In this world much sin is forgiven an entertaining personality.
There was always a feeling of incompleteness on the store platform when Rat was absent, that nobody ever admitted, but when he arrived and took his accustomed seat on the green wheel barrow, that was part of the merchandise that Posey kept outside in the day time, the depressing vacancy12 existed no longer.
Bill Stiles’s temperamental discharges of ornate 136philosophy, and his comments on life’s ironies13 and human folly14, required a target, and this was commonly the role assigned to Rat Hyatt.
“I’m always the goat,” remarked Rat one hot afternoon, as we sat in the shade of the wooden awning15. “W’y don’t you pick on somebody that likes to listen? I’ve been kidded by experts, an’ this long talk o’ your’n seems kind o’ mixed up. The trouble with you an’ a lot o’ the other ol’ mud birds ’round ’ere, is you open yer mouth an’ go ’way an’ leave it, an’ fergit you started it.”
“Now look ’ere, Rat,” replied Bill, “you aint got no call to talk back to me. W’en I’m talkin’ to you, I aint arguin’. I’m tellin’ you how ’tis. I knowed you w’en you wasn’t knee high to a duck, an’ you aint got brains enough to have the headache with.
“That feller that you sold my dog to the last time was ’ere yisterd’y askin’ ’bout you, an’ if Spot ’ad ever come back. He’d been up to your place, an’ its a good thing fer you that you an’ Spot was off some’rs in the woods. He told me what ’e traded you fer the animal, an’ I want you to bring them things to me, fer it was my dog you got ’em with.”
As Spot was asleep under the wheelbarrow, Bill’s equity16 in the repeating rifle and cartridges17, that Hyatt had received in exchange for him, seemed rather hazy18. The reason for Spot’s prolonged absence some months before was now apparent to Bill, and, although the intelligent animal had returned home, as expected, after being traded off, the old man’s nurtured19 wrath20 was waiting for Rat when he arrived that afternoon. Hyatt seemed in nowise abashed21 at the revelation of Bill’s knowledge of his shady transaction with the trapper.
137“If I hadn’t a knowed the dog ’ud come home, I wouldn’t a let ’im go. It showed how much I trusted ’im w’en I let ’im go off with a stranger like that. If that feller thought ’e c’d keep a fine dog like that away from them that loved ’im, ’e oughta suffer fer ’is foolishness, an’ leave sump’n in the country to be remembered by. Of course if sump’n ’ad a happened to Spot, an’ ’e hadn’t a come back, I’d a given you the rifle, but I knowed that dog was all right. You c’n have ’im back any time you want ’im, if he’ll stay with you, but you hadn’t oughta jump on me as long as ’e aint lost, an’ ’e’s in first class health.”
“Its the funny ideas that some fellers ’ave about other people’s propity that keeps the state’s prisons filled up,” remarked Bill. “It aint the lyin’ an’ stealin’ that gits ’em thar, its gitt’n caught. If they don’t git caught its jest called business shrewdness. You bilked that feller out o’ that gun an’ you’r deprivin’ me of it w’en you used my dog to git it with. You’r a fine man to trust anythin’ with, you are. If I had any place to keep Spot I wouldn’t let you have ’im a minute. I c’n fill my shanty23 with stuff by tradin’ ’im off, an’ then wait’n fer ’im to come home, jest as well as you can, an’ it ’ud be all right fer me to do it, but you aint got no such right, ’specially if yer goin’ to swindle people.”
After Bill’s assurance that he had told the deluded24 138trapper nothing of Spot’s return, and that he had gone off up the river, the conversation drifted into channels that were less irritating.
The old man’s mind became calm and he ascended25 the narrow stairway on the outside of the building, to his room over the store, for a nap.
“That ol’ feller oughta to have a phonygraph with ’is voice in it so he c’d spin it an’ listen to ’imself speil,” remarked Rat after Bill had left. “I used to often watch ’im when ’e was set’n quiet out ’ere by the hour, with that dinkey hat pulled down in front an’ lookin’ wise, an’ wonder what big thoughts was ferment’n up in that old moss26 covered dome27 o’ his, but I found out after a while that ’e wasn’t thinkin’ about nuth’n at all.”
Rat wended his way down to the bank under the bridge, where he had left his push boat, followed by the faithful Spot, and poled his way up stream. When he reached the vicinity of the stranded28 house boat, where he had lived for several years, he reconnoitered it cautiously. No malign29 presence was detected. He looked over his bee hives that were scattered about among the trees, and provided two or three week’s food supplies for his chickens, and some young coons and weasles, that he was raising for their fur in some wire cages under the house. He then packed a few necessaries into his boat, and secured the door of the house with a padlock.
He was not quite satisfied that the trapper, who was looking for Spot, had left the country, and he did not intend to take any chances. The dog was 139ordered to lie down in the bow of the canoe, where he was carefully covered. The intelligent animal complied cheerfully with all of the arrangements.
Rat then proceeded down the river for several miles to the big marsh30, where he did the most of his trapping during the late fall, winter, and spring.
He had two motives31 for his trip, besides the idea of avoiding a possible visit of the trapper to the house boat. One was to see if the muskrat population on the marsh had increased properly during the summer, and the other was to visit Malindy Taylor, whom he deeply loved, and by whom he was scorned as a suitor.
Malindy was a peppery widow of about forty, who lived with her aged32 mother in a small house beyond the marsh. She was the owner of a wild duck farm, and conducted it with such success that Rat looked forward to spending his declining days in peace and comfort if he could persuade Malindy to take him into life partnership33.
Many hundreds of mallards and teal nested among the boggy34 places in the marsh during the summer. The eggs were gathered, put into incubators, and under complaisant35 hens on the farm. The ducklings were reared in wired enclosures that prevented them from joining their kind in the skies when the fall migrations36 began. During the game season, when they were properly matured, they were skilfully37 strangled and shipped away as wild birds at game prices.
Rat had always willingly hunted nests and gathered 140eggs for his beloved. He did odd jobs about the farm and participated in everything but the harvest. Like Jacob of old, toiling38 for the hand of Rachael, Rat’s industry, although intermittent39, was sustained by alluring40 hope.
Outside of her earthly possessions, it must be admitted that Malindy had few charms. One of her eyes was slightly on the bias41, and at times it had a baleful gleam. Two of her front teeth protruded42 in a particularly unpleasant way, as though she expected to bite at something alive. She had an angular disposition43, and her temper was not conducive44 to the even flow of life’s little amenities45. To use a Scotch46 expression, she was “unco pernickity.” She was intolerant of human frailty47 in others, especially of the kinds that entered so largely into Rat Hyatt’s make-up, but divinities sometimes appear in strange forms. To Rat’s love blinded eyes she was the one lone49 flower that grew in the dreary50 desert of life’s monotonies.
There is something about everybody that appeals to somebody, and this is why there is nobody who cannot find somebody willing to marry them.
Perhaps the streak51 of primitive52 cussedness in Malindy appealed to compatible instincts in Rat’s heart, but be that as it may, he was a faithful and much abused worshiper.
When he reached the farther end of the great marsh, he threaded his way through familiar openings among the tall masses of rushes and wild rice, landed on the soggy shore, and pulled his canoe up 141among the underbrush. He and Spot then took the winding54 path that led through the woods to the duck farm, about a quarter of a mile away.
He intended to stay at the farm, in seclusion55, for a week or two, do some work that he had long promised, and then put out his traps on the marsh. He kept about a hundred of them in Malindy’s barn, when they were not in use.
About half way down the marsh a long tongue of wooded land extended out into the oozy56 slough57. It was known as “Swallow Tail Point.” This was Tipton Posey’s favorite haunt during the shooting season. Thousands of wild ducks and geese passed over it on their way up or down the river, and in circling about over the marsh, which was a bountiful feeding ground. Bill Wirrick spent much time on the point with Posey. They had a little shack58 back among the low trees, sheltered so that it could not be seen from the sky, and hidden from the water by the tall brush.
These two worthies59 had solved at least one of life’s problems in this secluded60 retreat, for they did not have to adjust themselves to the convenience of anybody else.
In the early morning, just before daylight, when the ducks began to move over the marsh, and in the evening twilight61, when the incoming flocks were settling for the night, little puffs62 of smoke, and faint reports, issued from the end of the point, and dark objects fell out of the sky. They were diligently63 retrieved64 by Posey’s brown water spaniel.
142Occasionally wild geese would sweep low over the point, scatter5 and rise excitedly, as the puffs of smoke took toll65 from the honking66 ranks.
In addition to a big bunch of wooden decoys that floated in an open space near the edge of the point, the wary67 birds were lured68 by mechanical quacks69 and honks70 from small patented devices, operated by their concealed71 enemies.
Notwithstanding their civilized72 garb73, and highly developed weapons, Tip and Bill were barbarians74. Their instincts were lower than those of the carnivora of the jungle, for they killed not for food, or even for profit, but for the joy of the killing75. They did not bother about the wounded birds that curved away and fluttered into the matted grasses and rushes, to suffer in silence, or be eaten by the big snapping turtles that had no ideas of sport. They exulted76 over piles of beautiful feathered creatures, motionless and splashed with blood, many of which were afterwards thrown away.
Tip had devoted79 many of his idle hours to the invention of a new goose call. The range of the ordinary devices seemed to him too restricted. His theory was that if the volume of sound could be increased so as to fill a radius80 of four or five miles, the distant V shaped flocks could be lured to within gun shot of the point.
After long meditation81, and consultation82 with Bill Wirrick, they began putting the plan into execution.
They procured83 a pair of blacksmith’s bellows84 from a distant country town, and some big instruments 143that had once belonged to the local brass85 band. These things, in addition to some rubber garden hose, and a lot of other miscellaneous material, were carefully covered in a wagon86 and secretly conveyed to the point.
Weeks were spent in the construction of the apparatus87. The brass instruments were arranged in the interior of a huge megaphone. Rubber balls bobbed about intermittently88 within the capacious horns when the air was pumped through them. The requisite89 volume of sound was attained90, but somehow the turbulent honks of the wild geese were not satisfactorily imitated, although repeated adjustment and alteration91 gave much hope of success.
The experiments were conducted cautiously during the summer, when there was nobody on the marsh, and no mention of the contrivance was made around the store, for a cruel gauntlet of jibes92 and merciless humor awaited the nonsuccess of the enterprise, if the wiseacres of the platform ever learned of it.
Rat Hyatt, although much interested in all that pertained93 to the marsh, and its surroundings, had never suspected what was going on on the point. He never had occasion to land there, and, by common consent, its possession by Posey and Wirrick for shooting purposes was respected by the few hunters who frequented the vicinity.
Malindy Taylor had sometimes heard some terrible noises from the direction of the point, but she was too far away to be much disturbed. Both Posey 144and Wirrick had often referred to Malindy as “an old fuss-bug,” although she was much younger than either of them, and they probably would not have cared if they had scared her out of the country, but she had little curiosity about things that did not affect her duck farm.
She and her mother had concluded that the uncanny sounds were produced by donkeys in the woods, and doubtless this was also the opinion of most of those who afterwards learned all of the facts.
When Rat emerged from his retirement94 at the duck farm, he spent two or three days puttering about through the water openings, setting his traps.
The furred inhabitants of the slough had builded their picturesque little domes95 of stringy roots, rushes, and dead grass, and plastered them together with lumps of mud in the quiet places, away from the river currents that crept in sinuous96 and broken channels through the broad wastes of sodden97 labyrinths98.
Hyatt was an intelligent trapper, and was careful not to depopulate his grounds. He frequently moved the traps, so as not to exhaust the animals in a particular locality. The little competition he had on the marsh must have been discouraging to his rivals, for he always had more traps at the end of the season than at its beginning, and the traps set by others never seemed to be very productive, except to Hyatt. By degrees each new comer was eliminated.
145Rat had finished a hard day’s work. He sat on some dry grass in the bottom of his canoe, lighted a redolent old pipe, and decided99 to indulge in a good smoke and a long rest before starting up the river.
Twilight had come. The vast expanse of overgrown water was silent, except for the low lullabies of the marsh birds among the thick grasses and bulrushes. He sat for a long time and watched the smoke curl up into the still air. The moon came over the distant rim53 of the forest that bordered the great marsh, and one by one, the stars began to tremble in the crystal sky, but it was not with the eye of the poet that Rat regarded these things. The moonlighted river would be easy to navigate100 on the trip home.
Suddenly a flash of greenish light shot into the heavens in the north west, and in a few minutes the entire horizon in every direction flamed and shimmered101 with long gleaming streamers of rose and green beams that touched fluttering segments of a corona102 of orange glow at the zenith.
Rat had often seen the Aurora103 Borealis; he was familiar with sheet lightning, and the electrical discharges of the thunder storms, but this awful light was something new.
It was a magnetic storm, one of those rare phenomena104, that the average person sees but once in a life time, and never forgets, caused by the sudden incandescence105 of heavily charged solar dust in the earth’s atmosphere.
The play of the fitful quivering gleams through 146the firmament106 was a sublime107 spectacle. The motionless air had the peculiar odor that comes from an excess of ozone108.
Rat Hyatt was in the throes of mortal fright. The dog uttered a long howl, and just at that moment—like a yell of demonic mockery out of sulphurous caverns—the unearthly tones of Tipton Posey’s goose call resonated from the woods on Swallow Tail Point, and reverberated109 beyond the weirdly110 lighted waters.
One or both of its builders had probably come to test the powers of the unholy device, and were unabashed by the drama that glorified111 the night skies.
With blind instinct of self preservation112, Rat rose to his knees and made a faltering113 attempt to grasp his paddle, but his hands refused the dictates114 of his palsied brain. He cowered115 as one in the presence of the Ultimate.
To him, in this appalling116 display of supernatural power, and the evident impending117 end of all things, had come the agony of abject118 terror and despair, and before it his rude conception of life collapsed119.
His past flashed before his distorted vision like a hideous120 nightmare. His world suddenly lost reality. The human creatures in it changed to throngs121 of fleeting122 phantoms123, impelled124 by unseen forces. They glared, grinned and gibbered at each other, as they hurried through the mist, and vanished into the oblivion from which they came.
In the realm of fear there are ghastly solitudes125. They pervade126 dim phosphorescent glows on ocean 147floors, and they brood in the desolation around the poles. They creep into awe127 stricken hearts when the filmy strands128, that sustain the Ego129 on its frail48 human web are broken, and the denuded130 spirit stands in utter loneliness at the brink131 of Chaos132.
In the course of an hour the wonderful radiance, that had transfigured the heavens, and chilled the marrow133 bones of Rat Hyatt, ceased as suddenly as it had begun. The frightful134 unknown sounds from the woods were not repeated.
Rat finally succeeded in getting on his feet. He pushed his canoe out into the channel and started up stream, but it was a changed man who swung the long paddle. His soul had been rarefied in chastening flames. He was as one who had met his Maker135 face to face, and his only hope now was that his life span might be mercifully extended until he could make amends136 for the past.
He reached the house boat in the early morning, much exhausted137, and threw himself on the rude bed, where his shattered nerves found partial repose138.
His sleep was much troubled. He awoke with a sudden start late in the afternoon, and, lashed78 by an avenging139 conscience, slid his canoe into the river and hurried up stream to find the Reverend Daniel Butters, a venerable preacher, who lived about six miles away. To him he would carry his heavy laden140 heart, and in the consolations141 of religion seek forgiveness and peace.
The Reverend Butters was known far and wide as “Dismal142 Dan,” and was referred to in Bill Stiles’s 148chronicles as “the Javelin143 of the Lord.” He was an eccentric, heavily bewhiskered old character, who believed in the Church Militant144, and had exhorted145, quoted reproving scripture146, and made doleful prophecies in the river country for two normal generations.
In the little weather beaten country church, up the river, his small audiences consisted of aged ladies and pious147 old settlers, who were already saved, and did not need the rescuing hand. He preached Calvinistic damnation in the belief that fear of hell was a more potent148 factor in human redemption than hope of reward.
His principal authority on hell was Jonathan Edwards, a fiery149 divine, who glowed in Massachusetts about two hundred years ago. During his eruptive period, Edwards’s sermons on damnation blistered150 and enriched the sectarian literature of his time. Dismal Dan frequently resurrected and reheated these old printed sermons, and hurled151 the sputtering152 embers at his inoffensive listeners.
He had not made a convert for many years. Of late his powers of spiritual persuasion153 had languished154, and, like his hearers, had become atrophied155.
He was a revivalist who did not revive. He needed new and pliant156 material, and when Muskrat Hyatt had told his errand he was welcomed as one who had fled from among the Pharisees. Out of the wilderness157 of sin a lowly suppliant158 had come.
The Reverend Daniel Butters
149They talked of the mysterious and unknown light that had illumined the heavens the night before, and the terrifying sounds that had come over the waters. Dismal Dan pronounced it all to be a “manifestation.” He had long expected signs and angry portents159 in the skies as a warning to sinners. Probably his biased160 mind would eagerly have ascribed divine origin to any natural phenomenon that shooed fish into his ministerial net.
They spent many days and nights in prayer and assiduous scriptural readings. A far away look came into Hyatt’s eyes, and an elevation161 of brow that did not seem to be of this world. The spiritual calm of the neophite within cloistered162 walls was his. He had laid a contrite163 heart upon the altar of his fears, and on it rested celestial164 rays.
He interrupted the period of his reconstruction165 with a trip down the river to visit Malindy Taylor. Just what passed at the duck farm was never known, but, after three days, Malindy opened her heart of stone to the penitent166. They came up the stream in the canoe, and, as the enraptured167 township correspondent of the county paper expressed it, “they were united on the front porch in the sacred bonds of holy matrimony, by the Reverend Daniel Butters, on the afternoon of Thursday, the bridegroom being attired168 in conventional black, and the bride with a bouquet169 of white flowers.”
Rat betook himself to the duck farm with his bride. He removed all his traps from the marsh, for he now considered the problem of his future earthly existence solved, without the necessity of very much hard work.
150He made frequent visits to Dismal Dan, but kept entirely170 away from the store. That place was a sink of iniquity171 that he desired to avoid. He and the old man spent many hours together that were sweetened with blissful discourse173. Dismal Dan felt that a life time devoted to expounding174 the gospels had found glorious fruition in the salvation175 of Muskrat Hyatt, and he was greatly elated by the sustained piety176 of the proselyte.
He proposed to Brother Hyatt that they go together to the store, and, if possible, “convert the bunch on the platform.” In his opinion a successful attack on that citadel177 of sin would practically put the devil out of business in the river country.
Brother Hyatt willingly consented. He was without fear of ridicule178. He floated in an atmosphere of moral purity that the mockery of sinners could not defile179.
They took a Bible, two old hymn180 books, and some lunch to the canoe, and, accompanied by the trustful and devoted Spot, they proceeded down the river. They stopped at the house boat and secured the gun and cartridges that the trapper had left in exchange for the dog, and went on down to the bridge.
On the river they practiced some of the old hymns181, in the rendition of which Brother Hyatt displayed a woeful technique. They finally gave up trying to sing them, and Brother Butters droned out the rhythmic182 lines in a most doleful way, that Brother Hyatt soon imitated successfully.
151Brother Butters then outlined the form of exhortation183 that he would use at the store, and instructed his assistant how he was to cooperate with deep and loud amens, whenever big climaxes184 were reached. Minor185 climaxes were to be left to Brother Hyatt’s judgment186. He was to watch Brother Butters, and when the forefinger187 was raised above the head, an amen of more than usual sonorousness188 was to be forthcoming.
Brother Hyatt had studied the hymn books industriously190, and had selected scattered verses that pleased him and seemed appropriate. They were laboriously191 copied on loose sheets of paper. It was his intention to introduce these snatches of hymns into Brother Butters’s sermon with the amens, whenever possible, and they both considered that holy power would thereby192 be added to the exhortation. The order in which the extracts were to be introduced was considered on the way down, but the sheets got somewhat mixed in Brother Hyatt’s pocket before it was time to use them.
The enemies of Satan, with their carefully prepared batteries of pious invective193 and Calvinistic hymns, landed safely under the bridge, late in the afternoon. The canoe was pulled out. Brother Hyatt peeked194 over the top of the embankment, and saw that the chairs on the store platform were all filled, and that its edge was festooned with the usual attendants.
Tipton Posey, Pop Wilkins, Bill Stiles, Doc Dust, Bill Wirrick, “the Jaundiced Viking,” “the Serpent’s 152Hiss,” and the other “regulars,” were all there. The vineyard looked ripe and inviting196.
Bill Stiles hailed the proselyters cordially as they approached the stronghold.
“Say, Rat, whar you been buried all this time?”
“Bill, they’s sump’n wonderful happened to me. I’ve got religion. A great light ’as come to me, an’ I’ve repented198 of all my sins. I’ve brought that gun an’ them catritches that I traded yer dog fer, an’ I want you to find that feller an’ give ’em back to ’im. I done wrong, an’ I want to square things up. Three or four times I sold Spot, knowin’ he’d come home, but I’ve spent the money. I’m goin’ to git some of my friends to pay back ev’ry cent, if I c’n find the fellers that bought ’im.”
“That’ll make yer friends awful happy, Rat. Say, you cert’nly are a pippin! What done all this?”
“Never mind, Bill, you’ll see the light some day. No man knows w’en the spirit cometh. Brother Butters an’ I are goin’ to hold some services out in front o’ the store this afternoon. We want all the chairs fixed199 nice an’ even. Brother Butters will preach, an’ I’m goin’ to line out hymn passages ’long with the sermon. We aint got no music, but me linin’ ’em out’ll be jest the same as if they was played in tunes200, fer it’ll show what they are. I hope that some o’ you fellers’ll bite at what’s offered.”
Rat was regarded with much concealed levity202 and mock respect, as he arranged the chairs in a curved 153row, and further developments were awaited with suppressed interest.
Bill Stiles joyfully203 accepted the center of the row. Tipton Posey and the Serpent’s Hiss195 were at the ends. After the chairs were filled the rest of the audience sat along the edge of the platform and dangled204 its feet.
Brother Butters and Brother Hyatt brought out a box, which they placed on the ground about twenty feet from the audience. Brother Butters thought that a little distance would add dignity and solemnity.
During the preparations the similarity of the chair arrangement on the platform to that in the minstrel show at the county seat, which nearly everybody present had attended during the preceding winter, occurred to Tipton Posey.
“Mr. Brown!” he called to Bill Stiles in the center.
“Mr. Brown, why is this congregation like a ten penny nail?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Bones, why this congregation is like a ten penny nail. Why is this congregation like a ten penny nail?”
“Because, Mr. Brown, it’s goin’ to be driven in,” sagely206 replied Mr. Bones, with a significant glance at the gathering207 rain clouds overhead.
“Gentlemen, please shed yer hats!” said Brother Hyatt, as he pounded for order on the box with a 154carrot that he had taken from a basket in the store. “Brother Butters will now lead in prayer.”
During the invocation, which was brief but heartfelt, Spot walked out and stretched himself on the ground in front of the box. Brother Butters and Brother Hyatt both ended the prayer with loud amens.
“Here are the lines o’ the first hymn,” announced Brother Hyatt.
The gladly solemn sound—
Let all the nations know,
To earth’s remotest bound,
And now the living waters flow,
From sea to sea the rivers go,
And spread from pole to pole.”
Brother Butters then began his discourse, most of which consisted of written extracts from old Calvinistic exhortations212.
“Our sermon this afternoon is on the subject of the eternity213 of hell torments215, and the text is from Matthew 25–46: “These shall go away into everlasting216 punishment.””
“Lo, on a narrow neck of land,
Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,
Yet how insensible!
A point of time, a moment’s space,
Removes me to yon heav’nly place,
Or shuts me up in hell!”
155Brother Butters:—“You have a glorious opportunity today that may never come again. The door of mercy is opened wide, but the path that leads to it is long and narrow. A slight swerve217 leads to the fiery pit. Many come from the east, the west, the north, the south, and many fall. We may conceive of the fierceness of that awful fire of wrath if we think of a spider, or other noisome218 insect, thrown into the midst of glowing coals. How immediately it yields, and curls, and withers219 in the frightful heat! What pleasure we take in its agonizing220 destruction! Here is a little image of what ye may expect if ye persist in sin, and a picture of the place where pestilential sinners wail221.”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN!—Oh, hear ye the happy message!”
“Since man by sin has lost his God,
He seeks creation through,
In trying something new.”
Brother Butters:—“The thought comes to me that the row of sinners in yonder chairs typifies sin in its vilest223 form—that of a snake. Tip at one end suggests the tail, and Dick Shakes, whom ye call ‘the Serpent’s Hiss,’ at the other, represents the loathsome224 head. It was a snake that carried sin into the Garden of Eden. It is a snake that confronts the Lord’s servants at this meeting, and, in my mind’s eye, I see that writhing225 serpent, breeze-shaken and hair-hung, over the yawning abyss of hell!”
156Brother Hyatt:—“Can you beat that?”
“Oh, blissful thought!
A tongue in ev’ry op’ning flower!”
Bill Stiles:—“This is hot stuff!”
Brother Butters:—“How will the duration of torment214 without end cause the heart to melt like wax! Even those proud, sturdy, and hell-hardened spirits, the devils, tremble at the thoughts of that greater torture, which they are to suffer on the day of judgment. The poor damned souls of men will have their misery227 vastly augmented228.”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-AMEN!—They will get the limit!”
Brother Butters:—“The fierceness of a great fire, as when a house is all in flames, gives one an idea of its rage, and we see that the greater the fire is, the fiercer is its heat in every part, and the reason is, because one part heats another part.”
Bill Stiles:—“If that rain don’t come pretty soon you fellers’ talk’ll set fire to that box!”
Brother Hyatt:—“The mockery of sinners availeth not! Now listen to another verse!”
“I love to tell the story,
’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
More wonderfully sweet.”
Brother Butters:—“We have seen that the misery of the departed soul of a sinner, besides what it 157now feels, consists in amazing fears of what is yet to come. When the union of the soul and the body is actually broken, and the body has fetched its last gasp230, the soul forsakes231 the old habitation, and then falls into the hands of devils, who fly upon it, and seize it more violently than ever hungry lions flew upon their prey232.”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN!!!—Oh, what a finish! They are no ice hunks there!”
“Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright as day—
A blasting wind sweeps o’er the land,
And fades the grass away!”
Brother Butters:—“We now come to the joy of the saints in heaven who behold the sufferings of sinners and unbaptized infants in hell. They shall see their doleful state, and it will heighten their sense of blessedness. When they shall see the smoke of their torment, and the raging of the flames, and hear their dolorous233 shrieks234 and cries, and consider that they in the meantime are in the most blissful state for all eternity, how they will rejoice!”
Brother Hyatt:—“Oh, listen ye to the comforts of the church! Oh, speed that happy day!”
“Hark! Hark! The notes of joy
Roll o’er the heav’nly plains,
And all the seraphs find employ
Brother Butters:—“The scriptures236 plainly teach that the saints in glory shall see the doleful state of the damned, and witness the execution of Almighty237 wrath.”
158Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN!”
“Oh, the transporting rapturous scene,
That rises to my sight!”
Brother Butters:—“The sight of hell torments will exalt238 the happiness of the saints forever, and give them a more lively relish239 of the joys of their heavenly home. The righteous and the wicked in the other world will see each other’s state. Thus the rich man in hell, and Lazarus and Abraham in heaven, are represented as seeing each other in the 16th chapter of Luke. The wicked in their misery will see the saints in the kingdom of heaven.—Luke 13–28–29. ‘There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.’”
Brother Hyatt:—
“The seraphs bright are hov’ring
Around the throne above—
To thrilling strains of love!
They’ll tell the sweet old story
I always loved so well!
Oh, let me float in glory
And hear sinners wail in hell!”
Brother Butters:—“Now come we to the procrastination242 practiced by the average sinner, and in Proverbs 27–1 we find the words, ‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth189.’”
159Brother Hyatt:—
“The lilies of the field,
That quickly fade away,
May well to us a lesson yield,
For we are frail as they!”
Brother Butters:—“Dear friends, tomorrow is not our own. There are many ways and means whereby the lives of men are ended. It is written in the book of Job, chapter 21, verse 23, that ‘One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.’”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN!—Now listen ye unto these words!”
“Melt, melt, these frozen hearts,
Each evil passion overcome,
And form them all anew!”
Brother Butters:—“Oh, ye unregenerates, that wallow in sin and wickedness on that platform! God despises you, and the flames await you! Go down upon your accursed knees tonight and beseech244 salvation. This is Friday, Saturday may be too late, and everything in the way of grace may be gone!”
Brother Hyatt:—“Slim chance fer this bunch! It’s you to the red hot hooks!”
“Hark! What celestial notes,
What melody do we hear?
Soft on the morn it floats,
And fills the ravished ear!”
Brother Butters:—“How can you be reasonably quiet for one day, or for one night, when you know not when the end will come? If you should be found unregenerate, how fearful would be the consequence! 160Consider and harken unto this counsel! Repent197 and be prepared for death! The bow of wrath is bent245, the arrow is made ready on the string, and nothing but the restraint of Almighty anger keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood!”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN!! A-A-MEN!!—Oh, ye tight wads of iniquity, loosen up, fer this is the last call!”
“Let floods of penitential grief
Burst forth from ev’ry eye!”
Brother Butters:—“Be prepared for the opening of the eternal gates of pearl that are bathed in the light that shines for the meek246 and the pure in heart. The blessings247 of repentance248 are now before you. The choice of taking or leaving is yours!”
Brother Hyatt:—“Nuthin’ could be fairer than that!”
That brings us together this afternoon!”
Brother Butters:—“Be prepared for that awful day of judgment, when the paths that lead to heaven and the paths that lead to hell are divided by the width of a hair!”
Brother Hyatt:—“A-A-MEN—A-A-MEN!!!”
“There is a fountain filled with blood,
Lose all their guilty stains.”
At this point the rain descended252 out of the kindly253 skies, the flaming oratory254 was extinguished, and 161everybody retreated into the store. It was getting dark, and while the services were not completed, the exhorters felt that much spiritual progress had been made.
Most of the regulars departed silently when the shower was over.
“Say, Rat, was that you down on the marsh the night we tried the goose call?” asked Bill Wirrick. “I seen somebody out near the channel w’en them funny streaks255 was in the sky. Since it all come out about the goose call we don’t try to keep it dark no more. The fellers ’round the store got onto it, an’ they’ve been devillin’ the life out o’ me an’ Tip. The dad gasted thing wouldn’t work an’ we’ve took it apart. We tried to make it sound like a flock o’ geese, but it sounded more like a flock o’ thunder storms. Them sky streaks that night was a funny thing. They’s a paper here some’rs that’s got it all in. Lemme see if I c’n find it. Tip had it yisterd’y.”
Wirrick finally found the newspaper. Hyatt took it to the dim kerosene256 lamp and spent some time studying the long account of the magnetic storm. It was explained by scientific authorities, and bemoaned257 by the interests it had affected. The telegraph and telephone companies had been put out of business for several hours, and commerce had suffered while Hyatt’s soul was being purified in celestial fires.
Disillusionment came. As long as the things that were going on in this world were natural, and could 162be explained, Rat saw no reason for worrying about the next. A cherished idol258 was shattered; his piety was dead sea fruit.
With the calmness of a cool gamester, who has thrown and lost his all—slightly pale, but with firm and deliberate step, he went behind the door and secured the rifle and cartridges he had asked Bill Stiles to restore to the swindled trapper. With no word of farewell to those around him, he lighted his long neglected old pipe, reeking259 with sin and nicotine260, whistled to Spot, and walked away down the path to the river bank where the canoe had been left, and disappeared.
Night had fallen upon the river. Somewhere far away in the purple gloom, that softly lay upon its dimpling and restless tide, was a lost sheep. Its fleece had become black, but it was more precious than the ninety and nine that were still within the fold.
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1
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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3
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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8
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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11
repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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12
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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13
ironies
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| n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄 | |
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14
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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15
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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16
equity
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| n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票 | |
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17
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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18
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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19
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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20
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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21
abashed
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| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
muskrat
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| n.麝香鼠 | |
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23
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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24
deluded
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| v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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27
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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28
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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29
malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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30
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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31
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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32
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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33
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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34
boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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35
complaisant
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| adj.顺从的，讨好的 | |
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36
migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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37
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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38
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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39
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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40
alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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41
bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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42
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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43
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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44
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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45
amenities
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| n.令人愉快的事物；礼仪；礼节；便利设施；礼仪( amenity的名词复数 )；便利设施；（环境等的）舒适；（性情等的）愉快 | |
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46
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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47
frailty
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| n.脆弱；意志薄弱 | |
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48
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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49
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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50
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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51
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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52
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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53
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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54
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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55
seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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56
oozy
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| adj.软泥的 | |
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57
slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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58
shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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59
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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60
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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61
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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62
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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63
diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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64
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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65
toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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66
honking
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| v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 ) | |
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67
wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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68
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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69
quacks
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| abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 ) | |
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70
honks
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| n.雁叫声( honk的名词复数 )；汽车的喇叭声v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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72
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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73
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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74
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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75
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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76
exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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78
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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79
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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80
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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81
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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82
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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83
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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84
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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85
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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86
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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87
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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88
intermittently
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| adv.间歇地；断断续续 | |
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89
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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90
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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91
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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92
jibes
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| n.与…一致( jibe的名词复数 )；（与…）相符；相匹配v.与…一致( jibe的第三人称单数 )；（与…）相符；相匹配 | |
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93
pertained
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| 关于( pertain的过去式和过去分词 )； 有关； 存在； 适用 | |
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94
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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95
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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96
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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97
sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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98
labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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99
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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100
navigate
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| v.航行，飞行；导航，领航 | |
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101
shimmered
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
corona
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| n.日冕 | |
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103
aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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104
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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105
incandescence
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| n.白热，炽热；白炽 | |
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106
firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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107
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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108
ozone
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| n.臭氧，新鲜空气 | |
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109
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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110
weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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111
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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112
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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113
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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114
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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115
cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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116
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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117
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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118
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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119
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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120
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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121
throngs
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| n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 ) | |
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122
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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123
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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124
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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126
pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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127
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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128
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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129
ego
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| n.自我，自己，自尊 | |
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130
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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131
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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132
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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133
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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134
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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135
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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136
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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137
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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138
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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139
avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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140
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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141
consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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142
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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143
javelin
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| n.标枪，投枪 | |
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144
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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145
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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147
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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148
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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149
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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150
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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151
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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152
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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153
persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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154
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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155
atrophied
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| adj.萎缩的，衰退的v.（使）萎缩，（使）虚脱，（使）衰退( atrophy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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156
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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157
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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158
suppliant
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| adj.哀恳的；n.恳求者，哀求者 | |
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159
portents
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| n.预兆( portent的名词复数 )；征兆；怪事；奇物 | |
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160
biased
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| a.有偏见的 | |
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161
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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162
cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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163
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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164
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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165
reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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166
penitent
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| adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者 | |
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167
enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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168
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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170
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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171
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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172
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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173
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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174
expounding
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的现在分词 ) | |
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175
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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176
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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177
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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178
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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179
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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180
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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181
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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182
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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183
exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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184
climaxes
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| n.顶点( climax的名词复数 )；极点；高潮；性高潮 | |
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185
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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186
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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187
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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188
sonorousness
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| n.圆润低沉；感人；堂皇；响亮 | |
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189
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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190
industriously
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191
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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192
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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193
invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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194
peeked
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| v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出 | |
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195
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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196
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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197
repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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198
repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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199
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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200
tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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201
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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202
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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203
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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204
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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205
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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206
sagely
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| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
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207
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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208
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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209
jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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210
ransomed
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| 付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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211
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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212
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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213
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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214
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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215
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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216
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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217
swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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218
noisome
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| adj.有害的，可厌的 | |
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219
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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220
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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221
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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222
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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223
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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224
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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225
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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226
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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227
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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228
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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229
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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230
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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231
forsakes
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| 放弃( forsake的第三人称单数 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃 | |
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232
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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233
dolorous
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| adj.悲伤的；忧愁的 | |
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234
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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235
sublimest
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| 伟大的( sublime的最高级 )； 令人赞叹的； 极端的； 不顾后果的 | |
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236
scriptures
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| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
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237
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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238
exalt
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| v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升 | |
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239
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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240
harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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241
tuning
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| n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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242
procrastination
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| n.拖延，耽搁 | |
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243
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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244
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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245
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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246
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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247
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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248
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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249
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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250
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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251
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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252
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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253
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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254
oratory
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| n.演讲术；词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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255
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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256
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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257
bemoaned
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| v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的过去式和过去分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹 | |
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258
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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259
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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260
nicotine
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| n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱 | |
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261
longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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