HEELS together. Hips1 firm, one, two, three, four—Irene McCullough! Will you keep your shoulders back and your stomach in? How many times must I tell you to stand straight? That's better! We'll start again. One, two, three, four."
The exercise droned on. Some twenty of the week's delinquents2 were working off demerits. It was uncongenial work for a sunny Saturday. The twenty pairs of eyes gazed beyond Miss Jellings' head—across ropes and rings and parallel bars—toward the green tree tops and the blue sky; and twenty girls, for that brief hour, regretted their past badnesses.
Miss Jellings herself seemed to be a bit[310] on edge. She snapped out her orders with a curtness4 that brought a jerkily quick response from forty waving Indian clubs. As she stood straight and slim in her gymnasium suit, her cheeks flushed with exercise, she looked quite as young as any of her pupils. But if she appeared young, she also appeared determined6. No instructor7 in the school, not even Miss Lord in Latin, kept stricter discipline.
"One, two, three, four—Patty Wyatt! Keep your eyes to the front. It isn't necessary for you to watch the clock. I shall dismiss the class when I am ready. Over your heads. One, two, three, four." Finally, when nerves were almost at the breaking point, came the grateful order, "Attention! Right about face. March. Clubs in racks. Double quick. Halt. Break ranks."
"Thank heaven, there's only one more week of it!" Patty breathed, as they regained11 their own quarters in Paradise Alley12.[311]
"Isn't Jelly awful?" Patty demanded, still smarting from the recent insult. "She never used to be so bad. What on earth has got into her?"
"She is pretty snappy," Priscilla agreed. "But I like her just the same. She's so—so sort of spirited, you know—like a skittish14 horse."
"Urn," growled15 Patty. "I'd like to see a good, big, husky man get the upper hand of Jelly once, and just make her toe the mark!"
"You two will have to hurry," Priscilla warned, "if you want to get into your costumes up here. Martin starts in half an hour."
The fancy-dress lawn fête, which St. Ursula's School held on the last Friday in every May, had occurred the evening before; and this afternoon the girls were redonning[312] their costumes to make a trip to the village photographer's. The complicated costumes, that required time and space for their proper adjustment, were to be assumed at the school and driven down in the hearse. Those more simple of arrangement were to go in the trolley17 car, and be donned in the cramped18 quarters of the gallery dressing19-room.
Patty and Conny, whose make-up was a very delicate matter, were dressing at the school. They had gone as Gypsies—not comic opera Gypsies, but real Gypsies, dirty and ragged20 and patched. (They had daily dusted the room with their costumes for a week before the fête.) Patty wore one brown stocking and one black, with a conspicuous21 hole in the right calf22. Conny's toes protruded23 from one shoe, and the sole of the other flapped. Their hair was unkempt and the stain on their faces streaked24. They were the last word in realism.
They scrambled25 into their dresses to-day with little ceremony, and hitched26 them together anyhow. Conny caught up a tambourine27 and Patty a worn-out pack of cards,[313] and they clattered28 down the tin-covered back stairs. In the lower hall they came face to face with Miss Jellings, clothed in cool muslin, and in a more affable frame of mind. Patty never held her grudges29 long; she had already forgotten her momentary30 indignation at not being allowed to look at the clock.
"You cross-a my hand with silver? I tell-a your fortune."
She danced up to the gymnasium teacher with a flutter of scarlet32 petticoats, and poked33 out a dirty hand.
"Nice-a fortune," Conny added with a persuasive34 rattle35 of the tambourine. "Tall, dark-a young man."
"You impudent36 little ragamuffins!" Miss Jellings took them each by the shoulder and turned them for inspection37. "What have you done to your faces?"
"Washed 'em in black coffee."
Miss Jellings shook her head and laughed.
"You're a disgrace to the school!" she pronounced. "Don't let any policeman see you, or he'll arrest you for vagabonds."[314]
"Patty! Conny!—Hurry up. The hearse is starting."
Priscilla appeared in the doorway38 and waved her gridiron frantically39. Priscilla, late about finding a costume, at the last moment had blasphemously40 gone as St. Laurence, draped in a sheet, with the kitchen broiler under her arm.
"We're coming! Tell him to wait." Patty dashed out.
"No—come on—we don't need coats."
The two raced down the drive after the wagonette—Martin never waited for laggards43; he let them run and catch up. They sprang onto the rear step; and half-a-dozen outstretched hands hauled them in, head first.
They found the photographer's waiting-room a scene of the maddest confusion. When sixty excited people occupy the normal space of twelve, the effect is not restful.
"Did anyone bring a button-hook?"
"Lend me some powder."[315]
"That's my safety-pin!"
"Is my hair a perfect sight?"
"Fasten me up—please!"
"Does my petticoat show?"
"I say, let's get out of this—I'm simply roasting!"
St. Laurence seized the Gypsies by the shoulder and shoved them into the vacant gallery. They squeezed themselves, with a sigh of relief, onto a shaky flight of six narrow stairs before the breezes of an open window.
"What?" asked the others, with interest.
"She's had a quarrel with that Laurence Gilroy man who is manager at the electric light place. Don't you remember how he used to be hanging about all the time? And now he never comes at all? He was out every day in the Christmas vacation. They[316] used to go walking together—and without any chaperone, too! You would think the Dowager would have made an awful fuss, but she didn't seem to. Anyway, you should have seen the way Miss Jellings treated that man—it was per-fect-ly dreadful! The way she jumps on Irene McCullough is nothing to the way she jumped on him."
"He doesn't have to work off demerits. He's a fool to stand it," said Conny simply.
"He doesn't stand it any more."
"How do you know?"
"Well, I—sort of heard. I was in the library alcove48 one day in the Christmas vacation, reading the 'Murders in the Rue49 Morgue,' when Jelly and Mr. Gilroy walked in. They didn't see me, and I didn't pay any attention to them at first—I'd just got to the place where the detective says, 'Is that the mark of a human hand?'—but pretty soon they got to scrapping50 so that I couldn't help but hear, and I felt sort of embarrassed about interrupting."[317]
"What did they say?" asked Conny, impatiently brushing aside her apologies.
"I didn't grasp it entirely51. He was trying to explain about something, and she wouldn't listen to a word he said—she was perfectly52 horrid53. You know,—the way she is when she says, 'I understand it perfectly. I don't care to hear any excuse. You may take ten demerits, and report on Saturday for extra gymnasium.'—Well, they kept that up for fifteen minutes, both of 'em getting stiffer and stiffer. Then he took his hat and went. And you know, I don't believe he ever came back—I've never seen him. And now, she's sorry. She's been as cross as a bear ever since."
"Yes, she can," said Patty. "But she's too cocky. I'd just like to see that man come back, and show her her place!"
The masqueraders trooped in and the serious business of the day commenced. The school posed as a whole, then an infinity55 of smaller groups disentangled themselves and[318] posed separately, while those who were not in the picture stood behind the camera and made the others laugh.
"Young ladies!" the exasperated56 photographer implored57. "Will you kindly58 be quiet for just two seconds? You have made me spoil three plates. And will that monk59 on the end stop giggling60? Now! All ready. Please keep your eyes on the stove-pipe hole, and hold your positions while I count three. One, two, three—thank you very much!"
He removed his plate with a flourish, and dove into the dark room.
It was Patty's and Conny's turn to be taken alone, but St. Ursula and her Eleven Thousand Virgins61 were clamoring for precedence on the ground of superior numbers, and they made such a turmoil62 that the two Gypsies politely stood aside.
Keren Hersey, as St. Ursula, and eleven little Junior A's—each playing the manifold part of a Thousand Virgins—made up the group. It was to be a symbolical63 picture, Keren explained.[319]
When the Gypsies' turn came a second time, Patty had the misfortune to catch her dress on a nail and tear a three-cornered rent in the front. It was too large a hole for even a Gypsy to carry off with propriety64; she retired65 to the dressing-room and fastened the edges together with white basting66 thread.
Finally, last of all, they presented themselves in their dirt and tatters. The photographer was an artist, and he received them with appreciative67 delight. The others had been patently masqueraders, but these were the real thing. He photographed them dancing, and wandering on a lonely moor68 with threatening canvas clouds behind them. He was about to take them in a forest, with a camp fire, and a boiling kettle slung69 from three sticks—when Conny suddenly became aware of a brooding quiet that had settled on the place.
"Where is everybody?"
She returned from a hasty excursion into the waiting-room, divided between consternation70 and laughter.
"Patty! The hearse has gone!—And[320] the street-car people are waiting on the corner by Marsh71 and Elkins's."
"Oh, the beasts! They knew we were in here." Patty dropped her three sticks and rose precipitately72. "Sorry!" she called to the photographer, who was busily dusting off the kettle. "We've got to run for it."
"And we haven't any coats!" wailed73 Conny. "Miss Wadsworth won't take us in the car in these clothes."
"She'll have to," said Patty simply. "She can't leave us on the corner."
They clattered downstairs, but wavered an instant in the friendly darkness of the doorway; there was no time, however, for maidenly74 hesitations75, and taking their courage in both hands, they plunged76 into the Saturday afternoon crowd that thronged77 Main Street.
"Heavens!" Conny whispered. "I feel like a circus parade."[321]
"Hurry!" Patty panted, taking her by the hand and beginning to run. "The car's stopped and they're getting in—Wait! Wait!" She frenziedly waved the tambourine above her head.
An express wagon42 at the crossing blocked their progress. The last of the Eleven Thousand Virgins climbed aboard, without once glancing over her shoulder; and the car, unheeding, clanged away, and became a yellow spot in the distance. The two Gypsies stood on the corner and stared at one another in blank interrogation.
"I haven't a cent—have you?"
"Not one."
"How are we going to get home?"
"I haven't an idea."
Patty felt her elbow jostled. She turned to find young John Drew Dominick Murphy, a protégé of the school, and an intimate acquaintance of her own, regarding her with impish delight.
"Hey, youse! Give us a song and dance."
"At least our friends don't recognize us,"[322] said Conny, drawing what comfort she could from her incognito79.
Quite a crowd had gathered by now, and it was rapidly growing larger. Pedestrians80 had to make a detour81 into the street in order to get past.
"It wouldn't take us long," said Patty, a spark of mischief82 breaking through the blankness of her face, "to earn money enough for a carriage—you thump83 the tambourine and I'll dance the sailor's hornpipe."
"Patty! Behave yourself." Conny for once brought a dampening supply of common sense to bear on her companion. "We're going to graduate in another week. For goodness' sake, don't let's get expelled first."
She grasped her by the elbow and shoved her insistently84 down a side street. John Drew Murphy and his friends followed for several blocks, but having gazed their fill, and perceiving that the Gypsies had no entertainment to offer, they gradually dropped away.
"Well, what shall we do?" asked Conny[323] when they had finally shaken off the last of the small boys.
"I s'pose we could walk."
"Walk!" Conny exhibited her flapping sole. "You don't expect me to walk three miles in that shoe?"
"Very well," said Patty. "What shall we do?"
"We might go back to the photographer's and borrow some car-fare."
"No! I'm not going to parade myself the length of Main Street again with that hole in my stocking."
"I suppose we could go to the livery stable and—"
"It's on the other side of town—I can't flap all that distance. Every time I take a step, I have to lift my foot ten inches high."
"I think the simplest way would be to[324] take a car, and ask the conductor to charge it to us."
"Yes—and explain for the benefit of all the passengers that we belong at St. Ursula's School? It would be all over town by night, and the Dowager would be furious."
"Very well—what shall we do?"
They were standing87 at the moment before a comfortable frame house with three children romping88 on the veranda89. The children left off their play to come to the top of the steps and stare.
"Come on!" Patty urged. "We'll sing the 'Gypsy Trail.'" (This was the latest song that had swept the school.) "I'll play an accompaniment on the tambourine, and you can flap your sole. Maybe they'll give us ten cents. It would be a beautiful lark90 to earn our car-fare home—I'm sure it's worth ten cents to hear me sing."
Conny glanced up and down the deserted91 street. No policeman was in sight. She grudgingly92 allowed herself to be drawn93 up the walk, and the music began. The children applauded loudly; and the two were[325] just congratulating themselves on a very credible94 performance, when the door opened and a woman appeared—a first cousin to Miss Lord.
"Stop that noise immediately! There's somebody sick inside."
The tone also was reminiscent of Latin. They turned and ran as fast as Conny's flapping sole would take her. When they had put three good blocks between themselves and the Latin woman, they dropped down on a friendly stepping-stone, and leaned against each other's shoulders and laughed.
"Here, you!" he ordered. "Move on."
They got up, meekly96, and moved on several blocks further. They were going in exactly the opposite direction from St. Ursula's school, but they couldn't seem to hit on anything else to do, so they kept on moving mechanically. They had arrived in the outskirts97 of the village by now, and they presently found themselves face to face with a[326] tall chimney and a group of low buildings set in a wide enclosure—the water-works and electric plant.
A light of hope dawned in Patty's eyes.
"I'll tell you! We'll go and ask Mr. Gilroy to take us home in his automobile98."
"Do you know him?" Conny asked dubiously99. She had received so many affronts100 that she was growing timid.
"Yes! I know him intimately. He was under foot every minute during the Christmas vacation. We had a snow fight one day. Come on! He'll love to run us out. It will give him an excuse to make up with Jelly."
They passed up a narrow tarred walk toward the brick building labeled "Office." Four clerks and a typewriter girl in the outer office interrupted their work to laugh as the two apparitions101 appeared in the door. The young man nearest them whirled his chair around in order to get a better view.
"Hello, girls!" he said with cheerful familiarity. "Where'd you spring from?"
The typewriter, meanwhile, was making[327] audible comments upon the discrepancies102 in Patty's hosiery.
Patty's face flushed darkly under the coffee.
"We have called to see Mr. Gilroy," she said with dignity.
"This is Mr. Gilroy's busy day," the young man grinned. "Wouldn't you rather talk to me?"
"Please tell Mr. Gilroy—at once—that we are waiting to speak to him."
"Certainly! I beg your pardon." The young man sprang to his feet with an air of elaborate politeness. "Will you kindly give me your cards?"
"I don't happen to have a card with me to-day. Just say that two ladies wish to speak with him."
"Ah, yes. One moment, please—Won't you be seated?"
He offered his own chair to Patty, and bringing forward another, presented it to Conny with a Chesterfieldian bow. The clerks tittered delightedly at this bit of[328] comedy acting104, but the Gypsies did not condescend105 to think it funny. They accepted the chairs with a frigid106, "Thank you," and sat stiffly upright staring at the wastebasket in their most distant society manner. While the deferential107 young man was conveying the message to the private office of his chief, public comment advanced from Patty's stockings to Conny's shoes. He returned presently, and with unruffled politeness invited them please to step this way. He ushered108 them in with a bow.
Mr. Gilroy was writing, and it was a second before he glanced up. His eyes widened with astonishment—the clerk had delivered the message verbatim. He leaned back in his chair and studied the ladies from head to foot, then emitted a curt5:
"Well?"
There was not a trace of recognition in his glance.
Patty's only intention had been to announce their identity, and invite him to deliver them at St. Ursula's door, but Patty was incapable109 of approaching any matter by[329] the direct route when a labyrinth110 was also available. She drew a deep breath, and to Conny's consternation, plunged into the labyrinth.
"You Mr. Laurence K. Gilroy?" she dropped a curtsy. "I come find-a you."
"So I see," said Mr. Laurence K. Gilroy, dryly. "And now that you've found me, what do you want?"
"I want tell-a your fortune," Patty glibly111 dropped into the lingo112 she and Conny had practised on the school the night before. "You cross-a my hand with silver—I tell-a your fortune."
This was no situation of Conny's choosing, but she was always staunchly game.
"Nice-a fortune," she backed Patty up. "Tall young lady. Ver' beautiful."
"Well, of all the nerve!"
Mr. Gilroy leaned back in his chair and regarded them severely113, but with a gleam of amusement flickering114 through.
"Where did you get my name?" he demanded.
Patty waved her hand airily toward the[330] open window and the distant horizon—as it showed between the coal sheds and the dynamo building.
"Gypsy peoples, dey learn signs," she explained lucidly115. "Sky, wind, clouds—all talk—but you no understand. I get message for you—Mr. Laurence K. Gilroy—and we come from long-a way off to tell-a your fortune." With a pathetic little gesture, she indicated their damaged foot gear. "Ver' tired. We travel far."
Mr. Gilroy put his hand in his pocket and produced two silver half dollars.
"Here's your money. Now be honest! What sort of a bunco game is this? And where in thunder did you get my name?"
"We tell-a your fortune," said Conny, with business-like directness. She brought out the pack of cards, plumped herself cross-legged on the floor, and dealt them out in a wide circle. Patty seized the gentleman's hand in her two coffee-stained little paws, and[331] turned it palm up for inspection. He made an embarrassed effort to draw away, but she clung with the tenacious118 grip of a monkey.
"I see a lady!" she announced with promptitude.
"Tall young lady—brown eyes, yellow hair, ver' beautiful," Conny echoed from the floor, as she leaned forward and intently studied the queen of hearts.
"But she make-a you lot of trouble," Patty added, frowning over a blister119 on his hand. "I see li'l' quarrel."
Mr. Gilroy's eyes narrowed. In spite of himself, he commenced to be interested.
"You like-a her very much," pronounced Conny from below.
"But you never see her any more," chimed in Patty. "One—two—three—four months, you no see her, no spik with her." She looked up into his startled eyes. "But you think about her every day!"
He made a quick movement of withdrawal120, and Patty hastily added a further detail.
"Dat tall young lady, she ver' unhappy[332] too. She no laugh no more like she used."
He arrested the movement and waited with a touch of anxious curiosity to hear what was coming next.
"She feel ver' bad—ver' cross, ver' unhappy. She thinks always 'bout8 that li'l' quarrel. Four months she sit and wait—but you never come back."
His unexpected visitors had dropped from the sky at the psychological moment. For two straight hours that afternoon he had been sitting at his desk grappling with the problem, which they, in their broken English, were so ably handling. Should he swallow a great deal of pride, and make another plea for justice? St. Ursula's vacation was at hand; in a few days more she would be gone—and very possibly she would never come back. The world at large was full of men, and Miss Jellings had a taking way.
"One—More—Chance!" She spoke with the authority of a Grecian sibyl. "You try again, you win. No try, you lose."
Patty leaned over Conny's shoulder, eager to supply a salutary bit of advice.
"Dat tall young lady too much—" she hesitated a moment for fitting expression—"too much head in air. Too bossy123. You make-a her mind? Understand?"
"I see 'nother man," she murmured. "Red hair and—and—fat. Not too good-looking but—"
"Very dangerous!" interpolated Patty. "You have no time to waste. He comes soon."
Now, they had fabricated this detail out of nothing in the world but pure fancy and the Jack of Diamonds, but as it happened, they had touched an open wound. It was an exact description of a certain rich young man in the neighboring city, who loaded Miss Jellings with favors, and whom Mr.[334] Gilroy detested126 from the bottom of his soul. All that afternoon, mixed in with his promptings and hesitations and travail127 of spirit, had loomed128 large, the fair, plump features of his fancied rival. Mr. Gilroy was a common-sense young business man, as free as most from superstition129; but when a man's in love he is open to omens130.
He stared fixedly131 about the familiar office and out at the coal sheds and dynamo, to make sure that he was still on solid earth. His gaze came back to his visitors from the sky in absolute, anxious, pleading bewilderment.
They were studying the cards again in a frowning endeavor to wrest132 a few further items from their overtaxed imaginations. Patty felt that she had already given him fifty cents' worth, and was wondering how to bring the interview to a graceful133 end. She realized that they had carried the farce134 too impertinently far, ever to be able to announce their identity and suggest a ride home. The only course now, was to preserve their incognito, make good their escape, and get back as best[335] they could—at least they had a dollar to aid in the journey!
She glanced up, mentally framing a peroration135.
"I see good-a fortune," she commenced, "if—"
Her glance passed him to the open window, and her heart missed a beat. Mrs. Trent and Miss Sarah Trent, come to complain about the new electric lights, were serenely descending136 from their carriage, not twenty feet away.
Patty's hand clutched Conny's shoulder in a spasmodic grasp.
With a sweep of her hand, Patty scrambled the cards together and rose. There would be no chance to escape by the door; the Dowager's voice was already audible in the outer office.
"Goo' by!" said Patty, springing to the window. "Gypsies call. We must go."
She scrambled over the sill and dropped eight feet to the ground. Conny followed.[336] They were both able pupils of Miss Jellings.
Mr. Laurence K. Gilroy, open-mouthed, stood staring at the spot where they had been. The next instant, he was bowing courteously138 to the principals of St. Ursula's, and striving hard to concentrate a dazed mind upon the short-circuit in the West Wing.
Patty and Conny left the car—and a number of interested passengers—at the corner before they reached the school. Circumnavigating the wall, until they were opposite the stables, they approached the house modestly by the back way. They had the good fortune to encounter no one more dangerous than the cook (who gave them some gingerbread) and they ultimately reached their home in Paradise Alley none the worse for the adventure—and ninety cents to the good.
When the long, light evenings came, St. Ursula's no longer filled in the interim139 between dinner and evening study with indoor[337] dancing, but romped140 about on the lawn outside. To-night, being Saturday, there was no evening study to call them in, and everybody was abroad. The school year was almost over, the long vacation was at hand—the girls were as full of bubbling spirits as sixty-four young lambs. Games of blindman's-buff, and pussy-wants-a-corner, and cross-tag were all in progress at once. A band of singers on the gymnasium steps was drowning out a smaller band on the porte-cochère; half-a-dozen hoop-rollers were trotting141 around the oval, and scattered142 groups of strollers, meeting in the narrow paths, were hailing each other with cheerful calls.
Patty and Conny and Priscilla, washed and dressed and chastened, were wandering arm in arm through the summer twilight143, talking—a trifle soberly—of the long-looked-forward-to future that was now so oppressively close upon them.
"You know," Patty spoke with a sort of frightened gulp—"in another week we'll be grown-up!"
They stopped and silently looked back[338] toward the gay crowd romping on the lawn, toward the big brooding house, that through four tempestuous144, hilarious145, care-free years had sheltered them so kindly. Grown-upness seemed a barren state. They longed to stretch out their hands and clutch the childhood that they had squandered146 with so little thought.
"Oh, it's horrible!" Conny breathed with sudden fierceness. "I want to stay young!"
In this unsocial mood, they refused an offered game of hare-and-hounds, and evading147 the singers on the gymnasium steps—the song was the "Gypsy Trail"—they sauntered on down the pergola to the lane, sprinkled with fallen apple blossoms. At the end of the lane, they came suddenly upon two other solitary148 strollers, and stopped short with a gasp149 of unbelieving wonder.
"It's Jelly!" Conny whispered.
"And Mr. Gilroy," Patty echoed.
"Shall we run?" asked Conny, in a panic.
"No," said Patty, "pretend not to notice him at all."[339]
The three advanced with eyes discreetly150 bent151 upon the ground, but Miss Jellings greeted them gaily152 as she passed. There was an intangible, excited, happy thrill about her manner—something electric, Patty said.
"Hello, you bad little Gypsies!"
It was a peculiarly infelicitous153 salutation, but she was smilingly unconscious of any slip.
"Gypsies?"
Mr. Gilroy repeated the word, and his benumbed faculties154 began to work. He stopped and scanned the trio closely. They were clothed in dainty muslin, three as sweet young girls as one would ever meet. But Patty and Conny, even in the failing light, were still noticeably brunette—it takes boiling water to get out coffee stain.
"Oh!"
He drew a deep breath of enlightenment, while many emotions struggled for supremacy155 in his face. Conny dropped her gaze embarrassedly to the ground; Patty threw back her head and faced him. He and she eyed each other for a silent instant. In that[340] glance, each asked the other not to tell—and each mutely promised.
The breeze brought the chorus of the "Gypsy Trail"; and as they sauntered on, Miss Jellings fell softly to humming the words in tune31 with the distant singers:
"And the Gypsy blood to the Gypsy blood
Ever the wide world over.
Ever the wide world over, lass,
Ever the trail held true
Over the world and under the world
And back at the last to you.
Follow the Romany patteran—"
The words died away in the shadows.
Conny and Patty and Priscilla stood hand in hand and looked after them.
"I'm glad of it!" Conny spoke with feeling. "She's much too nice to spend her whole life telling Irene McCullough to stand up straight and keep her stomach held in."[341]
"Anyway," Patty added, "he has no right to be angry, because—without us—he never would have dared."
They kept on across the meadow till they came to the pasture bars, where they leaned in a row with their heads tipped back, scanning the darkening sky. Miss Jellings's mood was somehow catching156; the little contretemps had stirred them strangely. They felt the thrill of the untried future, with Romance waiting around the corner.
"You know," Conny broke silence after a long pause—"I think, after all, maybe it will be sort of interesting."
"What?" asked Priscilla.
She stretched out her arm in a wide gesture that comprised the night.
"Oh, everything!"
Priscilla nodded understandingly, and presently added with an air of challenge:
"I've changed my mind. I don't believe I'll go to college."
"Not go to college!" Patty echoed blankly. "Why not?"
"I think—I'll get married instead."
"Oh!" Patty laughed softly. "I am going to do both!"
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
hips
|
|
| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
delinquents
|
|
| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
con
|
|
| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
curtness
|
|
| n.简短；草率；简略 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
curt
|
|
| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
instructor
|
|
| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
bout
|
|
| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
whoop
|
|
| n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
dispersed
|
|
| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
regained
|
|
| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
alley
|
|
| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
slipper
|
|
| n.拖鞋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
skittish
|
|
| adj.易激动的，轻佻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
growled
|
|
| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
plunging
|
|
| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
trolley
|
|
| n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
cramped
|
|
| a.狭窄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
dressing
|
|
| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
calf
|
|
| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
protruded
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
streaked
|
|
| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
hitched
|
|
| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
tambourine
|
|
| n.铃鼓，手鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
clattered
|
|
| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
grudges
|
|
| 不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
momentary
|
|
| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
tune
|
|
| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
poked
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
persuasive
|
|
| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
impudent
|
|
| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
blasphemously
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
shrieked
|
|
| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
laggards
|
|
| n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
cork
|
|
| n.软木，软木塞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
babbled
|
|
| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
ails
|
|
| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
alcove
|
|
| n.凹室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
rue
|
|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
scrapping
|
|
| 刮，切除坯体余泥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
horrid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
awfully
|
|
| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
infinity
|
|
| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
exasperated
|
|
| adj.恼怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
implored
|
|
| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
monk
|
|
| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
giggling
|
|
| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
virgins
|
|
| 处女，童男( virgin的名词复数 )； 童贞玛利亚（耶稣之母） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
turmoil
|
|
| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
symbolical
|
|
| a.象征性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
propriety
|
|
| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
basting
|
|
| n.疏缝；疏缝的针脚；疏缝用线；涂油v.打( baste的现在分词 )；粗缝；痛斥；（烤肉等时）往上抹[浇]油 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
appreciative
|
|
| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
moor
|
|
| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
slung
|
|
| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
consternation
|
|
| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
marsh
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
precipitately
|
|
| adv.猛进地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
wailed
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
maidenly
|
|
| adj. 像处女的, 谨慎的, 稳静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
hesitations
|
|
| n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
thronged
|
|
| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
squealed
|
|
| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
incognito
|
|
| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
pedestrians
|
|
| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
detour
|
|
| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
thump
|
|
| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
insistently
|
|
| ad.坚持地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
romping
|
|
| adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
veranda
|
|
| n.走廊；阳台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
lark
|
|
| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
grudgingly
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
credible
|
|
| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
mowing
|
|
| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
meekly
|
|
| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
outskirts
|
|
| n.郊外，郊区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
automobile
|
|
| n.汽车，机动车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
dubiously
|
|
| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
affronts
|
|
| n.（当众）侮辱，（故意）冒犯( affront的名词复数 )v.勇敢地面对( affront的第三人称单数 )；相遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
apparitions
|
|
| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
discrepancies
|
|
| n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
haughtily
|
|
| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
condescend
|
|
| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
frigid
|
|
| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
deferential
|
|
| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
ushered
|
|
| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
incapable
|
|
| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
labyrinth
|
|
| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
glibly
|
|
| adv.流利地，流畅地；满口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
lingo
|
|
| n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
severely
|
|
| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
flickering
|
|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
lucidly
|
|
| adv.清透地，透明地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
evaded
|
|
| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
inconvenient
|
|
| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
tenacious
|
|
| adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
blister
|
|
| n.水疱；(油漆等的)气泡；v.(使)起泡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
withdrawal
|
|
| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
serenely
|
|
| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
bossy
|
|
| adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
chubby
|
|
| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
detested
|
|
| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
travail
|
|
| n.阵痛；努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
superstition
|
|
| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
omens
|
|
| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
fixedly
|
|
| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
wrest
|
|
| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
farce
|
|
| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
peroration
|
|
| n.（演说等之）结论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
descending
|
|
| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
interim
|
|
| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
romped
|
|
| v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
trotting
|
|
| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
twilight
|
|
| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
tempestuous
|
|
| adj.狂暴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
hilarious
|
|
| adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
squandered
|
|
| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
evading
|
|
| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
solitary
|
|
| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
gasp
|
|
| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
discreetly
|
|
| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
gaily
|
|
| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
infelicitous
|
|
| adj.不适当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
faculties
|
|
| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
supremacy
|
|
| n.至上；至高权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
catching
|
|
| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |