"I won't need you on this job after to-day, Goodwin. Why not go to Culebra with me to-morrow morning and see some of the canal work? I shall have to inspect the dynamite stored in the magazines."
Walter jumped at the chance of a holiday before venturing to interview Major Glendinning. He was eager to behold3 the famous cut where they were "making the dirt fly," and to find his friend Jack4 Devlin, the steam-shovel5 man who had beguiled6 him to the Isthmus7.
It was with a sense of wonderment as keen as that of the early explorers that Walter was whisked in a passenger train, as if on a magic carpet, into the heart of the jungle, past palm-thatched native huts perched upon lush green hill-sides, by trimly kept American settlements,[Pg 67] by vine-draped rusty8 rows of engines, cars, and dredges long ago abandoned by the French.
Soon there appeared the mighty9 Gatun dam and locks flung majestically10 across a wide valley, resembling not so much man's handiwork as an integral part of the landscape, made to endure as long as the hills themselves. Upon and around them moved in ceaseless, orderly activity a multitude of men and battalions11 of machines, piling up rock and concrete.
"It makes me sit up and blink. Is there anything bigger to see?"
"The Gatun locks alone will cost twenty-five million, not to mention the dam," replied the practical Naughton, "but Culebra Cut is the heftiest job of them all. It broke the poor Frenchmen's hearts and their pocket-books."
They came at length to this far-famed range of lofty hills which link the Andes of South and Central America. Leaving the train, Naughton tramped ahead toward the gigantic gash14 dug in the continental15 divide. Clouds of gray smoke spurted16 from far below, and the earth trembled[Pg 68] to one booming shock after another. Dynamite was rending17 the rock and clay, and Walter realized, with a little thrill of pride, that he had been really helping18 to build the Panama Canal.
Presently he stood at the brink19 of this tremendous chasm20. It seemed inadequate21 to call it a "cut." He gazed down with absorbed fascination22 at the maze23 of railroad tracks, scores of them abreast24, which covered the unfinished bed of the canal. Along the opposite side, clinging to excavated25 shelves which resembled titanic26 stairs, ran more tracks. Beside them toiled27 the steam-shovels28 loading the processions of waiting trains.
No wonder Jack Devlin, engineer of "Number Twenty-six," had swaggered across the deck of the Saragossa. He knew that he was doing a man's work. To tame and guide one of these panting, hungry monsters was like being the master of a dragon of the fairy stories. There could be no Panama Canal without them. Intelligent, docile29, tireless, they could literally30 remove mountains.
Walter sat upon a rock and watched one of them nudge and nose a huge bowlder this way[Pg 69] and that with its great steel dipper, exactly as if it were getting ready to make a meal of it. Then the mass was picked up, swung over a flat-car, swiftly, delicately, precisely31, and the huge jaws32 opened to lay down the heavy morsel33. Walter decided34 that he wanted to be a steam-shovel man. Naughton had to speak twice before the interested lad heard him say:
"I shall be busy for some time, and may have to jump on a work-train as far as Pedro Miguel station. Go down into the Cut, if you like, and look around."
"Thanks. Say, Mr. Naughton, how old must a man be to run a steam-shovel?"
"They break them in as firemen. Are you tough enough to shovel coal all day? Don't let these Culebra tarriers coax35 you away from us. You are scheduled to play ball for Cristobal, understand?"
By means of several sections of steep wooden stairs Walter clambered to the bottom of the cut, and dodged36 across the muddy area of trackage to gain the nearest bank upon which the steam-shovels were at work. Fascinated, he halted to watch one of them at closer range.
[Pg 70]
A noise of shouting came from several laborers38 who were running along a track further up the steep slope. The nearest steam-shovels blew their whistles furiously. The shrill39 blasts were sounding some kind of warning and Walter said to himself:
"Naughton's men must be ready to set off a blast. I guess I had better move on."
He started to follow the fleeing laborers when a mass of muddy earth came slipping down a dozen yards in front of him. It blocked the shelf upon which he had climbed, and he checked himself, gazing confusedly up the slope. A large part of the overhanging hill-side appeared to be in sluggish40 motion. The wet, red soil far up toward the top of the cut had begun to slide as if it were being pushed into the bed of the canal by some unseen force. Dislodged fragments of rock rolled down the surface of the slide and clattered42 in advance of it, but so deliberate was the movement of the mass that there seemed to be time enough to escape it.
Walter ran along the ties and began to plough knee-deep through the impeding43 heap of muddy[Pg 71] tenacious44 clay on the track. He glanced upward again, halted irresolutely45, and gasped46 aloud:
"Great Scott, here comes a whole train of cars falling downhill."
The landslide47 had started just beneath the uppermost shelf of excavated rock, and the line of track supported thereupon was almost instantly undermined. The rails tilted48 and slipped with their weight of rock-laden cars before the engine could drag them clear. The train crew jumped and managed to crawl to the firm ground at the crest49 of the slope a moment before the flat-cars toppled over and broke loose from their couplings. Then the cars hung for an instant, spilled their burden of rock, which made a little avalanche50 of its own, and rolled down the slope with a prodigious51 clatter41.
At this new peril52, Walter knew not which way to turn. He could not be blamed for losing his presence of mind. The cars parted company, taking erratic53 courses, tumbling end over end. One of them bounded off at a slant54 to fall in front of him, while another was booming down to menace his retreat. All this was a matter of[Pg 72] seconds, precious time that was wasted for lack of decision.
Instead of making a wild dash in one direction or the other, Walter danced up and down in the same spot, his eyes fairly popping from his head. The result was that, by a miracle of good fortune, the flat-cars roared and rattled55 past on either side and left him unscathed.
Then the huge, loosened layer of earth, moving with lazy momentum56, filled the ledge57 on which he stood, brushed him off, and carried him down the slope. To his amazement58 he was not wholly buried, but rolled over and over, now on the surface, now struggling in a sticky smother59 of stuff that held him like a fly in a bed of mortar60. A projecting stratum61 of rock, not yet blasted away, checked the leisurely62 progress of the mass before it reached the bottom of the cut.
Plastered with mud from his hair to his heels, bleeding from a dozen scratches, his clothes in rags, Walter was quite astonished to find himself alive. He was stuck fast in clay almost to the waist and so dazed and breathless that he was unable to call for help.
Glancing stupidly up the slope, he beheld63 a[Pg 73] steam-shovel sway and totter64. Nothing could surprise him now. With languid interest he watched the towering machine turn over on its side in a leisurely manner and then come slipping down to the next shelf. It resembled some prehistoric65 monster with a prodigiously66 long neck, which had lost its footing.
It came to rest on its side and out of one of the cab windows spilled a large man in overalls67 who tobogganed down the miry slope with extraordinary velocity68, arms and legs flying.
"Poor old Twenty-six! She's sure in a mess this time."
Recognizing Jack Devlin, Walter managed to find his voice and called feebly:
"Is this what you call a great place for a husky young fellow?"
The steam-shovel man scrambled70 to his feet, active and apparently71 unhurt, as if such incidents were all in the day's work. Plunging73 through the débris of the slide, he peered into Walter's besmeared and bleeding countenance74.[Pg 74] The voice and the words had sounded familiar and assisted identification.
"Well, I'll be scuppered!" roared Jack Devlin. "Goodwin is your name. You took my advice and beat it to the Isthmus. I'll have you out of this in a jiffy."
A gang of laborers arrived a moment later, and with Devlin shouting stentorian75 orders, their shovels speedily and carefully dug out the hapless Walter. They were about to carry him to the nearest switch-tender's shelter when he groaned76 protestingly:
"Ouch! Don't grab my right arm. It hurts."
Battered77 and sore as he was, all other damage was forgotten as he tried to raise the precious right arm, his pitching arm, the mainstay of his fortunes on the Isthmus. An acute pain stabbed him between wrist and elbow. He murmured sorrowfully:
"Those that try to stop a landslide in the Cut are generally lugged79 out feet first," cheerfully remarked Devlin. "The landscape isn't[Pg 75] fastened down very tight. Were you looking for me?"
"Yes. And I found you, didn't I?" Walter grinned as he added: "We were thrown together, all right."
They made him as comfortable as possible, while Devlin forgot his sorrow over the plight80 of his beloved "Twenty-six."
"I feel sort of responsible for you, Goodwin," said he. "I'm going to put you in the hospital car of the next train to Ancon, where they'll give you the best of everything. I can't go with you, but I'll try to see you to-night. I must boss a first-aid-to-the-injured job on that poor old steam-shovel of mine. She looks perfectly81 ridiculous, doesn't she? Now, cheer up."
The American hospital buildings at Ancon are magnificently equipped, and their situation along the windy hill-side commands a memorable82 view of the gray old city of Panama, the wide blue bay adorned83 with islands, and the rolling Pacific. To Walter Goodwin the place seemed like a prison, and he awaited the surgeon's verdict with the dismal84 face of a man about to be sentenced. The sundry85 cuts and[Pg 76] contusions were of small account. A few days would mend them. But his aching, disabled arm was quite a different matter.
"You were born lucky or you would be in the morgue," said the genial86 young surgeon of the accident ward13.
"I am damaged enough," sighed Walter. "What about this arm?"
"A month or so!" and Walter winked88 to hold back the tears. "Why, I have to pitch a game of ball with this arm next week."
"Nothing doing," decreed the surgeon. "You had better stay here for two or three days and we'll try our best to patch you up in record time. Do you want to notify any friends?"
"Yes, indeed," cried Walter. "Please send word to Mr. Harrison, captain of the Cristobal nine."
"'Bucky' Harrison?" The surgeon showed lively interest. "Then you must be the new pitcher89 for Cristobal. We heard about you. You are in the enemy's camp, but we will treat you kindly90."
[Pg 77]
Having been tucked in bed, Walter felt that he was a perfectly useless member of society. The landslide had wiped out his bright expectations. Major Glendinning could have no possible interest in a pitcher with a crippled arm. When dismissed from the hospital he would be unable to earn his food and lodging91 even as a laborer37. As for his brave plan of helping the dear household in Wolverton, he might have to beg aid from them.
Jack Devlin appeared after supper. His manner was contrite92 and subdued93 as he sat down by the cot and strongly gripped Walter's sound hand.
"You and I were sort of disorganized there in the Cut," said he. "I had no chance to find out how things have been breaking for you. Have you landed a job? What about it?"
Walter ruefully related the story of his pilgrimage. At the episode of the parrot and broomstick, the steam-shovel man violently interrupted:
"General Quesada? I know who he is—a gambler, and a grafter95, and a fake soldier. He trimmed some friends of mine, but never mind[Pg 78] that. He is a large, fat, false alarm. Forget him."
When informed of the base-ball episode, he shook his head disapprovingly96.
"You ought to have given Culebra first chance at you," he expostulated. "Maybe we could have found you a job. I am catcher of the Culebra nine, do you see?"
"I'd rather be fireman of a steam-shovel than anything else in the world," Walter eagerly exclaimed.
"You will not be fit to handle a shovel or a base-ball for some time, my boy. We will not let it come between us, but I'm sorry you tied up with those low-browed pirates at Cristobal. Need any money? Want to write a letter home?"
"I am all right for the present, Mr. Devlin. And I think I'll wait a day or so before writing the folks."
"You told me when we met on the ship that you were anxious to give your father a lift. It made a great hit with me. What about that?"
"I guess I was like General Quesada's parrot,[Pg 79] I talked too much," confessed Walter. "I shall be lucky if I can take care of myself."
Devlin was silent for a moment. Then he bade the patient farewell with words of rough and hearty97 encouragement and departed from the ward, a big, masterful man with a hard fist and a soft heart. As he walked across the hospital grounds he repeated under his breath:
"He aimed to give his father a lift. The pluck of him! 'Tis a pity that more men on the Isthmus are not thinking about the old folks at home. 'Tis a safe bet that his father needs a lift. The lad looked very solemn about it."
He turned into the hospital superintendent's office and asked a clerk for Walter Goodwin's home address, which the rules required to be recorded. Then he made a détour to the Ancon post-office, smiled craftily98, and demanded a money-order application blank. Separating several bills from a wad crumpled99 in his trousers pocket, he reflected:
"He would fly off the handle if I suggested anything like this, being a most independent young rooster. But I used to have a daddy of[Pg 80] my own. I'll say nothing about it till the lad gets a job. Then he can square it."
Thereupon he wrote to Mr. Horatio Goodwin as follows:
Dear Sir:
Your son will be unable to attend to his affairs for a few days, so I am sending the enclosed amount which had been advanced against his salary account.
Yours truly,
John Devlin.
P. S.—He is in the Ancon Hospital, a bit mussed up but nothing serious. He will write soon.
"There! I may be guilty of committing something or other under false pretences101, but I feel a whole lot easier in my mind," quoth the steam-shovel man.
Next morning that bland102 dynamite expert, Naughton, came to the hospital to show Walter that his friends in Cristobal had not forgotten him.
"What about the base-ball practice?" demanded the patient. "Have you found another pitcher?"
"No. We haven't given you up as a total loss."
[Pg 81]
"Does Major Glendinning know I have been put out of commission?" Walter's voice was very anxious.
Naughton smiled broadly.
"Yes. I saw him just after your message came to Harrison yesterday afternoon. There is no finer man on the Isthmus than the major, but he is a trifle unreasonable103 at times. He was so upset at the notion of playing Culebra without you that he got peevish104 and blamed me for letting you wander into that landslide. And then he sailed into you for being too slow to get out of the way of it."
"Then he will have nothing more to do with me," was Walter's mournful conclusion.
"You are not fit to do anything just now," evasively returned Naughton. "The major's bearings are heated, but he will cool down. He took a fancy to you. Now what can I do for you? You will soon be on your feet again and going strong. Need any money?"
Walter flushed and his lip quivered. Jack Devlin had asked the same question. These were friends worth having.
"I can get along somehow," he bravely answered.
[Pg 82]
Naughton exclaimed reprovingly:
"None of that. We folks on the Isthmus are one big family. You have made good. Don't worry about your meal-ticket after you leave the hospital. You may need some spare change for clothes and so on. I'll leave a few dollars with the nurse."
"But I don't deserve all this kindness."
"Nonsense. What else?"
"I think I had better send a letter home to-day. I feel more like it now. May I dictate105 it to you, Mr. Naughton?"
"Sure thing. But don't let the folks infer you are down and out. Tell 'em about the scenery."
"If the scenery would only stay put, I shouldn't be in the hospital," was the patient's comment.
Naughton chewed his pencil until Walter began:
My Dearest Family:
I have had a slight accident, so I cannot very well use my right hand. I have the very best of care, and everybody is just bully106 to me.——
[Pg 83]
"I am stumped108. You see, it is hard to explain things. I was so cocksure of myself—and—and—I was going to find a good position right away, and it hurts a fellow's pride like the mischief109 to own up that he was all wrong. And I don't want them to worry——"
Naughton nodded gravely and suggested:
"Shall I tell them about your impressions of the canal? You are right. We ought to send them no hard-luck stories."
"Go ahead, then. My first impressions were dents72. I'm covered with them. You know more about the canal than I do."
"Harrison will be over to see you soon," said the amanuensis. "You are going to help us dig the Big Ditch, so keep your nerve. Good-by and good luck until next time."
Walter was a low-spirited and restless patient. Now and then he forgot his troubles in chatting with the other men who had been brought into the accident ward. They had been wounded on the firing-line of this titanic conflict with Nature. Like good soldiers they[Pg 84] were eager to be up and at it again. They worked and dared for something more than wages. They manifested intense pride and loyalty112. It was their ambition to "stay with the job." Their talk was mostly of progress made, of new records set. Their spirit thrilled Walter, it was so fine and clean and worthy113 of the flag they served.
After three days the surgeon examined him carefully, and announced:
"You are fit to leave us, but you must take it easy. And that arm should be looked after. What are your plans?"
"I haven't any. I am not a canal employee, so I suppose I can't go to a commission hotel."
"Naughton or Devlin will be here to see you again," said the surgeon. "Why not bunk114 with me for a few days? I am in bachelor quarters. You don't want to wait around in one of those Panama hotels. They are fierce."
Walter thought of the vengeful General Quesada and had no desire, in his disabled condition, to linger in the city of Panama, beyond the Canal Zone. He gratefully accepted the surgeon's invitation and added:
[Pg 85]
"I should like to go out this afternoon and see something of Ancon."
"Very well. It will brace115 you up to get outdoors. If you want the good salt wind, why don't you run over to Balboa docks? It is only a trifling116 journey by train. And you can see the Pacific end of the canal. It's a busy place."
The railroad station was no more than a few minutes' walk down the hill from the hospital, and Walter footed it slowly, feeling weak and listless. He enjoyed the brief trip to Balboa and his first glimpse of the shipping117 of the Pacific. The wharves118 were American, but the high-sided steamers crowded bow and stern were bound to strange, romantic ports, to Guayaquil and Valparaiso and around the Horn, to Mazatlan and Acapulco.
Picking his way among the jostling, noisy gangs of black laborers, Walter perched himself upon a bale of merchandise under the long cargo shed. The wharf119 was not large enough for its traffic. Freight of every description covered it. Tally120 clerks, checkers, and foremen were at their wits' ends to keep the streams[Pg 86] of boxes, barrels, and crates122 moving with order and system.
At one berth123 a Pacific mail-boat from San Francisco was discharging supplies for the Canal Commission. Just beyond her, one of the Chilean Navigation Company's fleet was filling her holds for the long voyage down the west coast. Against her seaward side, as if waiting for room at the wharf, was moored124 a rusty little coastwise steamer flying the flag of the Panama Republic.
During a summer vacation from high-school, Walter had worked in the shipping-rooms of the Wolverton Mills. He knew something about this activity on the wharf. He thought himself capable of tallying125 freight and sorting consignments126. Sharp-eyed and interested, he watched the hurly-burly of hard-driven industry. Presently he noticed something which awoke his curiosity. It seemed extremely odd.
The freight trundled out of the Pacific mail-boat was piled compactly between two narrow aisles127 or runways on the wharf, convenient for transfer to the freight-cars of the Panama Railroad. Walter noted128 the marks on the boxes,[Pg 87] because most of the stuff was consigned129 to the "Dept. of Commissary and Subsistence," and he was thereby130 reminded of Major Glendinning.
Separated from this great heap of merchandise only by a runway was the freight that was being rushed into the outward-bound Chilean steamer. A negro halted his truck between the two piles and loaded it with cases marked for Major Glendinning's department. Then he went clattering131 at full speed to the gangway of the Chilean steamer.
Evidently the thick-witted laborer had made a blunder, thought Walter. He had loaded his truck at the wrong side of the runway. At the gangway of the South American vessel132 was stationed a "checker," one of the white employees of the Zone, whose business was to discover just such mistakes as this. Walter saw him halt the truck, glance at the marks on the boxes, and then shove the negro along into the ship instead of turning him back to the wharf.
Walter did some rapid thinking. He was enough of a shipping-clerk to surmise133 that something was wrong. It might have been carelessness, but he eyed the checker suspiciously. He[Pg 88] was a long, stooping young man with rather pallid134, sullen135 features, and he conveyed an impression of slouchiness and dissipation quite unlike the clean-cut type of the average American in the Zone.
The checker forsook137 the gangway, hurried into the runway where the truckmen were passing in procession and gave them an order, roughly, with a gesture which carried a meaning to the vigilant138 Walter. They were told to continue shoving the merchandise consigned to Major Glendinning's department into the Chilean steamer. They viewed any white man as a "boss" to be obeyed. Unable to read the marks, they did as they were ordered, without hesitation139.
The checker ran back to the gangway, where he made pretence100 of examining each arriving truck-load and passing it as O.K. Walter was convinced that he had stumbled on a flagrantly crooked140 transaction. It looked barefaced141 and bold, but it was actually much less so than [Pg 89]appeared. In the rush and confusion of the wharf, one dishonest checker could engineer the business with small risk of official detection. The merchandise would be missed later, but what proof was there that it had been slipped aboard the Chilean steamer?
"It was one chance in a hundred that I happened to see it," said Walter to himself. "I'm sure the checker is a rascal142, but there must be others in it, or how can the stolen goods be received and disposed of at the other end of the voyage?"
He forsook his place of observation and moved cautiously nearer the Chilean steamer, screened from the observation of the checker by a huge crate121 of machinery143. There he discovered, to his great surprise, that the trucks loaded with pilfered144 merchandise were being wheeled across the lower deck, through the open cargo port on the other side, and into the small Panamanian coaster tied up to the larger steamer.
This altered the circumstances. Very likely the Chilean officers and crew knew nothing about the shady business. The Panamanian[Pg 90] craft might have been courteously145 permitted to take on part of her cargo by transferring it across the intervening deck.
Walter tingled146 with excitement. The checker must have an understanding with the captain or owner, or both, of the disreputable-looking little steamer hailing from Panama. Her destination could not be far distant. She could be overhauled147 at short notice. Instead of informing the American officials at Balboa, Walter swiftly decided to try to unravel148 the plot by himself. It would show them that he was good for something besides base-ball. And it might mean solid recognition. But there was something bigger than his own interests at stake. The spirit of the Canal Zone had taken hold of him. He knew that "graft94" had been kept out of the organization. To have the fair record blotted149, even in the smallest way, was hateful to him. He was as jealous of the honor of the "Big Ditch" as Colonel Gunther himself.
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1
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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beguiled
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| v.欺骗( beguile的过去式和过去分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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gash
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| v.深切，划开；n.(深长的)切(伤)口；裂缝 | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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spurted
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺 | |
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rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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inadequate
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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29
docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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30
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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31
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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32
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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33
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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34
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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35
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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36
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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37
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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38
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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39
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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40
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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41
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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42
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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43
impeding
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| a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的 | |
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44
tenacious
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| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
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45
irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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46
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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47
landslide
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| n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利 | |
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48
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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49
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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50
avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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51
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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52
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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53
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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54
slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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55
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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56
momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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57
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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58
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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59
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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60
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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61
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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62
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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63
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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64
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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65
prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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66
prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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67
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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68
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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69
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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70
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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71
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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72
dents
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| n.花边边饰；凹痕( dent的名词复数 )；凹部；减少；削弱v.使产生凹痕( dent的第三人称单数 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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73
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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74
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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75
stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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76
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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77
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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78
sprained
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| v.&n. 扭伤 | |
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79
lugged
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| vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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80
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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81
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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82
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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83
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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84
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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85
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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86
genial
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| adj.亲切的，和蔼的，愉快的，脾气好的 | |
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87
wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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88
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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89
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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90
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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91
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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92
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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93
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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94
graft
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| n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接 | |
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95
grafter
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| 嫁接的人，贪污者，收贿者； 平铲 | |
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96
disapprovingly
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| adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地 | |
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97
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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98
craftily
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| 狡猾地，狡诈地 | |
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99
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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100
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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101
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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102
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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103
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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104
peevish
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| adj.易怒的，坏脾气的 | |
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105
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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106
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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107
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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108
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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109
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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110
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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111
industriously
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112
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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113
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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114
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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115
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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116
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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117
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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118
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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119
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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120
tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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121
crate
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| vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱 | |
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122
crates
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| n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱 | |
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123
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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124
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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125
tallying
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| v.计算，清点( tally的现在分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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126
consignments
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| n.托付货物( consignment的名词复数 )；托卖货物；寄售；托运 | |
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127
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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128
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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129
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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130
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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131
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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132
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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133
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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134
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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135
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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136
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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137
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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138
vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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139
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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140
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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141
barefaced
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| adj.厚颜无耻的，公然的 | |
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142
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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143
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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144
pilfered
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| v.偷窃（小东西），小偷( pilfer的过去式和过去分词 )；偷窃（一般指小偷小摸） | |
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145
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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146
tingled
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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147
overhauled
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| v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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148
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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149
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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