CHAPTER XXVIII PROOFS

 Ira Hasbrook took no notice of the tribute paid him by the mother and daughter and father who clustered about him evidently not in the least afraid of the gun now that it was in his hands. Even Mr. Martin contemplated¹ it without a quiver. Upon the library table lay one cartridge². The other had done its good turn.

“Yer see this here is one of them repeaters,” said Ira. “’Tain’t goin’ ter hurt yer. Yer see these here two cartridges³ I got in my pocket? They come outer the deer. They ain’t the same size, yer see? Two guns. The one I jes took out matches that there little one outer my pocket. This here big one came outer another gun—that ain’t no repeater. Now looka here, here’s what tells the story—the gol blamed little rascal⁴ of a double barrel prince! Looka here—feel on the end of that barrel. Powder.

“Feel, mister, ’twon’t bite yer. Yer know what that means? That means yer a proud father. I wasn’t gone ter shake hands with yer, but gol blame it, I think I will! Feel it! Smell it! Powder, all right. That means your boy was—about—gol, that toy o’ his wasn’t six inches from that there deer when he shot it in the head.” He scrutinized⁵ and felt of something near the end of the barrel. “Blood even! See that; that’s a hair! I knowed I’d ketch the little rascal. Mister, that boy o’ yours shot that animal ter put it outer its suffering.”

There was a moment’s pause as they clustered about Ira where he stood near the library table squinting⁶ curiously⁷ at the end of the barrel and gingerly examining it with one finger. And only one sound broke the silence; that was when an almost inaudible “oh” of astonishment⁸ and admiration⁹ escaped from Doris. “It’s wonderful,” she said more clearly after a pause.

“Be sure yer sins’ll find yer out, as the feller says,” drawled Ira.

“If it hadn’t been for you——” Mrs. Martin began.

“All right, mister,” Ira laughed, “yer don’t need ter be scared of her, she’s empty. The only thing’s goner do any damage now is me. I’m goner shoot up th’ Rotary¹⁰ Club. Now where’s this here meetin’ anyway? I’m a-goner look it over.”

1 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

2 cartridge   

n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子

参考例句：

• Unfortunately the 2G cartridge design is very difficult to set accurately.不幸地2G弹药筒设计非常难正确地设定。
• This rifle only holds one cartridge.这支来复枪只能装一发子弹。

3 cartridges   

子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头

参考例句：

• computer consumables such as disks and printer cartridges 如磁盘、打印机墨盒之类的电脑耗材
• My new video game player came with three game cartridges included. 我的新电子游戏机附有三盘游戏带。

4 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

5 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

6 squinting   

斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• "More company," he said, squinting in the sun. "那边来人了，"他在阳光中眨巴着眼睛说。
• Squinting against the morning sun, Faulcon examined the boy carefully. 对着早晨的太阳斜起眼睛，富尔康仔细地打量着那个年轻人。

7 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

8 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

9 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

10 rotary   

adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的

参考例句：

• The central unit is a rotary drum.核心设备是一个旋转的滚筒。
• A rotary table helps to optimize the beam incidence angle.一张旋转的桌子有助于将光线影响之方式角最佳化。