Ko-boru, the headman of Bingini, called his relations together for a solemn family conference.
The lower river folk play an inconsiderable role in the politics of the Territories, partly because they are so near to headquarters that there is no opportunity for any of those secret preparations which precede all native intrigues1, great or small, and partly because the lower river people are so far removed from the turbulent elements of the upper river that they are not swayed by the cyclonic2 emotions of the Isisi, the cold and deliberate desire for slaughter3 which is characteristically Akasavian, or the electrical decisions of the Outer N'gombi.
But they had their crises.
To Bingini came all the notables of the district who claimed kinship with Ko-boru, and they sat in a great circle about the headman's hut, alternately eyeing the old headman and their stout4 relative, his daughter.
"All my relations shall know this," began Ko-boru, after Okmimi, the witch-doctor, had formally burnt away the devils and ghosts that fringe all large assemblies, "that a great shame has come to us, every one, because of Yoka-m'furi. For this Yoka is to Sandi as a brother, and guides his little ship up and down the river, and because of this splendid position I gave him my own daughter by the first of my wives."
"S'm-m!" murmured the council in agreement.
"Also I built him a hut and gave him a garden, where his wife might work, and he has sat at family palavers8. Now, I tell you that Yoka-m'furi is an evil man, for he has left my daughter, and has found another wife in the upper river, and he comes no more to this village, and my daughter weeps all day.
"For three seasons he has not been to this village; when the moon comes again, it will be four." He said this with proper significance, and the flat face of the melancholy9 girl by his side puckered10 and creased11 miserably12 before she opened her large mouth to wail13 her woe14.
For the man who deliberately15 separates himself from his wife for four seasons and does not spend twenty-four hours--"from sunrise to moonset" in her village is automatically divorced and freed from all responsibility. This is the custom of all people from the lands of the Great King to the sea.
"Now, I have had a dream," Ko-boru went on, "and in this dream it was told me that I should call you all together, and that I and the chief of my councillors and friends should go to Sandi and tell him what is true."
"Brother and uncle," said Bechimi of G'lara, "I will go with you, for once I spoke16 to Sandi and he spoke to me, and because of his cunning memory he will recall Bechimi, who picked up his little black stick, when it fell, and gave it to him."
Five were chosen to accompany Ko-boru, and they took canoe and travelled for less than five miles to the Residency.
Sanders was entertaining Patricia Hamilton with stories of native feuds17, when the unexpected deputation squatted18 in the sun before the verandah.
"O Ko-boru," hailed Sanders, "why do you come?"
Ko-boru was all for a long and impressive palaver7, but recognized a certain absence of encouragement in the Commissioner's tone. Therefore he came straight to the point.
"Now, you are our father and our mother, Sandi," he said, in conclusion, "and when you speak, all wonders happen. Also you have very beautiful friends, Militini, who speak a word and set his terrible soldiers moving like leopards19 towards a kill, and Tibbetti, the young one who is innocent and simple. So I say to you, Sandi, that if you speak one word to Yoka, he will come back to my daughter, his wife."
Sanders stood by the rail of the stoep and looked down upon the spokesman.
"I hear strange things, Ko-boru," he said quietly. "They tell me stories of a woman with many lovers and an evil tongue; and once there came to me Yoka with a wounded head, for this daughter of yours is very quick in her anger."
"Lord," said the flustered20 Ko-boru, "such things happen even in love."
"All things happen in love," said Sanders, with a little smile, "and, if it is to be, Yoka will return. Also, if it is to be, he will not go back to the woman, and she will be free. This palaver is finished."
"Lord," pleaded Ko-boru, "the woman will do no more angry things. Let him come back from sunrise to moonset----"
"This palaver is finished," repeated Sanders.
On their way back to Bingini the relatives of Ko-boru made a plot. It was the first plot that had been hatched in the shadow of headquarters for twenty years.
"Would it be indiscreet to ask what your visitors wanted?" asked the girl, as the crestfallen21 deputation was crossing the square to their canoe.
"It was a marriage palaver," replied Sanders, with a little grimace22, "and I was being requested to restore a husband to a temperamental lady who has a passion for shying cook-pots at her husband when she is annoyed."
The girl's laughing eyes were fixed23 upon his.
"Poor Mr. Sanders!" she said, with mock seriousness.
"Don't be sorry for me," smiled Sanders. "I'm rather domestic, really, and I'm interested in this case because the man concerned is my steersman--the best on the river, and a capital all-round man. Besides that," he went on seriously, "I regard them all as children of mine. It is right that a man who shirks his individual responsibilities to the race should find a family to 'father.'"
"Why do you?" she asked, after a little pause.
"Why do I what?"
"Shirk your responsibilities," she said. "This is a healthy and a delightful24 spot: a woman might be very happy here."
There was an awkward silence.
"I'm afraid I've been awfully25 impertinent," said Patricia, hurriedly rising, "but to a woman there is a note of interrogation behind every bachelor--especially nice bachelors--and the more 'confirmed' he is, the bigger the question mark."
Sanders rose to her.
"One of these days I shall do something rash," he threatened, with that shy laugh of his. "Here is your little family coming."
Bones and Hamilton were discussing something heatedly, and justice was on the side of Lieutenant26 Tibbetts, if one could judge by the frequency with which he stopped and gesticulated.
"It really is too bad," said the annoyed Hamilton, as he mounted the steps to the stoep, followed by Bones, who, to do him justice, did not adopt the attitude of a delinquent27, but was, on the contrary, injured virtue28 personified.
"What is too bad, dear?" asked the girl sympathetically.
"A fortnight ago," said Hamilton, "I told this silly ass5----"
"Your jolly old brother is referrin' to me, dear lady," explained Bones.
"Who else could I be referring to?" demanded the other truculently29. "I told him to have all the company accounts ready by to-morrow. You know, sir, that the paymaster is coming down from Administration to check 'em, and will you believe me, sir"--he glared at Bones, who immediately closed his eyes resignedly--"would you believe me that, when I went to examine those infernal accounts, they were all at sixes and sevens?"
"Threes an' nines, dear old officer," murmured Bones, waking up, "the matter in dispute being a trifle of thirty-nine dollars, which I've generously offered to make up out of my own pocket."
He beamed round as one who expected applause.
"And on the top of this," fumed30 Hamilton, "he talks of taking Pat for an early morning picnic to the village island!"
"Accompanied by the jolly old accounts," corrected Bones. "Do me justice, sir and brother-officer. I offered to take the books with me, an' render a lucid31 and convincin' account of my stewardship32."
"Don't make me laugh," snarled33 Hamilton, stamping into the bungalow34.
"Isn't he naughty?" said Bones admiringly.
"Now, Bones," warned the girl, "I shan't go unless you keep your word with Alec."
Bones drew himself up and saluted35.
"Dear old friend," he said proudly, "put your faith in Bones."
* * * * *
"H.M. Launch No. 36 (Territories)," as it was officially described on the stores record, had another name, which she earned in her early days through certain eccentricities36 of construction. Though she might not in justice be called the _Wiggle_ any longer, yet the _Wiggle_ she was from one end of the river to the other, and even native men called her "Komfuru," which means "that which does not run straight."
It had come to be recognized that the _Wiggle_ was the especial charge of Lieutenant Tibbetts. Bones himself was the first to recognize this right. There were moments when he inferred that the _Wiggle's_ arrival on the station at the time he was making his own first appearance was something more than a coincidence.
She was not, in the strictest sense of the word, a launch, for she possessed37 a square, open dining saloon and two tiny cabins amidships. Her internal works were open to the light of day, and her engineer lived in the engine-room up to his waist and on deck from his waist up, thus demonstrating the possibility of being in two places at once.
The _Wiggle_, moreover, possessed many attributes which are denied to other small steamers. She had, for example, a Maxim38 gun on her tiny forecastle. She had a siren of unusual power and diabolical39 tone, she was also fitted with a big motor-horn, both of which appendages40 were Bones's gift to his flagship. The motor-horn may seem superfluous41, but when the matter is properly explained, you will understand the necessity for some less drastic method of self-advertisement than the siren.
The first time the siren had been fitted Bones had taken the _Wiggle_ through "the Channel." Here the river narrows and deepens, and the current runs at anything from five to seven knots an hour. Bones was going up stream, and met the Bolalo Mission steamer coming down. She had dipped her flag to the _Wiggle's_ blue ensign, and Bones had replied with two terrific blasts on his siren.
After that the _Wiggle_ went backwards42, floating with the current all ways, from broadside on to stern first, for in those two blasts Bones had exhausted43 the whole of his steam reserve.
She was also equipped with wireless44. There was an "aerial" and an apparatus45 which Bones had imported from England at a cost of twelve pounds, and which was warranted to receive messages from two hundred miles distant. There was also a book of instructions. Bones went to his hut with the book and read it. His servant found him in bed the next morning, sleeping like a child, with his hand resting lightly upon the second page.
Sanders and Hamilton both took a hand at fixing the _Wiggle's_ wireless. The only thing they were all quite certain about was that there ought to be a wire somewhere. So they stretched the aerial from the funnel46 to the flagstaff at the stern of the boat, and then addressed themselves to the less simple solution of "making it work."
They tried it for a week, and gave it up in despair.
"They've had you, Bones," said Hamilton. "It doesn't 'went.' Poor old Bones!"
"Your pity, dear old officer, is offensive," said Bones stiffly, "an' I don't mind tellin' you that I've a queer feelin'--I can't explain what it is, except that I'm a dooce of a psychic--that that machine is goin' to be jolly useful."
But though Bones worked day and night, read the book of instructions from cover to cover, and took the whole apparatus to pieces, examining each part under a strong magnifying glass, he never succeeded either in transmitting or receiving a message, and the machine was repacked and stored in the spare cabin, and was never by any chance referred to, except by Hamilton in his most unpleasant moments.
Bones took an especial delight in the _Wiggle_; it was his very own ship, and he gave her his best personal attention.
It was Bones who ordered from London especially engraved47 notepaper headed "H. M. S. _Komfuru_"--the native name sounded more dignified48 than _Wiggle_, and more important than "Launch 36." It was Bones who installed the little dynamo which--when it worked--lit the cabins and even supplied power for a miniature searchlight. It was Bones who had her painted Service grey, and would have added another funnel if Hamilton had not detected the attempted aggrandizement49. Bones claimed that she was dustproof, waterproof50, and torpedo-proof, and Hamilton had voiced his regret that she was not also fool-proof.
At five o'clock the next morning, when the world was all big hot stars and shadows, and there was no sound but the whisper of the running river and the "ha-a-a-a--ha-a-a-a" of breakers, Bones came from his hut, crossed the parade-ground, and, making his way by the light of a lantern along the concrete quay--it was the width of an average table--dropped on to the deck and kicked the custodian51 of the _Wiggle_ to wakefulness.
Bones's satellite was one Ali Abid, who was variously described as Moor52, Egyptian, Tripolitan, and Bedouin, but was by all ethnological indications a half-breed Kano, who had spent the greater part of his life in the service of a professor of bacteriology. This professor was something of a purist, and the association with Ali Abid, plus a grounding in the elementary subjects which are taught at St. Joseph's Mission School, Cape53 Coast Castle, had given Ali a gravity of demeanour and a splendour of vocabulary which many better favoured than he might have envied.
"Arise," quoth Bones, in the cracked bass54 which he employed whenever he felt called upon to deliver his inaccurate55 versions of Oriental poets--
"Arise, for morning in the bowl of night
Has chucked a stone to put the stars to flight.
And lo! and lo!... Get up, Ali; the caravan56 is moving.
Oh, make haste!"
("Omar will never be dead so long as Bones quotes him," Hamilton once said; "he simply couldn't afford to be dead and leave it to Bones!")
Ali rose, blinking and shivering, for the early morning was very cold, and he had been sleeping under an old padded dressing-gown which Bones had donated.
"Muster57 all the hands," said Bones, setting his lantern on the deck.
"Sir," said Ali slowly, "the subjects are not at our disposition58. Your preliminary instructions presupposed that you had made necessary arrangements _re personnel_."
Bones scratched his head.
"Dash my whiskers," he said, in his annoyance59, "didn't I tell you that I was taking the honourable60 lady for a trip? Didn't I tell you, you jolly old slacker, to have everything ready by daybreak? Didn't I issue explicit61 an' particular instructions about grub?"
"Sir," said Ali, "you didn't."
"Then," said Bones wrathfully, "why the dickens do I think I have?"
"Sir," said Ali, "some subjects, when enjoying refreshing62 coma63, possess delirium64, hallucinations, highly imaginative, which dissipate when the subject recovers consciousness, but retain in brain cavity illusory reminiscences."
Bones thrust his face into the other's.
"Do you mean to tell me I dreamt it?" he hissed65.
"Sir," said Ali, "self-preservation compels complete acquiescence66 in your diagnosis67."
"You're childish," said Bones.
He gave a few vague instructions in the best Bones manner, and stole up to the dark Residency. He had solemnly promised Sanders that he would rouse the girl without waking up the rest of the house.
They were to go up stream to the Village Island, where the ironworkers of the Akasava had many curious implements68 to show her. Breakfast was to be taken on the boat, and they were to return for tiffin.
Overnight she had shown Bones the window of her room, and Hamilton had offered to make a chalk mark on the sash, so there could be no mistaking the situation of the room.
"If you wake me before sunrise, I shall do something I shall be sorry for," he warned Bones. "If you return without straightening the accounts, I shall do something which _you_ will be sorry for."
Bones remembered this as he crept stealthily along the wooden verandah. To make doubly sure, he took off his boots and dropped them with a crash.
"Sh!" said Bones loudly. "Sh, Bones! Not so much noise, you silly old ass!"
He crept softly along the wooden wall and reconnoitred. The middle window was Hamilton's room, the left was Sanders's, the right was Patricia's. He went carefully to the right window and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Still no reply. He knocked loudly.
"Is that you, Bones?" growled69 Sanders's voice.
"Awfully sorry, sir," he whispered agitatedly--"my mistake entirely71."
He tiptoed to the left window and rapped smartly. Then he whistled, then he rapped again.
He heard a bed creak, and turned his head modestly away.
"It's Bones, dear old sister," he said, in his loudest whisper. "Arise, for mornin' in the bowl of light has----"
Hamilton's voice raged at him.
"I knew it was you, you blithering----"
"Dear old officer," began Bones, "awfully sorry! Go to sleep again. Night-night!"
"Go to the devil!" said a muffled72 voice.
Bones, however, went to the middle window; here he could make no mistake. He knocked authoritatively73.
"Hurry up, ma'am," he said; "time is on the wing----"
The sash was flung up, and again Bones confronted the furious Hamilton.
"Sir," said the exasperated74 Bones, "how the dooce did you get here?"
"Don't you know this room has two windows? I told you last night, you goop! Pat sleeps at the other end of the building. I told you that, too, but you've got a brain like wool!"
"I am obliged to you, sir," said Bones, on his dignity, "for the information. I will not detain you."
Hamilton groped on his dressing-table for a hair-brush.
"Go back to bed, sir," said Bones, "an' don't forget to say your prayers."
He was searching for the window in the other wing of the Residency, when the girl, who had been up and dressed for a quarter of an hour, came softly behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Wow!" screeched75 Bones. "Oh, Lord, dear old sister, you gave me the dickens of a fright! Well, let's get along. Thank heavens, we haven't disturbed anybody."
He was followed to the boat with the imprecations of two pyjamaed figures that stood on the stoep and watched his lank76 body melt in the darkness.
"Send us a wireless when you're coming back!" roared Hamilton.
"Cad!" said Bones, between his teeth.
Ali Abid had not been idle. He had aroused Yoka, the steersman, and Boosoobi, the engineer, and these two men had accepted the unexpected call with the curious readiness which natives show on such occasions, and which suggests that they have pre-knowledge of the summons, and are only waiting the word.
In one of the small cabins Ali had arranged the much-discussed company accounts ready for his lord's attention, and there was every promise of a happy and a profitable day when Yoka rang the engines "ahead," and the _Wiggle_ jerked her way to midstream.
The east had grown pale, there was a murmur6 from the dark forests on either bank, the timorous77 chirping78 or bad-tempered79 squawk of a bird, a faint fragrance80 of burning gumwood from the fishing villages established on the river bank, where, in dancing spots of light, the women were tending their fires.
There is no intermediate stage on the big river between darkness and broad daylight. The stars go out all at once, and the inky sky which serves then becomes a delicate blue. The shadows melt deeper and deeper into the forest, clearly revealing the outlines of the straight-stemmed trees. There is just this interregnum of pearl greyness, a sort of hush-light, which lasts whilst a man counts twenty, before the silver lances of the sun are flashing through the leaves, and the grey veil which blurs81 the islands to shapeless blotches82 in a river of dull silver is burnt to nothingness, and the islands are living things of vivid green set in waters of gold.
"The sunrise!" said Bones, and waved his hand to the east with the air of one who was responsible for the miracle.
The girl sat in a deep wicker chair and breathed in the glory and the freshness of the scene. Across the broad river, right ahead of the boat, a flock of parroquets was flying, screeching83 their raucous84 chorus. The sun caught their brilliant plumage, and she saw, as it seemed, a rainbow in flight.
"Isn't that wonderful?" she whispered.
Bones peered up at the birds, shading his eyes.
"Just like a jolly old patchwork85 quilt," he said. "What a pity they can't talk till you teach 'em! They're awful bad eatin', too, though some fellers say they make a good curry----"
"Oh, look, look!"
The _Wiggle_ was swerving86 to the southern bank of the river, and two majestic87 flamingos88 standing89 at the water's edge had arrested the girl's attention.
"_They're_ bad eatin', too," said the informative90 Bones. "The flesh is fishy91 an' too fat; heron are just the same."
"Haven't you a soul, Bones?" she asked severely92.
"A soul, dear ma'am?" Bones asked, in astonishment93. "Why, that's my specialty94!"
It was a delightful morning for the girl, for Bones had retired95 to his cabin at her earnest request, and was struggling with the company accounts, and she was left to enjoy the splendour of the day, to watch the iron-red waters piling up against the _Wiggle's_ bows, to feel the cool breezes that swept down from the far-away mountains, and all this without being under the necessity of making conversation with Bones.
That gentleman had a no less profitable morning, for Ali Abid was a methodical and clerkly man, and unearthed96 the missing thirty-nine dollars in the Compensation Record.
"Thank goodness!" said Bones, relieved. "You're a jolly old accountant, Ali. I'd never have found it."
"Sir," said Ali, "some subjects, by impetuous application, omit vision of intricate detail. This is due to subjects' lack of concentration."
"Have it your way," said Bones, "but get the statement out for me to copy."
He awoke the girl from a profound reverie--which centred about shy and solemn bachelors who adopted whole nations of murderous children as their own--and proceeded to "take charge."
This implied the noisy issuing of orders which nobody carried out, the manipulation of a telescope, anxious glances at the heavens, deep and penetrating97 scrutinies98 of the water, and a promenade99 back and forward from one side of the launch to the other. Bones called this "pacing the bridge," and invariably carried his telescope tucked under his arm in the process, and, as he had to step over Pat's feet every time, and sometimes didn't, she arrested his nautical100 wanderings.
"You make me dizzy," she said. "And isn't that the island?"
* * * * *
In the early hours of the afternoon they re-embarked, the _capita_ of the village coming to the beach to see them off.
They brought back with them a collection of spear-heads, gruesome execution knives, elephant swords, and wonder-working steel figures.
"And the lunch was simply lovely, Bones," agreed the girl, as the _Wiggle_ turned her nose homeward. "Really, you can be quite clever sometimes."
"Dear old Miss Hamilton," said Bones, "you saw me to-day as I really am. The mask was off, and the real Bones, kindly101, thoughtful, considerate, an'--if I may use the word without your foundin' any great hope upon it--tender. You saw me free from carkin' care, alert----"
"Go along and finish your accounts, like a good boy," she said. "I'm going to doze102."
Doze she did, for it was a warm, dozy103 afternoon, and the boat was running swiftly and smoothly104 with the tide. Bones yawned and wrote, copying Ali's elaborate and accurate statement, whilst Ali himself slept contentedly105 on the top of the cabin. Even the engineer dozed106 at his post, and only one man was wide awake and watchful--Yoka, whose hands turned the wheel mechanically, whose dark eyes never left the river ahead, with its shoals, its sandbanks, and its snags, known and unknown.
Two miles from headquarters, where the river broadens before it makes its sweep to the sea, there are three islands with narrow passages between. At this season only one such passage--the centre of all--is safe. This is known as "The Passage of the Tree," because all boats, even the _Zaire_, must pass so close beneath the overhanging boughs108 of a great lime that the boughs brush their very funnels109. Fortunately, the current is never strong here, for the passage is a shallow one. Yoka felt the boat slowing as he reached shoal water, and brought her nearer to the bank of the island. He had reached the great tree, when a noose110 dropped over him, tightened111 about his arms, and, before he could do more than lock the wheel, he was jerked from the boat and left swinging between bough107 and water.
"O Yoka," chuckled112 a voice from the bough, "between sunrise and moonset is no long time for a man to be with his wife!"
* * * * *
Bones had finished his account, and was thinking. He thought with his head on his hands, with his eyes shut, and his mouth open, and his thought was accompanied by strange guttural noises.
Patricia Hamilton was also thinking, but much more gracefully113. Boosoobi sat by his furnace door, nodding. Sometimes he looked at the steam gauge114, sometimes he kicked open the furnace door and chucked in a few billets of wood, but, in the main, he was listening to the soothing115 "chook-a-chook, chook-a-chook" of his well-oiled engines.
"Woo-yow!" yawned Bones, stretched himself, and came blinking into the sunlight. The sun was nearly setting.
"What the dooce----" said Bones. He stared round.
The _Wiggle_ had run out from the mouth of the river and was at sea. There was no sign of land of any description. The low-lying shores of the territory had long since gone under the horizon.
Bones laid his hand on the shoulder of the sleeping girl, and she woke with a start.
"Dear old shipmate," he said, and his voice trembled, "we're alone on this jolly old ocean! Lost the steersman!"
She realized the seriousness of the situation in a moment.
The dozing116 engineer, now wide awake, came aft at Bones's call, and accepted the disappearance117 of the steersman without astonishment.
"We'll have to go back," said Bones, as he swung the wheel round. "I don't think I'm wrong in sayin' that the east is opposite to the west, an', if that's true, we ought to be home in time for dinner."
"Sar," said Boosoobi, who, being a coast boy, elected to speak English, "dem wood she no lib."
"Hey?" gasped Bones, turning pale.
"Dem wood she be done. I look um. I see um. I no find um."
Bones sat down heavily on the rail.
"What does he say?" Pat asked anxiously.
"He says there's no more wood," said Bones. "The horrid118 old bunkers are empty, an' we're at the mercy of the tempest."
"Oh, Bones!" she cried, in consternation119.
But Bones had recovered.
"What about swimmin' to shore with a line?" he said. "It can't be more than ten miles!"
It was Ali Abid who prevented the drastic step.
"Sir," he said, "the subject on such occasions should act with deliberate reserve. Proximity120 of land presupposes research. The subject should assist rather than retard121 research by passivity of action, easy respiration122, and general normality of temperature."
"Which means, dear old Miss Hamilton, that you've got to keep your wool on," explained Bones.
What might have happened is not to be recorded, for at that precise moment the s.s. _Paretta_ came barging up over the horizon.
There was still steam in the _Wiggle's_ little boiler123, and one log of wood to keep it at pressure.
Bones was incoherent, but again Ali came to the rescue.
"Sir," he said, "for intimating SOS-ness there is upon steamer or launch certain scientific apparatus, unadjusted, but susceptible124 to treatment."
"The wireless!" spluttered Bones. "Good lor', the wireless!"
Twenty minutes later the _Wiggle_ ran alongside the gangway of the s.s. _Paretta_, anticipating the arrival of the _Zaire_ by half an hour.
The s.s. _Paretta_ was at anchor when Sanders brought the _Zaire_ to the scene.
He saw the _Wiggle_ riding serenely125 by the side of the great ship, looking for all the world like a humming bird under the wings of an ostrich126, and uttered a little prayer of thankfulness.
"They're safe," he said to Hamilton. "O Yoka, take the _Zaire_ to the other side of the big boat."
"Master, do we go back to-night to seek Ko-boru?" asked Yoka, who was bearing marks which indicated his strenuous127 experience, for he had fought his way clear of his captors, and had swum with the stream to headquarters.
"To-morrow is also a day," quoth Sanders.
Hamilton was first on the deck of the s.s. _Paretta_, and found his sister and a debonair128 and complacent129 Bones waiting for him. With them was an officer whom Hamilton recognized.
"Company accounts all correct, sir," said Bones, "audited130 by the jolly old paymaster"--he saluted the other officer--"an' found correct, sir, thus anticipatin' all your morose131 an' savage132 criticisms."
Hamilton gripped his hand and grinned.
"Bones was really wonderful," said the girl, "they wouldn't have seen us if it hadn't been for his idea."
"Saved by wireless, sir," said Bones nonchalantly. "It was a mere133 nothin'--just a flash of inspiration."
"You got the wireless to work?" asked Hamilton incredulously.
"No, sir," said Bones. "But I wanted a little extra steam to get up to the ship, so I burnt the dashed thing. I knew it would come in handy sooner or later."
收听单词发音 |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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cyclonic
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| adj.气旋的，飓风的 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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palaver
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| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
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palavers
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| n.废话，空话( palaver的名词复数 )v.废话，空话( palaver的第三人称单数 ) | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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creased
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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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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17
feuds
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| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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18
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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19
leopards
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| n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移 | |
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20
flustered
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| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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21
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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22
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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23
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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24
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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25
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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26
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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27
delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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28
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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29
truculently
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30
fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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31
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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32
stewardship
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| n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责 | |
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33
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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34
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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35
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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37
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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38
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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39
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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40
appendages
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| n.附属物( appendage的名词复数 )；依附的人；附属器官；附属肢体（如臂、腿、尾等） | |
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41
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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42
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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43
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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44
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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45
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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46
funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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47
engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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48
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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49
aggrandizement
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| n.增大，强化，扩大 | |
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50
waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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51
custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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52
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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53
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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54
bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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55
inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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56
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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57
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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58
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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59
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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60
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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61
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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62
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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63
coma
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| n.昏迷，昏迷状态 | |
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64
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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65
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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66
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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67
diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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68
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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69
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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70
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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71
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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72
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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73
authoritatively
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| 命令式地，有权威地，可信地 | |
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74
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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75
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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76
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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77
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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78
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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79
bad-tempered
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| adj.脾气坏的 | |
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80
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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81
blurs
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| n.模糊( blur的名词复数 )；模糊之物；（移动的）模糊形状；模糊的记忆v.（使）变模糊( blur的第三人称单数 )；（使）难以区分 | |
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82
blotches
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| n.（皮肤上的）红斑，疹块( blotch的名词复数 )；大滴 [大片]（墨水或颜色的）污渍 | |
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83
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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84
raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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85
patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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86
swerving
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的现在分词 ) | |
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87
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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88
flamingos
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| n.红鹳，火烈鸟（羽毛粉红、长颈的大涉禽）( flamingo的名词复数 ) | |
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89
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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90
informative
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| adj.提供资料的，增进知识的 | |
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91
fishy
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| adj. 值得怀疑的 | |
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92
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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93
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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94
specialty
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| n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长 | |
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95
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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96
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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97
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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98
scrutinies
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| 细看，细查，监视( scrutiny的名词复数 ) | |
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99
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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100
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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101
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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102
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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103
dozy
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| adj.困倦的；愚笨的 | |
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104
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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105
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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106
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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108
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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109
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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110
noose
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| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
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111
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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112
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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114
gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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115
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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116
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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117
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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118
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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119
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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120
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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121
retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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122
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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123
boiler
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| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
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124
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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125
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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126
ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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127
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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128
debonair
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| adj.殷勤的，快乐的 | |
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129
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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130
audited
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| v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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132
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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133
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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