"Hope to have your Company at the Bridge...," writes Benjamin Chew, to the Surveyors. He means Mary Janvier's, at Christiana Bridge,— where the Line Commissioners1 find merry Pretext2 to gather, gossip, swap3 quids and quos, play Whist, drink Madeira, sing Catches, sleep late, or else stay up till the north-bound Mail-coach wheels in at seven A.M., and the Passengers all come piling out for Breakfast at The Indian Queen. Never know whom you'll run into. An hour's pause in the journey, wherein early Risers may practise, each day, upon a diff 'rent set of Trav?elers. Flirting4? Cards? Coffee and Chatter5? the Hope is for a productive, when not amusing, Hour.
At this pleasant waterside Resort, gulls6 sit as if permanently7 upon Posts, Ducks enjoy respite8 from the Attentions of Fowlers, the mild haze9 thins and thickens, Sandwiches and Ale arrive in a relax'd and contin?gent way, official business is taken care of quickly, to make available more time for Drink, Smoak, and Jollification. Yet whilst the Maryland-ers, attun'd to Leisure, take the time as it comes, the Gentlemen from Philadelphia, their Watches either striking together with eerie11 Precision ev'ry Quarter-hour or, when silent, forever being consulted and re-pocketed, must examine for Productivity each of their waking Moments, as closely as some do their Consciences, unable quite to leave behind them the Species of Time peculiar12 to that City, best express'd in the Almanackal Sayings of Dr. Franklin.
In the Summer, toward Evening, Thunder-Gusts come slashing14 down off the Allegheny Front, all the way riding close above the trees flaring15 either side in wet and bright Waves upon each arrival of the Lightning, over Juniata then Susquehanna, tapping at the Windows of Harris's Ferry, skidding16 across the shake roofs of Lancaster and soaking the Town,— and on to Chesapeake and a thousand Tributaries17 each in its humid, stippl'd Turmoil19, and the Inn, and the Gentlemen indoors at their Merriment, whilst Ducks of all sorts, lounging in the Weather as if 'twere sun-shine, fly into a Frenzy20 at each blast of Lightning and Thunder, then, immediately forgetting, settle back into their pluvial Comforts.
Tho' all are welcome here, Janvier's, like certain counterparts in Philadelphia, has ever provided a venue22 for the exercise of Proprietar-ian politics, by a curious assortment23 of City Anglicans and Presbyteri?ans, with renegade Germans or Quakers appearing from time to time. Especially upon nights before and after Voting, the Rooms contain a great Ridotto of hopeful Cupidity24. Strangers are view'd suspiciously. Mr. Franklin's confusion is toasted more than once. Rumors25 circulate that the Anti-Proprietarians have a Jesuit Device for seeing and hearing thro' Walls.
The Bar seems to vanish in the Distance. Hewn from some gigantick Tropical Tree, of a vivid deep brown wood all thro', further carv'd and wax'd to an arm-pleasing Smoothness, comfortable as a Bed,— no one has yet counted how many it can accommodate, tho' some have sworn to over an hundred. Environ'd by immoderately colored Colonial wall?paper, tropickal Blooms with Vermilion Petals26 and long, writhing27 Sta?mens and Pistils of Indigo28, against a Field of Duck-Green, not to mention reliable Magenta29, the Pulse of the Province ever reciprocates30, a quid for a quo, a round for a Round, and ever another chance to win back the bundle one has wager'd away. And somewhere sure, the raising of Voices in debate politickal.
"Observe no further than the walls of London,— 'A harsh winter,— a cold spring,— a dry summer,— and no King.' Not Boston, Sir, but Lon?don. Your precious Teutonical dispensation,— Damme!— means even
less upon these shores, Sir! I would say, the D——l take it, were he not
already quite in possession.”
"Treason, Sir!"
Mr. Dixon, cordially, "Now then, Sir!"
"Peace, Astrologer,—
"Astronomer31, if it please you," corrects Mr. Mason, without quite con10?sidering.
"At least I am about my business in the honest light of God's day,— what is to be said, of men who so regularly find themselves abroad at mid18?night?" The pious32 gentleman has worked himself into a state of heedless anger. Is it the innocent roasted Berry, that has put them all in such surly humor? No one else in the room is paying much notice, being each pre?occupied by his own no less compelling drama. Smoke from their bright pale pipes hangs like indoor fog, through which, a-glimmering, the heavy crockery and silverware claps and rings. Servant lads in constant motion carry up from the cellar coffee sacks upon their shoulders, or crank the handles of gigantic coffee grinders, as the Assembly clamors for cup after cup of the invigorating Liquid. By the end of each day, finely divided coffee-dust will have found its way by the poundful up the nostrils33 and into the brains of these by then alert youths, lending a feverish34 edge to all they speak and do.
Conversing35 about politics, under such a stimulus36, would have prov'd animated37 enough, without reckoning in as well the effects of drink, tobacco,— whose smoke one inhales38 here willy-nilly with every breath,— and sugar, to be found at every hand in lucent brown cones39 great and little, Ic'd Cupcakes by the platter-ful, all manner of punches and flips40, pies of the locality, crullers, muffins, and custards,— no table that does not hold some sweet memento41, for those it matters to, of the cane42 thickets43, the chains, the cruel Sugar-Islands.
"A sweetness of immorality44 and corruption," pronounces a Quaker gen?tleman of Philadelphia, "bought as it is with the lives of African slaves, untallied black lives broken upon the greedy engines of the Barbadoes."
"Sir, we wish no one ill,— we are middling folk, our toil45 is as great as anyone's, and some days it helps to have a lick of molasses to look for?ward13 to, at the end of it."
"If we may refuse to write upon stamped paper, and for the tea of the East India Company find a tolerable Succedaneum in New-Jersey red root, might Philosophy not as well discover some Patriotic46 alternative to these vile47 crystals that eat into our souls as horribly as our teeth?"
Every day the room, for hours together, sways at the verge48 of riot. May unchecked consumption of all these modern substances at the same time, a habit without historical precedent49, upon these shores be creating a new sort of European? less respectful of the forms that have previously50 held Society together, more apt to speak his mind, or hers, upon any topic he chooses, and to defend his position as violently as need be? Two youths of the Macaronic profession are indeed greatly preoccupied51 upon the boards of the floor, in seeking to kick and pummel, each into the other, some Enlightenment regarding the Topick of Virtual Representa?tion. An individual in expensive attire52, impersonating a gentleman, stands upon a table freely urging sodomitical offenses53 against the body of the Sovereign, being cheered on by a circle of Mechanics, who are not reluctant with their own suggestions. Wenches emerge from scullery dimnesses to seat themselves at the tables of disputants, and in brogues thick as oatmeal recite their own lists of British sins.
The attempt to relieve Fort Pitt continues, as do reverberations from the massacres55 at Conestoga and Lancaster. All to the West is a-surge and aflame. Waggons56 from over Susquehanna appear at all hours of Day and Night, Pots and Kettles, sacks of Corn, the Babies and the Pig riding inside. 'Tis the year '55 all over, and the Panick'd Era just after Brad-dock's Defeat. The Smell of a burn'd Cabin grows familiar again, the smell of things that are not suppos'd to be burn'd. Women's things. House things. Detecting it, if one's approach happens to be from down?wind, is ever the first order of business.
The Star-Gazers are well away from Events. On the eighth of January, thirty-one miles more or less due West of the southernmost point of Philadelphia, they begin setting up their observatory57 at John Harland's farm.
"Ye'll not wreck58 my Vegetable Patch," Mrs. Harland informs them.
"We are forbidden, good Woman, as a term of our Contract and Com?mission, to harm Gardens and Orchards59. We'll set up in a safe place,— pay ye fair rent, of course.”
"Welcome one and all," cries Mr. Harland. "Ye fancy the Vegetable Patch, why ye shall have it too! We'll buy our Vegetables!"
Playfully swinging at her Husband with the Spade she holds, "Why here, Sirs?"
"Because your farm lies exactly as far south from the Pole as the southernmost point in Philadelphia," Mason informs them.
" Tis the same Latitude60, 's what you mean. Then so's a great Line of farms, east and west,— why choose mine? Why not my neighbor Tum?bling's, who has more land than he knows what to do with anyway?"
"Exactly fifteen miles due south of here," Dixon gently, "we'll want to set up another Post. 'Twill mark the Zero Point, or Beginning, of the West Line. The Point here in your Field, will tell what its Longitude61 is, as well as the Latitude of the south Edge of Philadelphia. It ties those two Facts together, you see."
"That wasn't my question."
"Mr. Tumbling fir'd his Rifle at us," says Dixon.
"And what made you think I wouldn't?"
"We gambl'd," suppose Mason and Dixon.
"I'll just fetch down the Rifle," offers Mrs. Harland.
Harland is frowning. "Wait. Why didn't you Lads measure south from Philadelphia first, and then come West?"
"Going south first, we should have had to cross the Delaware, into New-Jersey," Mason explains, "and when 'twas time to turn West, fifteen miles down, the same River by then become much enlarg'd, to cross back over it, would have presented a Task too perilous62 for the Instru?ments, if not to the lives of this Party,— all avoided by keeping to dry land. Hence, first West, and then South."
"And at the end of your last Chain," says Mrs. Harland, "here we are." She goes off waving her hands in the air, and her Husband will be getting an Ear-load soon.
Overnight, in John Harland's Field, appears an organiz'd Company of men, performing unfamiliar63 Rituals with Machinery64 that may as well have been brought from some other inhabited World. ("Aye," Dixon agrees, "the Planet London. And its principal Moon," nodding at Mason, "Greenwich.") The farmer can hear them at midnight, when a whisper will cany a mile, as in the Day-time, conversing like ship-captains
through Speaking-Trumpets. Numbers. Words that sound like English but make no sense. Of course he starts finding reasons to go back there and look about. He comes upon the Astronomers65 scribbling66 by beeswax light, before a tent pitch'd beneath a wavelike slope in the Earth, a good sledding hill, part field, part woods, this being a region of such mariform grades. They have been bringing the Instrument into the Meridian67. "Because of the way Earth spins," Mason explains, "the Stars travel in Arcs upon the Sky. When each arrives at the highest point of its Arc, so are you, observing it in the Instant, looking perfectly68 Northward69 along your Meridian."
"So the Trick would be knowing when it gets to that highest Point."
"And for that we have the equal-Altitude Method.... We are waiting just at the Moment upon Capella. Have a look?"
Harland slouches down beneath the Eye-piece. "Thought this was meant to bring 'em nearer?"
"The Moon," says Dixon, "Planets...? Not the Stars...?"
"Of a Star," Mason adds, "we wish to know but where it is, and when it passes some Reference."
"That's it?"
"Well, of course, one must manipulate the various Screw-Settings pre?cisely, read the Nonius, and an hundred details besides I'd but bore you with,— "
"Seems fairly straightforward70. This moves it up and down..."
"Bring Capella to the Horizontal Wire," suggests Dixon.
"Hey!" Mason in a tone not as vex'd as it might be, "who's the certi?fied Astronomer, here?"
"Child's Play," murmurs71 Mr. Harland, handling the Adjusting Screws and Levers with a Respect both Mason and Dixon immediately note.
"Tha take the Time it crosses the Wire rising, and then the Time it crosses, when setting. The Time exactly half-way between, is the Time it cross'd the Meridian."
"This one's not rising,— 'deed, 'tis gone below the Line,—
" Tis the Lens. Ev'rything in the image we see is inverted72."
"The Sky, turn'd upside down? Wondrous73! You are allow'd to do this?"
"We're paid to do this," declares Dixon.
"Kings pay us to do this," adds Mason.
" Tis like a Job where you work standing74 upon your Head," marvels75 John Harland. He steps back, gazing upward, comparing the Creation as seen by the Naked Eye, with its Telescopick Counter-part. "I am unsteady with this."
"Knowing the time of Culmination76, allowing for how fast or slow the Clock's going, we may compute77 the Time of the next such Culmination, be out There the next Night, and upon the Tick, turn the Instrument down to the Horizon, direct an Assistant bearing a Lanthorn till the Flame be bisected by the Vertical78 Wire, have him drop a Bob-Line there, and Mark the Place. And that's North."
"That's what you were roaring about, thro' those horns all night?"
"Why, what else...?"
"Are you looking into Futurity?"
"Is it what your Neighbors believe?"
"What they hope, aye."
"Would that we were."
Yet this is when he grows shy of regarding them directly,— as if it might be dangerous to risk more than sidelong Glances.
By February they have learn'd their Latitude closely enough to know that the Sector79 is set up 356.8 yards south of the Parallel that passes thro' the southernmost point of Philadelphia, putting them about ten and a half seconds of Arc off.
"Ye'll be moving the Observatory, I collect?" says Mr. Harland.
"No need to,— we'll merely remember to reckon in the Off-sett."
In March a Company of Axmen, using Polaris to keep their Meridian, clear a Visto from John Harland's farm fifteen Miles true south, to Alexander Bryant's farm. How can Harland not go along? The Wife is less enchanted,— "John, are you crazy? All this Moon-beaming about, and it's past time to be planting,— over at Tumbling's they've got it till'd already."
"You plant it, Bets," Harland replies, "and rent out what you don't. This means five shillings ev'ry day I work,— silver,— British, real as
any Spade. You do it. You know how, you do fine, I've seen you, just don't put in too many 'them damn' flowers, is all." He will come north again to find she's taken a neat square Acre and planted it to Sun-flowers, soon spread without shame upon the hill-slope, a disreputable yellow that people will see for miles. In its re-reflected glow in the corner of the Field in back, a newly-set chunk80 of Rose Quartz81 is shining strangely. At certain times of the day, the sun will catch the pink grain just right and ah! you might be transported beneath the Sea, under the Northern Ice.... Here is Harland, among the Sunflowers, having Romantic thoughts for the first time. Bets notices it. He is chang'd,— he has been out running Lines, into the distance, when once Brandywine was far enough,— and now he wants the West. The meaning of Home is therefore chang'd for them as well. As if their own Fields had begun, with tremendous smooth indifference82, to move, in a swell83 of Possibility.
In April Mason and Dixon, using fir Rods and Spirit Levels, measure exactly the fifteen miles southward, allowing for the ten and a half Sec?onds off at the north end. In May they find their new Latitude in Mr. Alexander Bryant's field, then remeasure the Line northward again,— "Think of it," Dixon suggests, "as a Chainman's version of turning the Sector." By June, having found at last the Latitude of their East-West Line,— 39°43'17.4",— they are instructed to proceed to the Middle Point of the Peninsula between Chesapeake and the Ocean, to begin work upon the Tangent Line. By the end of the Month, they have chain'd north from the Middle Point to the Banks of the Nanticoke.
One reason given for bringing Mason and Dixon into the Boundary Dispute was that nobody in America seem'd to've had any luck with this fiendish Problem of the Tangent Line, which had absorb'd the energies of the best Geometers in the Colonies, for more Years than would remain to some, their lives to the Great Cypress84 Swamp a Forfeit85 claim'd. Field parties had gone out in '50, '60, and '61, ending up east and west of pre?vious Tangent Points by as much as four tenths of a mile. 'Twas infuriat?ing. 'Twas like tickling86 a Fly under its wing-pit, with a long and wobbly Object such as a fishing-pole.
The idea was to start from the exact middle of the Delaware Penin?sula,— defin'd, quite early in the Dispute, as the "Middle Point,"— and
run a line north till it just touch'd the arc of a circle of twelve miles' radius87, centered upon the Spire88 of the Court House in New Castle, swung from the shore of Delaware, around counter-clockwise, westward89, till it met its Tangent Line. That's presuming there was a Tangent Line there to meet it, and so far there wasn't. The problem seem'd intractable. From the Middle Point, you wanted to somehow project a Line about eighty miles northward, through swamp and swamp inhabitants, that would at the far end just kiss, at a single Tangent Point, the Twelve-mile Arc,— making a ninety-degree Angle with the radius, drawn90 from the Court House Spire, out to that point. Somebody must have imagin'd the Tan?gent as some perfect north-south line, some piece of Meridian, that would pass through the Middle Point and be exactly twelve miles from New Castle at the same time. But it couldn't do that and run true North, too,— 'twas more Royal Geometry, fanciful as ever. Any Line from the Middle Point one wish'd to end up tangent to the Twelve-Mile Arc, would have to be aimed about three and a half degrees west of true North. Not only did this Arc pass too far West, but it also fail'd to reach far enough North to touch 40° latitude,— which was the northern boundary of the Baltimores' grant from Charles II,— thus making of the Lower Counties an exclave of Pennsylvania, inside Maryland. Yet how could either King have foretold91 that the younger William Penn might wish the Lower Coun?ties one day contiguous with upper Pennsylvania?
So was it drawn. Then ev'ryone waited for the Astronomers from Lon?don to come and verify the rude Colonials' work.
For ev'ry surveyor who forsook92 his hearthside in the Weeks of Chill when the crops were in, and the leaves were flown and sights were longer, to go out into the Brush and actually set up, out of pure Specu?lation, where there might be a few square inches of dry land, and try to turn the angles and obtain the star shots, getting in addition snake-bit, trapp'd in sucking Mud, lost in Fog, frozen to the Marrow94, harass'd by farmers, and visited by Sheriffs,— for ev'ry such Field-Man there were dozens of enthusiastic amateurs, many of them members of the clergy95, who from the comfort of their Fires sent the Commissioners an unceas?ing autumn-wind full of solutions,— which came in upon foolscap and Elephant and privately96 water-mark'd stock, fluttering in the doors, drift-
ing into corners,— you'd have thought it was Fermat's Last Theorem, instead of a County Line that look'd like a Finial upon something of Mr. Chippendale's.
"Yes well of course that's a Question of taste, but,— look at the way it leans, just enough to be obvious,— honestly Cedric, it's so predictably Colonial, as if,— 'Oh they don't even know how to find North over there, well we must send our Royal Astronomers to tidy things up mustn't we,— ' sort of thing when in fact it's once more the dead Hand of the sec?ond James, who went about granting all this Geometrickally impossible territory,— as unreal, in a Surveying way, as some of the other Fictions that govern'd that unhappy Monarch's Life."
Or, "Once upon a time," as the Revd re-tells it for Brae, "there was a magical land call'd 'Pennsylvania.' In settlement of a Debt, it was con-vey'd to William Penn by the Duke of York, who later became James the Second. And James had been granted the land by his brother Charles, who at the time was King.
"To understand their Thinking, however, would require access to whatever corner of the Vatican Library houses the Heretick Section, and therein the concept, spoken of in hush'd tones, when at all, of Stupiditas Regia, or the Stupidity of Kings. And Queens, of course, 0 alarmed Tenebrae, not to mention Princesses,— yes Stupidity even afflicts97 those, you would think perfect, Creatures as well."
"How so?" Tenebrse coolly carrying on with her acufloral Meditations98. "There have I'm sure been non-stupid Princesses, indeed a good many, Uncle. Whereas Kings and Princes are so stupid, they pretend maps that can't be drawn, and style them 'Pennsylvania.' " Picking up a Fescue, she leans toward the Map upon the Wall, recourse to which over the years has settl'd no one knows how many such Disputes, "King Charles begins at a Meridian Line Somewhere out in the untravel'd Forests,— here, five degrees of Longitude West of Delaware Bay. Then this not very learned Brother finds the point where his desolate99 Meridian crosses the Fortieth Parallel of North Latitude. 'Tis of course in a huge blank space on the Map. Here. At the south-western and least accessible corner of the Grant,— where, at this remote intersection100 of Parallel and Meridian, is to be anchor'd the entire Scheme. Running eastward101 from there, the
royal Brothers expect the Forty-Degree Line somewhere to encounter James's Twelve-Mile Arc about New Castle,—
"Oh, twelve miles ought to do it. We don't want to say thirteen, because that's so unlucky."
"Fourteen would engross102 for you Head of Elk," Charles observes, "but 'twould push too far West, this vertical Line, here,—
"The Tangent Line, Sir."
"I knew that."
"Charles and James," the Revd sighing, "and their tangle103 of geomet-rick hopes,— that somehow the Arc, the Tangent, the Meridian, and the West Line should all come together at the same perfect Point,— where, in fact, all is Failure. The Arc fails to meet the Forty-Degree North Par21?allel. The Tangent fails to be part of any Meridian. The West Line fails to begin from the Tangent Point, being five miles north of it."
Indeed, a spirit of whimsy104 pervades105 the entire history of these Delaware Boundaries, as if in playful refusal to admit that America, in any way, may be serious. The Calvert agents keep coming up with one fanciful demand after another, either trying to delay and obstruct106 as long as possible the placing of the Markers, or else,— someone must sug?gest,— giddy with what they imagine Escape, into a Geometry more per?missive than Euclid, here in this new World. During the negotiations107, Marylanders suggest locating the exact center of New Castle by taking a sheet of paper showing a map of the Town, trimming 'round the edges till only the Town remains108, and then shifting this about upon the point of a Pin, till it balances, and at that center of gravity pricking109 it through, as being the true center of the Town.
Yet, if the Twelve-Mile Arc be taken as the geometrical expression of the Duke of York's wish to preserve from encroachment110 his seat of Gov?ernment, then must there project a literal Sphere of power from the Spire atop the State-House, whose intersection with the Earth is the Arc,— unalterably Circular, not to be adjusted by so much as a Link to agree with any Tangent Line.
Oblig'd, for meetings with the Commissioners, to sleep in New Cas?tle a Night or two, the Surveyors discover the Will of the second James at close hand. South, tho' not far enough, lie the Bay, and the open
Sea. Before subsiding111 to perhaps but a single deep hour of stillness
broken by no more than the Voices of frogs and the stirring of the salt
fens54, the sounds dominating the fallen night are the Cries of Sailors
behind the doors of Taverns112, and the jingling113 and Drone of the Musick
that pleases them. The hypnagogic Citizenry lie wond'ring if these
sailors, some of whose Ships carry guns, would defend the Town,
should some Catholick war-ship, or more than one, advance upon
them, torches flaming black and greasy114, Ejaculations in Languages
unfathomable
"Spanish privateers, and Frenchmen, too," their Hosts are pleas'd to relate, "were us'd to come up the River, bold as Crows, to attack the lit?tle villages and Plantations115. We never felt as secure at night as you in Philadelphia. Any seaborne assault upon that City would mean first the Reduction of New Castle, for 'tis the Key to the River. Now it is difficult to remember, but fifteen years ago in the era of Don Vicente Lopez, there was an apprehensive116 Edge in this Town as soon as the Sun went down, that did not grow dull till dawn. Tho' by day the busy Capital of the de facto Province of Delaware, with night-fall we became a huddl'd cluster of lights trembling into the coming Hours, from lanthorns, candles, and hearths93, each an easy target upon the humid Shore. Many of us adopted forms of nocturnal Behavior more typical of New-York, staying up the Night thro', less out of the Desire to transgress117 than the Fear of sleeping anytime other than in the Day-light hours."
The great Scepter atop the Court House continues in the dark to radi?ate its mysterious force. The stock are gone to sleep. The fish and the Wine were excellent. Rooms fill with tobacco Smoke,— insomnia118 and headaches abound119. Cards emerge from Cherry-wood Recesses120. Occu?pants of the Houses along the River stir among the lumps in their Mat?tresses, ready at any Alarm to wake. Their dreams are of Spanish Visitors who turn out to be unexpectedly jolly, with courtly ways, rolling eyes, passionate121 guitars, not a homicidal thought in the Boat-load of 'em. Ev'ryone ends up at an all-night Ridotto, with piles of mysterious delec?table Mediterranean122 food, "Sandwiches" made of entire Loaves stuff'd with fried Sausages and green Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cheese melted ev'rywhere, fresh Melons mysteriously preserv'd thro' the Voy-
age, wines whose grapes are descended123 from those that supplied Bac?chus himself. New Castle dreams, drooling into and soaking Pillows, helpless before the rapacious124, festive125 fleet.
How swiftly might the Popish scourge126 descend,— Another Don Vicente, Havoc's Friend, Another vile and ringletted Se?or, Another Insult to our sov'reign Shore.
— Timothy Tox, Pennsylvaniad
Through July they continue North, thro' swamps, snakes, godawful humidity, thunder-gusts at night, trees so thick that even with thirty axmen, each chain's length seems won with Labor127 incommensurate,— waking each glaucous Dawn into sweat and stillness, to struggle another Day, with no confidence that at the correct Distance, they will pass any?where near the Tangent Point, much less touch it exactly.
On paper, the Tangent Line's inclination128 reminds Dixon of the road
between Catterick and Binchester,— in fact, on up to Lanchester,
though one had to look for it,— part of the Romans' Great North Road.
To amuse himself in his less mindful moments, he would travel out to the
old Roman ruins above the Wear and sight southward down the middle
of the road, for it ran straight ahead as a shot. Nothing so clear or easy as
that in Delaware, however. Dixon mutters to himself all shift long. "If
we set up over there, then this great bloody129 Tree's in the way,— yet if we
wish to be clear of the Tree for any sight longer than arm's length, we
must stand in Glaur of uncertain Depth,— looking withal from Light into
Shadow "
"I appreciate it," says Mason, "when you share your innermost thought-processes with me in this way,— almost as if, strangely, you did trust me."
"After these Months? Who would?"
In August they finally go chaining past the eighty-one-mile mark, which they figure puts them a little beyond the Tangent Point, wherever it is, back there. They take September, October, and November to find it, as nicely as Art may achieve, computing130 Offsets131 and measuring them, improving the Tangent Line by small Tweaks and Smoothings, until they
can report at last that the ninety-degree Angle requir'd, between the Tangent Line and the twelve-Mile Radius from the Court House to the Tangent Point, is as perfect as they can get it,— which means, as it will prove, off by two feet and two inches, more or less.
In December they discharge the Hands and pause for the Winter, at Harlands', at Brandywine. "To a good year's work." Dixon raising a pewter Can of new Ale. "And pray for another."
"To Repetition and Routine, from here to the End of it," Mason ges?turing reluctantly with his Claret-Glass.. .even so, more festive than he's been for a while.
"Routine! Not likely! Not upon the West Line! Who knows what'll be out there? Each day impossible to predict,— Eeh! pure Adventure...?"
"Thankee, Dixon, a Comfort as ever, yes the total Blindness in which we must enter that Desert, might easily have slipp'd my mind, allowing me a few pitiable seconds' respite from Thoughts of it how welcome,— alas132, 'twas not to be, was it, at least, nowhere in range of your Voice."
"Ehw deah...imagin'd I'd been taking rather the jolliest of Tones actually, my how awkward for you...?"
Another Holiday flare-up, of many preceding, which at first had sent Harlands of all ages cringing133 against the walls or scrambling134 up the Lad?der, yet soon subsided135 to but one more sound of untam'd Nature to be grown us'd to out here, like Thunder, or certain Animal Mimickries at night, from across a Creek136. Each time, the Surveyors apologize for their behavior,— then, presently, are screaming again. Apologize, scream, apologize, scream,— daily life in the Harland house grows jagged. After a Christmastide truce137, with the rest of the winter waiting them, perhaps more of it than any can imagine themselves surviving without at least one serious lapse138 in behavior, the Surveyors decide to travel to Lancaster, perhaps in hopes that the imps139 of discord140 will fail to pursue them 'cross Susquehanna.
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commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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swap
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| n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易 | |
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flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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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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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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11
eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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12
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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13
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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14
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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15
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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skidding
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| n.曳出，集材v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的现在分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区 | |
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17
tributaries
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| n. 支流 | |
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18
mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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19
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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20
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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21
par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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22
venue
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| n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点 | |
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23
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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24
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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25
rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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26
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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27
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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28
indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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29
magenta
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| n..紫红色（的染料）；adj.紫红色的 | |
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30
reciprocates
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| n.报答，酬答( reciprocate的名词复数 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动v.报答，酬答( reciprocate的第三人称单数 )；（机器的部件）直线往复运动 | |
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31
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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32
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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33
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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34
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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35
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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36
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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37
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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38
inhales
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| v.吸入( inhale的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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40
flips
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| 轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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41
memento
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| n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西 | |
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42
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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43
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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44
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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45
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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46
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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47
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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48
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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49
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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50
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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51
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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52
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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53
offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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54
fens
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| n.（尤指英格兰东部的）沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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55
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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56
waggons
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| 四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 )； 铁路货车； 小手推车 | |
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57
observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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58
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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59
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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60
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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61
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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62
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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63
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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64
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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65
astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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66
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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67
meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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68
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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69
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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70
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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71
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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72
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
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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74
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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75
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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76
culmination
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| n.顶点；最高潮 | |
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77
compute
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| v./n.计算，估计 | |
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78
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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79
sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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80
chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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81
quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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82
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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83
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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84
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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85
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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86
tickling
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| 反馈，回授，自旋挠痒法 | |
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87
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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88
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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89
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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90
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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91
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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93
hearths
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| 壁炉前的地板，炉床，壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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94
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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95
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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96
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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97
afflicts
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 ) | |
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98
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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99
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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100
intersection
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| n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集 | |
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101
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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102
engross
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| v.使全神贯注 | |
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103
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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104
whimsy
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| n.古怪，异想天开 | |
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105
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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106
obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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107
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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108
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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109
pricking
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| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
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110
encroachment
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| n.侵入，蚕食 | |
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111
subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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112
taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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113
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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114
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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115
plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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116
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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117
transgress
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| vt.违反，逾越 | |
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118
insomnia
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| n.失眠，失眠症 | |
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119
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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120
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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121
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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122
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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123
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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124
rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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125
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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126
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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127
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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128
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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129
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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130
computing
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| n.计算 | |
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131
offsets
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| n.开端( offset的名词复数 )；出发v.抵消( offset的第三人称单数 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管 | |
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132
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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133
cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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134
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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135
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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136
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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137
truce
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| n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束 | |
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138
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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139
imps
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| n.（故事中的）小恶魔( imp的名词复数 )；小魔鬼；小淘气；顽童 | |
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140
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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