So the Captain, the Colonial Secretary, and the small midshipman left the station and went on board again, disappearing from this history for evermore. The others all went home and grew warlike, arming themselves against the threatened danger; but still weeks, nay2 months, rolled on, and winter was turning into spring, and yet the country side remained so profoundly tranquil3 that every one began to believe that the convicts must after all have been drowned, and that the boat found by sagacious Blockstrop had been capsized and thrown bottom upwards4 on the beach. So that, before the brown flocks began to be spotted5 with white lambs, all alarm had gone by.
Only four persons, besides Mary Hawker herself, were conversant6 of the fact that the Bushranger and George Hawker were the same man. Of these only three, the Doctor, Major Buckley, and Captain Brentwood, knew of his more recent appearance on the shore, and they, after due consultation7, took honest Tom Troubridge into their confidence.
But, as I said, all things went so quietly for two months, that at the end of that time no one thought any more of bushrangers than they would of tigers. And just about this time, I, Geoffry Hamlyn, having finished my last consignment9 of novels from England, and having nothing to do, determined10 to ride over, and spend a day or two with Major Buckley.
But when I rode up to the door at Baroona, having pulled my shirt collar up, and rapped at the door with my whip, out came the housekeeper11 to inform me there was not a soul at home. This was deeply provoking, for I had got on a new pair of riding trousers, which had cost money, and a new white hat with a blue net veil (rather a neat thing too), and I had ridden up to the house under the idea that fourteen or fifteen persons were looking at me out of window. I had also tickled13 my old horse, Chanticleer, to make him caper14 and show the excellency of my seat. But when I came to remember that the old horse had nearly bucked15 me over his head instead of capering16, and to find that my hat was garnished17 with a large cobweb of what is called by courtesy native silk, with half-a-dozen dead leaves sticking in it, I felt consoled that no one had seen me approach, and asked the housekeeper, with tolerable equanimity18, where they were all gone.
They were all gone, she said, over to Captain Brentwood’s, and goodness gracious knew when they would be back again. Mrs. Hawker and Mr. Charles were gone with them. For her part, she should not be sorry when Mr. Sam brought Miss Brentwood over for good and all. The house was terrible lonesome when they were all away.
I remarked, “Oho!” and asked whether she knew if Mr. Troubridge was at Toonarbin.
No, she said; he was away again at Port Phillip with store cattle; making a deal of money, she understood, and laying out a deal for the Major in land. She wished he would marry Mrs. Hawker and settle down, for he was a pleasant gentleman, and fine company in a house. Wouldn’t I get off and have a bit of cold wild duck and a glass of sherry?
Certainly I would. So I gave my horse to the groom19 and went in. I had hardly cut the first rich red slice from the breast of a fat teal, when I heard a light step in the passage, and in walked my man Dick. You remember him, reader. The man we saw five and twenty years ago on Dartmoor, combining with William Lee to urge the unhappy George Hawker on to ruin and forgery20, which circumstance, remember, I knew nothing of at this time. The same man I had picked up footsore and penniless in the bush sixteen years ago, and who had since lived with me, a most excellent and clever servant — the best I ever had. This man now came into Major Buckley’s parlour, hat in hand, looking a little foolish, and when I saw him my knife and fork were paralyzed with astonishment21.
“Why, what the Dickens” (I used that strong expression) “brings you here, my lad?”
“I went up to Hipsley’s about the colt,” he said, “and when I got home I found you were gone off unexpectedly; so I thought it better to come after you and tell you all about it. He won’t take less than thirty-five.”
“Man! man!” I said, “do you mean to say that you have ridden fifty miles to tell me the price of a leggy beast like that, after I had told you that twentyfour was my highest offer?”
He looked very silly, and I saw very well he had some other reason for coming than that. But with a good servant I never ask too many questions, and when I went out a short time after, and found him leaning against a fence, and talking earnestly to our old acquaintance William Lee, I thought, “He wanted an excuse to come up and see his old friend Lee. That is quite just and proper, and fully23 accounts for it.”
Lee always paid me the high compliment of touching24 his hat to me, for old Devon’ sake, I suppose. “How’s all at Toonarbin, Lee?” I asked.
“Well and hearty25, sir. How is yourself, sir?”
“Getting older, Lee. Nothing worse than that. Dick, I am going on to Captain Brentwood’s. If you like to go back to Toonarbin and stay a day or two with Lee, you can do so.”
“I would rather come on with you, sir,” he said eagerly.
“Are you sure?” I said.
“Quite sure, sir.” And Lee said, “You go on with Mr. Hamlyn, Dick, and do your duty, mind.”
I thought this odd; but, knowing it was useless to ask questions of an old hand, or try to get any information which was not volunteered, I held my tongue and departed, taking Dick with me.
I arrived at Captain Brentwood’s about three o’clock in the afternoon. I flatter myself that I made a very successful approach, and created rather a sensation among the fourteen or fifteen people who were sitting in the verandah. They took me for a distinguished26 stranger. But when they saw who it was they all began calling out to me at once to know how I was, and to come in (as if I wasn’t coming in), and when at last I got among them, I nearly had my hand shaken off; and the Doctor, putting on his spectacles and looking at me for a minute, asked what I had given for my hat?
Let me see, who was there that day? There was Mary Hawker, looking rather older, and a little worn; and there was her son Charles sitting beside pretty Ellen Mayford, and carrying on a terrible flirtation27 with that young lady, in spite of her fat jolly-looking mother, who sat with folded hands beside her. Next to her sat her handsome brother Cecil, looking, poor lad! as miserable28 as he well could look, although I did not know the cause. Then came Sam, beside his mother, whose noble happy face was still worth riding fifty miles to see; and then, standing29 beside her chair, was Alice Brentwood.
I had never seen this exquisite30 creature before, and I immediately fell desperately31 and hopelessly in love with her, and told her so that same evening, in the presence of Sam. Finding that my affection was not likely to be returned, I enrolled32 myself as one of her knights33, and remain so to this present time.
The Major sat beside his wife, and the Doctor and Captain Brentwood walked up and down, talking politics. There were also present, certain Hawbucks, leggy youths with brown faces and limp hair, in appearance and dress not unlike English steeplechaseriders who had been treated, on the face and hands, with walnut-juice. They never spoke34, and the number of them then present I am uncertain about, but one of them I recollect35 could spit a great deal farther than any of his brothers, and proved it beyond controversy36 about twice in every three minutes.
I missed my old friend Jim Brentwood, and was informed that he had gone to Sydney, “on the spree,” as Sam expressed it, along with a certain Lieutenant37 Halbert, who was staying on a visit with Major Buckley.
First I sat down by Mary Hawker, and had a long talk with her about old times. She was in one of her gay moods, and laughed and joked continuously. Then I moved up, by invitation, to a chair between the Major and his wife, and had a long private and confidential38 conversation with them.
“How,” I began, “is Tom Troubridge?”
“Tom is perfectly39 well,” said the Major. “He still carries on his old chronic40 flirtation with Mary; and she is as ready to be flirted41 with as ever.”
“Why don’t they marry?” I asked, peevishly42. “Why on earth don’t they marry one another? What is the good of carrying on that old folly43 so long? They surely must have made up their minds by now. She knows she is a widow, and has known it for years.”
“Good God! Hamlyn, are you so ignorant?” said the Major. And then he struck me dumb by telling me of all that had happened latterly: of George Hawker’s reappearance, of his identity with the great bushranger, and, lastly, of his second appearance not two months before.
“I tell you this in strict confidence, Hamlyn, as one of my oldest and best friends. I know how deeply your happiness is affected44 by all this.”
I remained silent and thunderstruck for a time, and then I tried to turn the conversation:—
“Have you had any alarm from bushrangers lately? I heard a report of some convicts having landed on the coast.”
“All a false alarm!” said the Major. “They were drowned, and the boat washed ashore45, bottom upwards.”
Here the Doctor broke in: “Hamlyn, is not this very queer weather?”
When he called my attention to it, I remarked that the weather was really different from any I had seen before, and said so.
The sky was grey and dull, the distances were clear, and to the eye it appeared merely a soft grey autumnal day. But there was something very strange and odd in the deadly stillness of all nature. Not a leaf moved, not a bird sang, and the air seemed like lead. At once Mrs. Buckley remarked —
“I can’t work, and I can’t talk. I am so wretchedly nervous that I don’t know what to do with myself, and you know, my dear,” she said, appealing to her husband, “that I am not given to that sort of thing.”
Each man looked at his neighbour, for there was a sound in the air now a weird46 and awful sound like nothing else in nature. To the south arose upon the ear a hollow quivering hum, which swelled47 rapidly into a roar beneath our feet; there was a sickening shake, a thump48, a crash, and away went the earthquake, groaning49 off to the northward50.
The women behaved very well, though some of them began to cry; and hearing a fearful row in the kitchen I dashed off there, followed by the Doctor. The interior was a chaos51 of pots and kettles, in the centre of which sat the cook, Eleanor, holding on by the floor. Every now and then she would give a scream which took all the breath out of her; so she had to stop and fetch breath before she could give another. The Doctor stepped through the saucepans and camp-ovens, and trying to raise her said —
“Come, get up, my good woman, and give over screaming. All the danger is over, and you will frighten the ladies.”
At this moment she had got her “second wind,” and as he tried to get her up she gave such a yell that he dropped her again, and bolted, stopping his ears; bolted over a teakettle which had been thrown down, and fell prostrate52, resounding53 like an Homeric hero, on to a heap of kitchen utensils54, at the feet of Alice, who had come in to come see what the noise was about.
“Good Lord!” said he, picking himself up, “what lungs she has got! I shall have a singing in my ears to my dying day. Yar! it went through my head like a knife.”
Sam picked up the cook, and she, after a time, picked up her pots, giving, however, an occasional squall, and holding on by the dresser, under the impression that another earthquake was coming. We left her, however, getting dinner under way, and went back to the others, whom we soon set laughing by telling poor Eleanor’s misadventures.
We were all in good spirits now. A brisk cool wind had come up from the south, following the earthquake, making a pleasant rustle55 as it swept across the plain or tossed the forest boughs56. The sky had got clear, and the nimble air was so inviting57 that we rose as one body to stroll in groups about the garden and wander down to the river.
The brave old river was rushing hoarsely58 along, clear and full, between his ruined temple-columns of basalt, as of old. “What a grand salmon-river this would be, Major!” said I; “what pools and stickles are here! Ah! if we only could get the salmon-spawn through the tropics without its germinating59. — Can you tell me, Doctor, why these rocks should take the form of columns? Is there any particular reason for it that you know?”
“You have asked a very puzzling question,” he replied, “and I hardly know how to answer it. Nine geologists60 out of ten will tell you that basalt is lava61 cooled under pressure. But I have seen it in places where that solution was quite inapplicable. However, I can tell you that the same cause which set these pillars here, to wall the river, piled up yon Organ-hill, produced the caves of Widderin, the great crater62-hollow of Mirngish, and accommodated us with that brisk little earthquake which we felt just now. For you know that we mortals stand only on a thin crust of cooled matter, but beneath our feet is all molten metal.”
“I wish you could give us a lecture on these things, Doctor,” I said.
“To-morrow,” said he, “let us ride forth63 to Mirngish and have a picnic. There I will give you a little sketch64 of the origin of that hill.”
In front of the Brentwoods’ house the plains stretched away for a dozen miles or so, a bare sheet of grass with no timber, grey in summer, green in winter. About five miles off it began to roll into great waves, and then heaved up into a high bald hill, a lofty down, capped with black rocks, bearing in its side a vast round hollow, at the bottom of which was a little swamp, perfectly circular, fringed with a ring of white gum-trees, standing in such an exact circle that it was hard to persuade oneself that they were not planted by the hand of man. This was the crater of the old volcano. Had you stood in it, you would have remarked that one side was a shelving steep bank of short grass, while the other reared up some five hundred feet, a precipice65 of fire-eaten rock. At one end the lip had broken down, pouring a torrent66 of lava, now fertile grass-land, over the surrounding country, which little gap gave one a delicious bit of blue distance. All else, as I said, was a circular wall of grass, rock, and tumbled slag67.
This was Mirngish. And the day after the earthquake there was a fresh eruption68 in the crater. An eruption of horsemen and horse-women. An eruption of talk, laughter, pink-bonnets, knives and forks, and champagne69. Many a pleasant echo came ringing back from the old volcano-walls overhead, only used for so many ages to hear the wild rattle70 of the thunder and the scream of the hungry eagle.
Was ever a poor old worn-out grass-grown volcano used so badly? Here into the very pit of Tophet had the audacious Captain that very morning sent on a spring-cart of all eatables and drinkables, and then had followed himself with a dozen of his friends, to eat and drink, and talk and laugh, just in the very spot where of old roared and seethed71 the fire and brimstone of Erebus.
Yet the good old mountain was civil, for we were not blown into the air, to be a warning to all people picnicing in high places; but when we had eaten and drunk, and all the ladies had separately and collectively declared that they were SO fond of the smell of tobacco in the open air, we followed the Doctor, who led the way to the summit of the hill.
I arrived last, having dragged dear fat old Mrs. Mayford up the slippery steep. The Doctor had perched himself on the highest flame-worn crag, and when we all had grouped ourselves below him, and while the wind swept pleasantly through the grass, and rushed humming through the ancient rocks, he in a clear melodious72 voice thus began:—
“Of old the great sea heaved and foamed74 above the ground on which we stand; ay, above this, and above yon farthest snowy peak, which the westering sun begins to tinge75 with crimson76.
“But in the lapse77 of ten thousand changing centuries, the lower deeps, acted on by some Plutonic agency, began to grow shallow; and the imprisoned78 tides began to foam73 and roar as they struggled to follow the moon, their leader, angry to find that the stillness of their ancient domain79 was year by year invaded by the ever-rising land.
“At that time, had man been on the earth to see it, those towering Alps were a cluster of lofty islands, each mountain pass which divides them was a tide-swept fiord, in and out of which, twice in the day, age after age, rushed the sea, bringing down those vast piles of water-worn gravel80 which you see accumulated, and now covered with dense81 vegetation, at the mouth of each great valley.
“So twenty thousand years went on, and all this fair champagne country which we overlook became, first a sand-bank, then a dreary82 stretch of salt saturated83 desert, and then, as the roar of the retiring ocean grew fainter and fainter, began to sustain such vegetation as the Lord thought fit.
“A thousand years are but as yesterday to Him, and I can give you no notion as to how many hundred thousand years it took to do all this; or what productions covered the face of the country. It must have been a miserably84 poor region: nothing but the debris85 of granite86, sandstone, and slate87; perhaps here and there partially88 fertilized89 by rotting seaweed, dead fish and shells; things which would, we may assume, have appeared and flourished as the water grew shallower.
“New elements were wanting to make the country available for man, so soon to appear in his majesty90; and new elements were forthcoming. The internal fires so long imprisoned beneath the weight of the incumbent91 earth, having done their duty in raising the continent, began to find vent1 in every weak spot caused by its elevation92.
“Here where we stand, in this great crack between the granite and the sandstone, they broke out with all their wildest fury; hurling93 stones high in the air, making mid-day dark with clouds of ashes, and pouring streams of lava far and wide.
“So the country was desolated94 by volcanoes, but only desolated that it might grow greener and richer than ever, with a new and hitherto unknown fertility; for, as the surface of the lava disintegrated96, a new soil was found, containing all the elements of the old one, and many more. These are your black clay, and your red burnt soil, which, I take it, are some of the richest in the world.
“Then our old volcano, our familiar Mirngish, in whose crater we have been feasting, grew still for a time, for many ages probably; but after that I see the traces of another eruption; the worst, perhaps, that he ever accomplished97.
“He had exhausted98 himself, and gradually subsided99, leaving a perfect cup or crater, the accumulation of the ashes of a hundred eruptions100; nay, even this may have been filled with water, as is Mount Gambier, which you have not seen, forming a lake without a visible outlet101; the water draining off at that level where the looser scoriae begin.
“But he burst out again, filling this great hollow with lava, till the accumulation of the molten matter broke through the weaker part of the wall, and rolled away there, out of that gap to the northward, and forming what you now call the ‘stony rises,’— turning yon creek102 into steam, which by its explosive force formed that fantastic cap of rocks, and, swelling104 into great bubbles under the hot lava, made those long underground hollows which we now know as the caves of Bar-ca-nah.
“Is he asleep for ever? I know not. He may arise again in his wrath105 and fill the land with desolation; for that earthquake we felt yesterday was but a wild throe of the giant struggling to be free.
“Let us hope that he may not break his chains, for as I stand here gazing on those crimson Alps, the spirit of prophecy is upon me, and I can see far into the future, and all the desolate95 landscape becomes peopled with busy figures.
“I see the sunny slopes below me yellow with trellissed vines. They have gathered the vintage, and I hear them singing at the wine-press. They sing that the exhausted vineyards of the old world yield no wine so rare, so rich, as the fresh volcanic107 slopes of the southern continent, and that the princes of the earth send their wealth, that their hearts may get glad from the juice of the Australian grapes.
“Beyond I see fat black ridges108 grow yellow with a thousand cornfields. I see a hundred happy homesteads, half-hidden by clustering wheatstacks. What do they want with all that corn? say you; where is their market?
“There is their market! Away there on the barren forest ranges. See, the timber is gone, and a city stands there instead. What is that on the crest109 of the hill? A steam-engine; nay, see, there are five of them, working night and day, fast and busy. Their cranks gleam and flash under the same moon that grew red and lurid110 when old Mirngish vomited111 fire and smoke twenty thousand years ago. As I listen I can hear the grinding of the busy quartz-mill. What are they doing? you ask. They are gold-mining.
“They have found gold here, and gold in abundance, and hither have come, by ship and steamship112, all the unfortunate of the earth. The English factory labourer and the farmer-ridden peasant; the Irish pauper113; the starved Scotch114 Highlander115. I hear a grand swelling chorus rising above the murmur116 of the evening breeze; that is sung by German peasants revelling117 in such plenty as they never knew before, yet still regretting fatherland, and then I hear a burst of Italian melody replying. Hungarians are not wanting, for all the oppressed of the earth have taken refuge here, glorying to live under the free government of Britain; for she, warned by American experience, has granted to all her colonies such rights as the British boast of possessing.”
I did not understand him then. But, since I have seen the living wonder of Ballarat, I understand him well enough.
He ceased. But the Major cried out, “Go on, Doctor, go on. Look farther yet, and tell us what you see. Give us a bit more poetry while your hand is in.”
He faced round, and I fancied I could detect a latent smile about his mouth.
“I see,” said he, “a vision of a nation, the colony of the greatest race on the earth, who began their career with more advantages than ever fell to the lot of a young nation yet. War never looked on them. Not theirs was the lot to fight, like the Americans, through bankruptcy118 and inexperience towards freedom and honour. No. Freedom came to them, Heavensent, red-tape-bound, straight from Downing-street. Millions of fertile acres, gold in bushels were theirs, and yet ——”
“Go on,” said the Major.
“I see a vision of broken railway arches and ruined farms. I see a vision of a people surfeited119 with prosperity and freedom grown factious120, so that now one party must command a strong majority ere they can pass a law the goodness of which no one denies. I see a bankrupt exchequer121, a drunken Governor, an Irish ministry122, a ——”
“Come down out of that,” roared the Major, “before I pull you down. You’re a pretty fellow to come out for a day’s pleasure! Jeremiah was a saint to him,” he added, turning appealingly to the rest of us. “Hear my opinion, ‘per contra,’ Doctor. I’ll be as near right as you.”
“Go on, then,” said the Doctor.
“I see,” began the Major, “the Anglo–Saxon race —”
“Don’t forget the Irish, Jews, Germans, Chinese, and other barbarians,” interrupted the Doctor.
“Asserting,” continued the Major, scornfully, “as they always do, their right to all the unoccupied territories of the earth.”
(“Blackfellow’s claims being ignored,” interpolated the Doctor.)
“And filling all the harbours of this magnificent country ——”
(“Want to see them.”)
“With their steamships123 and their sailing vessels124. Say there be gold here, as I believe there is, the time must come when the mines will be exhausted. What then? With our coals we shall supply ——”
(“Newcastle,” said the Doctor, again.)
“The British fleets in the East Indies ——”
“And compete with Borneo,” said the Doctor, quietly, “which contains more coal than ever India will burn, at one-tenth the distance from her that we are. If that is a specimen125 of your prophecies, Major, you are but a Micaiah after all.”
“Well,” said the Major, laughing, “I cannot reel it off quite so quick as you; but think we shall hardly have time for any more prophesying126; the sun is getting very low.”
We turned and looked to westward127. The lofty rolling snow-downs had changed to dull lead colour, as the sun went down in a red haze128 behind them; only here and there some little elevated pinnacle129 would catch the light. Below the mountain lay vast black sheets of woodland, and nearer still was the river, marked distinctly by a dense and rapidly-rising line of fog.
“We are going to have a fog and a frost,” said the Major. “We had better hurry home.”
Behind all the others rode Alice, Sam, and myself. I was fearful of being “de trop,” but when I tried to get forward to the laughing, chattering130, crowd in front, these two young lovers raised such an outcry that I was fain to stay with them, which I was well pleased to do.
Behind us, however, rode three mounted servants, two of Captain Brentwood’s, and my man Dick.
We were almost in sight of the river, nearly home in fact, when there arose a loud lamentation131 from Alice.
“Oh, my bracelet132! my dear bracelet! I have lost it.”
“Have you any idea where you dropped it?” I inquired.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I am sure it must have been when I fell down, scrambling134 up the rocks, just before the Doctor began his lecture. Just as I reached the top, you know, I fell down, and I must have lost it there.”
“I will ride back and find it, then, in no time,” I said.
“No, indeed, Uncle Jeff,” said Sam. “I will go back.”
“I use an uncle’s authority,” I replied, “and I forbid you. That miserable old pony135 of yours, which you have chosen to bring out today, has had quite work enough, without ten miles extra. I condescend136 to no argument; here I go.”
I turned, with a kind look from both of them, but ere I had gone ten yards, my servant Dick was alongside of me.
“Where are you going, sir?” said he.
“I am going back to Mirngish,” I replied. “Miss Alice has dropped her bracelet, and I am going back for it.”
“I will come with you, sir,” he said.
“Indeed no, Dick; there is no need. Go back to your supper, lad. I shan’t be long away.”
“I am coming with you, sir,” he replied. “Company is a good thing sometimes.”
“Well, boy,” I said, “if you will come, I shall be glad of your company; so come along.”
I had noticed lately that Dick never let me go far alone, but would always be with me. It gave rise to no suspicion in my mind. He had been tried too often for that. But still, I thought it strange.
On this occasion, we had not ridden far before he asked me a question which rather surprised me. He said —
“Mr. Hamlyn; do you carry pistols?”
“Why, Dick, boy?” I said, “why should I?”
“Look you here, Mr. Hamlyn,” said he. “Have you tried me?”
“I have tried you for twenty years, Dick, and have not found you wanting.”
“Ah!” said he, “that’s good hearing. You’re a magistrate137, sir, though only just made. But you know that coves138 like me, that have been in trouble, get hold of information which you beaks139 can’t. And I tell you, sir, there’s bad times coming for this country side. You carry your pistols, sir, and, what’s more, YOU USE ‘EM. See here.”
He opened his shirt, and showed me a long sharp knife inside.
“That’s what I carries, sir, in these times, and you ought to carry ditto, and a brace133 of barkers besides. We shan’t get back to the Captain’s to-night.”
We were rising on the first shoulder of Mirngish, and daylight was rapidly departing. I looked back. Nothing but a vast sea of fog, one snow peak rising from it like an iceberg140 from a frozen sea, piercing the clear frosy air like a crystal of lead and silver.
“We must hurry on,” I said, “or we shall never have daylight to find the bracelet. We shall never find our way home through that fog, without a breath of wind to guide us. What shall we do?”
“I noticed today, sir,” said Dick, “a track that crossed the hill to the east; if we can get on that, and keep on it, we are sure to get somewhere. It would be better to follow that than go blundering across the plain through such a mist as that.”
As he was speaking, we had dismounted and commenced our search. In five minutes, so well did our recollection serve us, Dick had got the bracelet, and, having mounted our horses, we deliberated what was next to be done.
A thick fog covered the whole country, and was rapidly creeping up to the elevation on which we stood. To get home over the plains without a compass seemed a hopeless matter. So we determined to strike for the track which Dick had noticed in the morning, and get on it before it was dark.
We plunged141 down into the sea of fog, and, by carefully keeping the same direction, we found our road. The moon was nearly full, which enabled us to distinguish it, though we could never see above five yards in front of us.
We followed the road above an hour; then we began to see ghostly tree-stems through the mist. They grew thicker and more frequent. Then we saw a light, and at last rode up to a hut-door, cheered by the warm light, emanating142 from a roaring fire within, which poured through every crack in the house-side, and made the very fog look warm.
I held Dick’s horse while he knocked. The door was opened by a wee feeble old man, about sixty, with a sharp clever face, and an iron-grey rough head of hair.
“Night, daddy,” said Dick. “Can me and my master stay here to-night? We’re all abroad in this fog. The governor will leave something handsome behind in the morning, old party, I know.” (This latter was in a whisper.)
“Canst thou stay here, say’st thou?” replied the old fellow. “In course thou canst. But thy master’s money may bide143 in a’s pouch144. Get thy saddles off, lad, and come in; ’tis a smittle night for rheumatics.”
I helped Dick to take off the saddles, and, having hobbled our horses with stirrup-leathers, we went in.
Our little old friend was the hut-keeper, as I saw at a glance. The shepherd was sitting on a block before the fire, in his shirt, smoking his pipe and warming his legs preparatory to turning in.
I understood him in a moment, as I then thought (though I was much deceived). A short, wiry, blackheaded man, with a cunning face — convict all over. He rose as we came in, and gave us good evening. I begged he would not disturb himself; so he moved his block into the corner, and smoked away with that lazy indifference145 that only a shepherd is master of.
But the old man began bustling146 about. He made us sit down before the fire, and make ourselves comfortable. He never ceased talking.
“I’ll get ye, lads, some supper just now,” said he. “There’s na but twa bunks147 i’ the hut; so master and man must lie o’ the floor, ‘less indeed the boss lies in my bed, which he’s welcome to. We’ve a plenty blankets, though, and sheepskins. We’ll mak ye comfortable, boys. There’s a mickle back log o’ the fire, and ye’ll lie warm, I’se warrant ye. There’s cowd beef, sir (to me), and good breed, no’ to mind boggins o’ tea. Ye’ll be comfortable, will ye. What’s yer name?”
“Hamlyn,” I said.
“Oh, ay! Ye’re Hamlyn and Stockbridge! I ken22 ye well; I kenned148 yer partner: a good man — a very good man, a man o’ ten thousand. He was put down up north. A bad job — a very bad job! Ye gat terrible vengeance149, though. Ye hewed150 Agag in pieces! T’ Governor up there to Sydney was wild angry at what ye did, but he darena’ say much. He knew that every free man’s heart went with ye. It were the sword of the Lord and of Gideon that ye fought with! Ye saved many good lives by that raid of yours after Stockbridge was killed. The devils wanted a lesson, and ye gar’d them read one wi’ a vengeance!”
During this speech, which was uttered in a series of interjections, we had made our supper, and drawn151 back to the fire. The shepherd had tumbled into his blankets, and was snoring. The old man, having cleared away the things, came and sat down beside us. The present of a fig106 of tobacco won his heart utterly152, and he, having cut up a pipeful, began talking again.
“Why,” said he, “it’s the real Barret’s twist — the very real article! Eh, master, ye’re book-learned: do you ken where this grows? It must be a fine country to bring up such backer as this; some o’ they Palm Isles153, I reckon.”
“Virginia,” I told him, “or Carolina, one of the finest countries in the world where they hold slaves.”
“Ah,” said he, “they couldn’t get white men to mess with backer and such in a hot country, and in course every one knows that blacks won’t work till they’re made. That’s why they bothers themselves with ’em, I reckon. But, Lord! they are useless trash. White convicts is useless enough; think what black niggers must be!”
How about the gentleman in bed? I thought; but he was snoring comfortably.
“I am a free man myself,” continued the old man. “I never did aught, ay, or thought o’ doing aught, that an honest man should not do. But I’ve lived among convicts twenty odd year, and do you know, sir, sometimes I hardly know richt fra wrang. Sometimes I see things that whiles I think I should inform of, and then the devil comes and tells me it would be dishonourable. And then I believe him till the time’s gone by, and after that I am miserable in my conscience. So I haven’t an easy time of it, though I have good times, and money to spare.”
I was getting fond of the honest, talkative old fellow; so when Dick asked him if he wanted to turn in, and he answered no, I was well pleased.
“Can’t you pitch us a yarn154, daddy?” said Dick. “Tell us something about the old country. I should like well to hear what you were at home.”
“I’ll pitch ye a yarn, lad,” he replied, “if the master don’t want to turn in. I’m fond of talking. All old men are, I think,” he said, appealing to me. “The time’s coming, ye see, when the gift o’ speech will be gone from me. It’s a great gift. But happen we won’t lose it after all.”
I said, “No, that I thought not; that I thought on the other side of the grave we should both speak and hear of higher things than we did in the flesh.”
“Happen so,” said he; “I think so too, sometime. I’ll give ye my yarn; I have told it often. Howsever, neither o’ ye have heard it, so ye’re the luckier that I tell it better by frequent repetition. Here it is:—
“I was a collier lad, always lean, and not well favoured, though I was active and strong. I was small, too, and that set my father’s heart agin me somewhat, for he was a gran’ man, and a mighty155 fighter.
“But my elder brother Jack156, he was a mighty fellow, God bless him; and when he was eighteen he weighed twelve stone, and was earning man’s wages, tho’ that I was hurrying still. I saw that father loved him better than me, and whiles that vexed157 me, but most times it didn’t, for I cared about the lad as well as father did, and he liked me the same. He never went far without me; and whether he fought, or whether he drunk, I must be wi’ him and help.
“Well, so we went on till, as I said, I was seventeen, and he eighteen. We never had a word till then; we were as brothers should be. But at this time we had a quarrel, the first we ever had; ay, and the last, for we got something to mind this one by.
“We both worked in the same pit. It was the Southstone Pit; happen you’ve heard of it. No? Well, thus things get soon forgot. Father had been an overman there, but was doing better now above ground. He and mother kept a bit shop; made money.
“There was a fair in our village, a poor thing enough; but when we boys were children we used to look forward to it eleven months out o’ twelve, and the day it came round we used to go to father, and get sixpence, or happen a shilling apiece to spend.
“Well, time went on till we came to earn money; but still we kept up the custom, and went to the old man reg’lar for our fairin’, and he used to laugh and chaff158 us as he’d give us a fourpenny or such, and we liked the joke as well as he.
“Well this time — it was in ‘12, just after the comet, just the worst times of the war, the fair came round, 24th of May, I well remember, and we went in to the old man to get summut to spend — just for a joke like.
“He’d lost money, and been vexed; so when Jack asked him for his fairin’ he gi’ed him five shillin’, and said, ‘I’ll go to gaol159 but what my handsome boy shan’t have summut to treat his friends to beer.’ But when I axed him, he said, ‘Earn man’s wages, and thee’ll get a man’s fairin,’ and heaved a penny at me.
“That made me wild mad, I tell you. I wasn’t only angry wi’ the old man, but I was mad wi’ Jack, poor lad! The devil of jealousy160 had got into me, and, instead of kicking him out, I nursed him. I ran out o’ the house, and away into the fair, and drunk, and fought, and swore like a mad one.
“I was in one of the dancing booths, half drunk, and a young fellow came to me, and said, ‘Where has thee been? Do thee know thy brother has foughten Jim Perry, and beaten him?’
“I felt like crying, to think my brother had fought, and I not there to set him up. But I swore, and said, ‘I wish Jim Perry had killed un;’ and then I sneaked161 off home to bed, and cried like a lass.
“And next morning I was up before him, and down the pit. He worked a good piece from me, so I did not see him, and it came on nigh nine o’clock before I began to wonder why the viewer had not been round, for I had heard say there was a foul162 place cut into by some of them, and at such times the viewer generally looks into every corner.
“Well, about nine, the viewer and underviewer came up with the overman, and stood talking alongside of me, when there came a something sudden and sharp, as tho’ one had boxed your ears, and then a ‘whiz, whiz,’ and the viewer stumbled a one side, and cried out, ‘God save us!’
“I hardly knew what had happened till I heard him singing out clear and firm, ‘Come here to me, you lads; come here. Keep steady, and we’ll be all right yet.’ Then I knew it was a fire, and a sharp one, and began crying out for Jack.
“I heard him calling for me, and then he ran up and got hold of me; and so ended the only quarrel we ever had, and that was a one-sided one.
“‘Are you all here?’ said the viewer. ‘Now follow me, and if we meet the afterdamp hold your breath and run. I am afraid it’s a bad job, but we may get through yet.’
“We had not gone fifty yards before we came on the afterdamp, filling the headway like smoke. Jack and I took hold of each other’s collars and ran, but before we were half-way through, he fell. I kept good hold of his shirt, and dragged him on on the ground. I felt as strong as a horse; and in ten seconds, which seemed to me like ten hours, I dragged him out under the shaft163 into clear air. At first I thought he was dead, but he was still alive, and very little of that. His heart beat very slow, and I thought he’d die; but I knew if he got clear air that he might come round.
“When we had gotten to the shaft bottom we found it all full of smoke; the waft164 had gone straight up, and they on the top told us after that all the earth round was shook, and the black smoke and coal-dust flew up as though from a gun-barrel. Any way it was strong enough to carry away the machine, so we waited there ten minutes and wondered the basket did not come down; but they above, meanwhile, were rigging a rope to an old horse-whim165, and as they could not get horses, the men run the poles round themselves.
“But we at the bottom knew nothing of all this. There were thirty or so in the shaft bottom, standing there, dripping wet wi’ water, and shouting for the others, who never came; now the smoke began to show in the west drive, and we knew the mine was fired, and yet we heard nought166 from those above.
“But what I minded most of all was, that Jack was getting better. I knew we could not well be lost right under the shaft, so I did not swear and go on like some of them, because they did not mind us above. When the basket came down at last, I and Jack went up among the first, and there I saw such a sight, lad, as ye’ll never see till ye see a colliery explosion. There were hundreds and hundreds there. Most had got friends or kin12 in the pit, and as each man came up, his wife or his mother would seize hold of him and carry on terrible.
“But the worst were they whose husbands and sons never came up again, and they were many; for out of one hundred and thirty-one men in the pit, only thirtynine came up alive. Directly we came to bank, I saw father; he was first among them that were helping167, working like a horse, and directing everything. When he saw us, he said, ‘Thank the Lord, there’s my two boys. I am not a loser today!’ and came running to us, and helped me to carry Jack down the bank. He was very weak and sick, but the air freshened him up wonderful.
“I told father all about it, and he said, ‘I’ve been wrong, and thou’st been wrong. Don’t thou get angry for nothing; thou hast done a man’s work today, at all events. Now come and bear a hand. T’owd ‘ooman will mind the lad.’
“We went back to the pit’s mouth; the men were tearing round the whim faster than horses would a’ done it. And first amongst ’em all was old Mrs. Cobley, wi’ her long grey hair down her back, doing the work o’ three men; for her two boys were down still, and I knew for one that they were not with us at the bottom; but when the basket came up with the last, and her two boys missing, she went across to the master, and asked him what he was going to do, as quiet as possible.
“He said he was going to ask some men to go down, and my father volunteered to go at once, and eight more went with him. They were soon up again, and reported that all the mine was full of smoke, and no one had dared leave the shaft bottom fifty yards.
“‘It’s clear enough, the mine’s fired, sir,’ said my father to the owner. ‘They that’s down are dead. Better close it, sir.’
“‘What!’ screamed old Mrs. Cobley, ‘close the pit, ye dog, and my boys down there? Ye wouldn’t do such a thing, master dear?’ she continued; ‘ye couldn’t do it.’ Many others were wild when they heard the thing proposed; but while they raved168 and argued, the pit began to send up a reek103 of smoke like the mouth of hell, and then the master gave orders to close the shaft, and a hundred women knew they were widows, and went weeping home.
“And Jack got well. And after the old man died, we came out here. Jack has gotten a public-house in Yass, and next year I shall go home and live with him.
“And that’s the yarn about the fire at the Southstone Pit.”
We applauded it highly, and after a time began to talk about lying down, when on a sudden we heard a noise of horses’ feet outside; then the door was opened, and in came a stranger.
He was a stranger to me, but not to my servant, who I could see recognized him, though he gave no sign of it in words. I also stared at him, for he was the handsomest young man I had ever seen.
Handsome as an Apollo, beautiful as a leopard169, but with such a peculiar170 style of beauty, that when you looked at him you instinctively171 felt at your side for a weapon of defence, for a more reckless, dangerous looking man I never yet set eyes on. And while I looked at him I recognised him. I had seen his face, or one like it, before often, often. And it seemed as though I had known him just as he stood there, years and years ago, on the other side of the world. I was almost certain it was so, and yet he seemed barely twenty. It was an impossibility, and yet as I looked I grew every moment more certain.
He dashed in in an insolent172 way. “I am going to quarter here to-night and chance it,” he said. “Hallo! Dick, my prince! You here? And what may your name be, old cock?” he added, turning to me, now seeing me indistinctly for the first time, for I was sitting back in the shadow.
“My name is Geoffry Hamlyn. I am a Justice of the Peace, and I am at your service,” I said. “Now perhaps you will favour me with YOUR name?”
The young gentleman did not seem to like coming so suddenly into close proximity173 with a “beak,” and answered defiantly174 —
“Charles Sutton is my name, and I don’t know as there’s anything against me, at present.”
“Sutton,” I said; “Sutton? I don’t know the name. No, I have nothing against you, except that you don’t appear very civil.”
Soon after I rolled myself in a blanket and lay down. Dick lay at right angles to me, his feet nearly touching mine. He began snoring heavily almost immediately, and just when I was going to give him a kick, and tell him not to make such a row, I felt him give me a good sharp shove with the heel of his boot, by which I understood that he was awake, and meant to keep awake, as he did not approve of the strangers.
I was anxious about our horses, yet in a short time I could keep awake no longer. I slept, and when I next woke, I heard voices whispering eagerly together. I silently turned, so that I could see whence the voices came, and perceived the hut-keeper sitting up in bed, in close confabulation with the stranger.
“Those two rascals175 are plotting some villany,” I said to myself; “somebody will be minus a horse shortly, I expect.” And then I fell asleep again; and when I awoke it was broad day.
I found the young man was gone, and, what pleased me better still, had not taken either of our horses with him. So, when we had taken some breakfast, we started, and I left the kind little old man something to remember me by.
We had not ridden a hundred yards, before I turned to Dick and said —
“Now mind; I don’t want you to tell me anything you don’t like, but pray relieve my mind on one point. Who was that young man? Have I ever seen him before?”
“I think not, sir; but I can explain how you come to think you have. You remember, sir, that I knew all about Mrs. Hawker’s history?”
“Yes! Yes! Go on.”
“That young fellow is George Hawker’s son.”
It came upon me like a thunderbolt. This, then, was the illegitimate son that he had by his cousin Ellen. Oh miserable child of sin and shame! to what end, I wondered, had he been saved till now?
We shall see soon. Meanwhile I turned to my companion and said, “Tell me how he came to be here.”
“Why you see, sir, he went on in his father’s ways, and got lagged. He found his father out as soon as he was free, which wasn’t long first, for he is mortal cunning, and since then they two have stuck together. Most times they quarrel, and sometimes they fight, but they are never far apart. Hawker ain’t far off now.”
“Now, sir,” he continued, “I am going to tell you something which, if it ever leaks out of your lips again, in such a way as to show where it came from, will end my life as sure as if I was hung. You remember three months ago that a boatful of men were supposed to have landed from Cockatoo?”
“Yes,” I said, “I heard it from Major Buckley. But the police have been scouring176 in all directions, and can find nothing of them. My opinion is that the boat was capsized, and they were all drowned, and that the surf piled the boat over with sea-weed. Depend on it they did not land.”
“Depend on it they did, sir; those men are safe and well, and ready for any mischief177. Hawker was on the look-out for them, and they all stowed away till the police cleared off, which they did last week. There will be mischief soon. There; I have told you enough to cut my throat, and I’ll tell you more, and convince you that I am right. That shepherd at whose hut we stayed last night was one of them; that fellow was the celebrated178 Captain Mike. What do you think of that?”
I shuddered179 as I heard the name of that fell ruffian, and thought that I had slept in the hut with him. But when I remembered how he was whispering with the stranger in the middle of the night, I came to the conclusion that serious mischief was brewing180, and pushed on through the fog, which still continued as dense as ever, and, guided by some directions from the old hut-keeper, I got to Captain Brentwood’s about ten o’clock, and told him and the Major the night’s adventures.
We three armed ourselves secretly and quietly, and went back to the hut with the determination of getting possession of the person of the shepherd Mike, who, were he the man Dick accused him of being, would have been a prize indeed, being one of the leading Van Diemen’s Land rangers8, and one of the men reported as missing by Captain Blockstrop.
“Suppose,” said Captain Brentwood, “that we seize the fellow, and it isn’t him after all?”
“Then,” said the Major, “an action for false imprisonment181 would lie sir, decidedly. But we will chance it.”
And when we got there, we saw the old hut-keeper, he of the colliery explosion experiences, shepherding the sheep himself, and found that the man we were in search of had left the hut that morning, apparently182 to take the sheep out. But that going out about eleven the old man had found them still in the yard, whereby he concluded that the shepherd was gone, which proved to be the case. And making further inquiries183 we found that the shepherd had only been hired a month previously184, and no man knew whence he came: all of which seemed to confirm Dick’s story wonderfully, and made us excessively uneasy. And in the end the Major asked me to prolong my visit for a time and keep my servant with me, as every hand was of use; and so it fell out that I happened to be present at, and chronicle all which follows.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
vent
|
|
| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
conversant
|
|
| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
consultation
|
|
| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
rangers
|
|
| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
consignment
|
|
| n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
housekeeper
|
|
| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
kin
|
|
| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
tickled
|
|
| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
caper
|
|
| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
bucked
|
|
| adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
capering
|
|
| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
garnished
|
|
| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
equanimity
|
|
| n.沉着，镇定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
groom
|
|
| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
forgery
|
|
| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
ken
|
|
| n.视野，知识领域 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hearty
|
|
| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
flirtation
|
|
| n.调情，调戏，挑逗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
miserable
|
|
| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
enrolled
|
|
| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
knights
|
|
| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
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： |
|
|
|
|
35
recollect
|
|
| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
controversy
|
|
| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
confidential
|
|
| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
chronic
|
|
| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
flirted
|
|
| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
peevishly
|
|
| adv．暴躁地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
swelled
|
|
| 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： |
|
|
|
|
48
thump
|
|
| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
groaning
|
|
| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
northward
|
|
| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
chaos
|
|
| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
prostrate
|
|
| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
resounding
|
|
| adj. 响亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
utensils
|
|
| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
inviting
|
|
| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
hoarsely
|
|
| adv.嘶哑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
germinating
|
|
| n.& adj.发芽（的）v.（使）发芽( germinate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
geologists
|
|
| 地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
lava
|
|
| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
crater
|
|
| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
precipice
|
|
| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
torrent
|
|
| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
slag
|
|
| n.熔渣，铁屑，矿渣；v.使变成熔渣，变熔渣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
eruption
|
|
| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
champagne
|
|
| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
seethed
|
|
| （液体）沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
melodious
|
|
| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
foamed
|
|
| 泡沫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
tinge
|
|
| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
lapse
|
|
| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
imprisoned
|
|
| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
domain
|
|
| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
gravel
|
|
| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
saturated
|
|
| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
miserably
|
|
| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
debris
|
|
| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
slate
|
|
| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
partially
|
|
| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
Fertilized
|
|
| v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
incumbent
|
|
| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
elevation
|
|
| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
hurling
|
|
| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
desolated
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒废的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
desolate
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
disintegrated
|
|
| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
exhausted
|
|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
subsided
|
|
| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
eruptions
|
|
| n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
outlet
|
|
| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
reek
|
|
| v.发出臭气；n.恶臭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
swelling
|
|
| n.肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
wrath
|
|
| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
fig
|
|
| n.无花果(树) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
volcanic
|
|
| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
ridges
|
|
| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
lurid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
vomited
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
steamship
|
|
| n.汽船，轮船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
pauper
|
|
| n.贫民，被救济者，穷人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
scotch
|
|
| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
highlander
|
|
| n.高地的人，苏格兰高地地区的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
murmur
|
|
| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
revelling
|
|
| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
bankruptcy
|
|
| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
surfeited
|
|
| v.吃得过多( surfeit的过去式和过去分词 )；由于过量而厌腻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
factious
|
|
| adj.好搞宗派活动的，派系的，好争论的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
exchequer
|
|
| n.财政部；国库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
ministry
|
|
| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
steamships
|
|
| n.汽船，大轮船( steamship的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
vessels
|
|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
specimen
|
|
| n.样本，标本 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
prophesying
|
|
| v.预告，预言( prophesy的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
westward
|
|
| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
haze
|
|
| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
pinnacle
|
|
| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
chattering
|
|
| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
lamentation
|
|
| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
bracelet
|
|
| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
brace
|
|
| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
scrambling
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
pony
|
|
| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
condescend
|
|
| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
magistrate
|
|
| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
coves
|
|
| n.小海湾( cove的名词复数 )；家伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
beaks
|
|
| n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
iceberg
|
|
| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
emanating
|
|
| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
bide
|
|
| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
pouch
|
|
| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
145
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
146
bustling
|
|
| adj.喧闹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
147
bunks
|
|
| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
148
kenned
|
|
| v.知道( ken的过去式和过去分词 )；懂得；看到；认出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
149
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
150
hewed
|
|
| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
151
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
152
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
153
isles
|
|
| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
154
yarn
|
|
| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
155
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
156
jack
|
|
| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
157
vexed
|
|
| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
158
chaff
|
|
| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
159
gaol
|
|
| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
160
jealousy
|
|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
161
sneaked
|
|
| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
162
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
163
shaft
|
|
| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
164
waft
|
|
| v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
165
whim
|
|
| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
166
nought
|
|
| n.／adj.无，零 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
167
helping
|
|
| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
168
raved
|
|
| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
169
leopard
|
|
| n.豹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
170
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
171
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
172
insolent
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
173
proximity
|
|
| n.接近，邻近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
174
defiantly
|
|
| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
175
rascals
|
|
| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
176
scouring
|
|
| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
177
mischief
|
|
| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
178
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
179
shuddered
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
180
brewing
|
|
| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
181
imprisonment
|
|
| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
182
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
183
inquiries
|
|
| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
184
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |