The going down was much easier than the coming up, for at some distance away the shore was nearly level with the bank, and one had but to walk to reach it, no scrambling2 necessary. The grass, short and stubbly, was strung with fine mist and at each step Edna grew wetter and wetter, but she did not heed3 this, for her whole thought was centered upon Louis, and she was imagining all sorts of things. Perhaps he had drifted away in the boat far out of sight. Perhaps the boat's owner had seen him and had borne him off to be locked up for meddling4 with another's property. Perhaps he was really out there now on the water, hidden by the fog, and was trying to row ashore5.
She reached the beach at last. The tide was coming in higher and higher, and was sweeping6 around 85the point where the cave was, rushing in and out with a great noise. Edna shuddered7 as she thought; suppose she had not been able to get away before now and had been hemmed8 in on both sides by the waves. Once in a while the fog lifted slightly, and she strained her eyes for a sight of the boat. Once she was sure she saw it, but a second view disclosed a lobsterman coming in from hauling his lobster-pots. He rowed steadily9, but passed by too far out for the little girl to attract his attention. It had grown very damp and chilly10, and the east wind cut like a knife. The child's clothing was wet through and her teeth chattered11 as she faced the sea. She was not quite sure where she was, for she had never walked so far along the shore, but had reached different places by way of the road. Moreover, the fog hid all landmarks12, and there was not even a fisherman's hut to guide her.
At last she made up her mind that it was useless to stand there and concluded that she would best turn away from the shore and try to find the road. She went up the bank again by the easier way and then turned at right angles, stumbling through the stubbly grass and over hummocks13. She thought she was going in a straight line, but she was really zig-zagging across the field and bearing toward the north instead of the south.
Suddenly she saw through the veil of mist, a small building ahead. "It must be a fisherman's hut," she told herself. "Perhaps it belongs to the man who owns the boat. I'll go there and see." 86This gave her a new impetus14 and she hurried on, and presently was surprised to see that it was not a fisherman's house at all, but a small bungalow15, set with back to a grove16 of trees and facing a small strip of beach. "Why," exclaimed Edna, delightedly, "if it isn't the little bungalow where Miss Eloise lives. Well, I am surprised. I hadn't an idea I was anywhere near it."
On she went with better heart. Here were friends close at hand who could advise and comfort her. She reached the door and lifted the little brass17 knocker. The door was opened to her by Miss Newman.
"Why, Edna Conway, what in the world brought you over here by yourself?" was Miss Newman's surprised greeting. "Why, the child is drenched18 to the skin. Come right in to the fire." She ushered19 her into the tiny living-room where a cheerful fire was blazing on the hearth20. Before this Miss Eloise was sitting. "It is Edna, Ellie," said her sister, "and the child is soaking wet. My dear child, why did you come out in this fog wearing that flimsy gingham? And no rubbers, no coat? What were you thinking of?"
This was too much for Edna and her lip quivered, the tears filled her eyes and she stood forlornly without saying a word.
"You poor little dear," said Miss Eloise, who was watching her. "You shall not scold her, sister. You do not know what accident may have happened. 87Come over here, darling child, and tell me all about it."
The effect of Miss Eloise's sympathy finished what Miss Newman's censure21 began and Edna burst into tears, sobbing22 out. "It—it was all—all nice and bright when we came away from the—the house, and—and I d—didn't know there was going to—to be any fog."
"Of course you didn't," said Miss Eloise soothingly23. "What did I tell you, sister? Go on, dear, and tell us how it all happened."
"Louis and I went to find the cave, and it was ever so far." Edna drew a long breath but checked her tears. The fire was very comforting and Miss Eloise was a tower of refuge. "Then he went off to get a boat and was coming back to the cave. I was going to be a shipwrecked maiden24 with jewels and he was a bold robber, but—but he didn't come, and the tide—the tide—" Here she broke down into a second fit of weeping.
"There, there, don't try to tell any more just yet. You see," she said to her sister, "the child is all wrought25 up. There is no knowing what she may have been through. She ought to have some dry shoes and stockings, sister, and she'd better take off that soaking frock. That little blue flannel26 kimono of mine will be just the thing."
So Miss Newman went off to bring back the dry things, helped Edna off with the wet frock and on with the dry shoes and stockings, and by that time 88she had become calmer. The shoes were not very much too big, and the kimono was not much too long, for Miss Eloise was a tiny creature. "Now do you think you could tell us the rest," said Miss Newman taking example from her sister and speaking very gently.
"I'll try," said Edna more at her ease. "I waited ever so long for Louis to come, and he didn't. I was inside the cave, you know, and I was pretending to be asleep, and when I knew it was too much of a long time I thought I would go out and find Louis, and then I saw the fog and the tide was coming in just as fast. I was so scared, for I knew it might come all the way up into the cave, and so I just tore out as hard as I could. It was up real high, for it splashed 'way over my feet. I had to scramble27 up the bank for the water was coming up all over the beach and there wasn't any other way. When I got to the top I saw that I could get down very easily on the other side. There was a little cove there, a tiny little one, and I guessed that was where Louis saw the boat, but the boat wasn't there and I called and called but nobody answered. Then I went down as far as I dared but I couldn't find Louis. Oh, Miss Eloise, I am so afraid he is drowned."
Both ladies looked very grave, for there seemed likelihood of this being the case. Edna's tears began to flow again, and she buried her head in Miss Eloise's lap.
"Poor little girl, you have had a sorry time of it," said Miss Eloise, gently caressing28 the child's head. "What do you think had better be done, sister?"
Miss Newman sat thoughtfully looking into the fire for a few minutes before she answered, then she said: "I think I'd better go up to the Duncan's. They have a telephone, you know, and can let Mrs. Ramsey know where Edna is. She will be worried, I am sure. Then we can telephone to the hotel and find out if Louis is there. We need not necessarily alarm his mother, but if he is not there I will get Rudolph Duncan to go out and inquire about whose boat that was which Louis saw by the cave, and we may discover something that way. Rudolph will like to go, for he has his sou'wester and rubber boots, while as for me I am used to going out in all sorts of weather. I will not be gone any longer than I can help, and—why Edna, you have not had any dinner. Of course you haven't."
"Why, is it dinner time?" she asked.
"It is past our dinner time. We had just finished when you came in, or at least Amelia had just finished washing the dishes. We have dinner in the middle of the day, you know, on account of having Amelia come to do the dishes. Ellie, dear, I wonder if you could see that the child has something to eat while I am gone. Everything is in the refrigerator, but I am afraid there is not much beyond bread and milk."
"There is pie," Miss Eloise reminded her, "and there are plenty of tomatoes. We can manage, I am sure, sister. You go right along."
So Miss Newman did not waste time in getting ready, but started forth29 in a very few minutes, and then Miss Eloise sent Edna out into the little shed to report upon what she might find in the refrigerator.
The child realized now that she was really hungry, and having shared her anxieties with some one to be depended upon, she felt that there was nothing further to be done. Holding up the blue kimono so it would not drag on the floor, she went out into the little shed, annexed30 to the back of the bungalow. She looked inside the refrigerator. There was a plate of cold fish. Not very appetizing, thought she. A dish of cold baked potatoes—neither did these appeal to her—, a few tomatoes, butter, milk, and a little saucer of stewed31 apples. She took out the milk, the butter, the tomato and the stewed apples, and set these on the table. "I've found something," she called out.
"Bring it in here by the fire," said Miss Eloise in reply.
Edna carefully carried the things into the front room.
"There is salt on the shelf over the sink," Miss Eloise told her. "The bread is in the bread-box, and the pie is on the kitchen table covered with a tin lid. It gets soggy if you put it in the refrigerator. 91The knives are in the table drawer, and I think there are forks there, too."
Edna returned to the kitchen to get these things. There was quite a large section of blueberry pie, and there were some slices of bread already cut. The pie looked very good and she was pleased to think that a whole pie had been too much for the two Newmans and Amelia. "I am going to eat the tomato and some bread and butter first," she told her friend; "then I will eat some bread and milk and the stewed apples, and keep the pie till the last. I am very glad it was such a big pie that you could not eat it all."
"I am glad, too," said Miss Eloise smiling, "and I am glad you could find something else you liked."
Edna ate her meal with a good appetite, and then carried the empty dishes out into the kitchen. "Shall I wash them?" she asked.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't try," said Miss Eloise. "You might set them in the dish pan and run some water over them so they won't get dry or attract the flies."
Edna did as she was told and then returned to watch for Miss Newman. She had not long to wait before she saw her coming across the field which separated the Duncan's house from the little bungalow. "Here she comes," cried Edna trying to get to the door in such haste that she forgot to hold up the blue kimono and came near to sprawling32 at full length. However, she did get to the door in 92time to open it before Miss Newman should turn the knob, and to be ready to ask, "Did you find out anything about Louis?"
"Well, I did and I didn't," Miss Newman told her. "Let me get off this waterproof33 and I will tell you." She slipped off the garment and hung it over the back of a chair, then she removed her rubbers and came over to the fire to dry the edge of her skirt. "We called up Mrs. Ramsey first of all and told her where you were, then we called up the hotel. I let Rudolph do the asking, so Mrs. Morrison would think it was someone at the Duncan's who wanted to know about Louis. He was not with his mother, and she said she had not seen him since he went out after breakfast to see Edna. 'He is probably at Mrs. Ramsey's,' she told Rudolph."
"Oh, dear, where can he be?" sighed Edna, anxiety written on her usually happy face.
"Then I told Rudolph the circumstance of the boat. 'Oh, I know whose boat that is,' he said, 'it belongs to Dick Fenton. He is a fisherman. I can get hold of him easily.' So now Rudolph has gone to hunt up Dick and he has promised to come around this way and let us know. So now, my dear, all we can do is to wait till Rudolph returns. Did you get something to eat?"
"Yes, indeed, I did, and the pie was delicious. I am so very fond of blueberry pie. Thank you so much, Miss Newman for leaving me such a nice big piece."
Miss Newman laughed. "I am glad you take it that way, though the truth is, we didn't know we were leaving it for you."
"I am afraid I drank up all the milk," Edna went on. "I hope you will not need it for your supper."
"No, we shall not, for neither of us takes milk in tea and they will bring more for the morning."
"Did Rudolph think that anything dreadful had happened to Louis?" asked Edna after a pause.
"No, he seemed to think that no one could take the boat without Dick Fenton's knowledge, and said that anyhow there were no oars34 in it, as Dick always took the oars up to the house."
It was a great relief to hear this, and Edna began to feel much more hopeful. "Only," she said, "I don't see why he didn't come back."
"That is where the mystery is," acknowledged Miss Newman.
The mystery was not solved till an hour later when not only Rudolph, but Louis himself appeared. Miss Eloise was entertaining Edna with a story that the time might not hang too heavily. The bad weather had made a porch party out of the question, and this afternoon Edna was the only listener. The fairy prince had but just entered into the tale when a knock at the door scattered35 all hope of his ever being recognized as the little bird on a bough36.
Edna flew to the door, reaching it less clumsily this time as she had resumed her own frock which 94was now quite dry. "It's Louis! It's Louis!" she screamed. "Oh, Louis, why didn't you come? I was in such a trouble about you."
"Well, I'll tell you how it was," said Louis, entering the room. "It wasn't my fault at all. I went down and got into the boat, but I found there were no oars, so of course there wasn't any use for me to try to go out in it. While I was sitting there Dick came along; he's the man the boat belongs to, you know. 'Hallo, sonny,' he said, 'Waiting for a trip to sea?' I said I was just sitting there pretending I was out at sea. 'I'm going to draw my pots,' he said, 'Want to come along?' Now, you know, Edna, of course I couldn't miss such a chance as that, for I had never seen anyone draw lobster-pots, so of course I said yes, I'd like to go. I didn't think we would be gone very long, and I knew you would stay until we got back. I never thought about the tide coming in, or would have made Dick wait till I had gone to tell you not to wait."
"You should have gone to tell her anyhow," said Miss Newman severely37. "It was inexcusable to leave a little girl all that time by herself."
"Well, but you see," said Louis in self-defence, "I was afraid Dick wouldn't wait for me."
"You could have asked him whether he would."
Louis did not reply but hurried on with his story. In his heart of hearts he was conscious of having neglected his cousin for the sake of his own amusement, and had really no excuse to offer. "Well, so 95I got in the boat and we went off. It was further than I thought, but just the minute we got back I went right around to the cave, or at least I tried to get there. Gee38! when I saw it was full of water, wasn't I scared for a minute? Then I said to myself, 'Edna's not such a fool as to stay and get drowned. Of course she's gone home,' but just the same I thought I'd better go see, so I went back to Mrs. Ramsey's, or at least I started to go, but I met Rudolph and he told me where you were and that everybody was kicking up a fuss about me, so I came back with him, and here I am."
It was all so little of a tragedy, and all Edna's alarm had been due merely to the thoughtlessness of one careless and selfish boy, so no one felt the least sympathy with Louis when he said. "I missed my dinner, too."
"Serves him right," said Rudolph, under his breath to Miss Newman.
"Then I would advise you to go straight home to your mother," said Miss Newman in her most freezing manner, "and I hope it is the last time Edna ever trusts herself to your tender mercies."
Here Miss Eloise held out her arms and gathered Edna to her with kisses and caresses39, whispering to her that she was a darling child.
Louis looked a little ashamed, but was evidently so much more sorry for himself at missing his dinner than for Edna in any state of mind or body, that no one detained him when he said he would go 96to his mother. Rudolph did not offer to see him on his way, but turning to Edna said, "Whenever you are ready to go I can take you to Mrs. Ramsey's as easily as not. We haven't our motor-car this year, but I can drive over in the surrey."
Edna thanked him and he went off promising40 to return in half an hour. Neither Miss Newman nor Miss Eloise made any comment upon Louis, but Edna was perfectly41 aware that they did not approve of him. She wished Louis were not so selfish, and she looked back to the time when she and her cousin were together at school, with Uncle Justus and Aunt Elizabeth. Louis was really nicer then, though more than once, even at that time, he had put Edna at disadvantage. She looked so sober that Miss Eloise asked what she was thinking about.
"I wouldn't think about him," said Miss Eloise with more spirit than she usually displayed.
"What that boy needs is to go to boarding school," said Miss Newman firmly. "He ought to be where there are a lot of other boys to teach him he is of no importance whatever."
"He was so unhappy at Uncle Justus's school that his mother says he shall never go away to school again," remarked Edna.
"Poor boy, then there is no hope for him," replied Miss Newman.
Edna did not exactly understand what this meant, but she did not say so, but seeing she still looked very sober, Miss Eloise changed the subject, and began talking of Edna's friends, Dorothy and Jennie. "Why didn't you all play together, Edna?" she asked. "I thought you three little girls were inseparable."
Edna hung her head. She wanted to shield Louis, but at the same time she did not want to say anything against her two friends. Finally she compromised by saying, "Boys don't like to play with dolls."
"Oh, I see," said Miss Eloise with a smile, for Edna's words had given the key to the situation.
It was not long before Rudolph appeared with the surrey. He brought a warm coat of his sister's to wrap Edna up in, and they set off after Edna had given earnest thanks to her entertainers.
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1
cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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2
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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5
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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6
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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7
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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9
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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11
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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12
landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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13
hummocks
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| n.小丘，岗( hummock的名词复数 ) | |
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14
impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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15
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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16
grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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18
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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21
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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22
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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24
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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25
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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26
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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27
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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28
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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30
annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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31
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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32
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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33
waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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34
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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36
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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37
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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38
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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39
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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40
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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41
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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42
laconic
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| adj.简洁的；精练的 | |
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