The frigate1 was now rapidly drawing near the ship of the line, until, at the moment the officer hailed, the two ships were nearly alongside of each other. The awful disparity between their sizes was now painfully apparent.
"Ship ahoy! Ahoy the frigate!" came down a second time in long hollow tones through the trumpet2 from the officer balancing himself on the Yarmouth's rail by holding on to a back-stay. "Why don't you answer?"
"Ahoy the ship!" replied Seymour at last through his own trumpet.
"What ship is that?"
"His Britannic majesty's ship of the line, Yarmouth, Captain Vincent.
Who are you? Answer, or I will fire!"
The flying boom of the Randolph was just pointing past the Yarmouth's quarter, and the two ships were abreast3 each other; now, if ever, was the time for action.
"This is the American Continental4 ship, Randolph, Captain Seymour," cried the latter, through the trumpet, in a voice heard in every part of the ship of the line.
At least two hearts in the Yarmouth were powerfully affected5 by that announcement. Katharine's leaped within her bosom6 at the sound of her lover's voice, and beat madly while she revelled7 in thought in his proximity8; and then as she noticed again the fearful odds9 with which he was apparently10 about to contend, her heart sank into the depths once more. In one second she thrilled with pride, quivered with love, trembled with despair. He was there—he was hers—he would be killed! She gripped the rail hard and clenched11 her teeth to keep from screaming aloud his name, while her gaze strained out upon his handsome figure. Pride, love, death,—an epitome12 of human life in that fleeting13 moment,—all were hers!
On the main-deck of the frigate the name carried consternation14 to Lieutenant15 Lord Desborough. So Seymour was alive again! Was that the end of my lord's chance? No. Joy! The rebel was under the guns of the battle-ship! Never, vowed16 the lieutenant, should guns be better served than those under his command. Unless the man surrendered, he was doomed17. So, he spoke18 eagerly to his men, bidding them take good aim and waste no shot, never doubting the inevitable19 issue. These thoughts took but a moment, however. Beauchamp, who had done the talking, now stepped aft to Captain Vincent's side, and replied to Seymour's hail by calling out,—
"Do you strike, sir?"
"Yes, yes, of course; that's what we came down here for. We'll strike fast enough," was the answer.
A broad smile lighted up Captain Vincent's face; he turned to the colonel, laughing, and said with a scarcely veiled sneer,—
"I told you they were not up to it. The cad! he might have fired one shot at least for the honor of his flag, don't you see?"
The colonel with a sinking heart could not see at all. Cowardice20 in Seymour, in any officer, was a thing he could not understand. The world turned black before Katharine. What! strike without a blow! Was this her hero? Rather death than a coward! In spite of her faith in her lover, as she heard what appeared to be a pusillanimous22 offer of surrender, Desborough's chances took a sudden bound upward, while that gentleman cursed the cowardice of his enemy and rival, which would deprive him of a pleasing opportunity of blowing him out of the water. Most of the men at the different guns relaxed their eager watchfulness23, while sneers24 and jeers25 at the "Yankee" went up on all sides.
"Heave to, then," continued Beauchamp, peremptorily26 and with much disgust, "and send a boat aboard!"
"Ay, ay, sir!"
Oh, it was true, then; he was going to surrender tamely without—
"Stand by!" there was a note of preparation in the words in spite of Seymour's effort to give them the ordinary intonation27 of a commonplace order,—a note which had so much meaning to Katharine's sensitive ear that her heart stopped its beating for a moment as she waited for the next word. It came with a roar of defiance28. "Back the maintopsail!" But the braces29 were kept fast and the unexpected happened. In an instant sheets of flame shot out from the muzzles30 of the black guns of the Randolph, which were immediately wreathed and shrouded31 in clouds of smoke. At the moment of command Seymour had quickly ordered the helm shifted suddenly, and the Randolph had swung round so that she lay at a broad angle off the quarter of the Yarmouth. The thunderous roar of the heavy guns at short range was immediately followed by the crashing of timber, as the heavy shot took deadly effect, amid the cheers and yells and curses and groans32 and shrieks33 of the wounded and startled men on the liner, while three hearty34 cheers rang out from the Randolph.
The advantage of the first blow in the grim game, the unequal combat, was with the little one.
"How now, captain!" shouted the colonel, in high exultation35. "Won't fight, eh! What do you call this?"
"Fire! fire! Let him have it, men, and be damned to you! The man 's a hero; 't was cleverly done," roared the captain, excitedly. "I retract36. Give it to him, boys! Give it to the impudent37 rebel!" he roared.
Katharine, forgot by every one in the breathless excitement of the past few moments, bowed her head on her hands on the rail, and breathed a prayer of thankfulness, oblivious38 of everything but that her lover had proved himself worthy39 the devotion her heart so ungrudgingly extended him. There was great confusion on board the Yarmouth from this sudden and unexpected discharge, which, delivered at short range, had done no little execution on the crowded ship; but the officers rallied their men speedily with cool words of encouragement.
"Steady, men, steady."
"Give it back to them."
"Look sharp now."
"Aim! Fire!"
And the forty-odd heavy guns roared out in answer to the determined40 attack. The effect of such a broadside at close range would have been frightful41, had not the Randolph drawn42 so far ahead, and her course been so changed, that a large part of it passed harmlessly astern of her. One gun, however, found its target, and that was one aimed and fired by the hand of Lord Desborough himself: a heavy shot, a thirty-two, from one of the massive lower-deck guns of the Yarmouth, which the pleasant weather permitted them to use effectively, came through one of the after gun-ports of the Randolph, and swept away the line of men on the port side of the gun. Some of the other shot did slight damage also among the spars and gear, and several of the crew were killed or wounded in different parts of the ship; but the Randolph was practically unharmed, and standing43 boldly down to cross the stern of the Yarmouth to rake her. But the English captain was a seaman44, every inch of him, and his ship could not have been better handled; divining his bold little antagonist's purpose, the Yarmouth's helm was put up at once, and in the smoke she fell off and came before the wind almost as rapidly as did the Randolph, her promptness frustrating45 the endeavor, as Seymour was only able to make an ineffectual effort to rake her, as she flew round on her heels. The starboard battery of the Yarmouth had been manned as she fell off, and the port battery of the Randolph was rapidly reloaded again. The manoeuvre46 had given the Englishmen the weather-gage once more, the two ships now having the wind on the port quarter. The two batteries were discharged simultaneously47, and now began a running fight of near an hour's duration.
Seymour was everywhere. Up and down the deck he walked, helping48 and sustaining his men, building up new gun's crews out of the shattered remains49 of decimated groups of men, lending a hand himself on a tackle on occasion; cool, calm, unwearied, unremitting, determined, he desperately50 fought his ship as few vessels51 were ever fought before or since, imbuing53, by his presence and example and word, his men with his own unquailing spirit, until they died as uncomplainingly and as nobly as did those prototypes of heroes,—another three hundred in the pass at Thermopylae!
The guns were served on the Randolph with the desperate rapidity of men who, awfully54 pressed for time, had abandoned hope and only fought to cripple and delay before they were silenced; those on the Yarmouth, on the contrary, were fired with much more deliberation, and did dreadful execution. The different guns were disabled on the Randolph by heavy shot; adjacent ports were knocked into one, the sides shattered, boats smashed, rails knocked to pieces, all of the weather-shrouds cut, the mizzenmast carried away under the top, and the wreck55 fell into the sea,—fortunately, on the lee side, the little body of men in the top going to a sudden death with the rest. The decks were slippery with blood and ploughed with plunging56 shot, which the superior height of the Yarmouth permitted to be fired with depressed57 guns from an elevation58. Solid shot from the heavy main-deck batteries swept through and through the devoted59 frigate; half the Randolph's guns were useless because of the lack of men to serve them; the cockpit overflowed60 with the wounded; the surgeon and his mates, covered with blood, worked like butchers, in the steerage and finally in the ward21 room; dead and dying men lay where they fell; there were no hands to spare to take them below, no place in which they could lie with safety, no immunity61 from the searching hail which drove through every part of the doomed ship. Still the men, cheered and encouraged by their officers, stood to their guns and fought on. Presently the foretopmast went by the board also, as the long moments dragged along, Seymour was now lying on the quarter-deck, a bullet having broken his leg, another having made a flesh-wound in his arm; he had refused to go below to have his wounds dressed, and one of the midshipmen was kneeling by his side, applying such unskilful bandages as he might to the two bleeding wounds. Nason had been sent for, and was in charge, under Seymour's direction. That young man, all his nervousness gone, was most ably seconding his dauntless captain.
The two ships were covered with smoke. It was impossible to tell on one what was happening on the other; but the steady persistence62 with which the Randolph clung to her big enemy had its effect on the Yarmouth also, and the well-delivered fire did not allow that vessel52 any immunity. In fact, while nothing like that on the frigate, the damage was so great, and so many men had fallen, that Captain Vincent determined to end the conflict at once by boarding the frigate. The necessary orders were given, and a strong party of boarders was called away and mustered63 on the forecastle, headed by Beauchamp and Hollins; among the number were little Montagu, with other midshipmen. Taking advantage of the smoke and of the weather-gage, the Yarmouth was suddenly headed for the Randolph. As the enormous bows of the line-of-battle ship came slowly shoving out of the smoke, towering above them, covered with men, cutlass or boarding pike in hand, Seymour discerned at once the purpose of the manoeuvre. Raising himself upon his elbow to better direct the movement,—
"All hands repel65 boarders!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the ship as powerfully as ever.
This was an unusual command, as it completely deprived the guns of their crews; but he rightly judged that it would take all the men they could muster64 to repel the coming attack, and none but the main-deck guns of the Yarmouth would or could be fired, for fear of hitting their own men in the mêlée on the deck. The Randolph was a wreck below, at best; but while anything held together above her plank66 shears67, she would be fought. The men had reached that desperate condition when they ceased to think of odds, and like maddened beasts fought and raved68 and swore in the frenzy69 of the combat. The thrice-decimated crew sprang aft, rallying in the gangway to meet the shock, Nason at their head, followed close by old Bentley, still unwounded. As the bow of the Yarmouth struck the Randolph with a crash, one or two wounded men, unable to take part in repelling70 the boarders but still able to move, who had remained beside the guns, exerted the remaining strength they possessed71 to discharge such of the pieces as bore, in long raking shots, through the bow of the liner; it was the last sound from their hot muzzles.
The Yarmouth struck the Randolph just forward of the mainmast; the men, swarming72 in dense73 masses on the rail and hanging over the bowsprit ready to leap, dropped on her deck at once with loud cheers. A sharp volley from the few marines left on the frigate checked them for a moment,—nobody noticing at the time that the Honorable Giles had fallen in a limp heap back from the rail upon his own deck, the blood staining his curly head; but they gathered themselves together at once, and, gallantly74 led, sprang aft, handling their pistols and pikes and waving their cutlasses. Nason was shot in a moment by Hollins' pistol, Beauchamp was cut in two by a tremendous sweep of the arm of the mighty75 Bentley, and the combat became at once general. Slowly but surely the Americans were pressed back; the gangways were cleared; the quarter-deck was gained; one by one the brave defenders76 had fallen. The battle was about over when Seymour noticed a man running out in the foreyard of the Yarmouth with a hand-grenade. He raised his pistol and fired; the man fell; but another resolutely77 started to follow him.
Bentley and a few other men, and one or two officers and a midshipman, were all who were able to bear arms now.
"Good-by, Mr. Seymour," cried Bentley, waving his hand and setting his back against the rail nearest to the Yarmouth, which had slowly swung parallel to the Randolph and had been lashed78 there. The old man was covered with blood from two or three wounds, but still undaunted. Two or three men made a rush at him; but he held them at bay, no man caring to come within sweep of that mighty arm which had already done so much, when a bullet from above struck him, and he fell over backward on the rail mortally wounded.
Seymour raised his remaining pistol and fired it at the second man, who had nearly reached the foreyard arm; less successful this time, he missed the man, who threw his grenade down the hatchway. Seymour fainted from loss of blood.
"Back, men! back to the ship, all you Yarmouths!" cried Captain Vincent, as he saw the lighted grenade, which exploded and ignited a little heap of cartridges79 left by a dead powder-boy before the magazine. Alas80! there was no one there to check or stop the flames. The English sailors sprang back and up the sides and through the ports of their ship with frantic81 haste; the lashings were being rapidly cut by them, and the braces handled.
"Come aboard, men, while you can," cried Captain Vincent to the Americans. "Your ship 's afire; you can do no more; you 'll blow up in a moment!"
The little handful of Americans were left alone on their ship. The only officer still standing lifted his sword and shook it impotently at the Yarmouth in reply; the rest did not stir. The smoke of battle had now settled away, and the whole ghastly scene was revealed. A woman's cry rang out fraught82 with agony,—"Seymour, Seymour!" and again was her cry unheeded; her lover could not hear. She cried again; and then, with a frightful roar and crash, the Randolph blew up.
点击收听单词发音
1 frigate | |
n.护航舰,大型驱逐舰 | |
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2 trumpet | |
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘 | |
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3 abreast | |
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地 | |
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4 continental | |
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的 | |
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5 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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6 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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7 revelled | |
v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉 | |
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8 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
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9 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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10 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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11 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 epitome | |
n.典型,梗概 | |
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13 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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14 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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15 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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16 vowed | |
起誓,发誓(vow的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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17 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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18 spoke | |
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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19 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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20 cowardice | |
n.胆小,怯懦 | |
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21 ward | |
n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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22 pusillanimous | |
adj.懦弱的,胆怯的 | |
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23 watchfulness | |
警惕,留心; 警觉(性) | |
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24 sneers | |
讥笑的表情(言语)( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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25 jeers | |
n.操纵帆桁下部(使其上下的)索具;嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26 peremptorily | |
adv.紧急地,不容分说地,专横地 | |
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27 intonation | |
n.语调,声调;发声 | |
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28 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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29 braces | |
n.吊带,背带;托架( brace的名词复数 );箍子;括弧;(儿童)牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来 | |
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30 muzzles | |
枪口( muzzle的名词复数 ); (防止动物咬人的)口套; (四足动物的)鼻口部; (狗)等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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31 shrouded | |
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密 | |
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32 groans | |
n.呻吟,叹息( groan的名词复数 );呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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33 shrieks | |
n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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35 exultation | |
n.狂喜,得意 | |
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36 retract | |
vt.缩回,撤回收回,取消 | |
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37 impudent | |
adj.鲁莽的,卑鄙的,厚颜无耻的 | |
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38 oblivious | |
adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的 | |
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39 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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40 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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41 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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42 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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43 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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44 seaman | |
n.海员,水手,水兵 | |
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45 frustrating | |
adj.产生挫折的,使人沮丧的,令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧 | |
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46 manoeuvre | |
n.策略,调动;v.用策略,调动 | |
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47 simultaneously | |
adv.同时发生地,同时进行地 | |
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48 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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49 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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50 desperately | |
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地 | |
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51 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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52 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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53 imbuing | |
v.使(某人/某事)充满或激起(感情等)( imbue的现在分词 );使充满;灌输;激发(强烈感情或品质等) | |
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54 awfully | |
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地 | |
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55 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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56 plunging | |
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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57 depressed | |
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的 | |
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58 elevation | |
n.高度;海拔;高地;上升;提高 | |
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59 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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60 overflowed | |
溢出的 | |
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61 immunity | |
n.优惠;免除;豁免,豁免权 | |
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62 persistence | |
n.坚持,持续,存留 | |
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63 mustered | |
v.集合,召集,集结(尤指部队)( muster的过去式和过去分词 );(自他人处)搜集某事物;聚集;激发 | |
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64 muster | |
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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65 repel | |
v.击退,抵制,拒绝,排斥 | |
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66 plank | |
n.板条,木板,政策要点,政纲条目 | |
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67 shears | |
n.大剪刀 | |
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68 raved | |
v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 );愤怒地说;咆哮;痴心地说 | |
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69 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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70 repelling | |
v.击退( repel的现在分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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71 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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72 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 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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73 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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74 gallantly | |
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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75 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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76 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
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77 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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78 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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79 cartridges | |
子弹( cartridge的名词复数 ); (打印机的)墨盒; 录音带盒; (唱机的)唱头 | |
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80 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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81 frantic | |
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的 | |
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82 fraught | |
adj.充满…的,伴有(危险等)的;忧虑的 | |
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