Johnny Atwood lay stretched upon the grass in the undress uniform of a Carib, and prated4 feebly of cool water to be had in the cucumber-wood pumps of Dalesburg. Dr. Gregg, through the prestige of his whiskers and as a bribe5 against the relation of his imminent6 professional tales, was conceded the hammock that was swung between the door jamb and a calabash-tree. Keogh had moved out upon the grass a little table that held the instrument for burnishing7 completed photographs. He was the only busy one of the group. Industriously8 from between the cylinders9 of the burnisher10 rolled the finished depictments of Coralio's citizens. Blanchard, the French mining engineer, in his cool linen11 viewed the smoke of his cigarette through his calm glasses, impervious12 to the heat. Clancy sat on the steps, smoking his short pipe. His mood was the gossip's; the others were reduced, by the humidity, to the state of disability desirable in an audience.
Clancy was an American with an Irish diathesis and cosmopolitan13 proclivities14. Many businesses had claimed him, but not for long. The roadster's blood was in his veins15. The voice of the tintype was but one of the many callings that had wooed him upon so many roads. Sometimes he could be persuaded to oral construction of his voyages into the informal and egregious16. To-night there were symptoms of divulgement in him.
"'Tis elegant weather for filibusterin'," he volunteered. "It reminds me of the time I struggled to liberate18 a nation from the poisonous breath of a tyrant19's clutch. 'Twas hard work. 'Tis strainin' to the back and makes corns on the hands."
"I didn't know you had ever lent your sword to an oppressed people," murmured Atwood, from the grass.
"I did," said Clancy; "and they turned it into a ploughshare."
"What country was so fortunate as to secure your aid?" airily inquired Blanchard.
"Where's Kamchatka?" asked Clancy, with seeming irrelevance20.
"Why, off Siberia somewhere in the Arctic regions," somebody answered, doubtfully.
"I thought that was the cold one," said Clancy, with a satisfied nod. "I'm always gettin' the two names mixed. 'Twas Guatemala, then—the hot one—I've been filibusterin' with. Ye'll find that country on the map. 'Tis in the district known as the tropics. By the foresight21 of Providence22, it lies on the coast so the geography man could run the names of the towns off into the water. They're an inch long, small type, composed of Spanish dialects, and, 'tis my opinion, of the same system of syntax that blew up the Maine. Yes, 'twas that country I sailed against, single-handed, and endeavoured to liberate it from a tyrannical government with a single-barreled pickaxe, unloaded at that. Ye don't understand, of course. 'Tis a statement demandin' elucidation23 and apologies.
"'Twas in New Orleans one morning about the first of June; I was standin' down on the wharf24, lookin' about at the ships in the river. There was a little steamer moored25 right opposite me that seemed about ready to sail. The funnels26 of it were throwin' out smoke, and a gang of roustabouts were carryin' aboard a pile of boxes that was stacked up on the wharf. The boxes were about two feet square, and somethin' like four feet long, and they seemed to be pretty heavy.
"I walked over, careless, to the stack of boxes. I saw one of them had been broken in handlin'. 'Twas curiosity made me pull up the loose top and look inside. The box was packed full of Winchester rifles. 'So, so,' says I to myself; 'somebody's gettin' a twist on the neutrality laws. Somebody's aidin' with munitions27 of war. I wonder where the popguns are goin'?'
"I heard somebody cough, and I turned around. There stood a little, round, fat man with a brown face and white clothes, a first-class-looking little man, with a four-karat diamond on his finger and his eye full of interrogations and respects. I judged he was a kind of foreigner—may be from Russia or Japan or the archipelagoes.
"'Hist!' says the round man, full of concealments and confidences. 'Will the señor respect the discoveryments he has made, that the mans on the ship shall not be acquaint? The señor will be a gentleman that shall not expose one thing that by accident occur.'
"'Monseer,' says I—for I judged him to be a kind of Frenchman—'receive my most exasperated28 assurances that your secret is safe with James Clancy. Furthermore, I will go so far as to remark, Veev la Liberty—veev it good and strong. Whenever you hear of a Clancy obstructin' the abolishment of existin' governments you may notify me by return mail.'
"'The señor is good,' says the dark, fat man, smilin' under his black mustache. 'Wish you to come aboard my ship and drink of wine a glass.'
"Bein' a Clancy, in two minutes me and the foreigner man were seated at a table in the cabin of the steamer, with a bottle between us. I could hear the heavy boxes bein' dumped into the hold. I judged that cargo29 must consist of at least 2,000 Winchesters. Me and the brown man drank the bottle of stuff, and he called the steward30 to bring another. When you amalgamate31 a Clancy with the contents of a bottle you practically instigate32 secession. I had heard a good deal about these revolutions in them tropical localities, and I begun to want a hand in it.
"'You goin' to stir things up in your country, ain't you, monseer?' says I, with a wink33 to let him know I was on.
"'Yes, yes,' said the little man, pounding his fist on the table. 'A change of the greatest will occur. Too long have the people been oppressed with the promises and the never-to-happen things to become. The great work it shall be carry on. Yes. Our forces shall in the capital city strike of the soonest. Carrambos!'
"'Carrambos is the word,' says I, beginning to invest myself with enthusiasm and more wine, 'likewise veeva, as I said before. May the shamrock of old—I mean the banana-vine or the pie-plant, or whatever the imperial emblem34 may be of your down-trodden country, wave forever.'
"'A thousand thank-yous,' says the round man, 'for your emission35 of amicable36 utterances37. What our cause needs of the very most is mans who will the work do, to lift it along. Oh, for one thousands strong, good mans to aid the General De Vega that he shall to his country bring those success and glory! It is hard—oh, so hard to find good mans to help in the work.'
"'Monseer,' says I, leanin' over the table and graspin' his hand, 'I don't know where your country is, but me heart bleeds for it. The heart of a Clancy was never deaf to the sight of an oppressed people. The family is filibusterers by birth, and foreigners by trade. If you can use James Clancy's arms and his blood in denudin' your shores of the tyrant's yoke38 they're yours to command.'
"General De Vega was overcome with joy to confiscate39 my condolence of his conspiracies40 and predicaments. He tried to embrace me across the table, but his fatness, and the wine that had been in the bottles, prevented. Thus was I welcomed into the ranks of filibustery. Then the general man told me his country had the name of Guatemala, and was the greatest nation laved by any ocean whatever anywhere. He looked at me with tears in his eyes, and from time to time he would emit the remark, 'Ah! big, strong, brave mans! That is what my country need.'
"General De Vega, as was the name by which he denounced himself, brought out a document for me to sign, which I did, makin' a fine flourish and curlycue with the tail of the 'y.'
"'Twill not,' says I, haughty42. 'I'll pay my own passage.' A hundred and eighty dollars I had in my inside pocket, and 'twas no common filibuster17 I was goin' to be, filibusterin' for me board and clothes.
"The steamer was to sail in two hours, and I went ashore43 to get some things together I'd need. When I came aboard I showed the general with pride the outfit44. 'Twas a fine Chinchilla overcoat, Arctic overshoes, fur cap and earmuffs, with elegant fleece-lined gloves and woolen45 muffler.
"'Carrambos!' says the little general. 'What clothes are these that shall go to the tropic?' And then the little spalpeen laughs, and he calls the captain, and the captain calls the purser, and they pipe up the chief engineer, and the whole gang leans against the cabin and laughs at Clancy's wardrobe for Guatemala.
"I reflects a bit, serious, and asks the general again to denominate the terms by which his country is called. He tells me, and I see then that 'twas the t'other one, Kamchatka, I had in mind. Since then I've had difficulty in separatin' the two nations in name, climate and geographic46 disposition47.
"I paid my passage—twenty-four dollars, first cabin—and ate at table with the officer crowd. Down on the lower deck was a gang of second-class passengers, about forty of them, seemin' to be Dagoes and the like. I wondered what so many of them were goin' along for.
"Well, then, in three days we sailed alongside that Guatemala. 'Twas a blue country, and not yellow as 'tis miscolored on the map. We landed at a town on the coast, where a train of cars was waitin' for us on a dinky little railroad. The boxes on the steamer were brought ashore and loaded on the cars. The gang of Dagoes got aboard, too, the general and me in the front car. Yes, me and General De Vega headed the revolution, as it pulled out of the seaport48 town. That train travelled about as fast as a policeman goin' to a riot. It penetrated49 the most conspicuous50 lot of fuzzy scenery ever seen outside a geography. We run some forty miles in seven hours, and the train stopped. There was no more railroad. 'Twas a sort of camp in a damp gorge51 full of wildness and melancholies. They was gradin' and choppin' out the forests ahead to continue the road. 'Here,' says I to myself, 'is the romantic haunt of the revolutionists. Here will Clancy, by the virtue52 that is in a superior race and the inculcation of Fenian tactics, strike a tremendous blow for liberty.'
"They unloaded the boxes from the train and begun to knock the tops off. From the first one that was open I saw General De Vega take the Winchester rifles and pass them around to a squad53 of morbid54 soldiery. The other boxes was opened next, and, believe me or not, divil another gun was to be seen. Every other box in the load was full of pickaxes and spades.
"And then—sorrow be upon them tropics—the proud Clancy and the dishonoured55 Dagoes, each one of them, had to shoulder a pick or a spade, and march away to work on that dirty little railroad. Yes; 'twas that the Dagoes shipped for, and 'twas that the filibusterin' Clancy signed for, though unbeknownst to himself at the time. In after days I found out about it. It seems 'twas hard to get hands to work on that road. The intelligent natives of the country was too lazy to work. Indeed, the saints know, 'twas unnecessary. By stretchin' out one hand, they could seize the most delicate and costly56 fruits of the earth, and, by stretchin' out the other, they could sleep for days at a time without hearin' a seven-o'clock whistle or the footsteps of the rent man upon the stairs. So, regular, the steamers travelled to the United States to seduce57 labour. Usually the imported spade-slingers died in two or three months from eatin' the over-ripe water and breathin' the violent tropical scenery. Wherefore they made them sign contracts for a year, when they hired them, and put an armed guard over the poor divils to keep them from runnin' away.
"'Twas thus I was double-crossed by the tropics through a family failin' of goin' out of the way to hunt disturbances59.
"They gave me a pick, and I took it, meditatin' an insurrection on the spot; but there was the guards handlin' the Winchesters careless, and I come to the conclusion that discretion60 was the best part of filibusterin'. There was about a hundred of us in the gang startin' out to work, and the word was given to move. I steps out of the ranks and goes up to that General De Vega man, who was smokin' a cigar and gazin' upon the scene with satisfactions and glory. He smiles at me polite and devilish. 'Plenty work,' says he, 'for big, strong mans in Guatemala. Yes. T'irty dollars in the month. Good pay. Ah, yes. You strong, brave man. Bimeby we push those railroad in the capital very quick. They want you go work now. Adios, strong mans.'
"'Monseer,' says I, lingerin', 'will you tell a poor little Irishman this: When I set foot on your cockroachy steamer, and breathed liberal and revolutionary sentiments into your sour wine, did you think I was conspirin' to sling58 a pick on your contemptuous little railroad? And when you answered me with patriotic61 recitations, humping up the star-spangled cause of liberty, did you have meditations63 of reducin' me to the ranks of the stump-grubbin' Dagoes in the chain-gangs of your vile64 and grovelin' country?'
"The general man expanded his rotundity and laughed considerable. Yes, he laughed very long and loud, and I, Clancy, stood and waited.
"'Comical mans!' he shouts, at last. 'So you will kill me from the laughing. Yes; it is hard to find the brave, strong mans to aid my country. Revolutions? Did I speak of r-r-revolutions? Not one word. I say, big, strong mans is need in Guatemala. So. The mistake is of you. You have looked in those one box containing those gun for the guard. You think all boxes is contain gun? No.
"'There is not war in Guatemala. But work? Yes. Good. T'irty dollar in the month. You shall shoulder one pickaxe, señor, and dig for the liberty and prosperity of Guatemala. Off to your work. The guard waits for you.'
"'Little, fat, poodle dog of a brown man,' says I, quiet, but full of indignations and discomforts65, 'things shall happen to you. Maybe not right away, but as soon as J. Clancy can formulate66 somethin' in the way of repartee67.'
"The boss of the gang orders us to work. I tramps off with the Dagoes, and I hears the distinguished68 patriot62 and kidnapper69 laughin' hearty70 as we go.
"'Tis a sorrowful fact, for eight weeks I built railroads for that misbehavin' country. I filibustered71 twelve hours a day with a heavy pick and a spade, choppin' away the luxurious72 landscape that grew upon the right of way. We worked in swamps that smelled like there was a leak in the gas mains, trampin' down a fine assortment73 of the most expensive hothouse plants and vegetables. The scene was tropical beyond the wildest imagination of the geography man. The trees was all sky-scrapers; the underbrush was full of needles and pins; there was monkeys jumpin' around and crocodiles and pink-tailed mockin'-birds, and ye stood knee-deep in the rotten water and grabbled roots for the liberation of Guatemala. Of nights we would build smudges in camp to discourage the mosquitoes, and sit in the smoke, with the guards pacin' all around us. There was two hundred men workin' on the road—mostly Dagoes, nigger-men, Spanish-men and Swedes. Three or four were Irish.
"One old man named Halloran—a man of Hibernian entitlements and discretions, explained it to me. He had been workin' on the road a year. Most of them died in less than six months. He was dried up to gristle and bone, and shook with chills every third night.
"'When you first come,' says he, 'ye think ye'll leave right away. But they hold out your first month's pay for your passage over, and by that time the tropics has its grip on ye. Ye're surrounded by a ragin' forest full of disreputable beasts—lions and baboons74 and anacondas—waitin' to devour75 ye. The sun strikes ye hard, and melts the marrow76 in your bones. Ye get similar to the lettuce77-eaters the poetry-book speaks about. Ye forget the elevated sintiments of life, such as patriotism78, revenge, disturbances of the peace and the dacint love of a clane shirt. Ye do your work, and ye swallow the kerosene79 ile and rubber pipestems dished up to ye by the Dago cook for food. Ye light your pipeful, and say to yoursilf, "Nixt week I'll break away," and ye go to sleep and call yersilf a liar80, for ye know ye'll never do it.'
"'Who is this general man,' asks I, 'that calls himself De Vega?'
"''Tis the man,' says Halloran, 'who is tryin' to complete the finishin' of the railroad. 'Twas the project of a private corporation, but it busted82, and then the government took it up. De Vegy is a big politician, and wants to be prisident. The people want the railroad completed, as they're taxed mighty83 on account of it. The De Vegy man is pushin' it along as a campaign move.'
"''Tis not my way,' says I, 'to make threats against any man, but there's an account to be settled between the railroad man and James O'Dowd Clancy.'
"''Twas that way I thought, mesilf, at first,' Halloran says, with a big sigh, 'until I got to be a lettuce-eater. The fault's wid these tropics. They rejuices a man's system. 'Tis a land, as the poet says, "Where it always seems to be after dinner." I does me work and smokes me pipe and sleeps. There's little else in life, anyway. Ye'll get that way yersilf, mighty soon. Don't be harbourin' any sintiments at all, Clancy.'
"'I can't help it,' says I; 'I'm full of 'em. I enlisted84 in the revolutionary army of this dark country in good faith to fight for its liberty, honours and silver candlesticks; instead of which I am set to amputatin' its scenery and grubbin' its roots. 'Tis the general man will have to pay for it.'
"Two months I worked on that railroad before I found a chance to get away. One day a gang of us was sent back to the end of the completed line to fetch some picks that had been sent down to Port Barrios to be sharpened. They were brought on a hand-car, and I noticed, when I started away, that the car was left there on the track.
"That night, about twelve, I woke up Halloran and told him my scheme.
"'Run away?' says Halloran. 'Good Lord, Clancy, do ye mean it? Why, I ain't got the nerve. It's too chilly85, and I ain't slept enough. Run away? I told you, Clancy, I've eat the lettuce. I've lost my grip. 'Tis the tropics that's done it. 'Tis like the poet says: "Forgotten are our friends that we have left behind; in the hollow lettuce-land we will live and lay reclined." You better go on, Clancy. I'll stay, I guess. It's too early and cold, and I'm sleepy.'
"So I had to leave Halloran. I dressed quiet, and slipped out of the tent we were in. When the guard came along I knocked him over, like a ninepin, with a green cocoanut I had, and made for the railroad. I got on that hand-car and made it fly. 'Twas yet a while before daybreak when I saw the lights of Port Barrios about a mile away. I stopped the hand-car there and walked to the town. I stepped inside the corporations of that town with care and hesitations86. I was not afraid of the army of Guatemala, but me soul quaked at the prospect87 of a hand-to-hand struggle with its employment bureau. 'Tis a country that hires its help easy and keeps 'em long. Sure I can fancy Missis America and Missis Guatemala passin' a bit of gossip some fine, still night across the mountains. 'Oh, dear,' says Missis America, 'and it's a lot of trouble I'm havin' ag'in with the help, señora, ma'am.' 'Laws, now!' says Missis Guatemala, 'you don't say so, ma'am! Now, mine never think of leavin' me—te-he! ma'am,' snickers Missis Guatemala.
"I was wonderin' how I was goin' to move away from them tropics without bein' hired again. Dark as it was, I could see a steamer ridin' in the harbour, with smoke emergin' from her stacks. I turned down a little grass street that run down to the water. On the beach I found a little brown nigger-man just about to shove off in a skiff.
"'Hold on, Sambo,' says I, 'savve English?'
"'Heap plenty, yes,' says he, with a pleasant grin.
"'What steamer is that?' I asks him, 'and where is it going? And what's the news, and the good word and the time of day?'
"'That steamer the Conchita,' said the brown man, affable and easy, rollin' a cigarette. 'Him come from New Orleans for load banana. Him got load last night. I think him sail in one, two hour. Verree nice day we shall be goin' have. You hear some talkee 'bout1 big battle, maybe so? You think catchee General De Vega, señor? Yes? No?'
"'How's that, Sambo?' says I. 'Big battle? What battle? Who wants catchee General De Vega? I've been up at my old gold mines in the interior for a couple of months, and haven't heard any news.'
"'Oh,' says the nigger-man, proud to speak the English, 'verree great revolution in Guatemala one week ago. General De Vega, him try be president. Him raise armee—one—five—ten thousand mans for fight at the government. Those one government send five—forty—hundred thousand soldier to suppress revolution. They fight big battle yesterday at Lomagrande—that about nineteen or fifty mile in the mountain. That government soldier wheep General De Vega—oh, most bad. Five hundred—nine hundred—two thousand of his mans is kill. That revolution is smash suppress—bust—very quick. General De Vega, him r-r-run away fast on one big mule88. Yes, carrambos! The general, him r-r-run away, and his armee is kill. That government soldier, they try find General De Vega verree much. They want catchee him for shoot. You think they catchee that general, señor?'
"'Saints grant it!' says I. ''Twould be the judgment89 of Providence for settin' the warlike talent of a Clancy to gradin' the tropics with a pick and shovel90. But 'tis not so much a question of insurrections now, me little man, as 'tis of the hired-man problem. 'Tis anxious I am to resign a situation of responsibility and trust with the white wings department of your great and degraded country. Row me in your little boat out to that steamer, and I'll give ye five dollars—sinker pacers—sinker pacers,' says I, reducin' the offer to the language and denomination91 of the tropic dialects.
"'Cinco pesos,' repeats the little man. 'Five dollee, you give?'
"'Twas not such a bad little man. He had hesitations at first, sayin' that passengers leavin' the country had to have papers and passports, but at last he took me out alongside the steamer.
"Day was just breakin' as we struck her, and there wasn't a soul to be seen on board. The water was very still, and the nigger-man gave me a lift from the boat, and I climbed onto the steamer where her side was sliced to the deck for loadin' fruit. The hatches was open, and I looked down and saw the cargo of bananas that filled the hold to within six feet of the top. I thinks to myself, 'Clancy, you better go as a stowaway92. It's safer. The steamer men might hand you back to the employment bureau. The tropic'll get you, Clancy, if you don't watch out.'
"So I jumps down easy among the bananas, and digs out a hole to hide in among the bunches. In an hour or so I could hear the engines goin', and feel the steamer rockin', and I knew we were off to sea. They left the hatches open for ventilation, and pretty soon it was light enough in the hold to see fairly well. I got to feelin' a bit hungry, and thought I'd have a light fruit lunch, by way of refreshment93. I creeped out of the hole I'd made and stood up straight. Just then I saw another man crawl up about ten feet away and reach out and skin a banana and stuff it into his mouth. 'Twas a dirty man, black-faced and ragged94 and disgraceful of aspect. Yes, the man was a ringer for the pictures of the fat Weary Willie in the funny papers. I looked again, and saw it was my general man—De Vega, the great revolutionist, mule-rider and pickaxe importer. When he saw me the general hesitated with his mouth filled with banana and his eyes the size of cocoanuts.
"'Hist!' I says. 'Not a word, or they'll put us off and make us walk. "Veev la Liberty!"' I adds, copperin' the sentiment by shovin' a banana into the source of it. I was certain the general wouldn't recognize me. The nefarious95 work of the tropics had left me lookin' different. There was half an inch of roan whiskers coverin' me face, and me costume was a pair of blue overalls96 and a red shirt.
"'How you come in the ship, señor?' asked the general as soon as he could speak.
"'By the back door—whist!' says I. ''Twas a glorious blow for liberty we struck,' I continues; 'but we was overpowered by numbers. Let us accept our defeat like brave men and eat another banana.'
"'Were you in the cause of liberty fightin', señor?' says the general, sheddin' tears on the cargo.
"'To the last,' says I. ''Twas I led the last desperate charge against the minions97 of the tyrant. But it made them mad, and we was forced to retreat. 'Twas I, general, procured98 the mule upon which you escaped. Could you give that ripe bunch a little boost this way, general? It's a bit out of my reach. Thanks.'
"'Say you so, brave patriot?' said the general, again weepin'. 'Ah, Dios! And I have not the means to reward your devotion. Barely did I my life bring away. Carrambos! what a devil's animal was that mule, señor! Like ships in one storm was I dashed about. The skin on myself was ripped away with the thorns and vines. Upon the bark of a hundred trees did that beast of the infernal bump, and cause outrage100 to the legs of mine. In the night to Port Barrios I came. I dispossess myself of that mountain of mule and hasten along the water shore. I find a little boat to be tied. I launch myself and row to the steamer. I cannot see any mans on board, so I climbed one rope which hang at the side. I then myself hide in the bananas. Surely, I say, if the ship captains view me, they shall throw me again to those Guatemala. Those things are not good. Guatemala will shoot General De Vega. Therefore, I am hide and remain silent. Life itself is glorious. Liberty, it is pretty good; but so good as life I do not think.'
"Three days, as I said, was the trip to New Orleans. The general man and me got to be cronies of the deepest dye. Bananas we ate until they were distasteful to the sight and an eyesore to the palate, but to bananas alone was the bill of fare reduced. At night I crawls out, careful, on the lower deck, and gets a bucket of fresh water.
"That General De Vega was a man inhabited by an engorgement of words and sentences. He added to the monotony of the voyage by divestin' himself of conversation. He believed I was a revolutionist of his own party, there bein', as he told me, a good many Americans and other foreigners in its ranks. 'Twas a braggart101 and a conceited102 little gabbler it was, though he considered himself a hero. 'Twas on himself he wasted all his regrets at the failin' of his plot. Not a word did the little balloon have to say about the other misbehavin' idiots that had been shot, or run themselves to death in his revolution.
"The second day out he was feelin' pretty braggy and uppish for a stowed-away conspirator103 that owed his existence to a mule and stolen bananas. He was tellin' me about the great railroad he had been buildin', and he relates what he calls a comic incident about a fool Irishman he inveigled104 from New Orleans to sling a pick on his little morgue of a narrow-gauge line. 'Twas sorrowful to hear the little, dirty general tell the opprobrious105 story of how he put salt upon the tail of that reckless and silly bird, Clancy. Laugh, he did, hearty and long. He shook with laughin', the black-faced rebel and outcast, standin' neck-deep in bananas, without friends or country.
"'Ah, señor,' he snickers, 'to the death you would have laughed at that drollest Irish. I say to him: "Strong, big mans is need very much in Guatemala." "I will blows strike for your down-pressed country," he say. "That shall you do," I tell him. Ah! it was an Irish so comic. He sees one box break upon the wharf that contain for the guard a few gun. He think there is gun in all the box. But that is all pickaxe. Yes. Ah! señor, could you the face of that Irish have seen when they set him to the work!'
"'Twas thus the ex-boss of the employment bureau contributed to the tedium106 of the trip with merry jests and anecdote107. But now and then he would weep upon the bananas and make oration81 about the lost cause of liberty and the mule.
"'Twas a pleasant sound when the steamer bumped against the pier108 in New Orleans. Pretty soon we heard the pat-a-pat of hundreds of bare feet, and the Dago gang that unloads the fruit jumped on the deck and down into the hold. Me and the general worked a while at passin' up the bunches, and they thought we were part of the gang. After about an hour we managed to slip off the steamer onto the wharf.
"'Twas a great honour on the hands of an obscure Clancy, havin' the entertainment of the representative of a great foreign filibusterin' power. I first bought for the general and myself many long drinks and things to eat that were not bananas. The general man trotted109 along at my side, leavin' all the arrangements to me. I led him up to Lafayette Square and set him on a bench in the little park. Cigarettes I had bought for him, and he humped himself down on the seat like a little, fat, contented110 hobo. I look him over as he sets there, and what I see pleases me. Brown by nature and instinct, he is now brindled111 with dirt and dust. Praise to the mule, his clothes is mostly strings112 and flaps. Yes, the looks of the general man is agreeable to Clancy.
"I ask him, delicate, if, by any chance, he brought away anybody's money with him from Guatemala. He sighs and bumps his shoulders against the bench. Not a cent. All right. Maybe, he tells me, some of his friends in the tropic outfit will send him funds later. The general was as clear a case of no visible means as I ever saw.
"I told him not to move from the bench, and then I went up to the corner of Poydras and Carondelet. Along there is O'Hara's beat. In five minutes along comes O'Hara, a big, fine man, red-faced, with shinin' buttons, swingin' his club. 'Twould be a fine thing for Guatemala to move into O'Hara's precinct. 'Twould be a fine bit of recreation for Danny to suppress revolutions and uprisin's once or twice a week with his club.
"'Is 5046 workin' yet, Danny?' says I, walkin' up to him.
"'Overtime,' says O'Hara, lookin' over me suspicious. 'Want some of it?'
"Fifty-forty-six is the celebrated113 city ordinance114 authorizin' arrest, conviction and imprisonment115 of persons that succeed in concealin' their crimes from the police.
"'Don't ye know Jimmy Clancy?' says I. 'Ye pink-gilled monster.' So, when O'Hara recognized me beneath the scandalous exterior116 bestowed117 upon me by the tropics, I backed him into a doorway118 and told him what I wanted, and why I wanted it. 'All right, Jimmy,' says O'Hara. 'Go back and hold the bench. I'll be along in ten minutes.'
"In that time O'Hara strolled through Lafayette Square and spied two Weary Willies disgracin' one of the benches. In ten minutes more J. Clancy and General De Vega, late candidate for the presidency119 of Guatemala, was in the station house. The general is badly frightened, and calls upon me to proclaim his distinguishments and rank.
"'The man,' says I to the police, 'used to be a railroad man. He's on the bum99 now. 'Tis a little bughouse he is, on account of losin' his job.'
"'Carrambos!' says the general, fizzin' like a little soda-water fountain, 'you fought, señor, with my forces in my native country. Why do you say the lies? You shall say I am the General De Vega, one soldier, one caballero—'
"'Railroader,' says I again. 'On the hog120. No good. Been livin' for three days on stolen bananas. Look at him. Ain't that enough?'
"Twenty-five dollars or sixty days, was what the recorder gave the general. He didn't have a cent, so he took the time. They let me go, as I knew they would, for I had money to show, and O'Hara spoke121 for me. Yes; sixty days he got. 'Twas just so long that I slung122 a pick for the great country of Kam—Guatemala."
Clancy paused. The bright starlight showed a reminiscent look of happy content on his seasoned features. Keogh leaned in his chair and gave his partner a slap on his thinly-clad back that sounded like the crack of the surf on the sands.
"Tell 'em, ye divil," he chuckled123, "how you got even with the tropical general in the way of agricultural manœuvrings."
"Havin' no money," concluded Clancy, with unction, "they set him to work his fine out with a gang from the parish prison clearing Ursulines Street. Around the corner was a saloon decorated genially124 with electric fans and cool merchandise. I made that me headquarters, and every fifteen minutes I'd walk around and take a look at the little man filibusterin' with a rake and shovel. 'Twas just such a hot broth125 of a day as this has been. And I'd call at him 'Hey, monseer!' and he'd look at me black, with the damp showin' through his shirt in places.
"'Fat, strong mans,' says I to General De Vega, 'is needed in New Orleans. Yes. To carry on the good work. Carrambos! Erin go bragh!'"
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1
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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aspersion
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| n.诽谤，中伤 | |
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prated
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| v.（古时用语）唠叨，啰唆( prate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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6
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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7
burnishing
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| n.磨光，抛光，擦亮v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的现在分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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8
industriously
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9
cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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burnisher
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| n.磨擦者，磨光器，研磨器 | |
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11
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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12
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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14
proclivities
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| n.倾向，癖性( proclivity的名词复数 ) | |
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15
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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16
egregious
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| adj.非常的，过分的 | |
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filibuster
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| n.妨碍议事，阻挠；v.阻挠 | |
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18
liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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19
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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20
irrelevance
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| n.无关紧要；不相关；不相关的事物 | |
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21
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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22
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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23
elucidation
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| n.说明，阐明 | |
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24
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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25
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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26
funnels
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| 漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱 | |
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27
munitions
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| n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品 | |
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28
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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29
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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30
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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31
amalgamate
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| v.(指业务等)合并，混合 | |
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32
instigate
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| v.教唆，怂恿，煽动 | |
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33
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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34
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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35
emission
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| n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发 | |
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36
amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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37
utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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38
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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39
confiscate
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| v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公 | |
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40
conspiracies
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| n.阴谋，密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 ) | |
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41
deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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42
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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43
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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44
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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45
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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46
geographic
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| adj.地理学的，地理的 | |
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47
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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48
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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49
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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50
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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51
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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52
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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53
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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54
morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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55
dishonoured
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| a.不光彩的，不名誉的 | |
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56
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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57
seduce
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| vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱 | |
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58
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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59
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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60
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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61
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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62
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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63
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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64
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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65
discomforts
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| n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 )；不愉快，苦恼 | |
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66
formulate
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| v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述 | |
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67
repartee
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| n.机敏的应答 | |
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68
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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69
kidnapper
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| n.绑架者，拐骗者 | |
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70
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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71
filibustered
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| v.阻碍或延宕国会或其他立法机构通过提案( filibuster的过去式和过去分词 )；掠夺 | |
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72
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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73
assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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74
baboons
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| n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 ) | |
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75
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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76
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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77
lettuce
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| n.莴苣；生菜 | |
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78
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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79
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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80
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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81
oration
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| n.演说，致辞，叙述法 | |
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82
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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83
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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84
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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85
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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86
hesitations
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| n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃 | |
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87
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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88
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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89
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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90
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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91
denomination
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| n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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92
stowaway
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| n.（藏于轮船，飞机中的）偷乘者 | |
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93
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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94
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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95
nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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96
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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97
minions
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| n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者 | |
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98
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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99
bum
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| n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨 | |
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100
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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101
braggart
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| n.吹牛者；adj.吹牛的，自夸的 | |
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102
conceited
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| adj.自负的，骄傲自满的 | |
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103
conspirator
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| n.阴谋者，谋叛者 | |
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104
inveigled
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| v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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105
opprobrious
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| adj.可耻的，辱骂的 | |
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106
tedium
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| n.单调；烦闷 | |
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107
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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108
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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109
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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110
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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111
brindled
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| adj.有斑纹的 | |
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112
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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113
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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114
ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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115
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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116
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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117
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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118
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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119
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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120
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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121
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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122
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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123
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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125
broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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