eyes, which glittered with repressed viciousness.
“What are you doing here, Count?”
The grin deepened. “A scarcely necessary question. You are going to shoot. Please don’t delay. I am ready to pay the penalty of my rashness and your superior—luck.”
“You will have to pay the penalty,” I said, trying to bring myself to press the trigger. His face was calm now except for the gleam of desperation in his eyes. My better judgment47 told me to send a bullet through that scoundrel’s heart, yet I paused, perhaps in the very certainty that the heart was covered by my pistol.
“We are rivals, it seems,” Furello said calmly. “May we not settle our differences in the approved fashion?”
“Rivals! you and I!” was my scornful answer. “Was that your intention, Count?”
[Pg 245]
He gave a shrug48 and a look of devilish mockery. “I had not made up my mind. I have not an Englishman’s good fortune. But it is plain that the time for one of us has arrived.”
In talking to me like this he must have felt pretty confident of the difference between my nature and his own; had the positions been reversed, little time would he have given me for parley49, except, perhaps, as a cat prolongs a mouse’s agony. I had evidently taken him by surprise, and so at a disadvantage; no chance was left for him but to calculate upon my sense of chivalry50. Chivalry with that murderous reptile51! I wonder how I allowed such a consideration to influence me; but somehow it seemed hard to pull the trigger in cold blood.
“Will you give me a chance, my dear Tyrrell?” he demanded again, but without the ugly grin. “Or are you going to shoot me here as I stand defenceless? If so, for Heaven’s sake be quick about it.”
Instead of taking him at his word, I, like a fool, began to retort. The thought of Asta and all this loathsome52 brute53 had made her suffer came to my mind with the recollection of the pitiable state of fear she had shown that evening.
“Chance!” I cried. “What chance did you mean to give me when you pressed me to eat poisoned sweetmeats at your cursed table? What chance was I to have in that assassin’s room you gave me to sleep in? What chance did you give that poor priest whom you decoyed to your devil’s den—the man who, three hours after, was lying in his grave in the wood. You talk to me of—ah! you——!”
He had suddenly stooped and made a desperate rush at me. Perhaps he saw that I was working myself up to do what I should have done long before. No doubt my vehemence54 had relaxed my alertness. His move was a clever one, for in his stooping position, [Pg 246]he offered a much worse mark for a shot, and greatly reduced the certainty of a mortal wound. In that one fierce crouching55 spring he was upon me and at close quarters, while my advantage was almost gone. I must have fired, but have no recollection of the shot. I only know that each seized the other’s right wrist with the left hand. So he was safe from my revolver, and I from something I could see shining in his grasp.
I think the feeling uppermost in my mind at that supreme56 moment was one of bitter disgust at my own folly57; but, after the first pang58 of discomfiture59 there was no room for any thought but of mastering the human hyena60 that had fastened on me. It was evident to me that I was the stronger and more athletic61 man, but then my adversary62 had the strength of desperation; he had gained the first advantage, and would naturally fight like a demon63.
It was scarcely a violent struggle at first. We stood for a while wrestling warily64, confining our efforts almost entirely65 to the arms. I can see now Furello’s horrible face close to mine; it was as though in those critical moments every evil passion of his life, every crime, every knavery66, sprang its index into his countenance67. If ever the Devil looked out of a man’s eyes, there he was in that glare of desperate vicious hatred and rage. Soon I put forth a greater effort, and to my relief it confirmed the idea that my adversary’s strength was less than my own. I forced him backwards68 step by step till I held him against the wall. Suddenly he pressed himself close against me, struggling furiously to force towards me the hand I held. In it was an object which scarcely suggested a weapon. A short metal instrument, square at the butt69 and tapering70 to a very fine point. I could not tell what it actually was, but the fact of the Count’s using it was enough to give me a shrewd idea of its purpose. At any rate I thought I would make trial of its effectiveness on its owner. [Pg 247]So, holding away from the sting-like point, I forced Furello round from the wall, then against the table, then backwards upon it, where naturally he was at my mercy. Then I set myself to force down the hand with its mysterious weapon upon him. As he realized my intention he, even at the disadvantage of that almost helpless position, struggled with such convulsive fury that for a time he baffled my purpose. Then gradually my greater strength told, the point was forced down till it entered his cheek.
“A——h!”
Such a cry, as the stylet dug into the flesh. The grip on my revolver hand relaxed so that with a sharp wrench71 I could release it. The fingers of the Count’s other hand still rigidly72 clutched the strange weapon. I had now the pistol free and pressed to his temple.
“Let go!” I said, “or I’ll blow your brains out!”
“Shoot!” he cried. “Shoot! I defy you, cursed Englishman! You dare not!”
He raised his head and tried furiously to bite my hand. I beat his head back with the revolver and drove by sheer weight the stylet into his neck. He screamed and wriggled73 like a wounded animal, but I had no pity for him, only heartily74 wishing the part I was forced to play had fallen to another man’s lot. As I held him there an idea crossed my mind and determined75 me to get from him the murderous little weapon which he held so tenaciously76. After a sharp struggle I succeeded in unloosening the nervous fingers, and, obtaining possession of the instrument, flung it to the farther end of the room.
The Count now lay absolutely still, except for his heaving chest. Suspicious of his further power for mischief77 I began to feel for any weapon he might have about him. There was a revolver in a pocket of his coat. I took it out, and then drew a little away, [Pg 248]contenting myself with watching keenly for any suspicious movement.
He lay quite passive on the table just as I had forced him down: on his back with his legs dangling78, his feet scarcely touching79 the floor. It seemed as though all the fight was beaten out of him. The situation was a hideous one for me, and I began to speculate how long it would last and how it would end, when suddenly a convulsive shudder17 seemed to run through the man as he lay before me. His hands opened and clenched80 thrice, then another convulsion shook him and he called me by name.
“Shoot me!” he gasped81 in a voice thick and hardly recognizable. “If you are a man send a bullet through me and put me out of my agony.”
The conjecture82 in my mind now became a certainty; I returned no answer; simply waited in silence.
“Shoot me! Shoot me, curse you!” he cried, breaking out into a string of hideous imprecations.
I said nothing, and sat quite still.
“Tyrrell!” he screamed; and then, by what seemed a terrible effort, sat upright.
I sprang from my chair in horror. The face, which had been hidden from me as he lay, was now dark purple, almost black. The blazing eyes protruded84 from their sockets85, the swollen86 lips, jet black were drawn back into a frightful87 grin; the man was a human being no longer; it seemed as though he were already a devil, as hideous as the imagination of man ever conceived. The sight brought back to me poor Szalay’s appearance in his death agony, but the effect of the poison here was indescribably more fearful.
For the first time in that perilous88 half-hour I felt fear—sickening fear. The thing opposite to me was so unutterably loathsome that the very idea of his breath reaching me was horrible. I recall that in sheer [Pg 249]panic, I raised my revolver, but before I could fire, the Count, with a sound of words which the tumid tongue would not utter, fell back. I could endure the terrible sight no longer, but rushed from the room, locking the door behind me. When I had roused the hotel people and the door was opened again, Count Furello lay still on the table—dead.
So perished this villain by the horrible means he had prepared for me. When I think of that hideous death, the idea of my narrow escape sends a shiver through me. When we came to examine the lethal89 instrument which inflicted90 it, we found it to be a hollow stiletto with a collapsible handle, this forming a receptacle for the virulent91 poison with which it was charged. A slight prick92, as it must have been in the case of poor Szalay, would be enough to cause death, and the venom93 acted so rapidly that a remedy was out of the question. A very pretty and effective implement94 of the great Chancellor’s vaunted statecraft!
It appeared that the Count had taken a room on the same floor, whence it had been easy for him to slip into mine and await my return. But Von Lindheim’s letter saved me.
There was, of course, an inquiry95 into the facts of that strange and appalling96 tragedy. Happily for me, all the circumstances confirmed my straightforward97 story, which was further corroborated98 by the dead man’s antecedents. It appeared that before he quitted Italy several mysterious deaths of the same character as this one had occurred, with which he had seemed closely connected; but nothing beyond strong suspicion had been fastened upon him.
But at last the terribly appropriate retribution had overtaken him; and surely no man had ever greater cause than I to be thankful for the gift of a strong arm and an athletic frame.
[Pg 250]
With that night the story of my series of adventures ends. I had certainly had my fill of them, and ever since then my appetite for that sort of thing has been considerably99 less keen. But apart from the more selfish advantage I derived100, the winning of a most charming wife, it has always been a satisfaction to me to reflect that what I did served a useful purpose in ridding the world of a gang of precious villains101. I have since visited the Monastery102 of St. Tranquillin in the Geierthal; it is now the innocent abode103 of a prosperous farmer, who occasionally entertains stray sportsmen in rather different fashion from his predecessors104, and is, happily, ignorant of what lies beneath the ground he plods105 over, or the dark history of the rooms in which his children play.
After the death of Count Rallenstein the rule of the Jaguar106 was known no more, and Von Lindheim, after spending several months with us in England, was able to return to his estate, there to live in peace and safety.
From the subsequent marriage of the poor Princess Casilde there sprang, as every student of European affairs knows, the consort107 of one of the most illustrious rulers; but the keenest and most diligent108 of students has never found the name Von Orsova in her family tree, and yet that was undoubtedly109 the Princess’s name before her marriage. Still, I have made a journey, more than once, to lay a wreath on the grave of the handsome Rittmeister von Orsova, the man whose fate, though it brought terror and death to others, yet gave supreme happiness to me.
THE END
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1
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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paralytic
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| adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人 | |
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vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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salons
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| n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅 | |
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cosily
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| adv.舒适地，惬意地 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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distressing
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scrutiny
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sufficiently
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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plunge
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essentially
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sinister
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impelling
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anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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sitting-room
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suite
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drawn
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betokened
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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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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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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45
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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46
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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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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48
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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49
parley
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| n.谈判 | |
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50
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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51
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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vehemence
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| n.热切；激烈；愤怒 | |
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55
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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59
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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65
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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66
knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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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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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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tenaciously
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| 坚持地 | |
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77
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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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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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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lethal
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| adj.致死的；毁灭性的 | |
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90
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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virulent
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| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
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92
prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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94
implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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96
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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98
corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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100
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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101
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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102
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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103
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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104
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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105
plods
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的第三人称单数 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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106
jaguar
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| n.美洲虎 | |
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107
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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108
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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109
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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