Persons this Story is about—

 GLENN CRAWFORD, whose pallor and feverishly³ glowing eyes mark the three months he has just spent in a hospital as the result of an accident he suspects was planned, has the restless animal lines of body and negligible hips⁴ of one who has been much in the saddle. Hotheaded, once fearless, he is presently trying to overcome an unreasoning panic and pain which rack his body whenever he goes near a horse.

 

MERIDA LOPEZ, whose presence at the Big O ranch⁵ is surrounded by mystery, has a faintly exotic beauty and slumberous⁶, provocative⁷ eyes which both irritate Crawford and stir something primal⁸ in him. He isn't sure of her game, but he knows a woman like Merida doesn't trail through the wild brush country just for the scenery.

 

DR. FELIZ HUERTA, who looks as though he's in the process of disintegration⁹, has strongly arched brows and a graying peak of hair which gives him a satanic cast. His eyes hold a dull, jaded¹⁰ lackluster, and even the slightest movement seems to cost him infinite effort. For his own reasons, he is extremely interested in Crawford's symptoms.

 

QUARTEL, come to wind up affairs at the Big O, is a huge hunk of thick brown flesh with sensual lips and shoulders like sides of beef. He boasts he can rope better, ride farther, drink more and cuss dirtier than any hombre between Texas and Mexico City.

 

OTIS ROCKLAND, whom Crawford makes no bones about hating, is the owner of the Big O. As Crawford looks at it, Rockland's dealings with Crawford's pal², old Delcazar, were no less dirty for being legal.

 

DELCAZAR, who fears his friend Crawford is mixed up in the most dangerous thing that ever hit the wild brush country, is an aged¹¹, gnarled, and skinny Mexican who lives alone in the back country. He has rheumy eyes in a face seamed as an old satchel¹².

 

CABEZABLANCA, so-called for his head of pure white hair, is one of the Big O crew. He has a reputation for being deadly dangerous, but for some reason Huerta seems to have him under his thumb.

 

JACINTO (LITTLE HYACINTH) DEL RIO, the big, fat, grumbling¹³ cook, listened to his father when he told him there were two sins in the world, working and fighting, and if he avoided both of them he would surely go to heaven.

 

BUENO BAILEY, a tough bronc-buster, gaunt as an alley¹⁴ cat, has milky¹⁵ eyes, and parts his long yellow hair in the middle, slicking it down with bacon grease. Crawford suspects him of being responsible for his "accident."

 

AFORISMO, who has a sinister¹⁶ proverb for every occasion, is a thin, stooped man whose eyebrows¹⁷, slanting¹⁸ toward the middle of his forehead, give him a mournful expression. His favorite motto, cut into his razor-sharp knife, is Tripe¹⁹ is sweet but bowels²⁰ are better.

 

WALLACE TARANT, Otis Rockland's lawyer, has a broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped frame, a square brow and a wide, thin-lipped mouth which should have held a palpable strength. But his eyes won't meet Crawford's, and his voice is small for such a large man.

 

SHERIFF ED KENMARE, weary lawman of San Antonio, whose duties hang heavy upon him, has a bulbous nose prominent among heavy, weathered features.

 

FORD¹ INNES, Cabezablanca's saddlemate, is a red-bearded redhead with shrewd little eyes and a short square body which holds all the lethal²¹ threat of a snub-nosed derringer.

 

AFRICANO, a big black devil of a horse, is a killer²² nobody has been able to break. Just the thought of him drives Crawford into a trembling frenzy²³ of fear, but he knows he must conquer Africano or go crazy.

 

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

3 feverishly   

adv. 兴奋地

参考例句：

• Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
• The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。

4 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

6 slumberous   

a.昏昏欲睡的

参考例句：

• Lord Henry turned and looked at the duchess with his slumberous eyes. 亨利勋爵转过头来，用倦怠的眼睛望着公爵夫人。

7 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

8 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

9 disintegration   

n.分散，解体

参考例句：

• This defeat led to the disintegration of the empire.这次战败道致了帝国的瓦解。
• The incident has hastened the disintegration of the club.这一事件加速了该俱乐部的解体。

10 jaded   

adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。
• Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

12 satchel   

n.(皮或帆布的)书包

参考例句：

• The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门，把他的书包甩了进去。
• She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱，取出了她父亲的手套来。

13 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

14 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

15 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

16 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

17 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

18 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

19 tripe   

n.废话，肚子, 内脏

参考例句：

• I can't eat either tripe or liver.我不吃肚也不吃肝。
• I don't read that tripe.我才不看那种无聊的东西呢。

20 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

22 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

23 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。