"The older I grow, Bunny, the less I think of your so-called precious stones. When did they ever bring in half their market value in L.s.d. There was the first little crib we ever cracked together—you with your innocent eyes shut. A thousand pounds that stuff was worth; but how many hundreds did it actually fetch. The Ardagh emeralds weren't much better; old Lady Melrose's necklace was far worse; but that little lot the other night has about finished me. A cool hundred for goods priced well over four; and L35 to come off for bait, since we only got a tenner for the ring I bought and paid for like an ass3. I'll be shot if I ever touch a diamond again! Not if it was the Koh-I-noor; those few whacking4 stones are too well known, and to cut them up is to decrease their value by arithmetical retrogression. Besides, that brings you up against the Fence once more, and I'm done with the beggars for good and all. You talk about your editors and publishers, you literary swine. Barabbas was neither a robber nor a publisher, but a six-barred, barbed-wired, spike-topped Fence. What we really want is an Incorporated Society of Thieves, with some public-spirited old forger5 to run it for us on business lines."
Raffles uttered these blasphemies6 under his breath, not, I am afraid, out of any respect for my one redeeming7 profession, but because we were taking a midnight airing on the roof, after a whole day of June in the little flat below. The stars shone overhead, the lights of London underneath8, and between the lips of Raffles a cigarette of the old and only brand. I had sent in secret for a box of the best; the boon9 had arrived that night; and the foregoing speech was the first result. I could afford to ignore the insolent10 asides, however, where the apparent contention11 was so manifestly unsound.
"And how are you going to get rid of your gold?" said I, pertinently12.
"Nothing easier, my dear rabbit."
"Is your Room of Gold a roomful of sovereigns?"
Raffles laughed softly at my scorn.
"No, Bunny, it's principally in the shape of archaic13 ornaments14, whose value, I admit, is largely extrinsic15. But gold is gold, from Phoenicia to Klondike, and if we cleared the room we should eventually do very well."
"How?"
"I should melt it down into a nugget, and bring it home from the U.S.A. to-morrow."
"And then?"
"Make them pay up in hard cash across the counter of the Bank of England. And you CAN make them."
That I knew, and so said nothing for a time, remaining a hostile though a silent critic, while we paced the cool black leads with our bare feet, softly as cats.
"And how do you propose to get enough away," at length I asked, "to make it worth while?"
"Ah, there you have it," said Raffles. "I only propose to reconnoitre the ground, to see what we can see. We might find some hiding-place for a night; that, I am afraid, would be our only chance."
"Have you ever been there before?"
"Not since they got the one good, portable piece which I believe that they exhibit now. It's a long time since I read of it—I can't remember where—but I know they have got a gold cup of sorts worth several thousands. A number of the immorally16 rich clubbed together and presented it to the nation; and two of the richly immoral17 intend to snaffle it for themselves. At any rate we might go and have a look at it, Bunny, don't you think?"
Think! I seized his arm.
"When? When? When?" I asked, like a quick-firing gun.
Our medico had married the week before, nor was any fellow-practitioner taking his work—at least not that considerable branch of it which consisted of Raffles—during his brief absence from town. There were reasons, delightfully19 obvious to us, why such a plan would have been highly unwise in Dr. Theobald. I, however, was sending him daily screeds, and both matutinal and nocturnal telegrams, the composition of which afforded Raffles not a little enjoyment20.
"Well, then, when—when?" I began to repeat.
"To-morrow, if you like."
"Only to look?"
The limitation was my one regret.
"We must do so, Bunny, before we leap."
"Very well," I sighed. "But to-morrow it is!"
And the morrow it really was.
I saw the porter that night, and, I still think, bought his absolute allegiance for the second coin of the realm. My story, however, invented by Raffles, was sufficiently21 specious22 in itself. That sick gentleman, Mr. Maturin (as I had to remember to call him), was really, or apparently23, sickening for fresh air. Dr. Theobald would allow him none; he was pestering24 me for just one day in the country while the glorious weather lasted. I was myself convinced that no possible harm could come of the experiment. Would the porter help me in so innocent and meritorious25 an intrigue26? The man hesitated. I produced my half-sovereign. The man was lost. And at half-past eight next morning—before the heat of the day—Raffles and I drove to Kew Gardens in a hired landau which was to call for us at mid-day and wait until we came. The porter had assisted me to carry my invalid27 downstairs, in a carrying-chair hired (like the landau) from Harrod's Stores for the occasion.
It was little after nine when we crawled together into the gardens; by half-past my invalid had had enough, and out he tottered28 on my arm; a cab, a message to our coachman, a timely train to Baker29 Street, another cab, and we were at the British Museum—brisk pedestrians30 now—not very many minutes after the opening hour of 10 A.M.
It was one of those glowing days which will not be forgotten by many who were in town at the time. The Diamond Jubilee31 was upon us, and Queen's weather had already set in. Raffles, indeed, declared it was as hot as Italy and Australia put together; and certainly the short summer nights gave the channels of wood and asphalt and the continents of brick and mortar32 but little time to cool. At the British Museum the pigeons were crooning among the shadows of the grimy colonnade33, and the stalwart janitors34 looked less stalwart than usual, as though their medals were too heavy for them. I recognized some habitual35 Readers going to their labor36 underneath the dome37; of mere38 visitors we seemed among the first.
"That's the room," said Raffles, who had bought the two-penny guide, as we studied it openly on the nearest bench; "number 43, upstairs and sharp round to the right. Come on, Bunny!"
And he led the way in silence, but with a long methodical stride which I could not understand until we came to the corridor leading to the Room of Gold, when he turned to me for a moment.
"A hundred and thirty-nine yards from this to the open street," said Raffles, "not counting the stairs. I suppose we COULD do it in twenty seconds, but if we did we should have to jump the gates. No, you must remember to loaf out at slow march, Bunny, whether you like it or not."
"But you talked about a hiding-place for a night?"
"Quite so—for all night. We should have to get back, go on lying low, and saunter out with the crowd next day—after doing the whole show thoroughly39."
"What! With gold in our pockets—"
"And gold in our boots, and gold up the sleeves and legs of our suits! You leave that to me, Bunny, and wait till you've tried two pairs of trousers sewn together at the foot! This is only a preliminary reconnoitre. And here we are."
It is none of my business to describe the so-called Room of Gold, with which I, for one, was not a little disappointed. The glass cases, which both fill and line it, may contain unique examples of the goldsmith's art in times and places of which one heard quite enough in the course of one's classical education; but, from a professional point of view, I would as lief have the ransacking40 of a single window in the West End as the pick of all those spoils of Etruria and of ancient Greece. The gold may not be so soft as it appears, but it certainly looks as though you could bite off the business ends of the spoons, and stop your own teeth in doing so. Nor should I care to be seen wearing one of the rings; but the greatest fraud of all (from the aforesaid standpoint) is assuredly that very cup of which Raffles had spoken. Moreover, he felt this himself.
"Why, it's as thin as paper," said he, "and enamelled like a middle-aged43 lady of quality! But, by Jove, it's one of the most beautiful things I ever saw in my life, Bunny. I should like to have it for its own sake, by all my gods!"
The thing had a little square case of plate-glass all to itself at one end of the room. It may have been the thing of beauty that Raffles affected44 to consider it, but I for my part was in no mood to look at it in that light. Underneath were the names of the plutocrats who had subscribed45 for this national gewgaw, and I fell to wondering where their L8,000 came in, while Raffles devoured46 his two-penny guide-book as greedily as a school-girl with a zeal47 for culture.
"Those are scenes from the martyrdom of St. Agnes," said he ... "'translucent48 on relief ... one of the finest specimens49 of its kind.' I should think it was! Bunny, you Philistine50, why can't you admire the thing for its own sake? It would be worth having only to live up to! There never was such rich enamelling on such thin gold; and what a good scheme to hang the lid up over it, so that you can see how thin it is. I wonder if we could lift it, Bunny, by hook or crook51?"
"You'd better try, sir," said a dry voice at his elbow.
The madman seemed to think we had the room to ourselves. I knew better, but, like another madman, had let him ramble52 on unchecked. And here was a stolid53 constable54 confronting us, in the short tunic55 that they wear in summer, his whistle on its chain, but no truncheon at his side. Heavens! how I see him now: a man of medium size, with a broad, good-humored, perspiring56 face, and a limp moustache. He looked sternly at Raffles, and Raffles looked merrily at him.
"Going to run me in, officer?" said he. "That WOULD be a joke—my hat!"
"I didn't say as I was, sir," replied the policeman. "But that's queer talk for a gentleman like you, sir, in the British Museum!" And he wagged his helmet at my invalid, who had taken his airing in frock-coat and top-hat, the more readily to assume his present part.
"What!" cried Raffles, "simply saying to my friend that I'd like to lift the gold cup? Why, so I should, officer, so I should! I don't mind who hears me say so. It's one of the most beautiful things I ever saw in all my life."
The constable's face had already relaxed, and now a grin peeped under the limp moustache. "I daresay there's many as feels like that, sir," said he.
"Exactly; and I say what I feel, that's all," said Raffles airily. "But seriously, officer, is a valuable thing like this quite safe in a case like that?"
"Safe enough as long as I'm here," replied the other, between grim jest and stout57 earnest. Raffles studied his face; he was still watching Raffles; and I kept an eye on them both without putting in my word.
"You appear to be single-handed," observed Raffles. "Is that wise?"
The note of anxiety was capitally caught; it was at once personal and public-spirited, that of the enthusiastic savant, afraid for a national treasure which few appreciated as he did himself. And, to be sure, the three of us now had this treasury58 to ourselves; one or two others had been there when we entered; but now they were gone.
"I'm not single-handed," said the officer, comfortably. "See that seat by the door? One of the attendants sits there all day long."
"Then where is he now?"
"Talking to another attendant just outside. If you listen you'll hear them for yourself."
We listened, and we did hear them, but not just outside. In my own mind I even questioned whether they were in the corridor through which we had come; to me it sounded as though they were just outside the corridor.
"You mean the fellow with the billiard-cue who was here when we came in?" pursued Raffles.
"That wasn't a billiard-cue! It was a pointer," the intelligent officer explained.
"It ought to be a javelin," said Raffles, nervously59. "It ought to be a poleaxe! The public treasure ought to be better guarded than this. I shall write to the Times about it—you see if I don't!"
All at once, yet somehow not so suddenly as to excite suspicion, Raffles had become the elderly busybody with nerves; why, I could not for the life of me imagine; and the policeman seemed equally at sea.
"Lor' bless you, sir," said he, "I'm all right; don't you bother your head about ME."
"But you haven't even got a truncheon!"
"Not likely to want one either. You see, sir, it's early as yet; in a few minutes these here rooms will fill up; and there's safety in numbers, as they say."
"Oh, it will fill up soon, will it?"
"Any minute now, sir."
"Ah!"
"It isn't often empty as long as this, sir. It's the Jubilee, I suppose."
"Meanwhile, what if my friend and I had been professional thieves? Why, we could have over-powered you in an instant, my good fellow!"
"That you couldn't; leastways, not without bringing the whole place about your ears."
"Well, I shall write to the Times, all the same. I'm a connoisseur60 in all this sort of thing, and I won't have unnecessary risks run with the nation's property. You said there was an attendant just outside, but he sounds to me as though he were at the other end of the corridor. I shall write to-day!"
For an instant we all three listened; and Raffles was right. Then I saw two things in one glance. Raffles had stepped a few inches backward, and stood poised61 upon the ball of each foot, his arms half raised, a light in his eyes. And another kind of light was breaking over the crass62 features of our friend the constable.
"Then shall I tell you what I'LL do?" he cried, with a sudden clutch at the whistle-chain on his chest. The whistle flew out, but it never reached his lips. There were a couple of sharp smacks63, like double barrels discharged all but simultaneously64, and the man reeled against me so that I could not help catching65 him as he fell.
"Well done, Bunny! I've knocked him out—I've knocked him out! Run you to the door and see if the attendants have heard anything, and take them on if they have."
Mechanically I did as I was told. There was no time for thought, still less for remonstrance66 or reproach, though my surprise must have been even more complete than that of the constable before Raffles knocked the sense out of him. Even in my utter bewilderment, however, the instinctive67 caution of the real criminal did not desert me. I ran to the door, but I sauntered through it, to plant myself before a Pompeiian fresco68 in the corridor; and there were the two attendants still gossiping outside the further door; nor did they hear the dull crash which I heard even as I watched them out of the corner of each eye.
It was hot weather, as I have said, but the perspiration69 on my body seemed already to have turned into a skin of ice. Then I caught the faint reflection of my own face in the casing of the fresco, and it frightened me into some semblance70 of myself as Raffles joined me with his hands in his pockets. But my fear and indignation were redoubled at the sight of him, when a single glance convinced me that his pockets were as empty as his hands, and his mad outrage71 the most wanton and reckless of his whole career.
"Ah, very interesting, very interesting, but nothing to what they have in the museum at Naples or in Pompeii itself. You must go there some day, Bunny. I've a good mind to take you myself. Meanwhile—slow march! The beggar hasn't moved an eyelid72. We may swing for him if you show indecent haste!"
"We!" I whispered. "We!"
And my knees knocked together as we came up to the chatting attendants. But Raffles must needs interrupt them to ask the way to the Prehistoric73 Saloon.
"At the top of the stairs."
"Thank you. Then we'll work round that way to the Egyptian part."
And we left them resuming their providential chat.
"I believe you're mad," I said bitterly as we went.
"I believe I was," admitted Raffles; "but I'm not now, and I'll see you through. A hundred and thirty-nine yards, wasn't it? Then it can't be more than a hundred and twenty now—not as much. Steady, Bunny, for God's sake. It's SLOW march—for our lives."
There was this much management. The rest was our colossal74 luck. A hansom was being paid off at the foot of the steps outside, and in we jumped, Raffles shouting "Charing75 Cross!" for all Bloomsbury to hear.
We had turned into Bloomsbury Street without exchanging a syllable76 when he struck the trap-door with his fist.
"Where the devil are you driving us?"
"Charing Cross, sir."
"I said King's Cross! Round you spin, and drive like blazes, or we miss our train! There's one to York at 10:35," added Raffles as the trap-door slammed; "we'll book there, Bunny, and then we'll slope through the subway to the Metropolitan77, and so to ground via Baker Street and Earl's Court."
And actually in half an hour he was seated once more in the hired carrying chair, while the porter and I staggered upstairs with my decrepit78 charge, for whose shattered strength even one hour in Kew Gardens had proved too much! Then, and not until then, when we had got rid of the porter and were alone at last, did I tell Raffles, in the most nervous English at my command, frankly79 and exactly what I thought of him and of his latest deed. Once started, moreover, I spoke41 as I have seldom spoken to living man; and Raffles, of all men, stood my abuse without a murmur80; or rather he sat it out, too astounded81 even to take off his hat, though I thought his eyebrows82 would have lifted it from his head.
"But it always was your infernal way," I was savagely83 concluding. "You make one plan, and yet you tell me another—"
"Not to-day, Bunny, I swear!"
"You mean to tell me you really did start with the bare idea of finding a place to hide in for a night?"
"Of course I did."
"It was to be the mere reconnoitre you pretended?"
"Then why on earth go and do what you did?"
"The reason would be obvious to anyone but you," said Raffles, still with no unkindly scorn. "It was the temptation of a minute—the final impulse of the fraction of a second, when Roberto saw that I was tempted85, and let me see that he saw it. It's not a thing I care to do, and I sha'n't be happy till the papers tell me the poor devil is alive. But a knock-out shot was the only chance for us then."
"Why? You don't get run in for being tempted, nor yet for showing that you are!"
"But I should have deserved running in if I hadn't yielded to such a temptation as that, Bunny. It was a chance in a hundred thousand! We might go there every day of our lives, and never again be the only outsiders in the room, with the billiard-marking Johnnie practically out of ear-shot at one and the same time. It was a gift from the gods; not to have taken it would have been flying in the face of Providence86."
"But you didn't take it," said I. "You went and left it behind."
I wish I had had a Kodak for the little smile with which Raffles shook his head, for it was one that he kept for those great moments of which our vocation87 is not devoid88. All this time he had been wearing his hat, tilted89 a little over eyebrows no longer raised. And now at last I knew where the gold cup was.
It stood for days upon his chimney-piece, this costly90 trophy91 whose ancient history and final fate filled newspaper columns even in these days of Jubilee, and for which the flower of Scotland Yard was said to be seeking high and low. Our constable, we learnt, had been stunned92 only, and, from the moment that I brought him an evening paper with the news, Raffles's spirits rose to a height inconsistent with his equable temperament93, and as unusual in him as the sudden impulse upon which he had acted with such effect. The cup itself appealed to me no more than it had done before. Exquisite94 it might be, handsome it was, but so light in the hand that the mere gold of it would scarcely have poured three figures out of melting-pot. And what said Raffles but that he would never melt it at all!
"Taking it was an offence against the laws of the land, Bunny. That is nothing. But destroying it would be a crime against God and Art, and may I be spitted on the vane of St. Mary Abbot's if I commit it!"
Talk such as this was unanswerable; indeed, the whole affair had passed the pale of useful comment; and the one course left to a practical person was to shrug95 his shoulders and enjoy the joke. This was not a little enhanced by the newspaper reports, which described Raffles as a handsome youth, and his unwilling96 accomplice97 as an older man of blackguardly appearance and low type.
"Hits us both off rather neatly98, Bunny," said he. "But what none of them do justice to is my dear cup. Look at it; only look at it, man! Was ever anything so rich and yet so chaste99? St. Agnes must have had a pretty bad time, but it would be almost worth it to go down to posterity100 in such enamel42 upon such gold. And then the history of the thing. Do you realize that it's five hundred years old and has belonged to Henry the Eighth and to Elizabeth among others? Bunny, when you have me cremated101, you can put my ashes in yonder cup, and lay us in the deep-delved earth together!"
"And meanwhile?"
"It is the joy of my heart, the light of my life, the delight of mine eye."
"And suppose other eyes catch sight of it?"
"They never must; they never shall."
Raffles would have been too absurd had he not been thoroughly alive to his own absurdity102; there was nevertheless an underlying103 sincerity104 in his appreciation105 of any and every form of beauty, which all his nonsense could not conceal106. And his infatuation for the cup was, as he declared, a very pure passion, since the circumstances debarred him from the chief joy of the average collector, that of showing his treasure to his friends. At last, however, and at the height of his craze, Raffles and reason seemed to come together again as suddenly as they had parted company in the Room of Gold.
"Bunny," he cried, flinging his newspaper across the room, "I've got an idea after your own heart. I know where I can place it after all!"
"Do you mean the cup?"
"I do."
"Then I congratulate you."
"Thanks."
"Upon the recovery of your senses."
"Thanks galore. But you've been confoundedly unsympathetic about this thing, Bunny, and I don't think I shall tell you my scheme till I've carried it out."
"Quite time enough," said I.
"It will mean your letting me loose for an hour or two under cloud of this very night. To-morrow's Sunday, the Jubilee's on Tuesday, and old Theobald's coming back for it."
"It doesn't much matter whether he's back or not if you go late enough."
"I mustn't be late. They don't keep open. No, it's no use your asking any questions. Go out and buy me a big box of Huntley & Palmer's biscuits; any sort you like, only they must be theirs, and absolutely the biggest box they sell."
"My dear man!"
"No questions, Bunny; you do your part and I'll do mine."
Subtlety107 and success were in his face. It was enough for me, and I had done his extraordinary bidding within a quarter of an hour. In another minute Raffles had opened the box and tumbled all the biscuits into the nearest chair.
"Now newspapers!"
I fetched a pile. He bid the cup of gold a ridiculous farewell, wrapped it up in newspaper after newspaper, and finally packed it in the empty biscuit-box.
"Now some brown paper. I don't want to be taken for the grocer's young man."
A neat enough parcel it made, when the string had been tied and the ends cut close; what was more difficult was to wrap up Raffles himself in such a way that even the porter should not recognize him if they came face to face at the corner. And the sun was still up. But Raffles would go, and when he did I should not have known him myself.
He may have been an hour away. It was barely dusk when he returned, and my first question referred to our dangerous ally, the porter. Raffles had passed him unsuspected in going, but had managed to avoid him altogether on the return journey, which he had completed by way of the other entrance and the roof. I breathed again.
"And what have you done with the cup?"
"Placed it!"
"How much for? How much for?"
"Let me think. I had a couple of cabs, and the postage was a tanner, with another twopence for registration108. Yes, it cost me exactly five-and-eight."
"IT cost YOU! But what did you GET for it, Raffles?"
"Nothing, my boy."
"Nothing!"
"I am not surprised. I never thought it had a market value. I told you so in the beginning," I said, irritably110. "But what on earth have you done with the thing?"
"Sent it to the Queen."
"You haven't!"
Rogue111 is a word with various meanings, and Raffles had been one sort of rogue ever since I had known him; but now, for once, he was the innocent variety, a great gray-haired child, running over with merriment and mischief112.
"Well, I've sent it to Sir Arthur Bigge, to present to her Majesty113, with the loyal respects of the thief, if that will do for you," said Raffles. "I thought they might take too much stock of me at the G.P.O. if I addressed it to the Sovereign her-self. Yes, I drove over to St. Martin's-le-Grand with it, and I registered the box into the bargain. Do a thing properly if you do it at all."
"My dear Bunny, we have been reigned115 over for sixty years by infinitely116 the finest monarch117 the world has ever seen. The world is taking the present opportunity of signifying the fact for all it is worth. Every nation is laying of its best at her royal feet; every class in the community is doing its little level—except ours. All I have done is to remove one reproach from our fraternity."
At this I came round, was infected with his spirit, called him the sportsman he always was and would be, and shook his daredevil hand in mine; but, at the same time, I still had my qualms118.
"Supposing they trace it to us?" said I.
"There's not much to catch hold of in a biscuit-box by Huntley & Palmer," replied Raffles; "that was why I sent you for one. And I didn't write a word upon a sheet of paper which could possibly be traced. I simply printed two or three on a virginal post-card—another half-penny to the bad—which might have been bought at any post-office in the kingdom. No, old chap, the G.P.O. was the one real danger; there was one detective I spotted119 for myself; and the sight of him has left me with a thirst. Whisky and Sullivans for two, Bunny, if you please."
Raffles was soon clinking his glass against mine.
"The Queen," said he. "God bless her!"
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1
raffles
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| n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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whacking
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| adj.（用于强调）巨大的v.重击，使劲打( whack的现在分词 ) | |
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forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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pertinently
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| 适切地 | |
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archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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14
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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extrinsic
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| adj.外部的；不紧要的 | |
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immorally
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| adv.淫荡地；不正经地；不道德地；品行不良地 | |
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immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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21
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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22
specious
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| adj.似是而非的；adv.似是而非地 | |
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23
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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24
pestering
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 ) | |
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25
meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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26
intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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27
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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28
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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29
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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30
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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31
jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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32
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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33
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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34
janitors
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| n.看门人( janitor的名词复数 )；看管房屋的人；锅炉工 | |
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35
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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36
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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37
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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38
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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39
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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40
ransacking
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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41
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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42
enamel
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| n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质 | |
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43
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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44
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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45
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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46
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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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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49
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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50
philistine
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| n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的 | |
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51
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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52
ramble
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| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
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53
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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54
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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55
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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56
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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58
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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59
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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60
connoisseur
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| n.鉴赏家，行家，内行 | |
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61
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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62
crass
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| adj.愚钝的，粗糙的；彻底的 | |
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63
smacks
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| 掌掴（声）( smack的名词复数 )； 海洛因； （打的）一拳； 打巴掌 | |
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64
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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65
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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66
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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67
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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68
fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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69
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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70
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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71
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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72
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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73
prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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75
charing
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| n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣 | |
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76
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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77
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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78
decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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79
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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80
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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81
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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82
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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83
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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84
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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85
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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86
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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87
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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88
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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89
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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90
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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91
trophy
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| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
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92
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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93
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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94
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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95
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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96
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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97
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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98
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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99
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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100
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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101
cremated
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| v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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103
underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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104
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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105
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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106
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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107
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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108
registration
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| n.登记，注册，挂号 | |
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109
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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110
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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111
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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112
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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113
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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114
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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115
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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116
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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117
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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118
qualms
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| n.不安；内疚 | |
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119
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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