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CHAPTER XI. A FAMILY AFFAIR
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 Two days after the battle of Antietam, Dick went with Colonel Winchester to Washington on official duty. His nerves, shaken so severely1 by that awful battle, were not yet fully2 restored and he was glad of the little respite3, and change of scene. The sights of the city and the talk of men were a restorative to him.
 
The capital was undoubtedly4 gay. The deep depression and fear that had hung over it a few weeks ago were gone. Men had believed after the Second Manassas that Lee might take Washington and this fear was not decreased when he passed into Maryland on what seemed to be an invasion. Many had begun to believe that he was invincible5, that every Northern commander whoever he might be, would be beaten by him, but Antietam, although there were bitter complaints that Lee might have been destroyed instead of merely being checked, had changed a sky of steel into a sky of blue.
 
Washington was not only gay, it was brilliant. Life flowed fast and it was astonishingly vivid. A restless society, always seeking something new flitted from house to house. Dick, young and impressionable, would have been glad to share a little in it, but his time was too short. He went once with Colonel Winchester to the theatre, and the boy who had thrice seen a hundred and fifty thousand men in deadly action hung breathless over the mimic6 struggles of a few men and women on a painted stage.
 
The second day after his arrival he received a letter from his mother that had been awaiting him there. It had come by the way of Louisville through the Northern lines, and it was long and full of news. Pendleton, she said, was a sad town in these days. All of the older boys and young men had gone away to the armies, and many of them had been killed already, or had died in hospitals. Here she gave names and Dick's heart grew heavy, because in this fatal list were old friends of his.
 
It was not alone the boys and young men who had gone, wrote Mrs. Mason, but the middle-aged7 men, too. Dr. Russell had kept the Pendleton Academy open, but he had no pupil over sixteen years of age. There were no trustees, because they had all gone to the war. Senator Culver had been killed in the fighting in Tennessee, but she heard that Colonel Kenton was alive and well and with Bragg's army.
 
The affairs of the union, she continued, were not going well in Tennessee and Kentucky. The terrible Confederate cavalryman8 Forrest had suddenly raided Murfreesborough in Tennessee, where union regiments9 were stationed, and had destroyed or captured them all. Throughout the west the Southerners were raising their heads again. General Bragg, it was said, was advancing with a strong army, and was already farther north than the army of General Buell, which was in Tennessee. It was said that Louisville, one of the largest and richest of the border cities, would surely fall into the hands of the South.
 
Dick read the letter with changing and strong emotions. Amid the terrible struggles in the east, the west was almost blotted11 out of his mind. The Second Manassas and Antietam had great power to absorb attention wholly upon themselves. He had wholly forgotten for the time about Pendleton, the people whom he knew, and even his mother. Now they returned with increased strength. His memory was flooded with recollections of the little town, every house and face of which he knew.
 
And so the Confederates were coming north again with a great army. Shiloh had been far from crushing them in the west. The letter had been written before the Second Manassas, and that and Lee's great fight against odds12 at Antietam would certainly arouse in them the wish for like achievements. He inferred that since the armies in the east were exhausted13, the great field for action would be for a while, in the west, and he was seized with an intense longing14 for that region which was his own.
 
It was not coincidence, but the need for men that made Dick's wish come true almost at once. A few hours after he received his letter Colonel Winchester found him sitting in the lobby of the hotel in which Dick had twice talked with the contractor15. But the boy was alone this time, and as Colonel Winchester sat down beside him he said:
 
“Dick, the capital has received alarming news from Kentucky. Buoyed16 up by their successes in the east the Confederacy is going to make an effort to secure that state. Bragg with a powerful force is already on his way toward Louisville, and we fear that he has slipped away from Buell.”
 
“So I've heard. I found here a letter from my mother, and she told me all the reports from that section.”
 
“And is Mrs. Mason well? She has not been troubled by guerillas, or in any other way?”
 
“Not at all. Mother's health is always good, and she has not been molested17.”
 
“Dick, it's possible that we may see Kentucky again soon.”
 
“Can that be true, and how is it so, sir?”
 
“The administration is greatly alarmed about Kentucky and the west. This movement of Bragg's army is formidable, and it would be a great blow for us if he took Louisville. Dispatches have been sent east for help. My regiment10 and several others that really belong in the west have been asked for, and we are to start in three days. Dick, do you know how many men of the Winchester regiment are left? We shall be able to start with only one hundred and five men, and when we attacked at Donelson we were a thousand strong.”
 
“And the end of the war, sir, seems as far off as ever.”
 
“So it does, Dick, but we'll go, and we'll do our best. Starting from Washington we can reach Louisville in two days by train. Bragg, no matter what progress he may make across the state, cannot be there then. If any big battle is to be fought we're likely to be in it.”
 
The scanty18 remainder of the regiment was brought to Washington and two days later they were in Louisville, which they found full of alarm. The famous Southern partisan19 leader, John Morgan, had been roaming everywhere over the state, capturing towns, taking prisoners and throwing all the union communications into confusion by means of false dispatches.
 
People told with mingled20 amusement and apprehension21 of Morgan's telegrapher, Ellsworth, who cut the wires, attached his own instrument, and replied to the union messages and sent answers as his general pleased. It was said that Bragg was already approaching Munfordville where there was a Northern fort and garrison22. And it was said that Buell on another line was endeavoring to march past Bragg and get between him and Louisville.
 
But Dick found that the western states across the Ohio were responding as usual. Hardy23 volunteers from the prairies and plains were pouring into Louisville. While Dick waited there the news came that Bragg had captured the entire Northern garrison of four thousand men at Munfordville, the crossing of Green River, and was continuing his steady advance.
 
But there was yet hope that the rapid march of Buell and the gathering24 force at Louisville would cause Bragg to turn aside.
 
At last the welcome news came. Bragg had suddenly turned to the east, and then Buell arrived in Louisville. With his own force, the army already gathered there and a division sent by Grant from his station at Corinth, in Mississippi, he was at the head of a hundred thousand men, and Bragg could not muster25 more than half as many.
 
So rapid had been the passage of events that Dick found himself a member of Buell's reorganized army, and ready to march, only thirteen days after the sun set on the bloody26 field of Antietam, seven hundred miles away. Bragg, they said, was at Lexington, in the heart of the state, and the union army was in motion to punish him for his temerity27 in venturing out of the far south.
 
Dick felt a great elation28 as he rode once more over the soil of his native state. He beheld29 again many of the officers whom he had seen at Donelson, and also he spoke30 to General Buell, who although as taciturn and somber31 as ever, remembered him.
 
Warner and Pennington were by his side, the colonel rode before, and the Winchester regiment marched behind. Volunteers from Kentucky and other states had raised it to about three hundred men, and the new lads listened with amazement32, while the unbearded veterans told them of Shiloh, the Second Manassas and Antietam.
 
“Good country, this of yours, Dick,” said Warner, as they rode through the rich lands east of Louisville. “Worth saving. I'm glad the doctor ordered me west for my health.”
 
“He didn't order you west for your health,” said Pennington. “He ordered you west to get killed for your country.”
 
“Well, at any rate, I'm here, and as I said, this looks like a land worth saving.”
 
“It's still finer when you get eastward33 into the Bluegrass,” said Dick, “but it isn't showing at its best. I never before saw the ground looking so burnt and parched34. They say it's the dryest summer known since the country was settled eighty or ninety years ago.”
 
Dick hoped that their line of march would take them near Pendleton, and as it soon dropped southward he saw that his hope had come true. They would pass within twenty miles of his mother's home, and at Dick's urgent and repeated request, Colonel Winchester strained a point and allowed him to go. He was permitted to select a horse of unusual power and speed, and he departed just before sundown.
 
“Remember that you're to rejoin us to-morrow,” said Colonel Winchester. “Beware of guerillas. I hope you'll find your mother well.”
 
“I feel sure of it, and I shall tell her how very kind and helpful you've been to me, sir.”
 
“Thank you, Dick.”
 
Dick, in his haste to be off did not notice that the colonel's voice quivered and that his face flushed as he uttered the emphatic36 “thank you.” A few minutes later he was riding swiftly southward over a road that he knew well. His start was made at six o'clock and he was sure that by ten o'clock he would be in Pendleton.
 
The road was deserted37. This was a well-peopled country, and he saw many houses, but nearly always the doors and shutters39 of the windows were closed. The men were away, and the women and children were shutting out the bands that robbed in the name of either army.
 
The night came down, and Dick still sped southward with no one appearing to stop him. He did not know just where the Southern army lay, but he did not believe that he would come in contact with any of its flankers. His horse was so good and true, that earlier than he had hoped, he was approaching Pendleton. The moon was up now, and every foot of the ground was familiar. He crossed brooks40 in which he and Harry41 Kenton and other boys of his age had waded—but he had never seen them so low before—and he marked the tree in which he had shot his first squirrel.
 
It had not been so many months since he had been in Pendleton, and yet it seemed years and years. Three great battles in which seventy or eighty thousand men had fallen were enough to make anybody older.
 
Dick paused on the crest42 of a little hill and looked toward the place where his mother's house stood. He had come just in this way in the winter, and he looked forward to another meeting as happy. The moonlight was very clear now and he saw no smoke rising from the chimneys, but this was summer, and of course they would not have a fire burning at such an hour.
 
He rode on a little further and paused again at the crest of another hill. His view of Pendleton here was still better. He could see more roofs, and walls, but he noticed that no smoke rose from any house. Pendleton lay very still in its hollow. On the far side he saw the white walls of Colonel Kenton's house shining in the moonlight. Something leaped in his brain. He seemed to have been looking upon such white walls only yesterday, white walls that stood out in a fiery43 haze44, white walls that he could never forget though he lived to be a hundred.
 
Then he remembered. The white walls were those of the Dunkard church at Antietam, around which the blue and the gray had piled their bodies in masses. The vast battlefield ranged past him like a moving panorama45, and then he was merely looking at Pendleton lying there below, so still.
 
Dick was sensitive and his affections were strong. He loved his mother with a remarkable46 devotion, and his friends were for all time. Highly imaginative, he felt a powerful stirring of the heart, at his second return to Pendleton since his departure for the war. Yet he was chilled somewhat by the strange silence hanging over the little town that he loved so well. It was night, it was true, but not even a dog barked at his coming, and there was not the faintest trail of smoke across the sky. A brilliant moon shone, and white stars unnumbered glittered and danced, yet they showed no movement of man in the town below.
 
He shook off the feeling, believing that it was merely a sensitiveness born of time and place, and rode straight for his mother's house. Then he dismounted, tied his horse to one of the pines, and ran up the walk to the front door, where he knocked softly at first, and then more loudly.
 
No answer came and Dick's heart sank within him like a plummet47 in a pool. He went to the edge of the walk, gathered up some gravel48 and threw it against a window in his mother's room on the second floor. That would arouse her, because he knew that she slept lightly in these times, when her son was off to the wars. But the window was not raised, and he could hear no sound of movement in the room.
 
Alarmed, he went back to the front door, and he noticed that while the door was locked the keyhole was empty. Then his mother was gone away. The sign was almost infallible. Had any one been at home the key would have been on the inside.
 
His heart grew lighter49. There had been no violence. No roving band had come there to plunder50. He whistled and shouted through the keyhole, although he did not want anyone who might possibly be passing in the road to hear him, as this town was almost wholly Southern in its sympathies.
 
There was still no answer, and leading his horse behind one of the pine trees on the lawn, where it would not be observed, he went to the rear of the house, and taking a stick pried51 open a kitchen window. He had learned this trick when he was a young boy, and climbing lightly inside he closed the window behind him and fastened the catch.
 
He knew of course every hall and room of the house, but the moment he entered it he felt that it was deserted. The air was close and heavy, showing that no fresh breeze had blown through it for days. It was impossible that his mother or the faithful colored woman could have lived there so long a time with closed doors and shuttered windows.
 
When he passed into the main part of his home, and touched a door or chair, a fine dust grated slightly under his fingers. Here was confirmation52, if further confirmation was needed. Dust on chairs and tables and sofas in the house in which his mother was present. Impossible! Such a thing could not occur with her there. It was not the white dust of the road or fields, but the black dust that gathers in closed chambers53.
 
He went up to his mother's room, and, opening one of the shutters a few inches, let in a little light. It was in perfect order. Everything was in its place. Upon the dresser was a little vase containing some shrivelled flowers. The water in the vase had dried up days ago, and the flowers had dried up with it.
 
In this room and in all the others everything was arranged with order and method, as if one were going away for a long time. Dick drew a chair near the window, that he had opened slightly, and sat down. Much of his fear for his mother disappeared. It was obvious that she and her faithful attendant, Juliana, had gone, probably to be out of the track of the armies or to escape plundering54 bands like Skelly's.
 
He wondered where she had gone, whether northward55 or southward. There were many places that would gladly receive her. Nearly all the people in this part of the state were more or less related, and with them the tie of kinship was strong. It was probable that she would go north, or east. She might have gone to Lexington, or Winchester, or Richmond, or even in the hills to Somerset.
 
Well, he could not solve it. He was deeply disappointed because he had not found her there, but he was relieved from his first fear that the guerillas had come. He closed and fastened the window again, and then walked all through the house once more. His eyes had now grown so used to the darkness that he could see everything dimly. He went into his own room. A picture of himself that used to hang on the wall now stood on the dresser. He knew very well why, and he knew, too, that his mother often passed hours in that room.
 
Below stairs everything was neatness and in order. He went into the parlor56, of which he had stood in so much awe57, when he was a little child. The floor was covered with an imported carpet, mingled brown and red. A great Bible lay upon a small marble-topped table in the center of the room. Two larger tables stood against the wall. Upon them lay volumes of the English classics, and a cluster of wax flowers under a glass cover, that had seemed wonderful to Dick in his childhood.
 
But the room awed58 him no more, and he turned at once to the great squares of light that faced each other from wall to wall.
 
A famous portrait painter had arisen at Lexington when the canebrake was scarcely yet cleared away from the heart of Kentucky. His work was astonishing to have come out of a country yet a wilderness59, and a century later he is ranked among the great painters. But it is said that the best work he ever did is the pair of portraits that face each other in the Mason home, and the other pair, the exact duplicates that face each other in the same manner in the Kenton house.
 
Dick opened a shutter38 entirely60, and the light of the white moon, white like marble, streamed in. The sudden inpouring illuminated61 the room so vividly62 that Dick's heart missed a beat. It seemed, for a minute, that the two men in the portraits were stepping from the wall. Then his heart beat steadily63 again and the color returned to his face. They had always been there, those two portraits. Men had never lived more intensely than they, and the artist, at the instant his genius was burning brightest, had caught them in the moment of extraordinary concentration. Their souls had looked through their eyes and his own soul looking through his had met theirs.
 
Dick gazed at one and then at the other. There was his great grandfather, Paul Cotter, a man of vision and inspiration, the greatest scholar the west had ever produced, and there facing him was his comrade of a long life-time, Henry Ware35, the famous borderer, afterward64 the great governor of the state. They had been painted in hunting suits of deerskin, with the fringed borders and beaded moccasins, and raccoon skin caps.
 
These were men, Dick's great grandfather and Harry's. An immense pride that he was the great-grandson of one of them suddenly swelled65 up in his bosom66, and he was proud, too, that the descendants of the borderers, and of the earlier borderers in the east, should show the same spirit and stamina67. No one could look upon the fields of Shiloh, and Manassas and Antietam and say that any braver men ever lived.
 
He drew his chair into the middle of the room and sat and looked at them a long time. His steady gazing and his own imaginative brain, keyed to the point of excitement, brought back into the portraits that singular quality of intense life. Had they moved he would not have been surprised, and the eyes certainly looked down at him in full and ample recognition.
 
What did they say? He gazed straight into the eyes of one and then straight into the eyes of the other, and over and over again. But the expression there was Delphic. He must choose for himself, as they had chosen for themselves, and remembering that he was lingering, when he should not linger, he closed and fastened the window, slipped out at the kitchen window and returned to his horse.
 
He remounted in the road and rode a few paces nearer to Pendleton, which still lay silent in the white moonlight. He had no doubt now that many of the people had fled like his mother. Most of the houses must be closed and shuttered like hers. That was why the town was so silent. He would have been glad to see Dr. Russell and old Judge Kendrick and others again, but it would have been risky68 to go into the center of the place, and it would have been a breach69, too, of the faith that Colonel Winchester had put in him.
 
He crushed the wish and turned away. Then he saw the white walls of Colonel Kenton's house shining upon a hill among the pines beyond the town. He was quite sure that it would be deserted, and there was no harm in passing it. He knew it as well as his own home. He and Harry had played in every part of it, and it was, in truth, a second home to him.
 
He rode slowly along the road which led to the quiet house. Colonel Kenton had all the instincts so strong in the Kentuckians and Virginians of his type. A portion of his wealth had been devoted70 to decoration and beauty. The white, sanded road led upward through a great park, splendid with oak and beech71 and maple72, and elms of great size. Nearer the house he came to the cedars73 and clipped pines, like those surrounding his mother's own home.
 
He opened the iron gate that led to the house, and tied his horse inside. Here was the same desolation and silence that he had beheld at his own home. The grass on the lawn, although withered74 and dry from the intense drought that had prevailed in Kentucky that summer, was long and showed signs of neglect. The great stone pillars of the portico75, from the shelter of which Harry and his father and their friends had fought Skelly and his mountaineers, were stained, and around their bases were dirty from the sand and earth blown against them. The lawn and even the portico were littered with autumn leaves.
 
Dick felt the chill settling down on him again. War, not war with armies, but war in its results, had swept over his uncle's home as truly as it had swept over his mother's. There was no sign of a human being. Doubtless the colored servants had fled to the union armies, and to the freedom which they as yet knew so little how to use. He felt a sudden access of anger against them, because they had deserted a master so kind and just, forgetting, for the moment that he was fighting to free them from that very master.
 
All the windows were dark, but he walked upon the portico and the dry autumn leaves rustled76 under his feet. He would have turned away, but he noticed that the front door stood ajar six or eight inches. The fact amazed him. If a servant was about, he would not leave it open, and if robbers were in the house, they would close it in order not to attract attention. It was a great door of massive and magnificent oak, highly polished, with heavy bands of glittering bronze running across it. But it was so lightly poised77 on its hinges, that, despite its great weight, a child could have swung it back and forth78 with his little finger. Henry Ware, who built the house after his term as governor was over, was always proud of this door.
 
Dick ran his hand along one of the polished bronze bars as he had often done when he was a boy, enjoying the cool touch of the metal. Then he put his thumb against the edge of the door, and pushed it a little further open. Something was wrong here, and he meant to see what it was. He had no scruples79 about entering. He did not consider himself in the least an intruder. This was his uncle's house, and his uncle and his cousin were far away.
 
The door made no sound as it swung back, and soundless, too, was Dick as he stepped within. It was dark in the big hall, but as he stood there, listening, he became conscious of a light. It proceeded from one of the rooms opening into the hall on the right, and a door nearly closed only allowed a narrow band of it to fall upon the hall floor.
 
Dick, believing now that a robber had indeed come, drew a pistol from his pocket, stepped lightly across the hall and looked in at the door.
 
He checked a cry, and it was his first thought to go away as quietly as he had come. He had seen a man in the uniform of a Confederate colonel, sitting in a chair, and staring out at one of the little side windows which Dick could not see from the front, and which was now open. It was his own uncle, Colonel George Kenton, C. S. A., his gold braided cap on the window sill, and his sword in its scabbard lying across his knees.
 
But Dick changed his mind. His uncle was a colonel on one side, and he was a lieutenant80 on the other, and from one point of view it was almost high treason for them to meet there and talk quietly together, but from another it was the most natural thing in the world, commanded alike by duty and affection.
 
He pushed open the door a little further and stepped inside.
 
“Uncle George,” he said.
 
Colonel Kenton sprang to his feet, and his sword clattered81 upon the floor.
 
“Good God!” he cried. “You, Dick! Here! To-night!”
 
“Yes, Uncle George, it's no other.”
 
“And I suppose you have Yankees without to take me.”
 
“Those are hard words, sir, and you don't mean them. I'm all alone, just as you were. I galloped82 south, sir, to see my mother, whom I found gone, where, I don't know, and then I couldn't resist the temptation to come by here and see your house and Harry's, which, as you know, sir, has been almost a home to me, too.”
 
“Thank God you came, Dick,” said the colonel putting his arms around Dick's shoulders, and giving him an affectionate hug. “You were right. I did not mean what I said. There is only one other in the world whom I'd rather see than you. Dick, I didn't know whether you were dead or alive, until I saw your face there in the doorway83.”
 
It was obvious to Dick that his uncle's emotions were deeply stirred. He felt the strong hands upon his shoulders trembling, but the veteran soldier soon steadied his nerves, and asked Dick to sit down in a chair which he drew close beside his own at the window.
 
“I thank God again that the notion took you to come by the house,” he said. “It's pleasant and cool here at the window, isn't it, Dick, boy?”
 
Dick knew that he was thinking nothing about the window and the pleasant coolness of the night. He knew equally well the question that was trembling on his lips but which he could not muster the courage to ask. But he had one of his own to ask first.
 
“My mother?” he asked. “Do you know where she has gone?”
 
“Yes, Dick, I came here in secret, but I've seen two men, Judge Kendrick and Dr. Russell. The armies are passing so close to this place, and the guerillas from the mountains have become so troublesome, that she has gone to Danville to stay a while with her relatives. Nearly everybody else has gone, too. That's why the town is so silent. There were not many left anyway, except old people and children. But, Dick, I have ridden as far as you have to-night, and I came to ask a question which I thought Judge Kendrick or Dr. Russell might answer—news of those who leave a town often comes back to it—but neither of them could tell me what I wanted to hear. Dick, I have not heard a word of Harry since spring. His army has fought since then two great battles and many smaller ones! It was for this, to get some word of him, that I risked everything in leaving our army to come to Pendleton!”
 
He turned upon Dick a face distorted with pain and anxiety, and the boy quickly said:
 
“Uncle George, I have every reason to believe that Harry is alive and well.”
 
“What do you know? What have you heard about him?”
 
“I have not merely heard. I have seen him and talked with him. It was after the Second Manassas, when we were both with burial parties, and met on the field. I was at Antietam, and he, of course, was there, too, as he is with Stonewall Jackson. I did not see him in that battle, but I learned from a prisoner who knew him that he had escaped unwounded, and had gone with Lee's army into Virginia.”
 
“I thank God once more, Dick, that you were moved to come by my house. To know that both Harry and you are alive and well is joy enough for one man.”
 
“But it is likely, sir, that we'll soon meet in battle,” said Dick.
 
“So it would seem.”
 
And that was all that either said about his army. There was no attempt to obtain information by direct or indirect methods. This was a family meeting.
 
“You have a horse, of course,” said Colonel Kenton.
 
“Yes, sir. He is on the lawn, tied to your fence. His hoofs84 may now be in a flower bed.”
 
“It doesn't matter, Dick. People are not thinking much of flower beds nowadays. My own horse is further down the lawn between the pines, and as he is an impatient beast it is probable that he has already dug up a square yard or two of turf with his hoofs. How did you get in, Dick?”
 
“You forgot about the front door, sir, and left it open six or seven inches. I thought some plunderer85 was within and entered, to find you.”
 
“I must have been watched over to-night when forgetfulness was rewarded so well. Dick, we've found out what we came for and neither should linger here. Do you need anything?”
 
“Nothing at all, sir.”
 
“Then we'll go.”
 
Colonel Kenton carefully closed and fastened the window and door again and the two mounted their horses, which they led into the road.
 
“Dick,” said the colonel, “you and I are on opposing sides, but we can never be enemies.”
 
Then, after a strong handclasp, they rode away by different roads, each riding with a lighter heart.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 severely SiCzmk     
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地
参考例句:
  • He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
  • He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。
2 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
3 respite BWaxa     
n.休息,中止,暂缓
参考例句:
  • She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
  • Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。
4 undoubtedly Mfjz6l     
adv.确实地,无疑地
参考例句:
  • It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
  • He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。
5 invincible 9xMyc     
adj.不可征服的,难以制服的
参考例句:
  • This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
  • The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致,他们就是不可战胜的。
6 mimic PD2xc     
v.模仿,戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人
参考例句:
  • A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
  • He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。
7 middle-aged UopzSS     
adj.中年的
参考例句:
  • I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
  • The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。
8 cavalryman 0a1dfb0666a736ffa1aac49043a9c450     
骑兵
参考例句:
  • He is a cavalryman. 他是一个骑兵。
  • A cloud of dust on the horizon announced the arrival of the cavalryman. 天边扬起的尘土说明骑兵来了。
9 regiments 874816ecea99051da3ed7fa13d5fe861     
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物
参考例句:
  • The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
  • The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。
10 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
11 blotted 06046c4f802cf2d785ce6e085eb5f0d7     
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干
参考例句:
  • She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
  • The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。
12 odds n5czT     
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别
参考例句:
  • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
  • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗?
13 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
14 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
15 contractor GnZyO     
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌
参考例句:
  • The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
  • The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样,有几分要看地势而定。
16 buoyed 7da50152a46b3edf3164b6a7f21be885     
v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 );支持;为…设浮标;振奋…的精神
参考例句:
  • Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下,该队有信心再次获胜。
  • His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
17 molested 8f5dc599e4a1e77b1bcd0dfd65265f28     
v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 );干扰;调戏;猥亵
参考例句:
  • The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童,进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
18 scanty ZDPzx     
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的
参考例句:
  • There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
  • The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。
19 partisan w4ZzY     
adj.党派性的;游击队的;n.游击队员;党徒
参考例句:
  • In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中,他们忘掉一切党派之争。
  • The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
20 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
21 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
22 garrison uhNxT     
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防
参考例句:
  • The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
  • The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。
23 hardy EenxM     
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的
参考例句:
  • The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
  • He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。
24 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
25 muster i6czT     
v.集合,收集,鼓起,激起;n.集合,检阅,集合人员,点名册
参考例句:
  • Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
  • I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。
26 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染
参考例句:
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
27 temerity PGmyk     
n.鲁莽,冒失
参考例句:
  • He had the temerity to ask for higher wages after only a day's work.只工作了一天,他就蛮不讲理地要求增加工资。
  • Tins took some temerity,but it was fruitless.这件事做得有点莽撞,但结果还是无用。
28 elation 0q9x7     
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意
参考例句:
  • She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负,她显得十分高兴。
  • His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。
29 beheld beheld     
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟
参考例句:
  • His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字
30 spoke XryyC     
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
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
31 somber dFmz7     
adj.昏暗的,阴天的,阴森的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
  • His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。
32 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
33 eastward CrjxP     
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部
参考例句:
  • The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
  • The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去,他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。
34 parched 2mbzMK     
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干
参考例句:
  • Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
  • The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。
35 ware sh9wZ     
n.(常用复数)商品,货物
参考例句:
  • The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
  • Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。
36 emphatic 0P1zA     
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的
参考例句:
  • Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决,不容有任何人怀疑。
  • He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。
37 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
38 shutter qEpy6     
n.百叶窗;(照相机)快门;关闭装置
参考例句:
  • The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
  • The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。
39 shutters 74d48a88b636ca064333022eb3458e1f     
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门
参考例句:
  • The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
  • The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。
40 brooks cdbd33f49d2a6cef435e9a42e9c6670f     
n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时,狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了,今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
41 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
42 crest raqyA     
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖
参考例句:
  • The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
  • He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。
43 fiery ElEye     
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的
参考例句:
  • She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
  • His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。
44 haze O5wyb     
n.霾,烟雾;懵懂,迷糊;vi.(over)变模糊
参考例句:
  • I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中,我看不见她。
  • He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。
45 panorama D4wzE     
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置]
参考例句:
  • A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
  • A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。
46 remarkable 8Vbx6     
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
参考例句:
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
47 plummet s2izN     
vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌;n.铅坠;重压物
参考例句:
  • Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来,蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
  • Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌,其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。
48 gravel s6hyT     
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石
参考例句:
  • We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
  • More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。
49 lighter 5pPzPR     
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
参考例句:
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
50 plunder q2IzO     
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠
参考例句:
  • The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
  • Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。
51 pried 4844fa322f3d4b970a4e0727867b0b7f     
v.打听,刺探(他人的私事)( pry的过去式和过去分词 );撬开
参考例句:
  • We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴,把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
52 confirmation ZYMya     
n.证实,确认,批准
参考例句:
  • We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
  • We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前,我们需要书面确认。
53 chambers c053984cd45eab1984d2c4776373c4fe     
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅
参考例句:
  • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间:Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
54 plundering 765be35dd06b76b3790253a472c85681     
掠夺,抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村,一路抢劫掳掠。
  • They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。
55 northward YHexe     
adv.向北;n.北方的地区
参考例句:
  • He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
  • I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。
56 parlor v4MzU     
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
参考例句:
  • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
  • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店?
57 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
58 awed a0ab9008d911a954b6ce264ddc63f5c8     
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声,人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
59 wilderness SgrwS     
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。
60 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
61 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
62 vividly tebzrE     
adv.清楚地,鲜明地,生动地
参考例句:
  • The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
  • The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。
63 steadily Qukw6     
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地
参考例句:
  • The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
  • Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。
64 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
65 swelled bd4016b2ddc016008c1fc5827f252c73     
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情)
参考例句:
  • The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染,他的手肿了起来。
  • After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后,河水猛涨。
66 bosom Lt9zW     
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
参考例句:
  • She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
  • A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。
67 stamina br8yJ     
n.体力;精力;耐力
参考例句:
  • I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
  • Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。
68 risky IXVxe     
adj.有风险的,冒险的
参考例句:
  • It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险,但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
  • He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。
69 breach 2sgzw     
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破
参考例句:
  • We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
  • He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。
70 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
71 beech uynzJF     
n.山毛榉;adj.山毛榉的
参考例句:
  • Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
  • Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒,跳过小河,大踏步向毛榉林子走去。
72 maple BBpxj     
n.槭树,枫树,槭木
参考例句:
  • Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
73 cedars 4de160ce89706c12228684f5ca667df6     
雪松,西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The old cedars were badly damaged in the storm. 风暴严重损害了古老的雪松。
  • Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 1黎巴嫩哪,开开你的门,任火烧灭你的香柏树。
74 withered 342a99154d999c47f1fc69d900097df9     
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
  • The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。
75 portico MBHyf     
n.柱廊,门廊
参考例句:
  • A large portico provides a suitably impressive entrance to the chapel.小教堂入口处宽敞的柱廊相当壮观。
  • The gateway and its portico had openings all around.门洞两旁与廊子的周围都有窗棂。
76 rustled f68661cf4ba60e94dc1960741a892551     
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
77 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
78 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
79 scruples 14d2b6347f5953bad0a0c5eebf78068a     
n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 );顾虑,顾忌v.感到于心不安,有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
  • I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调
80 lieutenant X3GyG     
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员
参考例句:
  • He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
  • He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官,递上了一张简短的便条进去。
81 clattered 84556c54ff175194afe62f5473519d5a     
发出咔哒声(clatter的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • He dropped the knife and it clattered on the stone floor. 他一失手,刀子当啷一声掉到石头地面上。
  • His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground. 他的手一软,刀子当啷一声掉到地上。
82 galloped 4411170e828312c33945e27bb9dce358     
(使马)飞奔,奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 ); 快速做[说]某事
参考例句:
  • Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
  • The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。
83 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
84 hoofs ffcc3c14b1369cfeb4617ce36882c891     
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
  • The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句
85 plunderer fd43d9ea233a35b1bd1feb3f2b83360a     
掠夺者
参考例句:
  • And the saint replied, "I too am a thief and a plunderer." 圣人:“我也是个贼人,是个强盗。”
  • And the brigand said, "But I a thief and a plunderer." 盗贼:“可我是个贼人,是个强盗。”


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