THE Surgeon, who had conceived quite a good opinion of the Deacon's ability, readily certified3 that the boys could be safely taken home, since they would have the benefit of his care and attention, and the necessary papers came down from Headquarters that day. The Deacon had the good luck to find his old friend, the Herd-Boss, who took a deep interest in the matter. He offered to have as good a team as he had at the crib the next morning, with the wagon4-bed filled with cedar5-boughs6, to make as easy a couch as possible for the rough ride over the mountains.
With his heart full of hope and joy, the Deacon bustled7 around to make every possible preparation for the journey.
"It's a long way back home, I know," he said to himself, "and the road's rough and difficult as that to the New Jerusalem; but Faith and Hope, and the blessin' o' God'll accomplish wonders. If I kin8 only hold the souls in them boys' bodies till I kin git 'em back to Bean Blossom Crick, I'll trust Mother Klegg's nursin' to do the rest. If there ever was a woman who could stand off the Destroyin' Angel by good nursin' that woman's Mother Klegg, bless her soul."
The next morning he was up betimes, and cooked the boys as good a breakfast as he could out of the remainder of his store and what he could get from the hospital, and then gave what was left to whoever came. The comfortable crib, which had cost the Deacon so much labor9, had been pre-empted by the Surgeon for some of his weakest patients.
The news had reached the 200th Ind. that the boys were going home, and they came over in a body to say "Good-by."
The sight of them pained the Deacon's good heart. Instead of the hundreds of well-fed, well-clothed, comfortable-looking young men he had seen at Murfreesboro a few months before, he now saw a shrunken band of gaunt, unkempt men, their clothing ragged10 and patched, many of them almost shoeless, many of them with pieces of blankets bound around their feet instead of shoes, many of them with bandages about their still unhealed wounds, but still keeping their places bravely with their comrades, and stubbornly refusing to count themselves among the sick and disabled, though it required all their will-power to do their share of the duty. But all of them were brimming over with unconquerable cheerfulness and pluck. They made light of their wounds and disabilities, jested at one another's ragged clothes, laughed at their hunger, teased one another about stealing corn from mules11, jeered13 at the rebel shells from Lookout14 Mountain, yelled derisively15 at the rebel pickets16 across the creek17, and promised them to soon come out and run Bragg's army off the face of the earth.
All were eager to do something toward the comfort of their departing comrades. They scanned the arrangement of the boughs in the wagon with critical eyes, and picked them over and rearranged them, so as to avoid every chance of uncomfortable knots and lumps. They contributed blankets from their own scanty18 supply, to make sure that there would be plenty, and so many were eager to help carry Si out and put him in the wagon, that the Orderly-Sergeant of Co. Q had to take charge of the matter and make a detail. The teamster was given strong admonitions as to careful driving, and fearful warning as to what would happen to him in case of an accident.
"Hain't anything to send back home with you, boys, this time, but our love," said one of them. "That's the only thing that's safe now-a-days from bein' stole, because no one kin eat or wear it. Tell the folks to pay no attention to what the paper says. No danger o' bein' run out o' Chattanoogy. Tell 'em that we're all fat, ragged and sassy, and only waitin' the word from Gen. Rosecrans to fall on old Bragg like a thousand o' brick and mash19 the lights outen him."
"Yes," joined another, "tell 'em we've got plenty to eat, sich as it is, and good enough, what there is of it. Don't worry about us. We're only blowin' up our muscle to git a good lick at old Bragg."
"Your muscle," said Shorty, satirically. "You've got about as much muscle now as a musketo. But you're good stuff all the same, and you're goin' to everlastingly21 lick the rebels when the time comes. I only wisht I was here to help you do it. I don't think I'll go any further than Nashville. I'll be well enough to come back by that time. I'll see Si and his father off safely, and then gether up a crowd of other convalescents, and come back and clean the rebels off your cracker22 line."
"Good-by, boys," piped out Si. "I'll be back soon. Don't bring on the big battle till I do. I want to help. Just skirmish around and push the rebels back into the woods while I'm gone, and hive 'em up for a good lickin' by the time I git back."
As the wagon moved off the 200th Ind. gave three cheers, and the regimental soloist23 struck up the "Battle Cry of Freedom," in which they all joined with so much energy as to attract the attention of the rebel artillerist24 on Lookout Mountain, who favored them with a shell intended for their express benefit. It was no better directed than any of its many predecessors25 had been, and was greeted with yells of derision, in which all the camp joined.
Having done all possible for the boys' comfort, the Deacon had lighted his pipe and taken his seat on a board laid over the front, where he could oversee26 the road and the teamster, and take a parting look at the animated27 scenery. The wagon pulled into the line of those moving out toward Bridgeport, and jogged along slowly for some hours until it was nearing the top of one of the hills that jutted28 out close to the Tennessee River, at the base of Lookout Mountain. The Deacon saw, with a little nervousness, that they were approaching the open space in which he had had his experience with the horse and buckboard, and he anxiously scanned the Craven House slope for signs of a rebel cannon29. He saw that his apprehensions30 were shared by the drivers of the three or four teams just ahead. They were whipping up, and yelling at their teams to get past the danger point as quick as possible.
The Deacon Reconnoitered the Situation 62
They had need of anxiety. A scattering31 volley of shots came from the bushes and the rocks on the opposite side of the Tennessee River and one of the leaders in the team just ahead of him dropped dead in his tracks. The teams in front were whipped up still harder, and succeeded in getting away. The shots were answered from a line of our own men on this side of the river, who fired at the smoke they saw rising.
The Deacon's own teamster sprang from his saddle, and prudently32 got in the shelter of the wagon until the affair would be over. The teamster next ahead ran forward, and began cutting the fallen mule12 loose, but while he was doing so another shot laid the other mule low. The teamster fell fiat33 on the ground, and lay there for a minute. Then he cautiously arose, and began cutting that mule loose, when a shot struck the near-swing mule in the head, and he dropped. The Deacon kept that solid old head of his throughout the commotion34, and surveyed the scene with cool observance.
"There's one feller somewhere over there doin' all that devilment," he said to Shorty, who was pushing his head eagerly out of the front of the wagon to find out what was going on. "He's a sharpshooter from way back. You kin see he's droppin' them mules jest about as fast as he kin load his gun. Them other fellers over there are jest putterin' away, makin' a noise. You kin see their shots strikin' down the hill there, and everywhere, where they ain't doin' nothin'. But that feller's out for business. I've bin35 tryin' to locate him. He's somewhere closter than any o' the others. Their bullets don't quite reach, while his goes home every time. See there."
The off-swing mule dropped this time. "Land's sakes," ejaculated the Deacon, "he's costin' Uncle Sam $150 every time his gun cracks. It's jest sinful to be destroyin' property that way. Shorty, kin you reach me that gun o' Si's out o' the wagon? I believe I'll slip down toward the bank and see if I can't find that feller. I've bin watchin' the willers along the aidge o' the water, and I believe he's in there."
"Don't go, Pap," pleaded Si. "Some of the boys on the skirmish-line 'll find him soon, and settle him. Don't expose yourself. Stay behind the wagon."
"Yes, stay back under cover, Deacon," joined in Shorty. "Let the boys down there 'tend to him. They're gittin' $16 a month for it, and don't want nobody else to interfere37 in their job." Just then the near wheel mule dropped. "Gi' me that gun at onct," said the Deacon sternly. Shorty handed him the Springfield and its cartridge-box without another word. The Deacon looked over the rifle, "hefted" it, and tried it at his shoulder to get its poise38, critically examined its sights by aiming at various objects, and then wiped out its barrel, as he would that of his trusty hunting-rifle at home. All of his old deer-hunting instincts revived. He took out several cartridges39, turned them over in his hand, and carefully selected one, tore open the paper, poured the powder in, removed the paper from the ball, and carefully rammed40 it home, struck the butt41 of the gun on the ground to make sure of its priming, and put on the cap.
"Hold her about a foot under. Pap, at 400 yards," said Si, who had rolled over to the side of the wagon, and was watching him from under the cover, which was raised up a little. "Put your sights up to the 400 mark, and then draw the top o' the bead42 down fine into that notch43, and she'll put it right where you hold her."
By this time the sharpshooter had finished up the mules on the team ahead, and begun on that of the Deacon. The firing was furious all along both sides of the river, and the teamsters in the rear were showing signs of stampeding. The Wagonmaster was storming up and down to hold them in place, and the officers in command of the line along the river bank were raging at their men for not suppressing the fire from over the stream.
"Old man, you'd better not go down there," said a Captain as the Deacon came walking down, looking very grim and determined44. "It's getting hotter down there every minute. The rebels seem determined to stick to their work, and I've had three men wounded already."
"Look out for your own men, my son," answered the Deacon, in whom the fire of battle was burning. "I'll look out for myself. If I'm hit the Gover'ment won't lose nothin'. I'm only a citizen."
He had kept his eye on the clump45 of willows47, and was sure that his man was in there, though the smoke hung around so confusingly that he could not always make out where a fresh shot came from. He got down to where an occasional bullet struck in his neighborhood, but that did not disturb him. He began to feel that thrill of man-hunting which when it seizes a man is an overpowering passion.
"I'm goin' to stop him killin' mules," he said to himself. "I rayly hope I won't kill him, but that's a secondary matter. Providence48'll settle that. It's my duty to stop him. That's clear. If his time's come Providence'll put the bullet where it'll kill him. If it ain't, it won't. That's all. Providence indicates my duty to me. The responsibility for the rest is with Providence, who doeth all things well."
He reached the firing-line, strung along the ragged bluffs49, and hiding behind trees, stumps50 and stones.
"Lay down, there, old man; grab a root; keep under cover, or you'll git hit," some of them called out to him, noticing him as they turned to load. "The air is so full o' bullets you kin ketch your hat full if you only hold it up."
"All right, boys, I'll lay low. I've come down here to help you," answered the Deacon.
"Bully51 for you; we need it."
The Deacon took his position behind a big black walnut52, while he reconnoitered the situation, and got his bearings on the clump of willows. He felt surer than ever of his man, for he actually saw a puff53 of smoke come from it, and saw that right behind the puff stood a willow46 that had grown to the proportions of a small tree, and had its bark rubbed off by the chafing54 of driftwood against it.
"He's right behind that peeled wilier," the Deacon said, "and takes a rest agin it. Three inches to the left o' that, and three foot from the ground'll take him square in the breast, as he is probably kneeling down."
Before him he noticed a deep gully cut in the bank, by which he could get down to the water's edge where there was a clump of paw-paws projecting out toward the willows. If he went down there it would make his shot surer, but there was much danger that he would be noticed and fired at on his way.
"I'm goin' down there," he said, after a moment's deliberation. "Providence has sent me on this job, and intends I shall do it right, which I kin by goin' down there. Providence'll take care o' me while I'm goin'. Same time, Providence expects me to show gumption55, by not exposin' myself any more'n possible."
Therefore he cut a young, thick-branched cedar and held it in front of him as he crouched56 and made his way to the gully and down it.
He had nearly reached the cover of the paw-paws, and was beginning to congratulate himself that his cedar screen and the turmoil57 on the bank above had enabled him to escape attention, when a bullet struck a stone to his left, and threw it against him with such force as to almost knock all the breath out of his body. He fell to the ground, but retained coolness enough to understand that this was to his advantage, and he crawled slowly forward until he was safely behind the bushes.
"That come from that hound in the willers," said he to himself. "He's a sharp one. He got on to me somehow, and now it's me and him fur it. Anyhow, he didn't kill a mule worth $150 with that bullet. But it'll take as much as six bits' worth o' porous58 plaster to take the swellin' out o' my side where that rock welted me."
He hitched59 forward cautiously a little farther, to where he could peer through the bushes, being exceedingly wary60 not to repeat his opponent's mistake, and set their tops in motion. A rock protruding61 through the ground in front of him made an opening through which he could see, and also afforded a rest for his musket20. He looked sharply, and at length was rewarded by seeing the gun-barrel come out by the side of the barked willow, rested on a bare limb, and apparently62 aimed at the hill beyond. He took a long breath to steady his nerves, stretched out his legs to make himself more at ease, pushed his musket forward until he got exactly the right poise, aimed about nine inches below the level of his opponent's gun-barrel, and a little to the left, drew his bead down to a hair's nicety in the hind36 sight, and pulled the trigger just as the rebel sharpshooter did the same. Both muskets63 seemed to flash at the same moment. The rebel sprang up through the willows and fell forward on his face.
The Deacon picked up his gun and walked back up the bank. The union skirmishers had seen the man fall and raised a yell, which they changed to cheers as they saw the Deacon coming up the bank.
The Captain in command came up and said:
"Sir, I congratulate you. That was splendidly done. I was just getting on to that fellow when you went down. I watched you through my glass, and saw you fetch him. You are entitled to all our thanks."
"No thanks to me, sir. I only done the dooty Providence marked out for me. I hope the man ain't killed. If he is, it's because Providence had fixed64 the number of his days. I only wanted to stop his killin' mules, and destroyin' Gover'ment property, and let us go on our journey in peace."
"Well, I wish you'd stay here and help us with some more of those fellows over there. I'm sure their time has come, but my men don't seem to be quite as good in carrying out the decrees of Providence as you are."
"Thankee, sir," said the Deacon. "But I must go back and 'tend to my boys. We've got a long ways to go yet to-day."
He went back to the road and reported to the Wagonmaster:
"Now you kin clear away them dead mules and go ahead. You won't scarcely be bothered any more for awhile at least."
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1
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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10
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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13
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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15
derisively
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| adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地 | |
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16
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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mash
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| n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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cracker
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| n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干 | |
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soloist
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| n.独奏者，独唱者 | |
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artillerist
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| 炮手，炮兵，炮术家 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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oversee
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| vt.监督，管理 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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28
jutted
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| v.（使）突出( jut的过去式和过去分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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29
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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31
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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32
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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40
rammed
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| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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41
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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42
bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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notch
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| n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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willow
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| n.柳树 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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49
bluffs
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| 恐吓( bluff的名词复数 )； 悬崖； 峭壁 | |
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50
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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51
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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52
walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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53
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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54
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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55
gumption
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| n.才干 | |
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56
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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58
porous
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| adj.可渗透的，多孔的 | |
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59
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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61
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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62
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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63
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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64
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
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