Beyond the sheltered bight a good breeze was blowing and presently, as the sun arose and the mist lifted from the water, Shad and Bob, keeping close to shore, discovered the boat a half-mile away with sails hoisted1, bowling2 along at good speed.
"We'll be makin' rare time, now," said Bob. "We'll be passin' Rabbit Island in an hour, an' makin' the Traverspine t' boil th' kettle for dinner."
"No rapids to-day?" asked Shad.
"No, th' portage at Muskrat3 Falls is th' first," answered Bob, adding uncertainly: "I'm 'feared you'll find th' work on th' river wearisome, not bein' used t' un--th' portagin' an' trackin'. I finds un hard."
"That's a part of the game," said Shad. "I expect to do my share of the work, old man, and I don't think you'll find me a quitter."
"I were knowin', now, you were that kind, ever since I picks you out o' th' Bay," exclaimed Bob. "You weren't losin' your head, an' by th' time I h'ists sail you was wringin' th' water outen your shirt, just as if 'tweren't nothin'. An', Mr. Trowbridge, I likes you ever since."
"Thank you, Bob, but if you want me to be your friend drop the handle from my name and call me 'Shad.' We're on an equal footing from this on."
"'Twill be wonderful hard, Mr. Trow--"
"Shad!"
"'Twill be wonderful hard t' call you 'Shad '--it sounds kind of unrespectful, now."
"Not in the least," laughed Shad. "All the fellows call me Shad."
"I'll try t' think now t' do it, Mr.--I means Shad. But 'tis a rare queer name."
"Shadrach is the full name. It is pretty awful, isn't it? But doting4 parents cast it upon me, and I'll have to hold my head up under it."
"'Tis a Bible name, now. I remembers readin' about Shadrach somewheres in th' Book o' Daniel."
The canoe and boat had been gradually drawing together and now, within speaking distance, Bob called out:
"I'm thinkin' me an' Shad'll go on t' th' Traverspine or handy t' un, an' have th' kettle boiled when you comes up. We ought t' make clost t' th' Traverspine by noon."
"Me an' Shad--Mr. Trowbridge."
"Oh, aye," answered Dick, "'twill save time."
"Bob's gettin' wonderful unrespectful, callin' Mr. Toobridge 'Shad!'" remarked Ed.
"'Tain't 'Toobridge,' Ed!" exclaimed Dick, in disgust. "Can't you remember, now? 'Tis Towbreg--T-o-w-b-r-e-g. You'll be callin' he wrong t' his face again."
"I'm thinkin' you be right this time, Dick," Ed reluctantly admitted.
The lighter6 and swifter canoe had already shot ahead and was out of hearing. Bob's mind filled with plans for the future, Shad enjoying the wide vista7 of water and wilderness8, they paddled in silence.
The brilliant sunshine, the low, rocky shores, the spruce-clad hills rising above, with now and again a breath of the perfumed forest wafted9 to them upon the breeze, inspired and exhilarated the young voyageurs. Shad was conscious of a new sense of freedom and power taking possession of him. The romance of the situation appealed to his imagination. Was he not one of an adventurous10 band of pioneers going into a vast wilderness, an untamed and unexplored land, to battle with nature and the elements?
For several hours they paddled, finally entering the wide river mouth. Here the first indication of a current was encountered, and the northern bank was followed closely that they might take advantage of counter eddies11, and thus overcome the retarding13 effect of the midstream current.
"'Twill be noon when th' boat comes, an' we'll stop now t' boil th' kettle," Bob finally suggested. "Th' Traverspine River is handy by. She comes into this river just above here a bit."
"Good!" exclaimed Shad. "I'm nearly famished14, and I've been hoping for the last hour to hear you say that."
"Paddlin' do make for hunger," admitted Bob, as he stepped ashore15 on a sandy beach near the mouth of a rushing brook16. "I'm a bit hungry myself. I'll be puttin' a fire on now, an' you brings up th' things from th' canoe."
In an incredibly short time the fire was lighted, and when Shad brought up a kettle of water from the river Bob had already cut a stiff pole about five feet in length. The butt17 end of this he sharpened, and, jamming it into the ground, inclined it in such manner that the kettle, which he took from Shad and hung by its bail18 upon the other end of the pole, was suspended directly over the blaze.
Bob, who installed himself as cook, now sliced some fat pork to fry, while Shad gathered a quantity of large dry sticks which lay plentifully19 about and began piling them upon the fire.
"Oh, don't make such a big fire, now!" exclaimed Bob, when he discovered what Shad was about. "'Twill be too hot t' cook by. A small bit o' fire's enough;" and he proceeded to pull out of the blaze the large wood which Shad had placed upon it.
"If there's nothing else for me to do, I'll see if there are any trout20 in that brook," said Shad.
Shad made his first cast in a promising21 pool a little way from the fire, and the moment the fly touched the water, "zip!" went the reel. The result was a fine big trout. Within twenty minutes he had landed eighteen, and when presently the boat drew up a delicious odour of frying fish welcomed the three hungry men as they sprang ashore and made the painter fast.
"Shad got un," explained Bob, in response to an exclamation22 of pleasure from Ed.
"You means Mr. Towbridge, Bob," corrected Dick, with dignity.
"No," broke in Shad, "Bob's right. Shad is my front name and I want you fellows to call me Shad; leave the handle off."
"An' you wants, sir," agreed Dick. "'Tis a bit more friendly soundin'."
"Them trout makes me think," said Ed, as he cut some tobacco from a plug and filled his pipe after dinner, "of onct I were out huntin' pa'tridges. I gets plenty o' pa'tridges, but I finds myself wonderful hungry for trout, when I comes to a pool in a brook where I stops t' cook my dinner an' sees a big un jump.
"'Now,' says I, t' myself, 'Ed,' says I, 'you got t' get un somehow,' an' I goes through my pocket lookin' for tackle. All I finds is a piece o' salmon23 twine24 an' one fishhook. 'I'll try un, whatever,' says I, an' I cuts a pole an' ties th' salmon twine t' un, an' th' hook t' th' salmon twine, an,' baitin' th' hook with a bit o' pa'tridge skin, throws in.
"Quicker'n a steel trap a trout takes un, but he's a little un, an' I'm so disgusted-like I don't pull he right in. Then before I knows it a big trout takes an' swallows th' little un."
Ed paused to lend effect to the climax25, while he lighted his pipe and began puffing26 vigorously.
"Well?" asked Shad. "Did you land him?"
"Not very prompt," continued Ed. "I was so flustrated I just looks at un for a bit, skiddin' around in th' water. Then, while I lets un play, quicker'n I can say 'boo' an old whopper up an' grabs th' big un an' swallows he. Then I yanks, an' I lands th' three of un.
"Th' outside un were two foot and a half long an' a fraction over. I measures he. Th' next one were nineteen an' three-quarters inches long, an' th' little un were ten inches long. Th' little un an' th' next weren't hurt much, an' not wantin' they I throws un back, an' th' big un does me for dinner an' supper an' breakfast th' next mornin', an' then I throws a big hunk that were left over away, because I don't want t' pack un any longer."
"Ed," said Dick solemnly, "you'll be struck dead some day for lyin' so."
"Who? Me lyin'?" asked Ed, with assumed indignation.
"Yes, you. You'm always yarnin', Ed. You never seen a trout moren't two foot long, no more'n I have," declared Dick.
"Oh, well," sighed Ed, while the others laughed, "they's no use tellin' you of happenin's, Dick, you always were a doubtin' o' me."
The following day at noon the Muskrat Falls were reached, and here the real work and hardship of the journey began. Day after day the men were driven to toil27 with tracking lines up swift currents, more often than not immersed to their waists in the icy waters of the river, or for weary miles they staggered over portages with heavy loads upon their backs. To add to their difficulties a season of rain set in, and hardly a day passed without its hours of drizzle28 or downpour. But they could not permit rain or weather to retard12 their progress.
Always between sunrise and sunset they were tormented29, too, by myriads30 of black flies and mosquitoes, the pests of the North. There was no protection against the attacks of the insects. The black flies were particularly vicious; not only was their bite poisonous, but a drop of blood appeared wherever one of them made a wound, and in consequence the faces, hands, and wrists of the toiling31 voyageurs were not alone constantly swollen32, but were coated with a mixture of blood and sweat.
Shad, less toughened than his companions, suffered more than they. He was actually made ill for a day or two by the poison thus inoculated33 into his system, though with his characteristic determination, he still insisted, against the protests of the others, upon doing his full share of the work. Dick advised him, finally, to carry a fat pork rind in his pocket and to occasionally apply the greasy34 side of the rind to his face and hands. This he discovered offered some relief, though, as he remarked, grease, added to blood and sweat, gave him the appearance of a painted savage35.
With the evening camp-fire, however, came a respite36 to the weary travellers, and recompense for all the hardship and toil of the day. Here they would relax after supper, and with vast enjoyment37 smoke and chat or tell stories of wild adventure.
Shad contributed tales of college pranks38, which never failed to bring forth39 uproarious laughter, while his vivid descriptions of battles on the gridiron or on the diamond, illustrated40 with diagrams drawn41 with a stick upon the ground, and minutely explained, held his hearers in suspense42 until the final goal was kicked or the last inning played.
Dick and Ed described many stirring personal adventures, the latter embellishing43 his stories with so many fantastic flights of imagination that Shad would scarcely have known where fact ended and fiction began had Dick not made it a point to interject his warnings of the eternal vengeance44 that awaited Ed if he did not "have a care of his yamin'."
One morning during the third week after leaving Wolf Bight, a beautiful sheet of placid45 water opened before them in a far-reaching vista to the northwest. On either side of the narrow lake rose towering cliffs of granite46, their dark faces lighted at intervals47 by brooklets tumbling in cascades48 from the heights above. A loon49 laughed weirdly50 in the distance, and from the hills above a wolf sounded a dismal51 howl. It was a scene of rugged52, primeval grandeur53, and Shad, taken completely by surprise, caught his breath.
"'Tis Lake Wanakapow," explained Ed. "There'll be no more trackin' or portagin'. 'Twill be straight sailin' an' paddlin' from this on. Th' first tilt54 o' th' Big Hill trail's handy, an' if th' wind holds fair we'll reach un by th' end o' th' week, whatever."
For the first time since their departure the voyageurs were enabled to don dry clothing, with the assurance that they could remain dry and comfortable throughout the day. The evenings were becoming frosty and exhilarating. The black flies and mosquitoes had ceased to annoy. Wild geese and ducks upon the waters, and flocks of ptarmigans along the shores, gave promise of an abundance and variety of food.
With the changed conditions, in marked contrast to the toil and hardships of the preceding weeks, Shad's desire to remain throughout the winter grew. The lure55 of the wilderness had its power upon him.
The first tilt of the Big Hill trail was reached on Saturday, as Ed had predicted. Here camp was pitched, the boat finally unloaded, and preparation made for Dick and Bill to begin their return voyage on Monday morning.
When supper was eaten and they were gathered about the evening camp-fire in blissful relaxation56, silently watching the aurora57 borealis work its wild wonders in the sky, Shad suddenly asked:
"Are you certain, Bob, I'd not be a burden to you if I remained here all winter, You know, I'm a tenderfoot in the woods."
"Oh, no!" Bob assured enthusiastically. "You'd be no burden! An' when your feet gets tender you can bide58 in th' tilt an' rest un."
"I don't mean that my feet are tender in that way," laughed Shad, "but I'm a novice59 in woodcraft and I've never done any trapping. You'd have to teach me a great deal about these things, and I don't want to stay if I'll hinder your work in the least."
"Oh, you'd never be hinderin' th' work! An' you'd be a wonderful lot o' company, whatever! I hopes you'll stay, Shad!"
"Thank you, Bob. I'll stay. It will put me back a whole year in college, but I'll stay anyhow. My experience with you will be worth the sacrifice of a year in college, I'm sure."
"Now that be grand!" exclaimed Bob, his face beaming pleasure.
"An' Shad stays, Ed, he'll give Bob a hand with th' tilts60," suggested Dick. "Can't you go back, now, with me an' Bill, t' help us up with our outfits61? 'Twill be a wonderful hard an' slow pull for just th' two of us."
"Be you thinkin', now, you can manage th' tilts?" asked Ed, turning to Bob.
"O' course me an' Shad can manage un," assured Bob.
"I'll go back, then, Dick," consented Ed. "'Twould be hard t' manage with just two on th' boat."
Arrangements were made for the three trappers to bring Shad some adequate winter clothing upon their return, letters were written home, and at daylight on Monday morning adieus were said. Bob and Shad stood upon the shore watching the boat bearing their friends away, until it turned a bend in the river below and was lost to view.
"We'll not see un again for five weeks," said Bob regretfully, as they retraced62 their steps to the embers of the camp-fire over which breakfast had been cooked.
"And in the meantime," began Shad gaily63, with a sweep of his arm, "we are monarch64, of all--" Suddenly he stopped. His eyes, following the sweep of his arm, had fallen upon two Indians watching them from the shadow of the spruce trees beyond their camp.
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bowling
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| n.保龄球运动 | |
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muskrat
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| n.麝香鼠 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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retard
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| n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速 | |
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retarding
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| 使减速( retard的现在分词 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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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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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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inoculated
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| v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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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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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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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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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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embellishing
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| v.美化( embellish的现在分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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48
cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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tilts
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| （意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 ) | |
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outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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