In July the sun is still an early riser, but long before he was up next day a succession of raps on the door woke Gethryn, and a voice outside inquired, “Are you going fishing with me today, you lazy beggar?”
“Colonel!” cried Rex, and springing up and throwing open the door, he threatened to mingle1 his pajamas2 with the natty3 tweeds waiting there in a loving embrace. The colonel backed away, twisting his white mustache. “How do, Reggy! Same boy, eh? Yes. I drove from Schicksalsee this morning.”
“This morning? Wasn’t it last night?” said Rex, looking at the shadows on the opposite mountain.
“And I am going to get some trout4,” continued the colonel, ignoring the interruption. “So’s Daisy. See my new waterproof5 rig?”
“Beautiful! but — is it quite the thing to wear a flower in one’s fishing coat?”
“I’m not aware — “ began the other stiffly, but broke down, shook his seal ring at Rex, and walking over to the glass, rearranged the bit of wild hyacinth in his buttonhole with care.
“And now,” he said, “Daisy and I will give you just three quarters of an hour.” Rex sent a shower from the water basin across the room.
“Look out for those new waterproof clothes, Colonel.”
“I’ll take them out of harm’s way,” said the colonel, and disappeared.
Before the time had expired Rex stood under the beech7 tree with his rod case and his creel. The colonel sat reading a novel. Mrs Dene was pouring out coffee. Ruth was coming down a path which led from a low shed, the door of which stood wide open, suffering the early sunshine to fall on something that lay stretched along the floor. It was a stag, whose noble head and branching antlers would never toss in the sunshine again.
“Only think!” cried Ruth breathlessly, “Federl shot a stag of ten this morning at daybreak on the Red Peak, and he’s frightened out of his wits, for only the duke has a right to do that. Federl mistook it for a stag of eight. And they’re in the velvet8, besides!” she added rather incoherently. “ What luck! Poor Federl! I asked him if that meant strafen, and he said he guessed not, only zanken.”
“What’s ‘strafen’ and what’s ‘zanken,’ Daisy?” asked the Colonel, pronouncing the latter like “z” in buzz.
Ruth went up to her father and took his face between her hands, dropping a light kiss on his eyebrow9.
“ Strafen is when one whips bad boys and t — s — zanken is when one only scolds them. Which shall we do to you, dear? Both?”
“We’ll take coffee first, and then we’ll see which there’s time for before we leave you hemming11 a pocket handkerchief while Rex and I go trout fishing.”
“Such parents!” sighed Ruth, nestling down beside her father and looking over her cup at Rex, who gravely nodded sympathy.
After breakfast, as Ruth stood waiting by the table where the fishing tackle lay, perfectly12 composed in manner, but unable to keep the color from her cheek and the sparkle of impatience13 from her eye, Gethryn thought he had seldom seen anything more charming.
A soft gray Tam crowned her pretty hair. A caped14 coat, fastened to the throat, hung over the short kilt skirt, and rough gaiters buttoned down over a wonderful little pair of hobnailed boots.
“I say! Ruth! what a stunner you are!” cried he with enthusiasm. She turned to the rod case and began lifting and arranging the rods.
“Rex,” she said, looking up brightly, “I feel about sixteen today.”
“Or less, judging from your costume,” said her mother. “Schicksalsee isn’t Rangely, you know. I only hope the good people in the little ducal court won’t call you theatrical16.”
“A theatrical stunner!” mused17 Ruth, in her clearest tones. “It is good to know how one strikes one’s friends.”
“The disciplining of this young person is to be left to me,” said the colonel. “Daisy, everything else about you is all wrong, but your frock is all right.”
“That is simple and comprehensive and reassuring,” murmured Ruth absently, as she bent18 over the fly-book with Gethryn.
After much consultation19 and many thoughtful glances at the bit of water which glittered and dashed through the narrow meadow in front of the house, they arranged the various colored lures20 and leaders, and standing21 up, looked at Colonel Dene, reading his novel.
“What? Oh! Come along, then!” said he, on being made aware that he was waited for, and standing up also, he dropped the volume into his creel and lighted a cigar.
“Are you going to take that trash along, dear?” asked his daughter.
“What trash? The work of fiction? That’s literature, as the gentleman said about Dante.”
“Rex,” said Mrs Dene, buttoning the colonel’s coat over his snowy collar, “I put this expedition into your hands. Take care of these two children.”
She stood and watched them until they passed the turn beyond the bridge. Mr Blumenthal watched them too, from behind the curtains in his room. His leer went from one to the other, but always returned and rested on Rex. Then, as there was a mountain chill in the morning air, he crawled back into bed, hauling his night cap over his generous ears and rolling himself in a cocoon22 of featherbeds, until he should emerge about noon, like some sleek23, fat moth15.
The anglers walked briskly up the wooded road, chatting and laughing, with now and then a sage24 and critical glance at the water, of which they caught many glimpses through the trees. Gethryn and Ruth were soon far ahead. The colonel sauntered along, switching leaves with his rod and indulging in bursts of Parisian melody.
“Papa,” called Ruth, looking back, “does your hip10 trouble you today, or are you only lazy?”
“Trot along, little girl; I’ll be there before you are,” said the colonel airily, and stopped to replace the wild hyacinth in his coat by a prim25 little pink and white daisy. Then he lighted a fresh cigar and started on, but their voices were already growing faint in the distance. Observing this, he stopped and looked up and down the road. No one was in sight. He sat down on the bank with his hand on his hip. His face changed from a frown to an expression of sharp pain. In five minutes he had grown from a fresh elderly man into an old man, his face drawn26 and gray, but he only muttered “the devil!” and sat still. A big bronze-winged beetle27 whizzed past him, z — z — ip! “like a bullet,” he thought, and pressed both hands now on his hip. “Twenty-five years ago — pshaw! I’m not so old as that!” But it was twenty-five years ago when the blue-capped troopers, bursting in to the rescue, found the dandy “—— th,” scorched28 and rent and blackened, still reeling beneath a rag crowned with a gilt29 eagle. The exquisite30 befeathered and gold laced “—— th.” But the shells have rained for hours among the “Dandies” — and some are dead, and some are wishing for death, like that youngster lying there with the shattered hip.
Colonel Dene rose up presently and relighted his cigar; then he flicked31 some dust from the new tweeds, picked a stem of wild hyacinth, and began to whistle. “Pshaw! I’m not so old as all that!” he murmured, sauntering along the pleasant wood-road. Before long he came in sight of Ruth and Gethryn, who were waiting. But he only waved them on, laughing.
“Papa always says that old wound of his does not hurt him, but it does. I know it does,” said Ruth.
Rex noted32 what tones of tenderness there were in her cool, clear voice. He did not answer, for he could only agree with her, and what could be the use of that?
They strolled on in silence, up the fragrant33 forest road. Great glittering dragonflies drifted along the river bank, or hung quivering above pools. Clouds of lazy sulphur butterflies swarmed34 and floated, eddying35 up from the road in front of them and settling down again in their wake like golden dust. A fox stole across the path, but Gethryn did not see him. The mesh36 of his landing net was caught just then in a little gold clasp that he wore on his breast.
“How quaint37!” cried Ruth; “let me help you; there! One would think you were a French legitimist, with your fleur-de-lis.”
“Thank you” — was all he answered, and turned away, as he felt the blood burn his face. But Ruth was walking lightly on and had not noticed. The fleur-de-lis, however, reminded her of something she had to say, and she began again, presently —
“You left Paris rather suddenly, did you not, Rex?”
This time he colored furiously, and Ruth, turning to him, saw it. She flushed too, fearing to have made she knew not what blunder, but she went on seriously, not pausing for his answer:
“The year before, that is three years ago now, we waited in Italy, as we had promised to do, for you to join us. But you never even wrote to say why you did not come. And you haven’t explained it yet, Rex.”
Gethryn grew pale. This was what he had been expecting. He knew it would have to come; in fact he had wished for nothing more than an opportunity for making all the amends38 that were possible under the circumstances. But the possible amends were very, very inadequate39 at best, and now that the opportunity was here, his courage failed, and he would have shirked it if he could. Besides, for the last five minutes, Ruth had been innocently stirring memories that made his heart beat heavily.
And now she was waiting for her answer. He glanced at the clear profile as she walked beside him. Her eyes were raised a little; they seemed to be idly following the windings40 of a path that went up the opposite mountainside; her lips rested one upon the other in quiet curves. He thought he had never seen such a pure, proud looking girl. All the chivalry41 of a generous and imaginative man brought him to her feet.
“I cannot explain. But I ask your forgiveness. Will you grant it? I won’t forgive myself!”
She turned instantly and gave him her hand, not smiling, but her eyes were very gentle. They walked on a while in silence, then Rex said:
“Ever since I came, I have been trying to find courage to ask pardon for that unpardonable conduct, but when I looked in your dear mother’s face, I felt myself such a brute42 that I was only fit to hold my tongue. And I believed,” he added, after a pause, “that she would forgive me too. She was always better to me than I deserved.”
“Yes,” said Ruth.
“And you also are too good to me,” he continued, “in giving me this chance to ask your pardon.” His voice took on the old caressing43 tone in which he used to make peace after their boy and girl tiffs44. “I knew very well that with you I should have a stricter account to settle than with your mother,” he said, smiling.
“Yes,” said Ruth again. And then with a little effort and a slight flush she added:
“I don’t think it is good for men when too many excuses are made for them. Do you?”
“No, I do not,” answered Rex, and thought, if all women were like this one, how much easier it would be for men to lead a good life! His heart stopped its heavy beating. The memories which he had been fighting for two years faded away once more; his spirits rose, and he felt like a boy as he kept step with Ruth along the path which had now turned and ran close beside the stream.
“Now tell me something of your travels,” said Ruth. “You have been in the East.”
“Yes, in Japan. But first I stopped a while in India with some British officers, nice fellows. There was some pheasant shooting.”
“Pheasants! No tigers?”
“One tiger.”
“You shot him! Oh! tell me about it!”
“No, I only saw him.”
“Where?”
“In a jungle.”
“Did you fire?”
“No, for he was already dead, and the odor which pervaded45 his resting place made me hurry away as fast as if he had been alive.”
“You are a provoking boy!”
Rex laughed. “I did shoot a cheetah46 in China.”
“A dead one?”
“No, he was snarling47 over a dead buck48.”
“Then you do deserve some respect.”
“If you like. But it was very easy. One bullet settled him. I was fined afterward49.”
“Fined! for what?”
“For shooting the Emperor’s trained cheetah. After that I always looked to see if the game wore a silver collar before I fired.”
Ruth would not look as if she heard.
Rex went on teasingly: “I assure you it was embarrassing, when the pheasants were bursting cover, to be under the necessity of inquiring at the nearest house if those were really pheasants or only Chinese hens.”
“Rex,” exclaimed Ruth, indignantly, “I hope you don’t think I believe a word you are saying.”
They had stopped to rest beside the stream, and now the colonel sauntered into view, his hands full of wild flowers, his single eyeglass gleaming beside his delicate straight nose.
“Do you know,” he asked, strolling up to Ruth and tucking a cluster of bluebells50 under her chin, “do you know what old Hugh Montgomery would say if he were here?”
“He’d say,” she replied promptly51, “that ‘we couldn’t take no traout with the pesky sun a shinin’ and a brilin’ the hull52 crick.”’
“Yes,” said Rex. “Rise at four, east wind, cloudy morning, that was Hugh. But he could cast a fly.”
“Couldn’t he!” said the colonel. “‘I cal’late ter chuck a bug53 ez fur ez enny o’ them city fellers, ‘n I kin,’ says Hugh. Going to begin here, Rex?”
“What does Ruth think?”
“She thinks she isn’t in command of this party,” Ruth replied.
“It will take us until late in the afternoon to whip the stream from here to the lowest bridge.” Rex smiled down at her and pushed back his cap with a boyish gesture.
She had forgotten it until that moment. Now it brought a perfect flood of pleasant associations. She had seen him look that way a hundred times when, in their teens, they two had lingered by the Northern Lakes. Her whole face changed and softened54, but she turned away, nodding assent55, and went and stood by her father, looking down at him with the bantering56 air which was a family trait. The lively colonel had found a sunny log on the bank, where he was sitting, leisurely57 joining his rod.
“Hello!” he cried, glancing up, “what are you two amateurs about? As usual, I’m ready to begin before Rex is awake!” and stepping to the edge he landed his flies with a flourish in a young birch tree. Rex came and disengaged them, and he received the assistance with perfect self-possession.
“Now see the new waterproof rig wade58!” said Ruth, saucily59.
“Go and wade yourself and don’t bully60 your old father!” cried the colonel.
“Old! this child old!”
“Oh! come along, Ruth!” called Rex, waiting on the shore and falling unconsciously into the tone of sixteen speaking to twelve.
For answer she slipped the cover from her slender rod and dexterously61 fitted the delicate tip to the second joint62.
“Hasn’t forgotten how to put a rod together! Wonderful girl!”
“Oh, I knew you were waiting to see me place the second joint in the butt6 first!” She deftly63 ran the silk through the guides, and then scientifically knotting the leader, slipped on a cast of three flies and picked her way daintily to the river bank. As she waded64 in the sudden cold made her gasp65 a little to herself, but she kept straight on without turning her head, and presently stepped on a broad, flat rock over which the water was slipping smoothly66.
Gethryn waited near the bank and watched her as she sent the silk hissing67 thirty feet across the stream. The line swished and whistled, and the whole cast, hand fly, dropper and stretcher settled down lightly on the water. He noticed the easy motion of the wrist, the boyish pose of the slender figure, the serious sweet face, half shaded by the soft woolen68 Tam.
Swish — h — h! Swish — h — h! She slowly spun69 out forty feet, glancing back at Gethryn with a little laugh. Suddenly there was a tremendous splash, just beyond the dropper, answered by a turn of the white wrist, and then the reel fairly shrieked70 as the line melted away like a thread of smoke. Gethryn’s eyes glittered with excitement, and the colonel took his cigar out of his mouth. But they didn’t shout, “You have him! Go easy on him! Want any help!” They kept quiet.
Cautiously, and by degrees, Ruth laced her little gloved fingers over the flying line, and presently a quiver of the rod showed that the fish was checked. She reeled in, slowly and steadily71 for a moment, and then, whiz — z — z! off he dashed again. At seventy feet the rod trembled and the trout was still. Again and again she urged him toward the shore, meeting his furious dashes with perfect coolness and leading him dexterously away from rocks and roots. When he sulked she gave him the butt, and soon the full pressure sent him flying, only to end in a furious full length leap out of water, and another sulk.
The colonel’s cigar went out.
At last she spoke72, very quietly, without looking back.
“Rex, there is no good place to beach him here; will you net him, please?” Rex was only waiting for this; he had his landing net already unslung and he waded to her side.
“Now!” she whispered. The fiery73 side of a fish glittered just beneath the surface. With a skillful dip, a splash, and a spatter the trout lay quivering on the bank.
Gethryn quickly ended his life and held him up to view.
“Beautiful!” cried the colonel. “Good girl, Daisy! but don’t spoil your frock!” And picking up his own rod he relighted his cigar and essayed some conscientious74 casting on his own account. But he soon wearied of the paths of virtue75 and presently went in search of a grasshopper76, with evil intent.
Meanwhile Ruth was blushing to the tips of her ears at Gethryn’s praises.
“I never saw a prettier sight!” he cried. “You’re — you’re splendid, Ruth! Nerve, judgment77, skill — my dear girl, you have everything!”
Ruth’s eyes shone like stars as she watched him in her turn while he sent his own flies spinning across a pool. And now there was nothing to be heard but the sharp whistle of the silk and the rush of the water. It seemed a long time that they had stood there, when suddenly the colonel created a commotion78 by hooking and hauling forth79 a trout of meagre proportions. Unheeding Rex’s brutal80 remarks, he silently inspected his prize dangling81 at the end of the line. It fell back into the water and darted82 away gayly upstream, but the colonel was not in the least disconcerted and strolled off after another grasshopper.
“Papa! are you a bait fisherman!” cried his daughter severely83.
The colonel dropped his hat guiltily over a lively young cricket, and standing up said “No!” very loud.
It was no use — Ruth had to laugh, and shortly afterward he was seated comfortably on the log again, his line floating with the stream, in his hands a volume with yellow paper covers, the worse for wear, bearing on its back the legend “Calman Levy84, Editeur.”
Rex soon struck a good trout and Ruth another, but the first one remained the largest, and finally Gethryn called to the colonel, “If you don’t mind, we’re going on.”
“All right! take care of Daisy. We will meet and lunch at the first bridge.” Then, examining his line and finding the cricket still there, he turned up his coat collar to keep off sunburn, opened his book, and knocked the ashes from his cigar.
“Here,” said Gethryn two hours later, “is the bridge, but no colonel. Are you tired, Ruth? And hungry?”
“Yes, both, but happier than either!”
“Well, that was a big trout, the largest we shall take today, I think.”
They reeled in their dripping lines, and sat down under a tree beside the lunch basket, which a boy from the lodge85 was guarding.
“I wish papa would come,” said Ruth, with an anxious look up the road. “He ought to be hungry too, by this time.”
Rex poured her a cup of red Tyroler wine and handed her a sandwich. Then, calling the boy, he gave him such a generous “Viertel” for himself as caused him to retire precipitately86 and consume it with grins, modified by boiled sausage. Ruth looked after him and smiled in sympathy. “I wonder how papa got rid of the other one with the green tin water-box.”
“I know; I was present at the interview,” laughed Rex. “Your father handed him a ten mark piece and said, ‘Go away, you superfluous87 Bavarian!”’
“In English?”
“Yes, and he must have understood, for he grinned and went.”
It was good to hear the ring of Ruth’s laugh. She was so happy that she found the smallest joke delightful88, and her voice was very sweet. Rex lighted a cigarette and leaned back against a tree, in great comfort. Ruth, perched on a log, watched the smoke drift and curl. Gethryn watched her. They each cared as much for the hours they had spent in the brook89, and for their wet clothing, as vigorous, happy, and imprudent youth ever cares about such things.
“So you are happy, Ruth?”
“Perfectly. And you? — But it takes more to make a spoiled young man happy than — ”
“Than a spoiled young woman? I don’t know about that. Yes, I— am — happy.” Was the long puff90 of smoke ascending91 slowly responsible for the pauses between his words? A slight shadow was in his eyes for one moment. It passed, and he turned on her his most charming smile, as he repeated, “Perfectly happy!”
“Still no colonel!” he went on; “when he comes he will be tired. We don’t want any more trout, do we? We have eighteen, all good ones. Suppose we rest and go back all together by the road?” Ruth nodded, smiling to see him fondle the creel full of shining fish, bedded on fragrant leaves.
Rex’s cap lay beside him, his head leaned back against the tree, his face was turned up to the bending branches. Presently he closed his eyes.
It might have been one minute, or ten. Ruth sat and watched him. He had grown very handsome. He had that pleasant air of good breeding which some men retain under any and all circumstances. It has nothing to do with character, and yet it is difficult to think ill of a man who possesses it. When she had seen him last, his nose was too near a snub to inspire much respect, and his mustache was still in the state of colorless scarcity92. Now his hair and mustache were thick and tawny93, and his features were clear and firm. She noticed the pleasant line of the cheek, the clean curve of the chin, the light on the crisp edges of his close-cut hair — the two freckles94 on his nose, and she decided95 that that short, straight nose, with its generous and humorous nostrils96, was wholly fascinating. As girls always will, she began to wonder about his life — idly at first, but these speculations97 lead one sometimes farther than one was prepared to go at the start. How much of his delightful manner to them all was due to affection, and how much to kindliness98 and good spirits? How much did he care for those other friends, for that other life in Paris? Who were the friends? What was the life? She looked at him, it seemed to her, a long time. Had he ever loved a woman? Was he still in love, perhaps, with someone? Ruth was no child. But she was a lady, and a proud one. There were things she did not choose to think about, although she knew of their existence well enough. She brought herself up at this point with a sharp pull, and just then Gethryn, opening his eyes, smiled at her.
She turned quickly away; to her perfect consternation99 her cheeks grew hot. Bewildered by her own confusion, she rose as she turned, and saying how lovely the water looked, went and stood on the bridge, leaning over. Rex was on his feet in an instant, so covered with confusion too, that he never saw hers.
“I say, Ruth, I haven’t been such a brute as to fall asleep! Indeed I haven’t! I was thinking of Braith.”
“And if you had fallen asleep you wouldn’t be a brute, you tired boy! And who is Braith?”
Ruth turned smiling to meet him, restored to herself and thankful for the diversion.
“Braith,” said Rex earnestly. “Braith is the best man in this wicked world, and my dearest friend. To whom,” he added, “I have not written one word since I left him two ears ago.”
Ruth’s face fell. “Is that the way you treat your dearest friends?” — and she thought: “No wonder one is neglected when one is only an old playmate!” — but she was instantly ashamed of the little bitterness, and put it aside.
“Ah! you don’t know of what we are capable,” said Gethryn; and once more a shadow fell on his face.
A familiar form came jauntily100 down the road. Ruth hastened to meet it. “At last, Father! You want your luncheon101, poor dear!”
“I do indeed, Daisy!”
The colonel came as gallantly102 up as if he had thirty pounds of trout to show instead of a creel that contained nothing but a novel by the newest and wickedest master of French fiction. He made a mild attempt to perjure103 himself about a large fish that had somehow got away from him, but desisted and merely added that a caning104 would be good for Rex.
Tired he certainly was, and when he was seated on the log and Ruth was bringing him his wine, he looked sharply at her and said, “You too, Daisy; you’ve done enough for the first day. We’ll go home by the road.”
“It is what I was just proposing to her,” said Rex.
“Yes, you are both right,” said Ruth. “I am tired.”
“And happy?” laughed Rex. But perhaps Ruth did not hear, for she spoke at the same time to her father.
“Dear, you haven’t told Rex yet how you got the invitation to shoot.”
“Oh, yes! It was at an officers’ dinner in Munich. The duke was there and I was introduced to him. He spoke of it as soon as they told him we were stopping here.”
“He’s a brick,” said Rex, rising. “Shall we start for home, Colonel? Ruth must be tired.”
When they turned in at the Forester’s door, the colonel ordered Daisy to her room, where Mrs Dene and their maid were waiting to make her luxuriously105 comfortable with dry things, and rugs, and couches, and cups of tea that were certainly not drawn from the Frau F?rster’s stores. Tea in Germany being more awful than tobacco, or tobacco more awful than tea, according as one cares most for tea or tobacco.
The colonel and Rex sat after supper under the big beech tree. Ruth, from her window, could see their cigars alight, and, now and then, hear their voices.
Rex was telling the colonel about Braith, of whom he had not ceased thinking since the afternoon. He went to his room early and wrote a long letter to him.
It began: “You did not expect to hear from me until I was cured. Well, you are hearing from me now, are you not?”
And it ended: “Only a few more weeks, and then I shall return to you and Paris, and the dear old life. This is the middle of July. In September I shall come back.”
收听单词发音 |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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pajamas
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| n.睡衣裤 | |
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natty
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| adj.整洁的，漂亮的 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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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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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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eyebrow
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| n.眉毛，眉 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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hemming
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| 卷边 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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caped
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| 披斗篷的 | |
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moth
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| n.蛾，蛀虫 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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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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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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lures
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| 吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式） | |
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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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cocoon
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| n.茧 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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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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beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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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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flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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35
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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36
mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 | |
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37
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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38
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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39
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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41
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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42
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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43
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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tiffs
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| n.争吵( tiff的名词复数 )；（酒的）一口；小饮 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
cheetah
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| n.(动物)猎豹 | |
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snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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48
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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bluebells
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| n.圆叶风铃草( bluebell的名词复数 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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54
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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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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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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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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saucily
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| adv.傲慢地，莽撞地 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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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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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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77
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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79
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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81
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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82
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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83
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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84
levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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85
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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86
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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87
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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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
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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90
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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92
scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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93
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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94
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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95
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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96
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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97
speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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98
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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99
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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100
jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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101
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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102
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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103
perjure
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| v.作伪证；使发假誓 | |
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104
caning
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| n.鞭打 | |
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105
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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