We have heard it said that one of the charms, of Narragansett Pier1 is that you can see Newport from it. The summer dwellers2 at the Pier talk a good deal about liking3 it better than Newport; it is less artificial and more restful. The Newporters never say anything about the Pier. The Pier people say that it is not fair to judge it when you come direct from Newport, but the longer you stay there the better you like it; and if any too frank person admits that he would not stay in Narragansett a day if he could afford to live in Newport, he is suspected of aristocratic proclivities5.
In a calm summer morning, such as our party of pilgrims chose for an excursion to the Pier, there is no prettier sail in the world than that out of the harbor, by Conanicut Island and Beaver-tail Light. It is a holiday harbor, all these seas are holiday seas--the yachts, the sail vessels6, the puffing7 steamers, moving swiftly from one headland to another, or loafing about the blue, smiling sea, are all on pleasure bent8. The vagrant9 vessels that are idly watched from the rocks at the Pier may be coasters and freight schooners10 engaged seriously in trade, but they do not seem so. They are a part of the picture, always to be seen slowly dipping along in the horizon, and the impression is that they are manoeuvred for show, arranged for picturesque11 effect, and that they are all taken in at night.
The visitors confessed when they landed that the Pier was a contrast to Newport. The shore below the landing is a line of broken, ragged12, slimy rocks, as if they had been dumped there for a riprap wall. Fronting this unkempt shore is a line of barrack-like hotels, with a few cottages of the cheap sort. At the end of this row of hotels is a fine granite13 Casino, spacious14, solid, with wide verandas15, and a tennis-court--such a building as even Newport might envy. Then come more hotels, a cluster of cheap shops, and a long line of bath-houses facing a lovely curving beach. Bathing is the fashion at the Pier, and everybody goes to the beach at noon. The spectators occupy chairs on the platform in front of the bath-houses, or sit under tents erected16 on the smooth sand. At high noon the scene is very lively, and even picturesque, for the ladies here dress for bathing with an intention of pleasing. It is generally supposed that the angels in heaven are not edified17 by this promiscuous18 bathing, and by the spectacle of a crowd of women tossing about in the surf, but an impartial19 angel would admit that many of the costumes here are becoming, and that the effect of the red and yellow caps, making a color line in the flashing rollers, is charming. It is true that there are odd figures in the shifting melee--one solitary20 old gentleman, who had contrived21 to get his bathing-suit on hind-side before, wandered along the ocean margin22 like a lost Ulysses; and that fat woman and fat man were never intended for this sort of exhibition; but taken altogether, with its colors, and the silver flash of the breaking waves, the scene was exceedingly pretty. Not the least pretty part of it was the fringe of children tumbling on the beach, following the retreating waves, and flying from the incoming rollers with screams of delight. Children, indeed, are a characteristic of Narragansett Pier--children and mothers. It might be said to be a family place; it is a good deal so on Sundays, and occasionally when the "business men" come down from the cities to see how their wives and children get on at the hotels.
After the bathing it is the fashion to meet again at the Casino and take lunch--sometimes through a straw--and after dinner everybody goes for a stroll on the cliffs. This is a noble sea-promenade23; with its handsome villas24 and magnificent rocks, a fair rival to Newport. The walk, as usually taken, is two or three miles along the bold, rocky shore, but an ambitious pedestrian may continue it to the light on Point Judith. Nowhere on this coast are the rocks more imposing26, and nowhere do they offer so many studies in color. The visitor's curiosity is excited by a massive granite tower which rises out of a mass of tangled27 woods planted on the crest28 of the hill, and his curiosity is not satisfied on nearer inspection29, when he makes his way into this thick and gloomy forest, and finds a granite cottage near the tower, and the signs of neglect and wildness that might mark the home of a recluse30. What is the object of this noble tower? If it was intended to adorn31 the landscape, why was it ruined by piercing it irregularly with square windows like those of a factory?
One has to hold himself back from being drawn33 into the history and romance of this Narragansett shore. Down below the bathing beach is the pretentious34 wooden pile called Canonchet, that already wears the air of tragedy. And here, at this end, is the mysterious tower, and an ugly unfinished dwelling-house of granite, with the legend "Druid's Dream" carved over the entrance door; and farther inland, in a sandy and shrubby35 landscape, is Kendall Green, a private cemetery36, with its granite monument, surrounded by heavy granite posts, every other one of which is hollowed in the top as a receptacle for food for birds. And one reads there these inscriptions37: "Whatever their mode of faith, or creed38, who feed the wandering birds, will themselves be fed." "Who helps the helpless, Heaven will help." This inland region, now apparently39 deserted40 and neglected, was once the seat of colonial aristocracy, who exercised a princely hospitality on their great plantations41, exchanged visits and ran horses with the planters of Virginia and the Carolinas, and were known as far as Kentucky, and perhaps best known for their breed of Narragansett pacers. But let us get back to the shore.
In wandering along the cliff path in the afternoon, Irene and Mr. King were separated from the others, and unconsciously extended their stroll, looking for a comfortable seat in the rocks. The day was perfect. The sky had only a few fleecy, high-sailing clouds, and the great expanse of sea sparkled under the hectoring of a light breeze. The atmosphere was not too clear on the horizon for dreamy effects; all the headlands were softened42 and tinged43 with opalescent45 colors. As the light struck them, the sails which enlivened the scene were either dark spots or shining silver sheets on the delicate blue. At one spot on this shore rises a vast mass of detached rock, separated at low tide from the shore by irregular bowlders and a tiny thread of water. In search of a seat the two strollers made their way across this rivulet46 over the broken rocks, passed over the summit of the giant mass, and established themselves in a cavernous place close to the sea. Here was a natural seat, and the bulk of the seamed and colored ledge47, rising above their heads and curving around them, shut them out of sight of the land, and left them alone with the dashing sea, and the gulls48 that circled and dipped their silver wings in their eager pursuit of prey49. For a time neither spoke50. Irene was looking seaward, and Mr. King, who had a lower seat, attentively51 watched the waves lapping the rocks at their feet, and the fine profile and trim figure of the girl against the sky. He thought he had never seen her looking more lovely, and yet he had a sense that she never was so remote from him. Here was an opportunity, to be sure, if he had anything to say, but some fine feeling of propriety52 restrained him from taking advantage of it. It might not be quite fair, in a place so secluded53 and remote, and with such sentimental54 influences, shut in as they were to the sea and the sky.
"It seems like a world by itself," she began, as in continuation of her thought. "They say you can see Gay Head Light from here."
"Yes. And Newport to the left there, with its towers and trees rising out of the sea. It is quite like the Venice Lagoon55 in this light."
"I think I like Newport better at this distance. It is very poetical56. I don't think I like what is called the world much, when I am close to it."
The remark seemed to ask for sympathy, and Mr. King ventured: "Are you willing to tell me, Miss Benson, why you have not seemed as happy at Newport as elsewhere? Pardon me; it is not an idle question." Irene, who seemed to be looking away beyond Gay Head, did not reply. "I should like to know if I have been in any way the cause of it. We agreed to be friends, and I think I have a friend's right to know." Still no response. "You must see--you must know," he went on, hurriedly, "that it cannot be a matter of indifference57 to me."
"It had better be," she said, as if speaking deliberately58 to herself, and still looking away. But suddenly she turned towards him, and the tears sprang to her eyes, and the words rushed out fiercely, "I wish I had never left Cyrusville. I wish I had never been abroad. I wish I had never been educated. It is all a wretched mistake."
King was unprepared for such a passionate59 outburst. It was like a rift60 in a cloud, through which he had a glimpse of her real life. Words of eager protest sprang to his lips, but, before they could be uttered, either her mood had changed or pride had come to the rescue, for she said: "How silly I am! Everybody has discontented days. Mr. King, please don't ask me such questions. If you want to be a friend, you will let me be unhappy now and then, and not say anything about it."
"But, Miss Benson--Irene--"
"There--'Miss Benson' will do very well."
"Well, Miss--Irene, then, there was something I wanted to say to you the other day in Paradise--"
"Look, Mr. King. Did you see that wave? I'm sure it is nearer our feet than when we sat down here."
"Oh, that's just an extra lift by the wind. I want to tell you. I must tell you that life--has all changed since I met you--Irene, I--"
"There! There's no mistake-about that. The last wave came a foot higher than the other!"
King sprang up. "Perhaps it is the tide. I'll go and see." He ran up the rock, leaped across the fissures61, and looked over on the side they had ascended62. Sure enough, the tide was coming in. The stones on which they had stepped were covered, and a deep stream of water, rising with every pulsation63 of the sea, now, where there was only a rivulet before. He hastened back. "There is not a moment to lose. We are caught by the tide, and if we are not off in five minutes we shall be prisoners here till the turn."
He helped her up the slope and over the chasm64. The way was very plain when they came on, but now he could not find it. At the end of every attempt was a precipice65. And the water was rising. A little girl on the shore shouted to them to follow along a ledge she pointed66 out, then descend67 between two bowlders to the ford4. Precious minutes were lost in accomplishing this circuitous68 descent, and then they found the stepping-stones under water, and the sea-weed swishing about the slippery rocks with the incoming tide. It was a ridiculous position for lovers, or even "friends"--ridiculous because it had no element of danger except the ignominy of getting wet. If there was any heroism69 in seizing Irene before she could protest, stumbling with his burden among the slimy rocks, and depositing her, with only wet shoes, on the shore, Mr. King shared it, and gained the title of "Life-preserver." The adventure ended with a laugh.
The day after the discovery and exploration of Narragansett, Mr. King spent the morning with his cousin at the Casino. It was so pleasant that he wondered he had not gone there oftener, and that so few people frequented it. Was it that the cottagers were too strong for the Casino also, which was built for the recreation of the cottagers, and that they found when it came to the test that they could not with comfort come into any sort of contact with popular life? It is not large, but no summer resort in Europe has a prettier place for lounging and reunion. None have such an air of refinement71 and exclusiveness. Indeed, one of the chief attractions and entertainments in the foreign casinos and conversation-halls is the mingling72 there of all sorts of peoples, and the animation73 arising from diversity of conditions. This popular commingling74 in pleasure resorts is safe enough in aristocratic countries, but it will not answer in a republic.
The Newport Casino is in the nature of a club of the best society. The building and grounds express the most refined taste. Exteriorly75 the house is a long, low Queen Anne cottage, with brilliant shops on the ground-floor, and above, behind the wooded balconies, is the clubroom. The tint76 of the shingled77 front is brown, and all the colors are low and blended. Within, the court is a mediaeval surprise. It is a miniature castle, such as might serve for an opera scene. An extension of the galleries, an ombre, completes the circle around the plot of close-clipped green turf. The house itself is all balconies, galleries, odd windows half overgrown and hidden by ivy78, and a large gilt79 clock-face adds a touch of piquancy80 to the antique charm of the facade81. Beyond the first court is a more spacious and less artificial lawn, set with fine trees, and at the bottom of it is the brown building containing ballroom82 and theatre, bowling-alley and closed tennis-court, and at an angle with the second lawn is a pretty field for lawn-tennis. Here the tournaments are held, and on these occasions, and on ball nights, the Casino is thronged83.
If the Casino is then so exclusive, why is it not more used as a rendezvous84 and lounging-place? Alas85! it must be admitted that it is not exclusive. By an astonishing concession86 in the organization any person can gain admittance by paying the sum of fifty cents. This tax is sufficient to exclude the deserving poor, but it is only an inducement to the vulgar rich, and it is even broken down by the prodigal87 excursionist, who commonly sets out from home with the intention of being reckless for one day. It is easy to see, therefore, why the charm of this delightful88 place is tarnished89.
The band was playing this morning--not rink music--when Mrs. Glow and King entered and took chairs on the ombre. It was a very pretty scene; more people were present than usual of a morning. Groups of half a dozen had drawn chairs together here and there, and were chatting and laughing; two or three exceedingly well-preserved old bachelors, in the smart rough morning suits of the period, were entertaining their lady friends with club and horse talk; several old gentlemen were reading newspapers; and there were some dowager-looking mammas, and seated by them their cold, beautiful, high-bred daughters, who wore their visible exclusiveness like a garment, and contrasted with some other young ladies who were promenading90 with English-looking young men in flannel91 suits, who might be described as lawn-tennis young ladies conscious of being in the mode, but wanting the indescribable atmosphere of high-breeding. Doubtless the most interesting persons to the student of human life were the young fellows in lawn-tennis suits. They had the languid air which is so attractive at their age, of having found out life, and decided92 that it is a bore. Nothing is worth making an exertion93 about, not even pleasure. They had come, one could see, to a just appreciation94 of their value in life, and understood quite well the social manners of the mammas and girls in whose company they condescended95 to dawdle96 and make, languidly, cynical97 observations. They had, in truth, the manner of playing at fashion and elegance98 as in a stage comedy. King could not help thinking there was something theatrical99 about them altogether, and he fancied that when he saw them in their "traps" on the Avenue they were going through the motions for show and not for enjoyment100. Probably King was mistaken in all this, having been abroad so long that he did not understand the evolution of the American gilded101 youth.
In a pause of the music Mrs. Bartlett Glow and Mr. King were standing102 with a group near the steps that led down to the inner lawn. Among them were the Postlethwaite girls, whose beauty and audacity103 made such a sensation in Washington last winter. They were bantering105 Mr. King about his Narragansett excursion, his cousin having maliciously106 given the party a hint of his encounter with the tide at the Pier... Just at this moment, happening to glance across the lawn, he saw the Bensons coming towards the steps, Mrs. Benson waddling107 over the grass and beaming towards the group, Mr. Benson carrying her shawl and looking as if he had been hired by the day, and Irene listlessly following. Mrs. Glow saw them at the same moment, but gave no other sign of her knowledge than by striking into the banter104 with more animation. Mr. King intended at once to detach himself and advance to meet the Bensons. But he could not rudely break away from the unfinished sentence of the younger Postlethwaite girl, and the instant that was concluded, as luck would have it, an elderly lady joined the group, and Mrs. Glow went through the formal ceremony of introducing King to her. He hardly knew how it happened, only that he made a hasty bow to the Bensons as he was shaking hands with the ceremonious old lady, and they had gone to the door of exit. He gave a little start as if to follow them, which Mrs. Glow noticed with a laugh and the remark, "You can catch them if you run," and then he weakly submitted to his fate. After all, it was only an accident which would hardly need a word of explanation. But what Irene saw was this: a distant nod from Mrs. Glow, a cool survey and stare from the Postlethwaite girls, and the failure of Mr. King to recognize his friends any further than by an indifferent bow as he turned to speak to another lady. In the raw state of her sensitiveness she felt all this as a terrible and perhaps intended humiliation108.
King did not return to the hotel till evening, and then he sent up his card to the Bensons. Word came back that the ladies were packing, and must be excused. He stood at the office desk and wrote a hasty note to Irene, attempting an explanation of what might seem to her a rudeness, and asked that he might see her a moment. And then he paced the corridor waiting for a reply. In his impatience109 the fifteen minutes that he waited seemed an hour. Then a bell-boy handed him this note:
"MY DEAR MR. KING,--No explanation whatever
was needed. We never shall forget your kindness.
Good-by.
IRENE BENSON"
He folded the note carefully and put it in his breast pocket, took it out and reread it, lingering over the fine and dainty signature, put it back again, and walked out upon the piazza110. It was a divine night, soft and sweet-scented, and all the rustling111 trees were luminous112 in the electric light. From a window opening upon a balcony overhead came the clear notes of a barytone voice enunciating the oldfashioned words of an English ballad113, the refrain of which expressed hopeless separation.
The eastern coast, with its ragged outline of bays, headlands, indentations, islands, capes114, and sand-spits, from Watch Hill, a favorite breezy resort, to Mount Desert, presents an almost continual chain of hotels and summer cottages. In fact, the same may be said of the whole Atlantic front from Mount Desert down to Cape32 May. It is to the traveler an amazing spectacle. The American people can no longer be reproached for not taking any summer recreation. The amount of money invested to meet the requirements of this vacation idleness is enormous. When one is on the coast in July or August it seems as if the whole fifty millions of people had come down to lie on the rocks, wade115 in the sand, and dip into the sea. But this is not the case. These crowds are only a fringe of the pleasure-seeking population. In all the mountain regions from North Carolina to the Adirondacks and the White Hills, along the St. Lawrence and the lakes away up to the Northwest, in every elevated village, on every mountain-side, about every pond, lake, and clear stream, in the wilderness116 and the secluded farmhouse117, one encounters the traveler, the summer boarder, the vacation idler, one is scarcely out of sight of the American flag flying over a summer resort. In no other nation, probably, is there such a general summer hejira, no other offers on such a vast scale such a variety of entertainment, and it is needless to say that history presents no parallel to this general movement of a people for a summer outing. Yet it is no doubt true that statistics, which always upset a broad generous statement such as I have made, would show that the majority of people stay at home in the summer, and it is undeniable that the vexing118 question for everybody is where to go in July and August.
But there are resorts suited to all tastes, and to the economical as well as to the extravagant119. Perhaps the strongest impression one has in visiting the various watering-places in the summer-time, is that the multitudes of every-day folk are abroad in search of enjoyment. On the New Bedford boat for Martha's Vineyard our little party of tourists sailed quite away from Newport life--Stanhope with mingled120 depression and relief, the artist with some shrinking from contact with anything common, while Marion stood upon the bow beside her uncle, inhaling121 the salt breeze, regarding the lovely fleeting122 shores, her cheeks glowing and her eyes sparkling with enjoyment. The passengers and scene, Stanhope was thinking, were typically New England, until the boat made a landing at Naushon Island, when he was reminded somehow of Scotland, as much perhaps by the wild furzy appearance of the island as by the "gentle-folks" who went ashore123.
The boat lingered for the further disembarkation of a number of horses and carriages, with a piano and a cow. There was a farmer's lodge124 at the landing, and over the rocks and amid the trees the picturesque roof of the villa25 of the sole proprietor125 of the island appeared, and gave a feudal126 aspect to the domain127. The sweet grass affords good picking for sheep, and besides the sheep the owner raises deer, which are destined128 to be chased and shot in the autumn.
The artist noted129 that there were several distinct types of women on board, besides the common, straight-waisted, flat-chested variety. One girl who was alone, with a city air, a neat, firm figure, in a traveling suit of elegant simplicity130, was fond of taking attitudes about the rails, and watching the effect produced on the spectators. There was a blue-eyed, sharp-faced, rather loose-jointed young girl, who had the manner of being familiar with the boat, and talked readily and freely with anybody, keeping an eye occasionally on her sister of eight years, a child with a serious little face in a poke-bonnet, who used the language of a young lady of sixteen, and seemed also abundantly able to take care of herself. What this mite131 of a child wants of all things, she confesses, is a pug-faced dog. Presently she sees one come on board in the arms of a young lady at Wood's Holl. "No," she says, "I won't ask her for it; the lady wouldn't give it to me, and I wouldn't waste my breath;" but she draws near to the dog, and regards it with rapt attention. The owner of the dog is a very pretty black-eyed girl with banged hair, who prattles132 about herself and her dog with perfect freedom. She is staying at Cottage City, lives at Worcester, has been up to Boston to meet and bring down her dog, without which she couldn't live another minute. "Perhaps," she says, "you know Dr. Ridgerton, in Worcester; he's my brother. Don't you know him? He's a chiropodist."
These girls are all types of the skating-rink--an institution which is beginning to express itself in American manners.
The band was playing on the pier when the steamer landed at Cottage City (or Oak Bluff133, as it was formerly134 called), and the pier and the gallery leading to it were crowded with spectators, mostly women a pleasing mingling of the skating-rink and sewing-circle varieties--and gayety was apparently about setting in with the dusk. The rink and the ground opposite the hotel were in full tilt135. After supper King and Forbes took a cursory136 view of this strange encampment, walking through the streets of fantastic tiny cottages among the scrub oaks, and saw something of family life in the painted little boxes, whose wide-open front doors gave to view the whole domestic economy, including the bed, centre-table, and melodeon. They strolled also on the elevated plank138 promenade by the beach, encountering now and then a couple enjoying the lovely night. Music abounded139. The circus-pumping strains burst out of the rink, calling to a gay and perhaps dissolute life. The band in the nearly empty hotel parlor140, in a mournful mood, was wooing the guests who did not come to a soothing141 tune142, something like China--"Why do we mourn departed friends?" A procession of lasses coming up the broad walk, advancing out of the shadows of night, was heard afar off as the stalwart singers strode on, chanting in high nasal voices that lovely hymn143, which seems to suit the rink as well as the night promenade and the campmeeting:
"We shall me--um um--we shall me-eet, me-eet--um um
--we shall meet,
In the sweet by-am-by, by-am-by-um um-by-am-by.
On the bu-u-u-u--on the bu-u-u-u--on the bu-te-ful shore."
In the morning this fairy-like settlement, with its flimsy and eccentric architecture, took on more the appearance of reality. The season was late, as usual, and the hotels were still waiting for the crowds that seem to prefer to be late and make a rushing carnival144 of August, but the tiny cottages were nearly all occupied. At 10 A.M. the band was playing in the three-story pagoda145 sort of tower at the bathing-place, and the three stories were crowded with female spectators. Below, under the bank, is a long array of bath-houses, and the shallow water was alive with floundering and screaming bathers. Anchored a little out was a raft, from which men and boys and a few venturesome girls were diving, displaying the human form in graceful146 curves. The crowd was an immensely good-humored one, and enjoyed itself. The sexes mingled together in the water, and nothing thought of it, as old Pepys would have said, although many of the tightly-fitting costumes left less to the imagination than would have been desired by a poet describing the scene as a phase of the 'comedie humaine.' The band, having played out its hour, trudged147 back to the hotel pier to toot while the noon steamboat landed its passengers, in order to impress the new arrivals with the mad joyousness148 of the place. The crowd gathered on the high gallery at the end of the pier added to this effect of reckless holiday enjoyment. Miss Lamont was infected with this gayety, and took a great deal of interest in this peripatetic149 band, which was playing again on the hotel piazza before dinner, with a sort of mechanical hilariousness. The rink band opposite kept up a lively competition, grinding out go-round music, imparting, if one may say so, a glamour150 to existence. The band is on hand at the pier at four o'clock to toot again, and presently off, tramping to some other hotel to satisfy the serious pleasure of this people.
While Mr. King could not help wondering how all this curious life would strike Irene--he put his lonesomeness and longing151 in this way--and what she would say about it, he endeavored to divert his mind by a study of the conditions, and by some philosophizing on the change that had come over American summer life within a few years. In his investigations152 he was assisted by Mr. De Long, to whom this social life was absolutely new, and who was disposed to regard it as peculiarly Yankee--the staid dissipation of a serious-minded people. King, looking at it more broadly, found this pasteboard city by the sea one of the most interesting developments of American life. The original nucleus153 was the Methodist camp-meeting, which, in the season, brought here twenty thousand to thirty thousand people at a time, who camped and picnicked in a somewhat primitive154 style. Gradually the people who came here ostensibly for religious exercises made a longer and more permanent occupation, and, without losing its ephemeral character, the place grew and demanded more substantial accommodations. The spot is very attractive. Although the shore looks to the east, and does not get the prevailing155 southern breeze, and the beach has little surf, both water and air are mild, the bathing is safe and agreeable, and the view of the illimitable sea dotted with sails and fishing-boats is always pleasing. A crowd begets156 a crowd, and soon the world's people made a city larger than the original one, and still more fantastic, by the aid of paint and the jigsaw157. The tent, however, is the type of all the dwelling-houses. The hotels, restaurants, and shops follow the usual order of flamboyant158 seaside architecture. After a time the Baptists established a camp, ground on the bluffs159 on the opposite side of the inlet. The world's people brought in the commercial element in the way of fancy shops for the sale of all manner of cheap and bizarre "notions," and introduced the common amusements. And so, although the camp-meetings do not begin till late in August, this city of play-houses is occupied the summer long. The shops and shows represent the taste of the million, and although there is a similarity in all these popular coast watering-places, each has a characteristic of its own. The foreigner has a considerable opportunity of studying family life, whether he lounges through the narrow, sometimes circular, streets by night, when it appears like a fairy encampment, or by daylight, when there is no illusion. It seems to be a point of etiquette160 to show as much of the interiors as possible, and one can learn something of cooking and bed-making and mending, and the art of doing up the back hair. The photographer revels161 here in pictorial162 opportunities. The pictures of these bizarre cottages, with the family and friends seated in front, show very serious groups. One of the Tabernacle--a vast iron hood163 or dome137 erected over rows of benches that will seat two or three thousand people--represents the building when it is packed with an audience intent upon the preacher. Most of the faces are of a grave, severe type, plain and good, of the sort of people ready to die for a notion. The impression of these photographs is that these people abandon themselves soberly to the pleasures of the sea and of this packed, gregarious164 life, and get solid enjoyment out of their recreation.
Here, as elsewhere on the coast, the greater part of the population consists of women and children, and the young ladies complain of the absence of men--and, indeed, something is desirable in society besides the superannuated165 and the boys in round-abouts.
The artist and Miss Lamont, in search of the picturesque, had the courage, although the thermometer was in the humor to climb up to ninety degrees, to explore the Baptist encampment. They were not rewarded by anything new except at the landing, where, behind the bath-houses, the bathing suits were hung out to dry, and presented a comical spectacle, the humor of which seemed to be lost upon all except themselves. It was such a caricature of humanity! The suits hanging upon the line and distended166 by the wind presented the appearance of headless, bloated forms, fat men and fat women kicking in the breeze, and vainly trying to climb over the line. It was probably merely fancy, but they declared that these images seemed larger, more bloated, and much livelier than those displayed on the Cottage City side. When travelers can be entertained by trifles of this kind it shows that there is an absence of more serious amusement. And, indeed, although people were not wanting, and music was in the air, and the bicycle and tricycle stable was well patronized by men and women, and the noon bathing was well attended, it was evident that the life of Cottage City was not in full swing by the middle of July.
The morning on which our tourists took the steamer for Wood's Holl the sea lay shimmering167 in the heat, only stirred a little by the land breeze, and it needed all the invigoration of the short ocean voyage to brace168 them up for the intolerably hot and dusty ride in the cars through the sandy part of Massachusetts. So long as the train kept by the indented169 shore the route was fairly picturesque; all along Buzzard Bay and Onset170 Bay and Monument Beach little cottages, gay with paint and fantastic saw-work explained, in a measure, the design of Providence171 in permitting this part of the world to be discovered; but the sandy interior had to be reconciled to the deeper divine intention by a trial of patience and the cultivation172 of the heroic virtues173 evoked174 by a struggle for existence, of fitting men and women for a better country. The travelers were confirmed, however, in their theory of the effect of a sandy country upon the human figure. This is not a juicy land, if the expression can be tolerated, any more than the sandy parts of New Jersey175, and its unsympathetic dryness is favorable to the production--one can hardly say development of the lean, enduring, flat-chested, and angular style of woman.
In order to reach Plymouth a wait of a couple of hours was necessary at one of the sleepy but historic villages. There was here no tavern176, no restaurant, and nobody appeared to have any license177 to sell anything for the refreshment178 of the travelers. But at some distance from the station, in a two-roomed dwelling-house, a good woman was found who was willing to cook a meal of victuals179, as she explained, and a sign on her front door attested180, she had a right to do. What was at the bottom of the local prejudice against letting the wayfaring181 man have anything to eat and drink, the party could not ascertain182, but the defiant183 air of the woman revealed the fact that there was such a prejudice. She was a noble, robust184, gigantic specimen185 of her sex, well formed, strong as an ox, with a resolute186 jaw187, and she talked, through tightly-closed teeth, in an aggressive manner. Dinner was ordered, and the party strolled about the village pending188 its preparation; but it was not ready when they returned. "I ain't goin' to cook no victuals," the woman explained, not ungraciously, "till I know folks is goin' to eat it." Knowledge of the world had made her justly cautious. She intended to set out a good meal, and she had the true housewife's desire that it should be eaten, that there should be enough of it, and that the guests should like it. When she waited on the table she displayed a pair of arms that would discourage any approach to familiarity, and disincline a timid person to ask twice for pie; but in point of fact, as soon as the party became her bona-fide guests, she was royally hospitable189, and only displayed anxiety lest they should not eat enough.
"I like folks to be up and down and square," she began saying, as she vigilantly190 watched the effect of her culinary skill upon the awed191 little party. "Yes, I've got a regular hotel license; you bet I have. There's been folks lawed in this town for sellin' a meal of victuals and not having one. I ain't goin' to be taken in by anybody. I warn't raised in New Hampshire to be scared by these Massachusetts folks. No, I hain't got a girl now. I had one a spell, but I'd rather do my own work. You never knew what a girl was doin' or would do. After she'd left I found a broken plate tucked into the ash-barrel. Sho! you can't depend on a girl. Yes, I've got a husband. It's easier to manage him. Well, I tell you a husband is better than a girl. When you tell him to do anything, you know it's going to be done. He's always about, never loafin' round; he can take right hold and wash dishes, and fetch water, and anything."
King went into the kitchen after dinner and saw this model husband, who had the faculty192 of making himself generally useful, holding a baby on one arm, and stirring something in a pot on the stove with the other. He looked hot but resigned. There has been so much said about the position of men in Massachusetts that the travelers were glad of this evidence that husbands are beginning to be appreciated. Under proper training they are acknowledged to be "better than girls."
It was late afternoon when they reached the quiet haven193 of Plymouth--a place where it is apparently always afternoon, a place of memory and reminiscences, where the whole effort of the population is to hear and to tell some old thing. As the railway ends there, there is no danger of being carried beyond, and the train slowly ceases motion, and stands still in the midst of a great and welcome silence. Peace fell upon the travelers like a garment, and although they had as much difficulty in landing their baggage as the early Pilgrims had in getting theirs ashore, the circumstance was not able to disquiet194 them much. It seemed natural that their trunks should go astray on some of the inextricably interlocked and branching railways, and they had no doubt that when they had made the tour of the State they would be discharged, as they finally were, into this cul-de-sac.
The Pilgrims have made so much noise in the world, and so powerfully affected195 the continent, that our tourists were surprised to find they had landed in such a quiet place, and that the spirit they have left behind them is one of such tranquillity196. The village has a charm all its own. Many of the houses are old-fashioned and square, some with colonial doors and porches, irregularly aligned197 on the main street, which is arched by ancient and stately elms. In the spacious door-yards the lindens have had room and time to expand, and in the beds of bloom the flowers, if not the very ones that our grandmothers planted, are the sorts that they loved. Showing that the town has grown in sympathy with human needs and eccentricities198, and is not the work of a surveyor, the streets are irregular, forming picturesque angles and open spaces.
Nothing could be imagined in greater contrast to a Western town, and a good part of the satisfaction our tourists experienced was in the absence of anything Western or "Queen Anne" in the architecture.
In the Pilgrim Hall--a stone structure with an incongruous wooden-pillared front--they came into the very presence of the early worthies199, saw their portraits on the walls, sat in their chairs, admired the solidity of their shoes, and imbued200 themselves with the spirit of the relics201 of their heroic, uncomfortable lives. In the town there was nothing to disturb the serenity202 of mind acquired by this communion. The Puritan interdict203 of unseemly excitement still prevailed, and the streets were silent; the artist, who could compare it with the placidity204 of Holland towns, declared that he never walked in a village so silent; there was no loud talking; and even the children played without noise, like little Pilgrims... God bless such children, and increase their numbers! It might have been the approach of Sunday--if Sunday is still regarded in eastern Massachusetts--that caused this hush205, for it was now towards sunset on Saturday, and the inhabitants were washing the fronts of the houses with the hose, showing how cleanliness is next to silence.
Possessed206 with the spirit of peace, our tourists, whose souls had been vexed207 with the passions of many watering-places, walked down Leyden Street (the first that was laid out), saw the site of the first house, and turned round Carver Street, walking lingeringly, so as not to break the spell, out upon the hill-Cole's Hill--where the dead during the first fearful winter were buried. This has been converted into a beautiful esplanade, grassed and graveled and furnished with seats, and overlooks the old wharves208, some coal schooners, and shabby buildings, on one of which is a sign informing the reckless that they can obtain there clam-chowder and ice-cream, and the ugly, heavy granite canopy209 erected over the "Rock." No reverent210 person can see this rock for the first time without a thrill of excitement. It has the date of 1620 cut in it, and it is a good deal cracked and patched up, as if it had been much landed on, but there it is, and there it will remain a witness to a great historic event, unless somebody takes a notion to cart it off uptown again. It is said to rest on another rock, of which it formed a part before its unfortunate journey, and that lower rock as everybody knows, rests upon the immutable211 principle of self-government. The stone lies too far from the water to enable anybody to land on it now, and it is protected from vandalism by an iron grating. The sentiment of the hour was disturbed by the advent70 of the members of a baseball nine, who wondered why the Pilgrims did not land on the wharf212, and, while thrusting their feet through the grating in a commendable213 desire to touch the sacred rock, expressed a doubt whether the feet of the Pilgrims were small enough to slip through the grating and land on the stone. It seems that there is nothing safe from the irreverence214 of American youth.
Has any other coast town besides Plymouth had the good sense and taste to utilize215 such an elevation216 by the water-side as an esplanade? It is a most charming feature of the village, and gives it what we call a foreign air. It was very lovely in the afterglow and at moonrise. Staid citizens with their families occupied the benches, groups were chatting under the spreading linden-tree at the north entrance, and young maidens217 in white muslin promenaded218, looking seaward, as was the wont219 of Puritan maidens, watching a receding220 or coming Mayflower. But there was no loud talking, no laughter, no outbursts of merriment from the children, all ready to be transplanted to the Puritan heaven! It was high tide, and all the bay was silvery with a tinge44 of color from the glowing sky. The long, curved sand-spit-which was heavily wooded when the Pilgrims landed-was silvery also, and upon its northern tip glowed the white sparkle in the lighthouse like the evening-star. To the north, over the smooth pink water speckled with white sails, rose Captain Hill, in Duxbury, bearing the monument to Miles Standish. Clarke's Island (where the Pilgrims heard a sermon on the first Sunday), Saguish Point, and Gurnett Headland (showing now twin white lights) appear like a long island intersected by thin lines of blue water. The effect of these ribbons of alternate sand and water, of the lights and the ocean (or Great Bay) beyond, was exquisite221.
Even the unobtrusive tavern at the rear of the esplanade, ancient, feebly lighted, and inviting222, added something to the picturesqueness223 of the scene. The old tree by the gate--an English linden--illuminated by the street lamps and the moon, had a mysterious appearance, and the tourists were not surprised to learn that it has a romantic history. The story is that the twig224 or sapling from which it grew was brought over from England by a lover as a present to his mistress, that the lovers quarreled almost immediately, that the girl in a pet threw it out of the window when she sent her lover out of the door, and that another man picked it up and planted it where it now grows. The legend provokes a good many questions. One would like to know whether this was the first case of female rebellion in Massachusetts against the common-law right of a man to correct a woman with a stick not thicker than his little finger--a rebellion which has resulted in the position of man as the tourists saw him where the New Hampshire Amazon gave them a meal of victuals; and whether the girl married the man who planted the twig, and, if so, whether he did not regret that he had not kept it by him.
This is a world of illusions. By daylight, when the tide was out, the pretty silver bay of the night before was a mud flat, and the tourists, looking over it from Monument Hill, lost some of their respect for the Pilgrim sagacity in selecting a landing-place. They had ascended the hill for a nearer view of the monument, King with a reverent wish to read the name of his Mayflower ancestor on the tablet, the others in a spirit of cold, New York criticism, for they thought the structure, which is still unfinished, would look uglier near at hand than at a distance. And it does. It is a pile of granite masonry225 surmounted226 by symbolic227 figures.
"It is such an unsympathetic, tasteless-looking thing!" said Miss Lamont.
"Do you think it is the worst in the country?"
"I wouldn't like to say that," replied the artist, "when the competition in this direction is so lively. But just look at the drawing" (holding up his pencil with which he had intended to sketch228 it). "If it were quaint229, now, or rude, or archaic230, it might be in keeping, but bad drawing is just vulgar. I should think it had been designed by a carpenter, and executed by a stone-mason."
"Yes," said the little Lamont, who always fell in with the most abominable231 opinions the artist expressed; "it ought to have been made of wood, and painted and sanded."
"You will please remember," mildly suggested King, who had found the name he was in search of, "that you are trampling232 on my ancestral sensibilities, as might be expected of those who have no ancestors who ever landed or ever were buried anywhere in particular. I look at the commemorative spirit rather than the execution of the monument."
"So do I," retorted the girl; "and if the Pilgrims landed in such a vulgar, ostentatious spirit as this, I'm glad my name is not on the tablet."
The party were in a better mood when they had climbed up Burial Hill, back of the meeting-house, and sat down on one of the convenient benches amid the ancient gravestones, and looked upon the wide and magnificent prospect233. A soft summer wind waved a little the long gray grass of the ancient resting-place, and seemed to whisper peace to the weary generation that lay there. What struggles, what heroisms, the names on the stones recalled! Here had stood the first fort of 1620, and here the watchtower of 1642, from the top of which the warder espied234 the lurking235 savage236, or hailed the expected ship from England. How much of history this view recalled, and what pathos237 of human life these graves made real. Read the names of those buried a couple of centuries ago--captains, elders, ministers, governors, wives well beloved, children a span long, maidens in the blush of womanhood--half the tender inscriptions are illegible238; the stones are broken, sunk, slanting239 to fall. What a pitiful attempt to keep the world mindful of the departed!
收听单词发音 |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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proclivities
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| n.倾向，癖性( proclivity的名词复数 ) | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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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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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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verandas
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| 阳台，走廊( veranda的名词复数 ) | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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edified
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| v.开导，启发( edify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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promiscuous
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| adj.杂乱的，随便的 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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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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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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recluse
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| n.隐居者 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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shrubby
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| adj.灌木的，灌木一般的，灌木繁茂著的 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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opalescent
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| adj.乳色的，乳白的 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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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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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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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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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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lagoon
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| n.泻湖，咸水湖 | |
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poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pulsation
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| n.脉搏，悸动，脉动；搏动性 | |
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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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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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commingling
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| v.混合，掺和，合并( commingle的现在分词 ) | |
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75
exteriorly
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| adv.从外部，表面上 | |
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76
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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77
shingled
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| adj.盖木瓦的；贴有墙面板的v.用木瓦盖(shingle的过去式和过去分词形式) | |
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78
ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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79
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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80
piquancy
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| n.辛辣，辣味，痛快 | |
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81
facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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82
ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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83
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84
rendezvous
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|
| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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85
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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86
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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87
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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88
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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89
tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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90
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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91
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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92
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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93
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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94
appreciation
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|
| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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95
condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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96
dawdle
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| vi.浪费时间；闲荡 | |
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97
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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98
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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99
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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100
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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101
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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102
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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103
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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104
banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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105
bantering
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| adj.嘲弄的v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的现在分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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106
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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107
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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108
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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109
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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110
piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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111
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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112
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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113
ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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114
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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115
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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116
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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117
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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118
vexing
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|
| adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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119
extravagant
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|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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120
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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121
inhaling
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| v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 ) | |
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122
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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123
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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124
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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125
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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126
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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127
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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128
destined
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|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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129
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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130
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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131
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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132
prattles
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的第三人称单数 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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133
bluff
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|
| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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134
formerly
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|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
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135
tilt
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|
| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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136
cursory
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|
| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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137
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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138
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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139
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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140
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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141
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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142
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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143
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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144
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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145
pagoda
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|
| n.宝塔（尤指印度和远东的多层宝塔），（印度教或佛教的）塔式庙宇 | |
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146
graceful
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|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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147
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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148
joyousness
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| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
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149
peripatetic
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|
| adj.漫游的，逍遥派的，巡回的 | |
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150
glamour
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|
| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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151
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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152
investigations
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|
| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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153
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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154
primitive
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|
| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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155
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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156
begets
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| v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起 | |
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157
jigsaw
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|
| n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接 | |
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158
flamboyant
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|
| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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159
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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160
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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161
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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162
pictorial
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|
| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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163
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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164
gregarious
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| adj.群居的，喜好群居的 | |
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165
superannuated
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| adj.老朽的，退休的；v.因落后于时代而废除，勒令退学 | |
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166
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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167
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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168
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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169
indented
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| adj.锯齿状的，高低不平的；缩进排版 | |
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170
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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171
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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172
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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173
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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174
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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175
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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176
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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177
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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178
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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179
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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180
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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181
wayfaring
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| adj.旅行的n.徒步旅行 | |
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182
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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183
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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184
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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185
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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186
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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187
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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188
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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189
hospitable
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|
| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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190
vigilantly
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| adv.警觉地，警惕地 | |
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191
awed
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|
| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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192
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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193
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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194
disquiet
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| n.担心，焦虑 | |
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195
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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196
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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197
aligned
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| adj.对齐的，均衡的 | |
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198
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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199
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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200
imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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201
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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interdict
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| v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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commendable
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| adj.值得称赞的 | |
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irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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promenaded
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| v.兜风( promenade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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picturesqueness
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twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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illegible
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| adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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