Not a waft1 of air riffled the water; the sun was reflected from it as from a looking-glass, right into their faces, and proceeded to turn their complexions2 redder and redder. All around, the heads of curious turtles dotted the surface, disappearing as the boat drew near, and popping out again when it had passed. Here and there a hungry gar or dog-fish leaped into sight for an instant, while numerous king-fishers, brave in their blue and white, plumped down, with mighty3 splashes, for minnows.
The perspiration4 rolled from the face of Hal, who was at the sculling-oar5; dripped into his eyes, and dropped off the end of his crimsoning6 nose. Yet doubtless he felt cooler than did Ned, who, idle in the bows, simply was baking instead of boiling.
However, neither cared. The weather figured little, and they were more concerned over the immediate7 future than over the present.
“I bet you we don’t get a thing except dog-fish!” commented Hal, discouragingly.
“Oh, yes, we will,” returned Ned, with more hope. “That is,” he added, “unless the turtles and gars rob the hooks as fast as we bait up.”
“Well, may be; Sam and Joe seemed to think we would, anyway,” admitted Hal, blowing the beads8 from the tip of his nose.
“Seems kind of like it,” said Ned, fingering the line. “But perhaps it’s only the current jerking.”
He lifted the line and laid it across the bows; and squatting12 on the combing, beside it, gently pulled the boat, hand over hand, toward the first hook.
“Nothing on that hook,” remarked Hal, as presently the bit of cord by which it was suspended rose, slack and lifeless, out from the water. Then the hook itself dangled13 into view. No, it had nothing on it—not even bait.
As it came in-board Ned stuck a piece of liver on it and let it slide out again.
“Something’s coming!” he cried, jubilantly, his hands pausing upon the line. “I can feel it now, easy! See him jerk?”
“Hurrah!” shouted Hal, excitedly, edging forward, to be ready to help.
Hook two also was quite empty.
“Hurry,” urged Hal; for now the line just beyond was dipping and surging, under the struggles of something on hook three.
“Say—it’s a turtle! A big soft-shell—I saw him!” exclaimed Ned.
“Oh, shucks!” responded Hal, disgusted. “Yes, there he is!” as a stout15 flapper darted16 up into sight and vanished again with a swirl17.
Soon the line bent18 sharply over the side of the boat, and in the water under their eyes the boys could descry19 the sprawling20 disk of Mr. Turtle.
“Why, lift him right out,” answered Hal.
Ned gingerly drew the prisoner to the surface, and then cried:
“The hook’s in his flapper! How do you suppose he ever got caught that way?”
“I don’t know,” replied Hal. “I guess he started to eat with his fingers.”
“Or else he put his foot in his mouth, and got hooked that way,” added Ned. “Did you say to lift him right out?”
“Sure,” said Hal.
“Supposing you do it,” suggested Ned, eyeing the turtle, whose flappers, armed with long claws, were striking in all directions as their owner strove to get away.
Hal thoughtfully surveyed the situation.
“We ought to have a landing-net,” he declared. “But put your hands under the edge of his shell, and throw him in. He won’t hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid of his biting me, but he scratches like fury. His claws are about a mile long!” observed Ned, dubiously23 preparing to follow Hal’s advice.
The turtle, for the moment, was quiet, possibly waiting for his embarrassed captors to do something. Ned suddenly grabbed him by the shell, and before he realized what was taking place had heaved him over the gunwale, into the boat.
The shock released the hook, which fell from the flapper, and now a very angry turtle was at large in quarters altogether too restricted to suit himself and two bare-legged youths.
The turtle was about the size of a wash pan. He was of the common sharp-nose, fresh-water variety, of a drabbish-gray, with a smooth shell flexible like cartilage. His legs were tremendously powerful, and with his long, snaky neck far extended, his eyes sparkling, and his mouth wide open, hissing25 with all his might he made straight toward the stern and at Hal.
“Look out!” warned Ned.
Narrowly escaping going overboard, Hal scrambled26 upon the combing, and ran along it until he had joined the laughing Ned, in the bows. Here, perched upon the decking which extended over this portion of the craft, they were out of harm’s way—that is, the turtle’s.
This individual, balked27 of a bite out of one of Hal’s browned legs, endeavored to climb up the side of the boat, but tumbled back time and again.
“I wish he’d go,” complained Ned. “We aren’t after turtles, to-day.”
“So do I,” agreed Hal, ruefully wiggling a big toe, which he had stubbed in his rapid flight. “We don’t need him.”
“I got him in—you get him out,” proposed Ned, shrewdly.
“Well, either he gets out, or we do,” declared Hal. And he tried to assist the unwelcome captive by putting an oar-blade under him. Every time, however, the turtle slid off, and meanwhile grew madder and madder—if such a condition were possible.
Finally his turtle cunning led him to settle upon the stern as the easiest point for escape; and never giving up he attacked the sloping board again and again, only to fall back. Each time that the boys would have boosted him with an oar-blade he turned and snapped, and appeared so ungrateful that they were fain to leave him to his own efforts.
At last he managed to insert the claws of a hind29 flapper into the little space left by the oar in the sculling-hole, and then was enabled to thrust one of his fore24 flappers over the edge of the stern.
Up he went. For an instant he balanced on the stern, his four legs and his stiff little tail, and his waving head all outstretched in air.
“Scat!” called Ned.
At the word Mr. Turtle disappeared with a fine splash.
“Good!” exclaimed Hal, much relieved.
“No more turtles come in this boat, do they, Hal!” vowed30 Ned. “Better to cut the line, and be rid of them.”
The boys now proceeded with their business—that of finding out what else their hooks had in store for them. Although the turtle was off, still the line swayed and sagged31, denoting another catch a short distance ahead.
This proved to be on hook six.
“It’s nothing but a gar!” announced Ned, peering down as he neared the spot.
“Big one?” queried Hal, anxious for at least some consolation32.
“No—just ordinary size,” said Ned, disdainfully. “What will we do with him?”
The gar was now lying on the surface of the water, beside the bows, only occasionally giving a slight squirm. Maybe he was tired; or maybe, as in the case of the turtle, he was waiting for an opportunity to do a little damage. He was about three feet long, and with his slim, round body, his wicked eyes, and his bill-like mouth armed with sharp teeth, he looked fully22 capable of taking care of himself. The hook was firmly embedded33 in the lower half of his long, bony snout.
Ned cautiously extended his hand, to try to release the barb—and the gar snapped viciously.
“I don’t believe we can get the hook out unless we kill him, and there’s no use doing that,” asserted Ned. “He’s too coarse to eat.”
“Fishermen break their bills, and throw them back again,” informed Hal.
“But that’s torture; it makes them starve to death,” replied Ned.
“Can’t you jerk out the hook?” asked Hal.
Ned attempted this, by towing the gar back and forth35, and pulling on the hook at all angles. The fish submitted passively, and suddenly appealed to Ned as so helpless and so unhappy that with a quick impulse he severed36 the cord. With a flop37 of his tail the gar darted from sight.
“Get!” advised Ned.
He substituted another cord and hook, and both he and Hal felt relieved.
Their mercy was rewarded, for when they had run the line a few yards farther, they met with opposition38 in the shape of a dead weight which caused Ned to exert considerable strength to lift.
“Snag?” inquired Hal, anxiously, watching Ned raising the line inch by inch.
However, Hal was to be agreeably disappointed.The knot fastening the cord to which was suspended the hook came into view—and on the instant the water underneath41 it swirled42 violently.
“It’s a big cat! Come on, Hal, and grab him, or he’ll tear out the hook!” shouted Ned, wildly excited.
Carefully he seized the cord, and gently, so as not to frighten the fish, drew him alongside.
“He’s caught just through the edge of his lip! Watch out!” warned Ned.
Hal, regardless of any peril43 to himself, leaned far over. The victim, sluggish44 but far from sleepy, looked like a young whale. Hal boldly thrust his fingers in behind the cat’s gills, to haul him bodily over the gunwale; there was a sudden gigantic flurry, a splash, and presto45, change! Instead of it being the cat in the boat, it was Hal in the slough!
Ned gazed in alarm; but before he could move to the rescue Hal’s head broke the surface a few yards off.
“Here’s an oar, Hal!” called Ned.
“Uh-uh!” protested Hal, shaking his head while he blew the water from his nostrils46. “I’m all right. Did the fish get away?”
“I guess so—no, he didn’t, either!” announced Ned gladly.
“I’ll swim around to the other side of the boat, and you can be seeing if you can’t lift him in,” declared Hal. “Don’t you tumble over, too,” he added, as a caution.
The catfish47 seemed to be satisfied with what he had accomplished48; and still about in the same spot, made no sign of farther trickiness49.
However, Ned was very careful in approaching him. A moment, and the cat came over the one gunwale as Hal came over the other.
The hook, which had caught merely in one of the lips, where it had worn quite a hole, dropped while Ned was lifting, and there lay the victim in the bottom of the boat, free too late.
“A regular ‘yaller’ mud-cat,” laughed Ned. “Say—but we were lucky not to lose him. If he’d only had sense enough he might have got loose long ago.”
“I bet he weighs twenty pounds,” declared the dripping Hal.
“He’s all mouth!” returned Ned.
The boys gazed and gloated. The catfish, gasping50 in the sudden change from water to air, lay, after the fashion of his kind, inert51 and emotionless.
He was a very ugly animal, of a dirty yellow, and while he was not large for his species, he was the largest that the boys had ever caught. Indeed, he was quite a chunk52 of a fish. He was shaped somewhat like a flatiron; and, as Ned had remarked, he was about all mouth.
This mouth, which in appearance was a split severing53 his enormous head from side to side, was fringed with long feelers. His eyes, almost white, were small and piggish.
“Cut off his head, and there’s nothing left but his tail,” commented Ned, ruefully awakening54 to the fact that perhaps they had not made much of a catch, after all.
“Well, he’s better than turtles and gars,” replied Hal.
For the time being the capture of the prize had quite overshadowed Hal’s mishap55; but now Ned eyed him, and snickered.
“Did you touch bottom?” he queried.
“No, sir-ee; I came up as quick as I could,” avowed56 Hal. “Do I look wet?” and he slapped his oozing57 thighs58.
“Sort of,” admitted Ned. “Where’s your hat?”
“It must have kept on going down,” answered Hal. “But I don’t care. No—there it is. I feel fine,” he added, having rescued his hat with an oar. “You ought to go in—it’s great.”
“Guess I’ll wait a while,” smiled Ned.
“Well, in half an hour I’ll be as dry as you,” asserted Hal.
And he was.
The catfish was too unwieldy to be put in the soap-box seat (which they had upturned on bottom for a temporary hold-all), and stowing him under the decking of the bows, out of the sun, they investigated the remaining hooks upon the line. A large majority were stripped and empty, but two channel-cat and one blue-cat were taken. None of these weighed over six pounds; still, they were not seven-ninths head! No more turtles or gars were encountered.
The upper line yielded five catfish; another soft-shell turtle, caught, as had been his partner in distress59, by the flapper; and a dogfish. The turtle released himself, much to the boys’ pleasure; but the dogfish did not. He had swallowed the hook, so that the cord passed through his cruel jaws60, armed with their wicked teeth, into his stomach.
Unwilling61 to lose another hook, Ned solved the difficulty by quickly dispatching Mr. Dogfish by a smart blow over the spinal62 cord at the juncture63 of head and body, and made use of the otherwise worthless fellow by baiting hooks with his flesh.
Running the two lines had occupied at least two hours. As they turned campward Hal and Ned were conscious that nature’s dinner bell was sounding in their interiors.
Bob saw them coming. At first he was undecided whether to regard them as friends, or enemies. When Ned shouted to him, however, his canine65 sense told him that this was indeed the scull-boat, bearing his master; and breaking from his puzzled stare into a volley of whines66 and barks, he shortened the distance by venturing up to his back out into the water.
Then, when the boys sprang to land, he spattered them well for not having invited him. But who cared? They were about as wet and dirty as they could be, anyway!
As they disembarked, Sam and Joe pulled out, below, with their short, choppy fisherman strokes, bound for their own lines, which were not set in the bayou, but in the deep water, toward the main channel.
The boys waved at the pair, and Joe languidly waved back.
Now it remained to place in the fish-box the haul from the trot-lines, and to get supper. Hal volunteered to cook a fish if Ned would clean one, but Ned decided64 that this would make a painful delay.
He hastily started a fire of driftwood and branches, and until there should be coals upon which to put the frying-pan, he strolled with Bob back into the timber to look for more fuel.
Presently, unable to stay long away from the base of supplies, he returned to the camp. He had some news.
“You just ought to see!” he reported to Hal, who was squatting before the fire, frying potatoes and bacon together. “There’s a sort of dried swamp a little ways back in the woods, and it’s simply alive with young frogs. They’ll make splendid bait.”
“Let’s go and get a lot, after supper,” said Hal. “I don’t suppose the liver will be any good by morning. And, besides, it’s about all gone.”
“Nearly ready?” they asked—the one with his voice, the other with his dripping tongue, and glistening68 eyes, and nervous tail.
“Hold your plate,” commanded Hal. Ned eagerly obeyed; Bob, having no plate, gazed covetously69. Hal shoveled70 out a generous portion from the hissing frying-pan, and saying: “Here, Bob,” laid another portion upon a slab71 of bark. The rest he kept.
Each boy poured for himself, from the tin pail, a pint72 cup of coffee, and all fell to. Bob went coffee-less—which no doubt was just as well, considering that at home neither he nor his master drank any coffee, let alone a pint cup full!
Still, out camping one does many things which would not agree with one at home.
The coffee was very hot. The bacon and potatoes were very hot. Bob circled his bark plate, with mingled73 anticipation74 and disgust; hunger urged him on, while the memory of a certain burning mouthful held him back. He suspected a trick.
At last, valor75 overcoming discretion76, he plunged77 ahead, and gobbled as fast as he could, while his companions jeered78.
The supper having been cleared away—and save rinsing79 the utensils80 there was no “clearing” to be done, after two hungry boys and a dog had scraped and licked—a frog hunt was inaugurated. Protected now by shoes and stockings, the boys, taking the willing Bob, proceeded to Ned’s swamp.
The sun was setting, a ball of dull red in the golden west, and as the three chums traversed the short patch lying between the dried marsh81 and their arbor82 upon the bank of the slough, already the wild-wood was growing dusky and subdued83. Birds were darting84 to their homes, and were twittering their good-nights. A whippoorwill began to pipe in the island across the bayou. Mosquitoes rose from the under side of leaves, and here and there moths86 flitted aimlessly. The mooing of cows, as they were driven to the milking-place, floated in from distant pastures.
“Here we are,” announced Ned, pausing on the edge of a narrow open strip.
“Listen! What’s that funny noise?” exclaimed Hal, stopping stock still. Bob who had been soberly following at the boys’ heels, also stopped.
On the quiet atmosphere, almost from beneath their feet, rose a series of shrill87 little squeaks—somehow the oddest sounds that the trio ever had heard.
“Isn’t that funny!” whispered Ned. “What is it, do you think?”
Hal didn’t know. Bob didn’t know.
Carefully they peered about, through the vicinity, and found out.
“Oh, Ned—it’s a frog!” on a sudden called Hal. “Come quick, and see! Two garter snakes have got hold of him!”
Ned hastened over, and sure enough, there was a small frog in as tight a fix as ever a small frog could be! Each hind leg was deep in the maw of a garter snake; and now the two snakes, forced to suspend[79] their swallowing operations, were lustily pulling in opposite directions, while his frogship, stretched between them, was shrieking88 for help.
“Oh, pshaw! Let’s rescue the poor thing,” cried Ned; and suiting his action to his word he struck one of the snakes a blow with a switch that he had in his hand. Startled, the snake dropped the frog—whereupon the other would have fled with the booty, had not Hal halted him and made him disgorge.
The frog, nothing daunted89, hopped90 away. Bob turned himself his avenger91. Wrinkling back his lips, with utmost disgust he seized the first snake, in its retreat, and gingerly clutching it between his teeth, while the saliva92 dripped from his unwilling jaws, shook it frantically93 until it fairly flew to pieces. The other snake, having for a moment bravely faced Hal and menaced him with its tongue, disappeared.
That swamp was fairly swarming95 with them, all, like the boys, out after frogs. A garter snake considers a young frog a dainty morsel96, and some of the snakes were quite lumpy, from the unlucky victims that they had engulfed97.
“Well, if this doesn’t beat the dickens!” declared Hal.
Bob could not bring himself to mouthing another of the snakes. He would pretend to pounce98 upon one, and would quickly spring away, his curling lips indicating his disgust.
Undaunted by the competition, the boys, urged on by the gathering99 darkness, hastened to collect their frogs and put them in the coffee pail! Bob was of not the slightest assistance. He loathed100 frogs as much as he did snakes, and actually frothed at them, so intense were his feelings.
“What do you think!” exclaimed Hal, presently. “Here’s a snake that had swallowed a frog, and when I came up he was so scared that he opened his mouth, and the frog scooted out again!”
“Don’t catch him,” cried Ned, referring to the frog. “He’s been dead once, and now he’s earned his life.”
So Hal allowed the resurrected frog to go his way, and it is to be hoped that the garter snakes were as obliging.
By the time the boys had secured some twenty-five or thirty of the tiny green frogs, each about half an inch in length, twilight101 had deepened into dusk, and trees and bushes were merged102 in shadows.
With a few stumbles over vines and roots they retraced103 their steps to the arbor. Then arose the question, where to keep the frogs, considering that the pail would be needed for the breakfast coffee!
The voices of men talking, and the snappy sound of oars34 shifting between thole pins drifted from the mouth of the bayou.
“Sam and Joe are just coming back. Let’s go down and report, and see if they haven’t something we can borrow, to put the frogs in,” proposed Ned.
So the three of them trudged104 along the bank, where a faint path had been worn. It was presumed that Bob, of course, knew what was up. But after they had gone far enough to indicate their goal, he suddenly awakened105 to the fact that the route was leading to the brindled106 dog, and refused to proceed farther. He sat on his tail, and pleaded with his two comrades not to expose themselves to insults from that vulgar fellow. As they refused to yield to him, he watched them until they were out of sight, and followed them with his mournful howls. Then, having done his duty, he returned to the grape arbor camp, and curled to sleep on Ned’s coat.
Soon, even had they been blind to the flickering108 light, and deaf to the muffled109 voices, by their noses alone the boys would have known that they were near the fishermen’s cabin. Sam and Joe were busy, with aid of a lantern, at their landing. Evidently they had just disembarked.
“Hullo, there!” hailed the boys.
“Hey!” cheerily answered Joe.
“Bow wow wow wow!” challenged the brindled dog—exactly as Bob had predicted!
Sam said nothing. Sam was not much of a talker.
The boys scrambled down to the landing. Joe was in the stern of the boat, handing out things to Sam, who was in the water beside it. Both men had on their hip85 rubber boots.
“What luck?” asked Hal.
“Not much,” replied Joe, without pausing in his operations. “What did you boys get?”
“Seven catfish,” informed Ned, trying to make his tone matter-of-fact.
“And two turtles and a gar and a dogfish,” added Hal.
“And two turtles, and a gar, and a dogfish, eh?” laughed Joe. “Well, I reckon that without ’em you beat us. Fish out where we be are gettin’ ’bout tired o’ dough-balls; ain’t that so, Sam?”
Sam grunted; giving the fish-box in front of him a kick into deeper water, he plashed to shore, and stumped110 up the slope to the cabin. Joe followed.
“Come in,” he invited, over his shoulder.
The boys entered. Sam was lighting111 a lamp in a bracket against the wall. The cabin was small and close, with its two bunks112, its stove for cooking, and its walls hung with clothing and cooking and fishing utensils and decorated with prints. The room was bedchamber, kitchen and parlor113, in one.
“We can’t stay, thank you,” spoke Ned, fancying that the two fishermen would want to attend to their own affairs. “Only, we caught a lot of frogs for bait, and haven’t anything to keep them in. Have you got an old bucket, or some tin cans, we can have?”
“Better have the lantern,” advised Sam—speaking for the first time.
With the brindled dog continuing to eye them as if suspecting that they were stealing, Hal and Ned looked over the pile of refuse, and came upon an old tin pail which suited their purpose.
Having achieved this, and said good-night, they went back to camp, through the darkness; and they tripped so often, and stepped on so many rolling sticks, and stones, that they wished they had their own lantern along.
Upon hearing them approaching, the faithful Bob was in arms at once, resolved to save the camp, or die; but upon being reassured115 by Ned’s whistle and call, he advanced and greeted them with his usual wordiness, while he sniffed for traces of his down creek116 enemy.
With nothing especial to do, immediately, the boys sat on the bank, to wait. Now the woods behind and the water in front were black, and the trees across on the other side were but a vague mass. A whole colony of whippoorwills whistled from point to point incessantly117, and two owls107, one distant, one quite near, hooted118 a responsive duet. Bob whined119 and shivered, for the air was damp with the falling dew and the mist rising from the water. Beyond, in the channel of the river, sounded the soft exhaust of an ascending120 rafter.
Despite the attentions of numerous mosquitoes, Ned felt himself growing sleepy.
“Wonder what time it is,” he hazarded.
“Must be nearly nine,” said Hal.
“Sam said to run the lines again about ten, didn’t he?” inquired Ned.
Conversation languished122; and after an interval123 of silence, punctuated124 only by the spasmodic complaints of Bob, who was acting125 very babyish, Ned spoke up:
“Say—what’s the matter with running the lines now, and not waiting till ten. I’m pretty near asleep.”
“Let’s. So am I,” agreed Hal.
They lighted their lantern, and taking the liver, the frogs and the remains126 of the dogfish, tumbled into the scull-boat and pushed out. Behind them, upon shore, stayed Bob, the disconsolate127, who was growing tired of always being “left.” He was positive that he was missing much fun.
The Deep Creek of night was decidedly different from the Deep Creek of day, just as the most open woods, in the light, are transformed into regular labyrinths128, in the dark.
It was Ned’s turn to scull. It seemed to both boys that they never would reach the raft, so fast they appeared to glide10, and yet so slow they were in arriving. And all was so eerie—black slough, black woods, black sky, and queer noises.
“There’s the raft, right ahead!” exclaimed Hal.
Whereupon they bumped into it.
The water, which was so playful as under the rays of the sun it lapped the mossy old logs, now was sullen129 and chill. Hal swung the lantern over, and speedily found the end of the trot-line.
They were forced to run the lines by feeling rather than by sight, for at best the beams of the lantern were shifty and uncertain. Either they had come again too soon, or the fish had gone to sleep, or were gorged130 with liver, for two medium-size catfish, one from each line, was the total yield.
The boys were a little disappointed. Out of the assortment131 of dainties at hand having baited afresh the empty hooks, they sculled back to camp, and Bob.
With most of their clothing on, and their coats for pillows, they rolled in their blankets, in the arbor, (Bob contentedly132 between them), and not even the over-sociable mosquitoes could hold them awake for more than five minutes and a quarter.
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1
waft
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| v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡 | |
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complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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crimsoning
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| 变为深红色（crimson的现在分词形式） | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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13
dangled
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| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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24
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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25
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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27
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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30
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
sagged
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| 下垂的 | |
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32
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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33
embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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34
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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36
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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37
flop
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| n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下 | |
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38
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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39
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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40
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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41
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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42
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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44
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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45
presto
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| adv.急速地；n.急板乐段；adj.急板的 | |
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46
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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47
catfish
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| n.鲶鱼 | |
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48
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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49
trickiness
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| n.欺骗；狡猾；棘手；微妙 | |
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50
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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51
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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52
chunk
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| n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量） | |
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53
severing
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的现在分词 )；断，裂 | |
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54
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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55
mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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56
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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57
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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58
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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59
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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60
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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61
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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62
spinal
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| adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的 | |
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63
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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64
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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65
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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66
whines
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| n.悲嗥声( whine的名词复数 )；哀鸣者v.哀号( whine的第三人称单数 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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67
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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68
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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69
covetously
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| adv.妄想地，贪心地 | |
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70
shoveled
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| vt.铲，铲出（shovel的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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71
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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72
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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73
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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74
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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75
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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76
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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77
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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78
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
rinsing
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| n.清水，残渣v.漂洗( rinse的现在分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉 | |
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80
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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81
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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82
arbor
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| n.凉亭；树木 | |
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83
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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84
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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85
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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86
moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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87
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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88
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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89
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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91
avenger
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| n. 复仇者 | |
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92
saliva
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| n.唾液，口水 | |
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93
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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94
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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95
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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96
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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97
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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99
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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100
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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101
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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102
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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103
retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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104
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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105
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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106
brindled
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| adj.有斑纹的 | |
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107
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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108
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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109
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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110
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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111
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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112
bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
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113
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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114
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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115
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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116
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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117
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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118
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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120
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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121
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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122
languished
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| 长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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123
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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124
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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125
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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126
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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127
disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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128
labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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129
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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130
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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131
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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132
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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