In the coming dawn, when the stars had paled and died away, and when far off, where the Basses2 Alpes lifted their heads eastward3, the gray light turned into daffodil and told that the day was at hand, Martin carried the pastor4 back into his little house.
"Rest," he said, "rest, and endeavour to sleep. I pray Heaven you may do so, after this night of horror."
"Horror indeed!" Buscarlet said, sinking into the old leather-covered fauteuil that for years he had sat in so calmly and happily, though solitary5. "Horror undreamed of!" Then, a moment later, he went on: "I thought--nay6, I knew--that they would rise at last and throw off the hideous7 yoke8 under which they bowed. Yet I deemed it would but be to release those of our religion who suffered, to prevent others from suffering too; to demand terms, even though only such terms as would permit us to seek peace in far-away lands; but never dreamed of such deeds as we have witnessed to-night. Where will it end? And how?"
"There were those who muttered in that crowd," Martin replied, his face still of a deathly pallor, "that it might not end until they stood outside Louis' gates--were within them. And there were some who seemed to know of what they spoke9. Some who have been long leagues away from this lonely valley shut in by these mountains--men who know that on all sides and on all her frontiers France is sore beset10. Crippled by her fresh war with Spain, the attacks made on her on the Italian border, also by the Dutch on the Rhine. Fighting as well my own countrymen in Bavaria and the whole length of the Danube, even to the borders of Austria."
The mention of his own countrymen by Martin Ashurst seemed to bring fresh trouble to the unhappy old man, to cause fresh terrors to spring into his mind; for at those words he started in his chair and regarded the younger one steadily11, though with still upon his face the look of misery12 that the events of the last few hours had brought forth13.
"Your own countrymen!" he repeated, half-dazed. "Your own countrymen! Ay, ay, les Anglais! Thank God, it is not known, and never will be known, that you are either English or Protestant. Baville would not spare you."
"Baville need not perhaps know that I am an Englishman," Martin replied calmly. "But one thing he will most assuredly know ere long, when he begins to make inquiry14 into the doings of this past night--namely, that I am a Protestant."
"Know it!" Buscarlet exclaimed, trembling even more than before, clasping his hands frenziedly as though overcome by a fresh fear. "How should he know it?"
"I shall announce it. For a certainty, shall not disguise it."
"Martin, Martin," the old man moaned, "are you mad? Do you value your life so little, desire so much the horrors of the wheel, the flames, to have your head upon this bridge as others' heads have been, that you will acknowledge this? Martin, for the love of God, pause. Think of what such an acknowledgment would mean to you."
"I have thought all through the night, even while I watched that man's house burned beneath him as he hid on the roof; while I saw him done to death. And, thus thinking, became resolved. Henceforth no power on earth, no horror of awful death, of mutilation after death, can make me disguise, keep back the acknowledgment of the form of faith I belong to----"
"Alas15, alas! it will bring death."
"It may do so. If it does it must be borne. Yet, at the worst, I will not think it can come to that. I am a Protestant; here, in your own land, a Huguenot. Yet I am not one of those who slew16 the abbé. Shall never imbrue my hands in blood. Ask only to be left in peace."
"Alas," Buscarlet exclaimed again, "that is all that we have asked--all! Yet you see the end. The woman who dominates Louis allows no free thought, no religion other than her own; has dragooned Huguenots into Roman Catholicism since the day the Revocation17 was pronounced, has hung and burned and broken those who refuse to change. How, then, can you hope to escape--you who were among the crowd that performed last night's work?"
"I took no part in his murder. Would have saved him if I could----"
"That will not save you. Martin, you must flee from here at once. Escape out of France. Be gone while there is yet time."
"And de Rochebazon! His children's heritage! What of that?"
Even as he uttered the words his determination to remain here at all costs and in deadly peril19 seemed to act upon the old man's mind, to clear his brain so clouded with the awful events of the past night, to bring back to him the power of speaking and reasoning clearly, for slowly yet weightily he answered:
"As that heritage has done before, so it must do now. Must wait, remain in abeyance20. This is no time to prosecute21 your search. No sense of justice on your part toward a distant kinsman22 can demand that you should sacrifice your own life, at the least your liberty. Moreover, remember, he or his descendants may not be here in Languedoc; may be leagues away, in remote lands, for aught you know; even in your own country, the home of the oppressed since James fell."
"They said at Geneva it was beyond all doubt that he who was rightly the de Rochebazon came here."
"Grant that," the old man replied, calm now in face of the argument he had to use, must use and drive home. "Grant that--that he came here. Well, it is nigh half a century ago. Where may he not have gone to in all that long passage of years? The Huguenots are everywhere--in England, Germany, Scotland, the Americas, Switzerland, some even on the far-off shores of the Cape18 of Good Hope. Why stay here seeking for what is no better than a shadow, and at the risk of your own life?"
For a moment it seemed as if his argument was about to prevail. Into Martin Ashurst's face there came a look telling of deep reflection--reflection that brought with it an acknowledgment of the force of the other's words. And, observing, Buscarlet pressed his argument home.
"If alive, de Rochebazon never intends to claim what is his. If dead, he has died and kept his secret well. While if living he knows not, possibly, that those who were deemed the Prince and Princess de Rochebazon have passed away, yet also he knew that for years they usurped23, although unwillingly24, the place that was his, the vast wealth. If you found him at last, even here, could you force him to take back the heritage he renounced25 so long ago?"
Still the other answered not. What could he say? On his face was still the look of perplexity that had been there since first the pastor spoke. And again the latter went on:
"Moreover, granting even that--that--for his children's sake he would return to the possession of his own, would emerge from the humble26 position he has so long occupied--in France all Huguenots are humble now, here in these mountains they are doubly so; few gentlemen of France acknowledge themselves as such; all fear the court too much; if you found him, if he consented, would he be allowed to return to what is his proper place and position? You know the Romish Church which now holds all in its hands that once was the de Rochebazon's. Will that ever disgorge? Would De Maintenon allow it to do so? You have seen her? Answer."
Even as Buscarlet mentioned that woman's name, Martin started. Yes, he had seen her, and seeing, knew to what adamant27 he was opposed. Also he recalled her words: "You may seek yet you will never find, or, finding whom you seek, will never prevail." Remembered, too, the look of confidence that had come into the livid face of the woman before him and, as he remembered, wavered.
Was it imperative28 on him to do more than he had already done in voluntarily renouncing29 all the wealth his aunt had put aside for him during years of saving? Was he now to throw his life away in seeking for a shadow, a chimera30? For it was not beyond possibility, it was indeed most probable, that to such a pass he might come.
At present he had committed no act which even the ruthless Baville, of whom all in this portion of France spoke with bated breath--the Intendant of the Province--could seize upon as a pretext31 for hostilities32 to him. He had taken no part in the murder (or was it the execution?) of the Abbé du Chaila; on the contrary, he had longed to render help to the unfortunate wretch33, though it had been beyond his power to do so. But--but--if he should remain in the Cévennes, still seeking for a man who, in sober truth, might for years have lain in his grave or might be, if still alive, at the other end of the world, was it certain that he would not perform some act which would place him in Baville's grasp? And as a Protestant, even though it was never known that he was an Englishman, and standing34, consequently, in hideous peril in France, what chance would there be of his salvation35?
Almost, as he reflected thus, he began to think that, if only for a time and until these troubles had blown over, he must abandon his search for the last of the de Rochebazons. This tempest which had arisen could not last long, he thought; Louis could soon quell36 these turbulent mountaineers; then again he could take up his task.
"Come," he said to Buscarlet, sitting before him watching his eyes and face to see what effect his words had on him, "come. At least I will do nothing without due thought. Will not be foolhardy. Now eat, drink something; it will restore you. Then after that some rest." Whereupon he pointed37 to the table on which were still the remains38 of the last night's little feast over which the poor old man had tried to make so merry. "Here is some of your famous trout39 left," he said, struggling to speak cheerfully, "and another bottle of the Crépi. Come, let us refresh ourselves."
"I feel as though I shall never eat again," Buscarlet whispered. "Never after the doings of the night--never! Oh, the horror of it, the horror of it!"
"Still cheer up," the other said, uttering words of hope which he knew could have but little likelihood of being verified, yet striving thereby40 to soften41 the old man's mental agony. "This may be the end, as it has been the beginning, on our--on the Protestant--side. When Baville, the persecutor42, hears that the harryings and the burnings and the murders--for that was a murder we witnessed last night--are not to be on his part alone, he may pause. Nay, even Louis, beset in every way, at every frontier, his treasury43 drained, may himself give orders to stop these persecutions."
But Buscarlet only shook his head significantly, doubtingly.
"With that woman at his side, by his elbow, never!" he exclaimed. "Nay, nay, my son, he will not stop them. He is the Scourge44 of God; sweeps before him all who love God. He will never stop them. If he desired to do so, she would not let him."
By now it was full daylight. Over the pastor's little garden with its quaint45, old-time flowers, among them many a sweet Provence rose opening to the morning sun, that sun's rays streamed down. Also they knew that the villagers were awake, if they had slept at all. Already they were calling to each other, while some of them gathered in small groups and discussed the events of the past night. Also all asked what would be the end of it.
"I can not sleep," Buscarlet said; "it is impossible. Let me go forth. They are my people. I must be among them. Give them counsel. Oh, God be thanked, there was not one of us in this hamlet who assisted in the work."
And he went out feebly through the window, Martin making no attempt to prevent him, since he knew any such attempt must be futile46. Instead, therefore, he walked by his side.
"Whence," he asked, "since none in the village took part in the attack, did those men come? By their garb47 they are of the mountains--goatherds, shepherds. Is it there the persecutions have been most felt?"
"It is there," the other answered, "that those who have been most persecuted48 have fled. We may not quit our unhappy country. Every port is barred, every frontier road guarded. Where, therefore, should those whose homes are desolate49 flee to, whose loved ones have been slaughtered50, where but to the mountains? There none can follow them or, following, can not find. Those mountains are full of caverns51 made by Nature, God-given as a last resort of the outcast and wretched."
They reached the open place by the bridge as he finished speaking; they stood outside the still burning remains of what had been Du Chaila's house--the house seized by him from the man he had caused to be hanged on the bridge, in front of the window from which the widow and orphans52 looked daily until they too fled into the hills. Behind the hedge over which grew the honeysuckle and convolvuli in such rich profusion53, the hedge on to which the doomed54 man had fallen, and on one of the stakes of which his leg had been broken by the fall, they saw his body lying. Near it also they observed other bodies which had been dragged from the smouldering ruins, one being that of his valet, another that of his man cook, a third that of an ecclesiastic55 named Roux who had acted as his secretary. Also they learned that two friends of the dead man, themselves missionaries56 back from Siam, had been allowed to depart after being found hidden under a cartload of straw.
"Are all of those others gone?" Buscarlet asked, turning his eyes away from the sight behind the lodge57.
"All are gone, mon père," a man answered from the crowd. "Pardie! it is best we all go too. By to-night the dragoons who have escaped will be back from Alais. It is but ten leagues, and he (Baville) is there. Be sure more soldiers will come with them; we shall be put to fire and sword. And for those who are not slain--that!" And the man pointed to the post on the apex58 of the bridge on which the night lamp hung still alight, since none had remembered this morning to put it out; on which, too, other things of a more fearful nature had hung in all their recollections.
"You hear?" Buscarlet whispered to Martin. "You hear?"
"Yes, I hear," the other replied, calmly as usual. Then asked, "Do you flee with them?"
"Nay," the old man replied. "My place is here, by my church which I am no longer permitted to enter--the church whose keys have been taken from me after forty years. Yet I can not leave it."
"Nor I you. I stay too."
"God help us all!" the pastor said again, as he had said before, and once more he wrung59 his hands. That his flock were going it was impossible to doubt. They knew that henceforth Montvert was no abiding60 place for them; that if they would not be ridden down or burned in their beds, or hung as carrion61 on the bridge where when boys they had played, or taken to the jails of Alais and N?mes and Uzès, they must go, and go at once. Later, perhaps, they might return, if it ever pleased God to soften the hearts of their persecutors. But now, after the doings of the night, this was no longer a home for them.
History repeats itself; also events in one part of the world resemble those occurring in the other. Even as in the old times before them, the people of God had fled into the deserts of the East to escape the tyranny of Pharaoh and of Ahab, even as the Covenanters had fled into the Pentland Hills, so now the Protestants of the Cévennes fled into their mountains to escape the persecutions of him whom they called the Scourge of God.
Peaceful, law-abiding men and women, asking only to be allowed to worship their Maker62 in their own way, or, failing that, to depart for other lands where they might do so unmolested, the refusal had turned them at last into rebels, if not against the king, at least against his local representatives--rebels who, having suffered long under the cruelties of their persecutors, had now become cruel themselves.
For the torch of rebellion was lighted at last in all Languedoc, and ere long it flamed fiercely. The "Holy War" had begun.
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1
exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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2
basses
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| 低音歌唱家，低音乐器( bass的名词复数 ) | |
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3
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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6
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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7
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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8
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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9
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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10
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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11
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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12
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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13
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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15
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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16
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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17
revocation
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| n.废止，撤回 | |
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18
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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19
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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20
abeyance
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| n.搁置，缓办，中止，产权未定 | |
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21
prosecute
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| vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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24
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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25
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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26
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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27
adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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28
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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29
renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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chimera
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| n.神话怪物；梦幻 | |
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31
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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32
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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33
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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34
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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36
quell
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| v.压制，平息，减轻 | |
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37
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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38
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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39
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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40
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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41
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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42
persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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43
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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44
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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45
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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46
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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47
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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48
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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49
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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50
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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52
orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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53
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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54
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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55
ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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56
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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57
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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58
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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59
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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60
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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61
carrion
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| n.腐肉 | |
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62
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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