Wilfrid bore the blow better than I had dared to expect. He made a good dinner, for which he had the excuse of having fasted since breakfast, and broke into a noisy roar of laughter out of the air of gloomy resentment7 with which he had arrived from his cabin on my describing the Dutchman, and repeating his questions and my answers. In short, his weak mind came to his rescue. With the schooner had vanished an inspiration of thought that had served his intellect as an anchor to ride by. His imagination was now fluent again, loose, draining here and there like water on the decks of a rolling ship; and though he spoke8 with vehement9 bitterness of his disappointment, and with indignation and rage even of Finn’s ignorance in pursuing a stranger throughout the day, he dwelt very briefly10 at a time on the subject. Indeed, his talk was just an aimless stride from one thing to another. If he recurred11 to the Dutch schooner, it was as if by mere12 chance; and, though the subject would blacken his mood, in a very short while he had passed on to other matters with a cleared face. Miss Laura afterwards said to me that the strain of the day had been too great for him, and that when the tension was relaxed the strings13 of the instrument of his mind dropped into slack fibres, out of which his reason could fiddle14 but very little[179] music. Well, I could have wished it thus for everybody’s sake. Better as it was than that he should have shrunk away scowling15 and hugging a dark mantle16 of madness to him, and exaggerated the abominably17 uncomfortable behaviour I had witnessed in him all day.
He arrived on deck after dinner to smoke a cigar, and whilst I sat with Miss Jennings—for it was a quiet night after the stormy blowing of the day, with a tropic tenderness of temperature in the sweet gushing18 of the southerly wind, the curl of moon gone, and the large stars trembling through the film of their own radiance like dew-drops in gossamer—I could hear my cousin chatting briskly near the wheel with Finn with intonations19 of voice that curiously20 proclaimed the variableness of his moods to the ear, sometimes speaking with heat, sometimes in a note of sullen21 expostulation, sometimes surprising the attention with a loud ha, ha! that came floating back again to the deck in echoes out of the silent canvas, whilst Finn’s deep sea-note rumbled22 a running commentary as the baronet talked.
‘What do you think of this chase now?’ said I to Miss Laura.
‘I wish it were over,’ she answered. ‘I want to see my sister rescued from the wretch23 she has run away with, Mr. Monson; but this sort of approaching her recovery is dreadful.’
‘It is worse than dreadful,’ said I; ‘it is tedious with the threat of a neat little tragical24 complication by-and-bye—any day indeed—if Wilfrid doesn’t stow that gun in his hold or heave it overboard. The Dutchman might very well have answered our shot had he mounted a piece or two or driven alongside and plied25 us, as they used to say, with small arms. Now one isn’t here for that sort of thing, Miss Jennings.’
‘No. Is there no way of losing the cannon26?’
I laughed. ‘If Wilfrid will reserve his fire until he is sure of the “Shark” instead of blazing away at the first craft that resembles her, the weapon might yet prove something to usefully serve his turn; for I doubt if anything will hinder the Colonel from cracking on when he catches sight of us, short of iron messages from the forecastle there. But we shall not meet with the “Shark” this side the Cape27, if there.’
‘I fear it will prove a long voyage,’ said she, with the sparkle of the starlight in her eyes.
‘You will be glad to return?’
‘Not without my sister.’
‘But shall you be willing, Miss Jennings, supposing us to arrive at Cape Town without falling in with the “Shark,” to persevere28 in this very singular and unpromising sea quest?’
‘I will remain with Wilfrid certainly,’ she answered quietly. ‘My duty is to help him in this search, and where he goes I shall go.’
‘But he will be acting29 cruelly to carry you on from the Cape[180] unless able to certainly tell where to find the fugitives30, fixing the date too for that matter.’
‘I see you will leave us at the Cape, Mr. Monson,’ she exclaimed with an accent that could only come from the movement of the lips in a smile.
‘Not unless I prevail upon you to accompany me home,’ said I.
She shook her head lightly, but made no answer. Perhaps it was her silence that rendered me sensible of the unpremeditated significance of my speech. ‘Well,’ said I, lighting31 a second cigar, ‘whilst you feel it your duty to stick to my cousin I shall feel it mine to stick to you. Not likely I should leave you alone with him. No.’
At that instant the harsh, surly voice of old Jacob Crimp hailed the skipper, who still stood aft talking with Wilfrid. All was in darkness forward; it was hard upon two bells; the canvas rose as elusive32 to the eye in its wanness33 as a dim light in windy gloom far out at sea, and the shadow of it plunged34 a dye as opaque35 as blindness into the obscurity from the mainmast to the forecastle rail, where the stars were sliding up and down like a dance of fire-flies to the quiet lift and fall of the close-hauled yacht upon the invisible folds brimming to her port bow.
‘Capt’n,’ sung out Crimp’s melodious36 voice—plaintive as the notes of a knife upon a revolving37 grindstone—from the heart of the murkiness38 somewhere near the galley39.
‘Hallo!’ answered Finn.
‘Can I speak a word with ye?’
‘Who is it wants me?’
‘The mate.’
‘Tell him to come aft,’ Wilfrid bawled40 out. ‘If there’s anything wrong I must know it. Step aft, Crimp, step aft, d’ye hear?’ he cried.
Old Jacob’s stunted41 figure came out of the darkness and walked along to where Finn stood.
‘What is the matter, I wonder?’ said Miss Laura.
I cocked my ear, for there is something in a hail of this sort at sea on a dark night to put an alertness into one’s instincts and nerves. Besides, there was no sounder snorer on board than old Jacob, and his merely coming up on deck during his watch below, though he should have stood mute as a ghost, was something to raise a little uneasy sense of expectation. His voice rumbled, but I could not hear what he said. Wilfrid shouted ‘What d’ye say?’ with an expression of astonishment42 and incredulity. Finn laughed in a sneering43 way, whilst old Jacob again rumbled out with some sentence. Then my cousin bawled out, ‘Charles, Charles, come here, will you?’
‘What the deuce is the matter now?’ said I, and Miss Laura followed me as I went over to the group.
‘Here’s a nice pickle44 we’re in, Charles,’ cried Wilfrid. ‘What think you? Crimp swears the yacht’s haunted.’
[181]
‘So she be,’ said Crimp.
‘Pity your mother didn’t sell vinegar, Jacob, that you might have stayed at home to bottle it off,’ exclaimed Finn. ‘Haunted! That may do for the marines, but you won’t get the sailors to believe it.’
‘That’s jist what they do then,’ remarked Crimp. ‘All the watch below have heard it, and can’t sleep in consequence.’
‘Heard what?’ I asked.
‘The woice,’ answered Jacob, ‘the same as you and me heard t’other night.’
‘Have you heard a voice, Charles?’ exclaimed Wilfrid, suddenly fetching a deep breath.
‘A mere fancy,’ said I.
‘Ye didn’t like it anyhow,’ said Crimp gruffly, as though speaking aside.
‘For God’s sake, tell me about this voice, Charles,’ cried Wilfrid, agitated45 all on a sudden and restless as a dog-vane, with the twitching46 of his figure and the shifting of his weight from one leg to another.
I related the incident, making light of it, and tried to persuade him that the mere circumstance of my having said nothing about it proved that I regarded it as a deceit of the hearing.
‘Did you know of this, Laura?’ said Wilfrid.
‘As a joke only,’ she answered.
‘A joke,’ cried he, breathing deep again. ‘The voice sounded off the sea, hey? and two of you heard it? What did it say?’ and I could see him by the starlight looking towards the starboard quarter in the direction whence the syllables47 had floated to us. ‘What did it say?’ he repeated.
‘Why, that this here yacht was cussed,’ rattled49 out Jacob defiantly50, ‘and dum me if I don’t think she be now that the blooming corpse51 belonging to the wreck52 is a-jawing53 and a-threatening of all hands down in the forepeak.’
‘What is this man talking about?’ I exclaimed, believing that he must either be drunk or cracked.
‘He’s come aft to tell us, Mr. Monson,’ answered Finn, ‘that he and others of the watch below have been disturbed by a woice in the hold saying that there’s a ghost aboard, and that the only way to get rid of him is to sail straight away home and end this woyage which, saving the lady’s presence, it calls blarsted nonsense.’
I observed old Jacob’s head vigorously nodding.
‘You’ve heard the voice, too, Charles?’ said Wilfrid, flitting in short, agitated strides to and fro beside us.
‘Mr. Monson heard it twice,’ growled54 Jacob, ‘off the wreck as well as off the quarter.’
‘Speak when you’re spoken to,’ cried Finn. ‘Why, spit me, Mr. Monson, if it ain’t old Jacob’s grandmother as has signed on instead of Crimp himself.’
[182]
‘Look here,’ said Crimp, ‘let them what disbelieves step forrards and listen themselves.’
‘Charles, inquire into this matter with Finn, will you?’ exclaimed Wilfrid. ‘I—I—’ he stopped and passed his hand through Miss Jennings’ arm, immediately afterwards saying with a short, nervous laugh, ‘the sound of a supernatural voice would cost me a night’s rest.’
‘Come along, Finn,’ said I. ‘Come along, Crimp. If there be a ghost, as our friend here says, he must promptly55 be laid by the heels and despatched to the Red Sea.’
‘What did ’ee want to go and tell Sir Wilfrid about that woice you and Mr. Monson heard t’other night?’ grumbled56 Finn, as we moved forwards into the darkness towards the forehatch.
‘Cause it’s true,’ answered Crimp in his sullenest manner. ‘’Sides, it’s time to end this here galliwanting ramble57, seems to me, if we’re going to be talked to and cursed by sperrits.’
Finn made no answer. We arrived at the forehatch and descended58. The ‘Bride’s’ forecastle was a large one for a vessel of her size. On either hand abaft59 was a small cabin partially60 bulk-headed off from the sailors’ sleeping-room, respectively occupied by Jacob Crimp and Cutbill. Whether the mate ate with the captain, whose berth61 was just forward of the one that had been occupied by Muffin, with access by means of a sliding door to a small living room through which he could pass into the forecastle, I cannot say. It was a rough scene to light upon, after the elegance62, glitter, and rich dyes of the fittings of our quarters aft, but the more picturesque63 for that quality as I found it now, at least on viewing the homely64 and coarse interior by the light of a small oil lamp of the shape of a block-tin coffee-pot with a greasy65 sort of flame coming out of the spout66, and burning darkly into a corkscrew of smoke that wound hot and ill-flavoured to the upper deck. There were bunks68 for the seamen69 and two or three hammocks slung70 right forward; suits of oilskins hung by nails against the stanchions, and swung to the motion of the vessel like the bodies of suicides swayed by the wind. The deck was encumbered71 by sea-chests cleated or otherwise secured. Here and there glimmering72 through the twilight73 in a bunk67 I took notice of a little framed picture, a pipe rack, with other odds74 and ends, trifling75 home memorials, and the artless conveniences with which poor Jack76 equips himself. There were seamen lying in their beds, a vision of leathery noses forking up out of a hedge of whisker, with bright wide-awake eyes that made one think of glow-worms in a bird’s nest; other equally hairy-faced figures in drawers and with naked feet, huge bare arms dark with moss77 and prickings in ink, sat with their legs over the edge of their bunks. It was with difficulty that I controlled my gravity when on casting a hurried glance round the forecastle on entering it my gaze lighted on the visage of Muffin, whose yellowness in the dull lamplight showed with the spectral78 hue79 of ashes. His bunk was well forward; his bare legs hung from the edge like a couple of broomsticks:[183] his hands were clasped; his head slightly on one side; his posture80 one of alarm, amid which, however, there still lurked81 a native quality of valet-like sleekness82 with a suggestion of respectful apology for feeling nervous. Sweet as the ‘Bride’ was, no doubt, as a pleasure vessel compared with other craft of those times, the odour of this interior, improved as it was by the flaring83 snuff of the lamp, not to mention a decidedly warm night, was by no means of the most delicious. Added to this was the lift and fall of the yacht’s bows which one felt here so strongly, that, coming fresh from the tender heavings of the after-deck, you would have imagined a lively head sea had sprung up on a sudden. That Muffin should have stood it astonished me. Sleeping as he did, right in the ‘eyes,’ he got the very full of the motion. Besides, such an atmosphere as this must needs prove the severer as a hardship after the luminous84 and flower-sweetened air of the cabin. Finn took a leisurely85 survey of the occupants of the bunks.
‘Well, lads!’ said he, ‘what’s the meaning of this here talk about a woice? Mr. Crimp’s just come aft to tell me there’s somewhat a-speaking under foot here.’
‘That’s right, sir,’ remarked Cutbill, who stood bolt upright like a sentry86 in the entrance to his little berth. ‘I beg your pardon, Mr. Monson, sir, but it’s nigh hand the same sort o’ speech as hailed us from the wreck.’
‘’Tis the same!’ said a deep voice from one of the bunks.
‘Rats!’ quoth Finn contemptuously.
‘Never yet met with the rat as could damn a man’s eyes in English,’ grunted87 Crimp.
‘Nor in any other lingo88, Mr. Crimp,’ said a singular-looking seaman89, whose face I had before taken notice of as resembling the skin of an over-ripe lemon. He lay on the small of his back blinking at us, and his countenance90 in that light, that was rendered confusing by the sliding of shadows to the swing of the yacht, made one think of a melon half buried in a blanket.
‘Well, but see here, my lads,’ exclaimed Finn in a voice of expostulation, ‘what did this here woice say? That’s what I want to know. What did it say, men?’
‘I told ’ee,’ growled Crimp.
But old Jacob’s interpretation91 did not tally92 with that of the others. The sailors were generally agreed that the voice had exclaimed in effect that the yacht was cursed, and that their business was to make haste and sail her home; but some had apparently93 heard more than others, whilst a few again manifestly embellished94, with a notion, perhaps, of making the most of it; but there could be no question whatever that human syllables, very plainly articulated, had sounded from out of the hold; all hands were agreed as to that, and proof conclusive95 as to the sincerity96 of the men might have been found in the looks of them, one and all.
‘Silence, now!’ cried Finn; ‘let’s listen.’
We all strained our ears. Nothing broke the silence but the[184] sulky wash of the sea outside, seething97 dully, the half-stifled98 respirations of the sailors, who found it difficult to control their hurricane lungs, and the familiar creaking noises breaking out in various parts of the fabric99 to her swayings. Impressed as I was by the agreement amongst the men—and I had come besides to this forecastle with the memory very fresh in me of the mysterious voices I had before heard—I could scarcely hold my face as I stood listening, with my eye glancing from one hairy countenance to another. The variety of the Jacks’ postures100, the knowing cock of a head here and there, the unwinking stare, the strained hearkening attitude, the illustration of superstitious101 emotions by expressions which were rendered grotesque102 by the swing of the lamp, the half-suffocated looks of some of the fellows who were trying to draw their breaths softly, formed a picture to appeal irresistibly103 to one’s sense of the ridiculous.
Three minutes passed, it might have been hours, so long the time seemed.
‘Seems it’s done jawing, whatever it is,’ said Finn.
We listened again.
‘Tell ’ee it’s rats, lads,’ said Finn.
‘As the cuss was meant for this ’ere craft,’ exclaimed the deep voice that had before spoken, ‘perhaps if her owner was to come below, the sperrit, if so be it’s that, ’ud tarn104 to and talk out again.’
‘Tell ’ee, it’s rats!’ cried Finn scornfully.
‘Rats!’ exclaimed Crimp, with great irritation105, ‘if that’s all why don’t Sir Wilfrid lay forrard and listen for hisself?’
‘Won’t he come?’ said one of the men.
‘Come! no,’ rattled out Crimp, ‘and why? ’Cause he knows it’s the truth.’
‘Well,’ exclaimed Cutbill, ‘speaking with all proper respect, seems to me that what’s meat for the dawg ought to be meat for the man in the likes of such a humble-come-tumble out of the maintop into the main-hold sort o’ job as this.’
There was now some grumbling107. Crimp had enabled the men to guess that Wilfrid was afraid to enter the forecastle, and sundry108 sarcasms109, with a mutinous110 touch in them, passed from bunk to bunk.
‘Avast!’ roared Finn; ‘listen if he’ll speak now.’
But no sound resembling a human syllable48 entered the stillness.
‘It’s rats, I tell ’ee,’ shouted the skipper, making to go on deck. ‘Come along, Mr. Monson. Blamed now if I believe that Jacob is the only grandmother as has signed articles for this here woyage.’
But as I followed him the exclamations111 I caught determined112 me on advising Wilfrid to come forward. He had left Miss Jennings standing113 alone at the rail, and was walking swiftly here and there with an irritability114 of gesture that was a sure symptom in him[185] of a troubled and active imagination. On catching115 sight of me as I emerged out of the blind shadow on the forward part of the yacht, he cried out eagerly, ‘Well, what have you heard? Is it a voice, Charles?’
‘There is nothing to hear,’ I answered. ‘Finn disrespectfully calls it rats.’
‘What else, your honour?’ exclaimed Finn, ‘the squeaking116 of rats ain’t unlike a sort o’ language. Put the noise they make along with the straining of bulkheads and the like of such sounds and let the boiling be listened to by a parcel of ignorant sailors, and I allow ye’ll get what might be tarmed a supernatural woice.’
Wilfrid burst into one of his great laughs, but immediately after said in a grave and hollow tone, ‘But you, Charles, have before heard something preternatural in the shape of a hail off yonder quarter, and from the dead man you found on the wreck.’
‘Fancy, mere fancy,’ I said. ‘Gracious mercy! am I making this voyage to carry home with me a belief in ghosts? But I wish you’d go into the forecastle with Finn, Wilfrid, and listen for yourself. Make your mind easy: there’s nothing to be heard. A visit from you will pacify117 the men. They hold that you admit the truth of what they allege118 by declining to satisfy yourself by listening. Their temper is not of the sweetest. They should be soothed119, I think, when it is to be so easily done.’
He hung in the wind and said in a hesitating way, ‘What do you think, Finn?’
‘Well, Sir Wilfrid, since, as Mr. Monson says, there’s nothen to hear and nothen therefore to cause ye any agitation120, I dorn’t doubt that a wisit from you would please the sailors and calm down their minds. I’m bound to say they’re oneasy—yes, I’m bound to say that.’
‘Come, then,’ cried my cousin, and he strided impetuously into the darkness, followed by the skipper.
I gave Miss Laura my arm and we started on a little walk. The awning121 was furled and the dew everywhere sparkled like hoar frost. The quiet night wind sighed in the rigging, and the yacht, a point or two off her course, and every sheet flat aft, softly broke through the black quiet waters with dull puffs122 of phosphor at times sneaking123 by like the eyes of secret shapes risen close to the surface to survey us. The sheen of the binnacle light touched a portion of the figure of the fellow at the wheel, and threw him and a segment of the circle whose spokes124 he held, out upon the clear, fine, spangled dusk in phantasmal yellow outlines, dim as the impression left on the retina by an object when the eyelid125 is closed upon it.
My fair companion and I talked of the incidents of the day. One thing was following another rapidly, I said. ’Twas like a magic-lantern show; scarcely had one picture faded out when something fresh was brightening in its room.
‘What manner of sound could it be,’ she asked, ‘that the sailors have interpreted into cursings and dreadful warnings?’
[186]
‘It was no fancy on my part anyway,’ said I, ‘let me put what face I will on it to Wilfrid. If what the men profess4 to hear be half as distinct as what I heard, there must be some kind of sorcery at work, I’ll swear.’
I led her to the starboard quarter, where I had stood with Crimp, and repeated the story. The darkness gave my recital126 of the incident the complexion127 it wanted; a tremor128 passed through her hand into my arm. It was enough to make a very nightmare of the gloom, warm as it was with the dew-laden southerly breathing, and delicate too with the small fine light trembled into it by the stars, to think of a hail sounding out of it from a phantasm as shapeless as any dye of gloom upon the canvas of the night. Ten minutes passed; I then discerned the figures of Wilfrid and Finn coming aft. My cousin’s deep breathing was audible when he was still at a distance.
‘Well, what news?’ I called cheerily.
Wilfrid drew close and exclaimed, ‘It is true. I have heard it.’
‘Ha!’ said I, turning upon Finn.
‘By all that is blue, then, Mr. Monson, sir,’ exclaimed the worthy129 fellow, ‘there is somewhat a-talking below.’
‘What does it say?’ asked Miss Jennings, showing herself all on a sudden thoroughly130 frightened.
‘What I heard,’ said Wilfrid in his most raven131 note, ‘was this, “The yacht is cursed. Sail her home! Sail her home!”’
‘’Twas as plain, Mr. Monson, as his honour’s own voice,’ said Finn, in a profoundly despondent132 way.
‘D’ye think, Finn,’ said I, ‘that it is a trick played off upon the crew by some skylarking son of a gun forward?’
His head wagged against the stars. ‘I wish I could believe it, sir. The woice was under foot. There’s nobody belonging to the ship there. There’s no man a-missing. ’Sides, ’tain’t a human woice. Never could ha’ believed it.’ He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and polished his brow.
‘Well,’ I exclaimed, ‘so long as the thing, whatever it be, keeps forward—the deuce of it is, I’ve heard such sounds myself twice. It can’t be fancy, then. Yet, confound it all, Wilf, there can be nothing supernatural about it either. What is it? Shall I explore the yacht forward? Give me a lantern, and I’ll overhaul133 her to my own satisfaction anyway.’
‘You may set us on fire,’ said Wilfrid; ‘let the matter rest for to-night. To-morrow, Finn, you can rummage134 the yacht.’ He started violently: ‘What can it be, though? Are we veritably haunted by the ghost of the Portuguese135?’ He tried to laugh, but the dryness of the utterance136 seemed to half choke him.
‘Well, let us wait for daylight, as you say,’ cried I.
‘I am going below for some seltzer and brandy,’ said Wilfrid. ‘Finn, you may tell the steward137 to give the men a glass of grog[187] apiece. What can it be?’ he muttered, and his long figure then flitted to the companion, through which he vanished.
It was evident the thing had not yet had time to work in him. He was more astonished than terrified, but I guessed that superstition138 would soon be active in him, and that there was a bad night before him of feverish139 imaginings and restless wandering. I could not have guessed how frightened Miss Jennings was until I conducted her below, shortly after Wilfrid had left the deck, where I was able to observe her scared white face, the bewildered expression in her eyes, and a dryness of her cherry under-lip, that kept her biting upon it. Her maid shared her berth, and I was mighty140 thankful to feel that the sweet creature had a companion. Indeed, had she been alone, one might have wagered141 she would not have gone to bed that night. My cousin drank freely, but for all that a gloom of spirits settled upon him as slowly and surely as a fog thickens out the atmosphere and darkens down upon the view. He talked with heat and excitement of the strange voice at the first going off, but after a little he grew morose142, absent-minded, with symptoms of temper that made me extremely weary, and I fetched a breath with a positive sigh of relief when he abruptly143 rose, bade us brusquely good-night, and went, in long, melodramatic strides, to his cabin.
I did my best to inspirit Miss Jennings, but I was not very successful. It may be that I was more half-hearted in my manner of going to work than I was conscious of. It never could come to my telling her more than that we might be quite sure, if we could only solve the mystery of the sounds which had frightened all hands forward, and aft, too, for the matter of that, we should be heartily144 ashamed of our fears in the face of the abject145 commonplace of the disclosure. She shook her head.
‘It might be as you say,’ she said; ‘but if this strange voice continues to be heard, indeed should it not speak again and yet remain unriddled, what shall we think? I am frightened, I own it. I do not believe in spirits, Mr. Monson, in haunting shadows, and other inventions of old nurses; but I cannot forget that you have heard such a voice as this twice—you who are so—so——’
‘Stupid,’ said I.
‘Matter of fact, Mr. Monson.’
But talking about the thing was not going to help her nerves. She went to bed at ten o’clock, and feeling too sleepy for a yarn146 with Finn I withdrew to my cabin. I found myself a bit restless, however, when I came to put my head upon the pillow, and would catch myself listening, and sometimes I fancied I could hear a faint sound as of a person talking in a low voice. Then it was I would curse myself for a fool and turn angrily in my bed. Yet for all that, I would fall a-listening again. It was quiet weather still, as it had been since sundown. In the blackness of my cabin I could see a bright star sliding up and down the ebony of the glass of the scuttle147, with a pause at intervals148, when it would beam steadfastly[188] and intelligently upon me as though it were a human eye. Now and again the water went away from the side in a stifled sob149. I could have prayed for such another squall as I have described to burst upon us for the life that would come to the spirit out of the lightning flash, the roar of thunder, the shriek150 of wind, the fierce blow of the black surge, and the tempestuous151 hiss106 of its dissolving spume. I cudgelled my wits for a solution of the voice, but to no purpose. It was ridiculous to suppose that a man lay hidden below. For what sailor of the crew but would not be quickly missed? And then again I had but to consider, to understand what I had not thought of on deck, I mean that even if a pair of hurricane lungs were secreted152 in the hold it was scarce conceivable that their utmost volume of sound could penetrate153 through the thick, well-caulked planking of the forecastle deck.
At last I fell asleep.
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1
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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porpoise
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| n.鼠海豚 | |
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fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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8
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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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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strings
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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15
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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gushing
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| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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19
intonations
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| n.语调，说话的抑扬顿挫( intonation的名词复数 )；（演奏或唱歌中的）音准 | |
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20
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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21
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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23
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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24
tragical
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| adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的 | |
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25
plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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26
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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27
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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28
persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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29
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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30
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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31
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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32
elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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33
wanness
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| n.虚弱 | |
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34
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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36
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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37
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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38
murkiness
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| n.阴暗；混浊；可疑；黝暗 | |
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39
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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40
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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41
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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42
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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43
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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44
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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45
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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46
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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47
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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48
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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49
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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50
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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51
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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52
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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53
jawing
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| n.用水灌注 | |
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54
growled
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| 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 | |
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55
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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56
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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57
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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58
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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59
abaft
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| prep.在…之后；adv.在船尾，向船尾 | |
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60
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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61
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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62
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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63
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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64
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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65
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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66
spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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67
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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68
bunks
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| 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 | |
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69
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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70
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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71
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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73
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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74
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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75
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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76
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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77
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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78
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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79
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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80
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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81
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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82
sleekness
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| 油滑； 油光发亮； 时髦阔气； 线条明快 | |
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83
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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84
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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85
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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86
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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87
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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88
lingo
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| n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语 | |
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89
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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90
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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91
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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92
tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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93
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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94
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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95
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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96
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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97
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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98
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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99
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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100
postures
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| 姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场 | |
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101
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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102
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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103
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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104
tarn
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| n.山中的小湖或小潭 | |
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105
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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106
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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107
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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108
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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109
sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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110
mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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111
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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112
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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113
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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114
irritability
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| n.易怒 | |
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115
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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116
squeaking
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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117
pacify
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| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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118
allege
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| vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言 | |
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119
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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120
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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121
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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122
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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123
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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124
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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125
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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126
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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127
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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128
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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129
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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130
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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131
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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132
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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133
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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134
rummage
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| v./n.翻寻，仔细检查 | |
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135
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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136
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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137
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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138
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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139
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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140
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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141
wagered
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| v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的过去式和过去分词 )；保证，担保 | |
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142
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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143
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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144
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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145
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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146
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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147
scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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148
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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149
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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150
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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151
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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152
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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153
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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