‘She is not hurt!’ I exclaimed.
‘I am coming, Henrietta,’ said Laura.
‘I shall die if I am left alone here!’ cried Lady Monson. ‘I believed that that flash just now had struck me blind.’
‘Keep hold of my arm, Laura,’ said I, ‘and walk as if the deck were filled with snakes.’
We cautiously stepped the wild growths of the planks4, rendered as dangerous as the holes outside of the rocks by the dusk, and approached Lady Monson.
‘May I conduct you to the cabin?’ said I.
‘I would rather remain here,’ she answered; but there was no longer the old note of imperious determination in her voice. In fact it was easy to see that she did not care to be alone when the[335] lightning was fierce and when a heavy storm of wet and wind was threatened.
‘Shall we take in this here sail, sir?’ cried Finn from the other side of the deck, ‘before it’s blown away?’
‘No; keep all fast, Finn,’ said I; ‘her ladyship desires to remain here.’
‘Are you going to stop with me, Laura?’ said Lady Monson.
‘Suffer me to answer for Miss Jennings,’ I exclaimed. ‘I make myself answerable for her health and comfort. I could not endure that she should be exposed when there is a safe and dry shelter within a biscuit-toss of us.’
Just then was a blinding leap of lightning; the electric spark seemed to flash sheer from the western confines to the eastern star, scoring the black firmament5 with a line of fire that was like the splitting of it. A mighty6 blast of thunder followed.
‘Hark!’ I cried, as the echoes of it went roaring and rolling into the distance. My ear had caught a rushing and hissing8 noise, and looking into the direction of the sea, over which the thick of the tempest was hanging, I saw what seemed a line of light approaching us.
‘Rain!’ I shouted, ‘flashing the phosphorescent water up into flame.’
‘No, sir, no!’ roared Cutbill; ‘it’s wind, sir, wind! ’Tis the boiling of the water that looks like fire.’
He was right. An instant’s listening enabled me to catch the yell of the squall sounding in the distance like a moaning sort of whistling through the seething9 of the ploughed and lacerated waters.
‘Laura, give me your hand,’ I cried. ‘Lady Monson, if you are coming——’
‘I will accompany you,’ she answered, and very nimbly, and much to my astonishment10, she slipped her hand under my arm and clung to me. So! There was yet a little of the true woman remaining in her, and it would necessarily discover itself soonest in moments of terror.
The illuminated11 square of hatchway not only enabled us to avoid the ugly gap down which it was mighty easy to plump by mistake in the confusion of the blackness and in the bewilderment following upon the blinding playing of the lightning; it threw out a faint haze12 of light that went sifting13 into a considerable area over the main deck, so that we were able to make haste without risk; and after a few minutes of floundering, with an interval14 of groping when we came to the incline of shells which conducted to the quarter-deck, I succeeded in lodging15 the two ladies fairly in the shelter of the cabin, and not a moment too soon. We were scarce entered when a squall of terrific violence burst upon the little island. It took the galleon16 with a glare of lightning of noontide brilliance17, a roar of thunder, and such a hurricane howling of wind that no tornado18 ever shrieked19 under the heavens more deafeningly.[336] One by one the men arrived. The lightning was so continuous that I could see their figures stealing along the deck, and they made for the cabin door by it as directly as though guided by a stretched hand-line.
‘Did you get in the sail?’ I cried to Finn.
‘Lord love ’ee, sir,’ he roared, ‘it fled to the first blast like a puff21 of baccy smoke.’
‘Hark to the sea a-getting up!’ said Dowling. ‘Here’s a breeze to start this old waggin. Stand by for a slide, says I. I wish them holes was plugged.’
‘Belay, you old owl,’ grumbled22 Cutbill hoarsely23; ‘ain’t there blue lights enough here without you hanging of more out? There’ll be no sliding with this here hulk onless it’s to the bottom when it’s time for her to go.’
Nevertheless the sea had risen as if by magic. The swift heaping up of it was the stranger because there had been no preceding swell26. The first of the squall had swept over a sheet of water polished as any mirror without a heave, as might have been seen by a glance at the island beach, where the edge of the ocean was scarce breathing. Now the shrilling27 and screaming of the wind was filled with the noise of ploughed and coiling surges dissolving in masses upon the rocks from which they recoiled28 with a horrible hissing and ringing sound. The continual electric play filled the cabin with light as it glittered upon the sail over the skylight above, or coloured the black square of the door with violet and green and golden brilliance. It was true tropic lightning, a heaven of racing29 flames, and the thunder a continuous roll, one burst following another till the explosions seemed blent into a uniform roar.
Lady Monson had seated herself on Laura’s mattress30. My dear girl and I reposed32 upon a roll of the sail; the men had flung themselves down, one leaning his head upon his elbow, another Lascar fashion, a third sitting upright with his arms folded. There were no wonders in this cabin as in the hold, no marvellous and beautiful conformations, self-luminous33 as one might say, and making a greenish moonlight radiance of their own. Yet the interior seemed the wilder to the imagination for its very nakedness, for the austere34 desolation of it as it glanced out to the levin brand to its castle-shaped confines. It forced fancy to do its own work, to revitalise it with the ghostly shapes of beings that in life had filled it, to regarnish it with the feudal35 furniture of its age. I was heartily36 thankful that the two skeletons had been turned out. By every flash I could see Lady Monson’s black eyes roaming wildly, and though I might have counted upon Laura’s spirit whilst I was by her side and held her hand, I could have reckoned with equal assurance upon some wretched distracting display in her sister, had the two embracing skeletons remained in yonder corner to serve as a moral for the motive37 of this voyage, to be witnessed by the illumination of the lightning, and to add a horror of their own to the[337] sound of the thunder, to the fierce crying of the wind, and to the boiling of the beating seas.
‘I say, Finn,’ I shouted to him, ‘here’s the wind before the rain, my friend—you were mistaken.’
‘My sight ain’t what it was, sir,’ he answered.
‘It’s a commotion38 to blow something along in sight of us,’ said Cutbill.
‘Wonder if that there hold’s lighted up every night like that?’ said Head; ‘enough to make a man think that there must be sperrits aboard who trims their inwisible lamps when it comes on dark.’
‘Sorry I ain’t got my green spectacles with me,’ said Cutbill; ‘if you was to put them on, mate, you’d see them sperrits dancing.’
‘Proper sort of ball-room, though, ain’t it, miss?’ exclaimed Finn, addressing Laura.
‘How touching,’ said Dowling, who I could see by the lightning pulling out his whiskers as if trimming himself, ‘for them skellingtons to go on a-loving of one another for all these years! Supposing they was husband and wife: then if they was living they’d ha’ given up clinging to each other a long time ago.’
Cutbill hove a curse at him under his breath, but the man did not seem to hear.
‘It’s curious,’ continued this sea philosopher in a salt, thick voice that seemed not a little appropriate to the strong fish-like, marine39, drowned smell of this interior, ‘they should go on a-showing of affection which they’d sicken at if they was coated with flesh.’
‘Pray hold your tongue!’ said Lady Monson. ‘Captain Finn, please request that sailor to be silent.’
‘Told ’ee so,’ I heard Cutbill growl40; ‘always a-sticking of that hoof41 of yourn into the wrong biling.’
Scarce had this been muttered when all on a sudden the squall ceased; there fell a black, dead calm; no more lightning played, not a murmur42 of thunder sounded; there was nothing to be heard but the roar of the near surf upon the beach and the creaming of seas off the huge area of the angry waters. In its way this sudden cessation, this abrupt43, this instant hush44 on high, was more terrifying than the wildest outbreak of tempest. The lightning had been so continuous that in a manner we had grown used to it, and we had been able to see one another’s faces by it whilst we conversed45 as though by some lamp that waned46 and then waxed brilliant to its revolutions. Now we sat plunged47 in impenetrable blackness, whilst we sat hearkening, to use an Irishism, to the incredible silence of the atmosphere. Not the faintest loom48 of the galleon could be distinguished49 through the open door; yet the sheen of the mystic illumination in her hold hovered50 like a faint green mist over the hatch and dimly touched a little space of the marine growths round about.
[338]
‘What’s a-going to happen now?’ cried Finn; but I did not know that he had left the cabin until I heard him calling from the outside, ‘My eye, your honour, here it comes; a shower this time.’
I groped my way out, feeling down with my outstretched hands one of the men who was groping to the door also. The stagnant51 air was as thick as the fumes52 of brimstone and oppressively hot. It made one gasp53 after coming out of the cabin, where it was kept almost cool somehow by the strong weedy and salt-water smell that haunted it. I looked over the rail and saw the sea at the distance of about half a mile away from us, flaming as though it were an ocean of brandy on fire, only that the head of the luminous appearance had as straight a line to the eye as the horizon. But I could now observe how phosphorescent was the sea that, whilst tranquil54, had hung a lustreless55 shadow by marking the vivid flashes of light in the white smother56 of the froth down in the gloom of the beach and the sharp darting57 gleams beyond.
I groped back to the cabin, followed by the others, found Laura by the shadow her figure made upon the dim glimmer58 of the sail and seated myself beside her. Then plump fell the rain. It was just a sheet of descending59 water, and spite of the fossilised decks being thickened by marine verdure, the hull60 echoed to the downpour with a noise as distracting and deafening20 as a goods train passing at full speed close alongside. But the wonder of that rain lay not so much in its weight as in its being electric. It came down black, but it sparkled on striking the decks as though every drop exploded in a blaze. I never witnessed such a sight before, and confess that I was never so frightened by anything in all my life.
‘Why, it’s raining lightning!’ called Head.
‘The vessel61 will be set on fire!’ cried Lady Monson.
‘Nothen to be afraid of, my lady,’ shouted Cutbill; ‘these fiery62 falls are common down here. I’ve been rolling up the maintop-garnsail in rain of this sort in the Bay of Bengal when ye’d ha’ thought that the ship had been put together out of lighted brimstone; every rope a streak63 of flame, and the ocean below as if old Davy Jones was entertaining his friends with a game of snapdragon.’
It was, no doubt, as Cutbill had said; but then there was not only the sight of the fire flashing out along the length of the vessel as far as the doorway64 permitted the eye to follow the deck, to the roaring, ebony, perpendicular65 discharge of the clouds; there was the tremendous thought of our being perched on the head of a newly-formed volcanic66 rock, that had leapt into existence on such another night as this. Suppose it sank under us! Here were all necessary conditions of atmosphere, at least, to justify67 dread68 of such a thing. Would the ship float? Was she buoyant enough to tear her keel from the rock and outlive the whirlpool or gulf69 which might follow the descent of a mountain of lava70 of whose dimen[339]sions it was impossible to form a conception? But she had six holes in her; and then, again, there was still plenty of water in the hold, whose volume must already have been further increased—rapidly and greatly increased—by the cataract71 that fell in a straight line to the broad yawn of the uprooted72 hatch.
My consternation73 was, indeed, so great that I could not speak. I felt Laura press my hand, as though the dew in the palm of it and the tremor74 of my fingers were hints sufficient to her of the sudden desperate fit of nervousness that possessed75 me; but I could not find my tongue. Figure being out in a horrible thunderstorm, miles from all shelter, and seized by an overmastering apprehension76 that the next or the next flash will strike you dead! My torment77 of mind was of this sort. I philosophised to myself in vain. There was nothing in the consideration that others shared my danger—most often a source of wonderful comfort to a person in peril78—that I could but die once, that there were harder deaths than drowning, and the like, to restore me my self-possession. I was unnerved and in a panic of terror, fired afresh by the fearful fancy that had entered my brain on the preceding night of this head of rock gaping79 and letting us down to God knows what depth. All the time I was feeling with a hideous80, nervous intensity81 with feet, fibres, and instincts for any faint premonitory jar or thrill in the hull to announce that this island was getting under way for the bottom again.
I believe that the electric rain had a deal to do with the insufferable distress82 of my mind at that time, for when it ceased—with the same startling suddenness that had marked the drop of the wind—I rallied as though to a huge bumper83 of brandy. My hands were wringing84 wet, yet cold as though lifted from a bucket of water; the perspiration85 poured down my face, but my nerves had returned to me.
‘What now is to be the next act of this wild play?’ said I.
‘A breeze of wind, your honour,’ cried Finn out of the black gap of the door; and sure enough I felt the grateful blowing of air cooled by the wet.
The weight of rain had wonderfully deadened the sea, and the surf that a little while ago broke with passion and fury now beat the rocks with a subdued86 and sulky roaring sound. It had clarified to the westwards somewhat, the dusk was of a thinner and finer sort there, with a look of wind in the texture87 of the darkness; but it continued a black night, with no other relief to the eye than the pale preternatural haze of light in the square of the main-hatch and the occasional vivid flash of phosphor out at sea. But the wind swept up rapidly, and within a quarter of an hour of the first of its breezing it was blowing hard upon a whole gale88; the old galleon hummed to it as though she had all her rigging aloft. In an incredibly short time the sea was making clean breaches89 over the island, rendering90 the blackness hoary91 with a look of snow squalls as it slung92 its sheets of thrilling and throbbing93 and hissing[340] spume high into the dark sweep of the gale. One saw the difference between this sort of weather and the night on which the ‘Bride’ had struck. Then the heaviest of the surf left a clear space of rock; but there were times now when the smother came boiling to the very bends of the galleon, striking her till you felt her tremble with huge quivering upheavals94 of froth over and into her; and it was like being at sea to look over the side and witness the white madness of water raging and beating on either hand. Every now and again a prodigious95 height of steam-like spray would go yelling up with the sound of a giantess’s scream into the flying darkness from some pipe-like conduit in the porous96 rock. These columns of water were so luminous with fire, so white with the crystalline smoke into which they were converted by the incalculable weight of the sea sweeping97 into the apertures98, that, dark as it was, one saw them instantly and clearly. They soared with hurricane speed in a straight line, then were arched by the gale like a palm; and if ever the wind brought the falling torrent99 to our decks the stonified ship shook to the mighty discharge as though the point of land on which she lay were being rent by the force of flame and thunder which created it.
We sat in the cabin in total darkness. It made our condition unspeakably dreadful to be without light. We had tinder-boxes, but there was nothing to set fire to, nothing that would steadily100 flame and enable us to see; nor was there any prospect101 now of our being able to make a flare102 should we catch a glimpse of a ship, for what before would have made a fine bonfire was soaked through. It was up to a man’s knees on the main-deck, and the cabin would have been flooded but for the sharp spring or rise of the planks from the poop front to the stern. Such darkness as we sat in was like being blind. There was nothing to be seen through the door but pale clouds of spray flying through the air. Just the faintest outline of our figures upon the white ground of the sail was visible, but so dim, so indeterminable as to seem but a mere103 cheat of the fancy. A lamp or a candle would have rendered our condition less intolerable. The men could then have made shift to bring some sherry and provisions from the forecastle; the mere toying with food would have served to kill the time. We could have looked upon one another as we conversed, but the blackness of that interior was so profound that it weighed down upon us like the very spirit of dumbness itself. I have often since wondered whether men who are trapped in the bottom of a mine and lie waiting in the blackness there for deliverance—I have often wondered, I say, how long such poor fellows continue to talk to one another. The intervals104 of silence, I am sure, must rapidly grow greater and greater. There is something in intense darkness in a time of peril that seems to eat all the heart and courage out of a man. The voice appears to fall dead in the opacity105 as a stone vanishes when hurled106 at snow.
Cutbill and Finn did their best to keep up our hearts. They[341] spoke107 of the certainty of this wind bringing a ship along with it. What should we have done without this galleon? they asked; but for the shelter it provided us with we should have been swept like smoke by the seas off the rocks. There was no fear, they said, of the old hooker not holding together. She was bound into one piece by the brine that had made a stone of her, and by the coating of shells, and if all ships afloat were as staunch as she was there would be an end of underwriting and drowned sailors would be few.
I helped in such talk and did my best, but our spirits could not continue to make headway against the blackness that was rendered yet more subduing108 by the uproar109 without, and by our being unable to imagine from moment to moment what was next to happen.
By-and-by the men stretched themselves upon the sail and slept. I passed my arm round Laura’s waist and brought her head to my shoulder, and after a little her regular breathing let me know that she was asleep. Lady Monson was close to us, but she might have been on the forecastle for all that I could distinguish of her. Whether she sat or reclined, whether she slumbered111 or was wide awake throughout, I could not imagine. She never once spoke. At times my head would nod, but as regularly would I start into wakefulness afresh to the heavy fall of a sheet of water splashing into the main-deck, or to some sudden shock of the blow of a sea either against the galleon’s side or upon the near rock. Nobody had suggested keeping a look-out. Indeed, had ships been passing us every five minutes we could have done nothing.
It was probably about two o’clock in the morning when the gale abated112. The wind fell swiftly, as it mostly does in those parallels; a star shone in the black square of the door; the pouring and boiling of waters about us ceased, and the sounds of the sea sank away into the distance of the beach. I should have stepped on deck to take a look round but for Laura, who slumbered stirlessly and most reposefully113 upon my shoulder, supported by my arm, and I had not the heart to disturb the sweet girl by quitting her. Added to this, I could guess by looking through the doorway that it was still too black to see anything spite of the glance of starlight, and even though I should discern some pallid115 vision of a running ship, there was nothing dry enough to signal her with. So, being dog-tired, I let drop my chin, and was presently in as deep a sleep as the soundest slumberer116 of them all.
Deep and deathlike indeed must have been my repose31, for somehow I was sensible of being stormily shaken even whilst my wits were still locked up in sleep.
‘Why, Mr. Monson, sir,’ roared Finn in my ear, ‘ye ain’t so sleepy, I hope, as not to care to git away. Hallo, I say, hallo!’
‘Father of mercy, what is it now?’ I cried, terrified in my dazed condition by his bull-like voice.
‘Why, sir,’ he answered, ‘there’s a barque just off the island.[342] She’s seen our signals, and ’s slipping close in with hands at the maintops’l brace117.’
‘Ha!’ said I, and I sprang to my feet.
Finn rushed out again. I had been the last of the sleepers118 apparently119, and was the only occupant of the cabin. The sun was risen, but, as I might suppose by his light, he had scarce floated yet to three or four times the height of his diameter. The doorway framed a silvery blue heaven, and the wondrous120 vegetation of the deck sparkled in fifty gorgeous dyes, streaming wet after the night, and every blob of moisture was jewel-coloured by the particular splendour it rested upon. I darted121 on to the quarter-deck, looked wildly towards the forecastle, then perceived that my companions had gathered upon the poop. Laura came running to me, heedless of the perilous122 deck, pointing and speechless, her eyes radiant. There was a long swell washing from the westwards, but to the eastwards123 of the island the water ran away smooth like the short wake of a great ship, till the shouldering welter swept to it again; and there where the blue heave was, with the sun’s dazzle a little away to the right, was a small barque slightly leaning from the pleasant morning breeze, and sliding slowly but crisply through it with a delicate lift of foam124 to the ruddy gleam of her sheathing125, and her canvas glistening126 sunwards, bright as the cloths of a pleasure vessel.
‘That’s what we’ve been awaiting for!’ shouted Finn.
I came to a dead halt, looking at the barque with Laura hanging on my arm. There was a fellow in the mainchains swinging a leadline, but it was plain that the weight fell to the full scope without result. Then on a sudden round came the maintopsail yard to us with a flattening127 in of the cotton white cloths from the folds of the course to the airy film of the tiny sky-sail.
‘Forward, Head! forward, Dowling, as if the devil were in chase of ’ee,’ bawled128 Finn, ‘and get that whip rove and the chair made fast.’
The men ran to the work. Cutbill was following them.
‘No, William,’ cried Finn; ‘stop where ’ee are a minute. The shipwreck129 t’other night ain’t left me my old woice. Hist! there’s a chap hailing us.’
‘What island’s that, and who are you and what manner of craft is that you’re aboard of?’ came from the rail of the barque’s quarter-deck in a thin, reed-like, but distinctly audible voice.
Cutbill roared back, ‘We’re the surwiwors of the schooner-yacht ‘Bride,’ cast away three nights ago. Will you take us off, sir?’
‘How many are there of you?’
‘Seven, including two ladies.’
‘Five, Mr. Cutbill, tell ’em,’ shouted Dowling from the forecastle; ‘me and Head stops here.’
‘Have you a boat?’ came from the barque.
‘No, sir,’ roared Cutbill.
[343]
‘I’ll send one. Make ready to come along.’
Lady Monson was the first of us to press forward to the forecastle. The main-deck was ankle deep, but we splashed through it like a pack of racing children and gained the fore-end of the galleon without misadventure. I was mad with impatience130, and all being ready with the whip and chair I plumped Laura most unceremoniously into the seat, caught hold of the line over her head, and down we were lowered. Up then soared the empty chair and out swung her ladyship, who plunged into my arms and came very near to throwing me in her eagerness to leap out before the rocks were within reach of her feet.
‘Now,’ said I, ‘the men can manage for themselves,’ and with that I seized hold of Lady Monson’s hand, grasped Laura by the arm, and away we trudged131 to the beach off which the barque was lying. I was still so newly awakened132 from a very stupor133 of slumber110 that I moved and thought as though in a dream. Yet my wits were sufficiently134 collected to enable me to keep a bright look-out for holes. Again and again I secretly heaped curses upon the hindrance135 of this porous surface, for it forced us into deviations136 which seemed to make a league of a distance that would have been but a few minutes’ walk on reasonable soil. The energy of our strides forbade speech; we could only breathe, and what little mind this sudden chance of deliverance had left us we had to exclusively devote to the pitfalls137.
They had lowered a boat aboard the barque by the time that we arrived at the water’s edge, breathless, and the three of us staring with a feverish138 greediness, a thirsty, frantic139 desire, I may say, which ocean peril, of all earthly dangers, paints with most perfection upon the eye. She was a good-sized boat of a whaling pattern, sharp at both ends, pulled by three men who peered continuously over their shoulders as they rowed, and steered140 by a small man in a blue jacket and a broad-brimmed straw hat. By the time she was close in the others had joined us. I had heard much heated talk amongst them as they came down from the galleon, springing over the holes and wells, and Finn at once said to me:
‘What d’ee think, your honour? here’s Head and Dowling gone mad! They say there’s bullion141 to be met with in that hulk up there, and they mean to stop with her till they’ve got it.’
‘Nonsense!’ I exclaimed.
‘By the ’Tarnal, then, Mr. Monson,’ cried Dowling, ‘there’s no leaving with me yet. Here’s a chance that ain’t going to happen more’n once to a sailor-man.’
‘Ashore142 there!’ came from the little chap at the tiller of the boat; ‘what sort of beach have you got for grounding?’
‘Pumice-stone, sir,’ answered Finn.
‘Don’t like it,’ said the little fellow with a shake of his head. ‘Is it steep to?’
‘He ought to be able to see by looking over the side,’ grumbled Finn; then aloud, ‘Slopes as gradual as the calf143 of a man’s leg.’
[344]
‘Well, then, you won’t mind wading,’ said the little fellow.
‘Cutbill, Finn,’ I cried, ‘carry her ladyship, will you? Dowling or Head, come and lend me a hand to convey Miss Jennings.’
The little fool obliged us to wade144 waist high by keeping off, so confoundedly anxious was he to keep his keel clear of the ground. However, we easily got the ladies into the boat; then Cutbill, Finn, and I gripped the gunwale and rolled inboards; but Dowling coolly waded145 shorewards again to where Head was standing.
‘Aren’t you two men coming?’ cried the little fellow, who afterwards proved to be the second mate of the barque, a doll of a man with bright eyes, diminutive146 features, red beard, and hands and feet of the size of a boy of ten.
‘No, sir,’ answered Dowling; ‘there’s treasure in that there craft, and my mate and me’s going to stop to overhaul147 the cargo148.’
The three seamen149 belonging to the boat stared on hearing this, instantly pricking150 up their ears with sailors’ sympathy and fastening devouring151 eyes on the galleon.
‘They have no reason to believe there is treasure,’ I cried; ‘it is a mere idle hope on their part. Exhort152 them to come, sir. They stand to perish if they are left here.’
‘Now, then, don’t keep us waiting, my lads,’ exclaimed the second mate.
‘We mean to stop here,’ responded Head decisively.
‘But have you any provisions?’
‘Enough washed out of the yacht to sarve our tarn,’ answered Dowling; ‘but we should be glad of another cask of fresh water.’
‘Well, you’ll not get that,’ answered the second mate; ‘our own stock’s not over-plentiful. Now, once more, are ye coming?’
They shook their heads, and in a careless, reckless manner Head half-swung his back upon us.
‘Give way!’ cried the second mate.
‘But it’s like helping153 them to commit suicide, Finn,’ I exclaimed.
‘They ought to be seized and forced into the boat,’ said Lady Monson, looking with a shudder154 at the galleon.
‘They’ve got a notion there’s money in that there hulk,’ exclaimed Finn, ‘and they’ll stick to her till they satisfies themselves one way or the other.’
‘Small fear of them not being taken off when they’re ready to go,’ said the mate, staring hard at Lady Monson and then at Laura; ‘that island’s a novelty which’ll bring every ship that heaves her masthead within sight of it running down to have a look at. Volcanic, eh? And that shell-covered arrangement up there rose along with it?’
‘Ay,’ said Finn.
‘Well,’ said the little second mate, ‘why shouldn’t she have[345] treasure, aboard? She has the look of one of them plate ships you read of.’
‘I’d take my chance with them two sailors,’ said the fellow who was pulling the bow oar7.
‘So would I,’ said the man next to him.
The stroke gazed yearningly155 through the hair over his eyes.
The sea of the preceding night had cleared the beach of every vestige156 of the yacht; all the fragments which had littered the rocks were gone. As we drew out from the island it took in the brilliant sunshine the complexion157 of marble, and the wondrous old galleon lying on top sparkled delicately with many tints158 as our point of view was varied159 by the stroke of the oars25. The resolution of the two men vexed160 and grieved me beyond all expression; but what was to be done? My spirit shrank at the mere thought of their determination when I reflected upon the damp, dark, ocean-smelling cabin, the luminous hold, the two skeletons, the vegetation and shells, whose novelty, wonder, glory seemed to carry the structure out of all human sympathy, as though it were the product of a form of existence whose creations were not to be met with under the stars. We drew rapidly to the barque. She was an exceedingly handsome model, painted green, rigged with a masterly eye to accurate adjustment down to the most trivial detail.
‘What’s her name, sir?’ asked Finn.
‘The “Star of Peace,”’ answered the second mate.
‘Homeward bound, I hope, sir?’ says Cutbill.
‘Ay,’ said the little man, grinning, ‘and long enough about it too. Sixty-one days from Melbourne as it is.’
Finn whistled; Laura looked at the mate on hearing him say that the ship was from Melbourne.
‘Oars!’ A boathook caught the accommodation ladder and we gained the deck. The captain of the barque stood in the gangway to receive us; he was a Scotchman with a slow, kind, thoughtful face, grey hair that showed like wire on end with thickness and stubbornness as he lifted his straw hat to the ladies. His grey, keen, seawardly eye rapidly took stock of us. I briefly162 related our story.
‘I remember the “Bride,” sir,’ he said. ‘She was owned by Sir Wilfrid Monson, who married Miss Jennings of Melbourne.’
‘This is Lady Monson,’ I said; ‘her sister, too, Miss Jennings.’
‘Indeed!’ he exclaimed, with a sort of slow surprise giving a little animation163 to his speech. ‘I have the honour of being acquainted with Mr. Jennings. He came on board this vessel three days before we sailed along with a gentleman, Mr. Hanbury’—Laura slightly nodded—‘to whom a portion of the freight belongs. I see the likeness164 now,’ he added, looking with admiration165 at Lady Monson.
She glowed crimson166, and turned with a haughty167 step to the rail to conceal168 her face.
[346]
‘I have always heard this world was a small one, captain,’ said I, ‘small enough, thank God, to enable your ship to fall in with that rock there. To what port are you bound?’
‘London, sir. There are a couple of cabins at your service. There are no females aboard,’ looking at Laura and running his eye over her dress with a glance on to Lady Monson; ‘I judge ye were cast away in little more than what you stood up in?’
‘By the way, Laura,’ said I, ‘we ought not to leave your box of odds169 and ends behind us.’
‘Oh, no; bring off everything,’ exclaimed the captain. ‘I’ll send the boat ashore.’
It was arranged that Finn should fetch the box and make a final effort to persuade the two men to come off. The captain of the barque laughed when I told him of the fellows’ resolution, and seemed to make little of it. ‘If they’ve got a notion there’s treasure there, sir,’ he exclaimed, ‘you’ll not move ’em. I know Jack’s nature. He’d follow old Nick if he believed he’d take him to where there were dollars. Ships enough’ll be coming in sight of that rock. I don’t fear for the men’s safety.’
‘But it is a volcanic creation, captain. It may vanish just as it rose, in a flash.’
‘Ha!’ cried he, sucking in his breath, ‘my word! But I should never have thought of that. Better try and coax170 those men off,’ he exclaimed, walking to the rail and putting his head over and addressing Finn who had entered the boat.
‘I’ll do my best, sir,’ answered Finn, and shoved off.
‘Now, ladies and gentlemen,’ said the captain, returning to us, ‘will you step below that we may see how you’re to be made comfortable?’
After the galleon the cabin of a smack171 would have been sheer Paradise. Here was a breezy, plain, substantial homely172 interior. The sunshine brilliantly flooded it, the eastern splendour of water rippled173 in lines of light upon the bulkheads; the hot morning breeze gushed174 humming through the skylight into it. The captain led us to a couple of berths175 forward of the state cabin, and the first object I witnessed was my face reflected in a looking-glass. Heavens! what a contrast to the Pall114 Mall exquisite176 of a few months before! Unshaven, sunblackened, unbrushed, unwashed; my linen177 dark, my clothes expressing every feature of shipwreck in rents, stains, and the like; I needed but a few further grimy embellishments to have passed to admiration as a back alley178 sailor. The captain’s name was Richardson; he seemed fascinated by Lady Monson, called for his servant or steward179, bade him procure180 at once every convenience of hot water, towels, hair-brushes and the like; continued to congratulate himself upon having been the means of delivering the daughters of Mr. Jennings of Melbourne from a situation of distress and peril, and so warmed up to the occasion, but slowly as the kettle boils, that I easily saw there was small fear of Laura and her sister not being made as thoroughly[347] comfortable as the accommodation supplied by the barque would permit.
I was too anxious, however, about the fellows on the island to linger below, and went on deck, leaving Captain Richardson talking to the ladies, protesting in hearty181 Scotch161 accents his anxiety to serve them to the utmost of his ability, questioning the steward about sheets and blankets, bidding him likewise tell the cook to make haste with the breakfast, asking Lady Monson if she drank tea or coffee, and so on and so on. The boat was off the island and Finn ashore, coming down from the galleon to the beach with Laura’s box slung betwixt him and Dowling, whilst Head trudged close behind. Then there was a long talk; I could see Finn pointing to the hulk and then to the barque, flourishing his arms and emphatically nodding at one or the other as he addressed them. Cutbill stood in the gangway looking on.
‘I hope the captain will prevail upon them to leave that place,’ said I to him.
‘He won’t, sir,’ answered Cutbill; ‘and blowed if I don’t feel now, Mr. Monson, as if I’d made a mistake in leaving it myself!’
Here the mate of the barque stepped up to me—an immense man, even bigger than Cutbill, in a long white coat with side pockets so vast that one might have thought that he could have stowed the little second mate away in one of them.
‘Do those chaps think that there’s plunder182 to be found aboard that effigy183?’ he asked in a voice rendered unutterably hoarse24 and harsh by probably years of roaring out in foul184 weather, supplemented by rum and the natural gift of a deep note.
‘Don’t know about plunder, sir,’ answered Cutbill, ‘but they reckon there may be chests of plate and bullion stowed away aft.’
‘Stowed away in their eye!’ growled185 the mate. ‘Where did she come from?’
‘The bottom of the sea, sir.’
‘An old galleon,’ said he, cocking his eye at her, ‘and a volcanic burst up,’ he continued. ‘Well, I don’t know, if so be she’s a galleon, likely as not those chaps are right. Why, they thought nothing in the days she belonged to in stowing a matter of six or seven millions of dollars in the lazarettes of craft of that kind.’
‘By the Lord, Mr. Monson,’ burst out Cutbill, ‘I must go ashore, sir! I feel I’m a-doing wrong in being here!’
‘You’ll have to swim then,’ said the mate drily, ‘for that boat is meant for our davits when she comes alongside, and it will then be time to trim sail.’
At that moment I observed Finn shaking the two sailors by the hand. He then entered the boat and made for the barque, whilst Head and Dowling walked slowly up to the galleon and sat down in the shade of her under her counter, whence they continued to watch us.
‘It’s no good, Mr. Monson, sir,’ said Finn, as he came clambering[348] and panting over the side; ‘they call it a gold mine, and there’s no persuading of ’em to leave it.’
‘Up with this boat,’ roared the mate; ‘stand by to round in on those topsail braces186.’
The boat soared to her davits, the milk-white squares of canvas on the main went floating onwards into full bosoms187; the barque, bowing to the swell, broke the flashing water into trembling lines; slowly, almost imperceptibly, that marble-looking hump of rock with its glittering centre-piece stole away upon the quarter, its solitude188 somehow making the ocean look as wide again as it was. Laura came on deck and stood by my side.
‘Oh, Charles!’ she exclaimed, ‘we have left the poor fellows behind, then?’
‘They refuse to leave. Observe Cutbill,’ said I, pointing to the huge figure of the honest tar2 as he lay over the rail, his face knotted up with conflicting emotions, whilst his expression was rendered spasmodic by his manner of gnawing189 upon a quid that stood in his cheek. ‘He is lamenting190 the loss of a princely income, and would have returned to the island could he have got a boat. Mark Finn, too; with what a mixture of thirstiness and misgiving191 does he stare!’
‘The poor creatures are waving to us,’ said Laura.
Instantly throughout the barque there was a general flourishing of arms and Scotch caps and straw hats. We lingered watching them till the island looked to be no more than a small blue cloud floating low upon the water.
‘Poor Wilfrid!’ suddenly exclaimed Laura, and her eyes dimmed with tears.
‘It has been a hard time for you, dear one!’ I exclaimed, ‘but the end of the black chapter is reached, let us believe. See! here comes the captain’s man with a tray of good things. But I must positively192 shave before I can sit down to breakfast, if there is a razor on board to borrow.’
We walked together to the companion hatch, but even there we lingered a little with our eyes dwelling193 upon that distant azure194 film which seemed now to be fainting out as though it were a wreath of sea-mist that was being fast devoured195 by the sun.
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1
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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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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4
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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10
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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13
sifting
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| n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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14
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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15
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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16
galleon
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| n.大帆船 | |
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17
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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18
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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19
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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21
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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22
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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23
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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24
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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25
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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27
shrilling
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的现在分词 )； 凄厉 | |
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28
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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29
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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30
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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31
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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32
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
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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34
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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35
feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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36
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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37
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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38
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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39
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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40
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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41
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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42
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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43
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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44
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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45
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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46
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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47
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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48
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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49
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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50
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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51
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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52
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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53
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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54
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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55
lustreless
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| adj.无光泽的，无光彩的，平淡乏味的 | |
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56
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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57
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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58
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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59
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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60
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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61
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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62
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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63
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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64
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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65
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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66
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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67
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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68
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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69
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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70
lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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71
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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72
uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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73
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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74
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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75
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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76
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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77
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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78
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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79
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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80
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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81
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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82
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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83
bumper
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| n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的 | |
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84
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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85
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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86
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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87
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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88
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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89
breaches
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| 破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背 | |
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90
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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91
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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92
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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93
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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94
upheavals
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| 突然的巨变( upheaval的名词复数 )； 大动荡； 大变动； 胀起 | |
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95
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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96
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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97
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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98
apertures
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| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
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99
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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100
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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101
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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102
flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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103
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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104
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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105
opacity
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| n.不透明；难懂 | |
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106
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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107
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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108
subduing
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| 征服( subdue的现在分词 )； 克制； 制服； 色变暗 | |
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109
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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110
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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111
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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112
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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113
reposefully
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| adv.平稳地 | |
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114
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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115
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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116
slumberer
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| 睡眠者，微睡者 | |
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117
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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118
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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119
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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120
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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121
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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122
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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123
eastwards
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| adj.向东方（的），朝东（的）；n.向东的方向 | |
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124
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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125
sheathing
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| n.覆盖物，罩子v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的现在分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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126
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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127
flattening
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| n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词 | |
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128
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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129
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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130
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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131
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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132
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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133
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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134
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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135
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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136
deviations
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| 背离，偏离( deviation的名词复数 )； 离经叛道的行为 | |
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137
pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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138
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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139
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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140
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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141
bullion
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| n.金条，银条 | |
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142
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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143
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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144
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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145
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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146
diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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147
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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148
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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149
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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150
pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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151
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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152
exhort
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| v.规劝，告诫 | |
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153
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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154
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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155
yearningly
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| 怀念地，思慕地，同情地； 渴 | |
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156
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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157
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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158
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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159
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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160
vexed
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| 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 | |
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161
scotch
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| 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 | |
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162
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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163
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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164
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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165
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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166
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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167
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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168
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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169
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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170
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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171
smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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172
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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173
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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174
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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175
berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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176
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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177
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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178
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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179
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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180
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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181
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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182
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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183
effigy
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| n.肖像 | |
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184
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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185
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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186
braces
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| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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187
bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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188
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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189
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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190
lamenting
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| adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 ) | |
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191
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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192
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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193
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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194
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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195
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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