“That’s the name,” said mine host, “that’s one of them—some sort of foreigner, I’ve heard; runs a salvage11 concern, too, Juist way.”
“Well, he won’t get any of my savings12!” I laughed, and soon after took my leave, and inquired from a passer-by the road to Dornum. “Follow the railway,” I was told.
With a warm wind in my face from the south-west, fleecy clouds and a half-moon overhead, I set out, not for Bensersiel but for Benser Tief, which I knew must cross the road to Dornum somewhere. A mile or so of cobbled causeway flanked with ditches and willows13, and running cheek by jowl with the railway track; then a bridge, and below me the “Tief”; which was, in fact, a small canal. A rutty track left the road, and sloped down to it one side; a rough siding left the railway, and sloped down to it on the other.
I lit a pipe and sat on the parapet for a little. No one was stirring, so with great circumspection14 I began to reconnoitre the left bank to the north. The siding entered a fenced enclosure by a locked gate—a gate I could have easily climbed, but I judged it wiser to go round by the bridge again and look across. The enclosure was a small coal-store, nothing more; there were gaunt heaps of coal glittering in the moonlight; a barge half loaded lying alongside, and a deserted15 office building. I skulked16 along a sandy towpath in solitude17. Fens18 and field were round me, as the map had said; willows and osier-beds; the dim forms of cattle; the low melody of wind roaming unfettered over a plain; once or twice the flutter and quack19 of a startled wild-duck.
Presently I came to a farmhouse20, dark and silent; opposite it, in the canal, a couple of empty barges21. I climbed into one of these, and sounded with my stick on the off-side—barely three feet; and the torpedo-boat melted out of my speculations22. The stream, I observed also, was only just wide enough for two barges to pass with comfort. Other farms I saw, or thought I saw, and a few more barges lying in side-cuts linked by culverts to the canal, but nothing noteworthy; and mindful that I had to explore the Wittmund side of the railway too, I turned back, already a trifle damped in spirits, but still keenly expectant.
Passing under the road and railway, I again followed the tow-path, which, after half a mile, plunged23 into woods, then entered a clearing and another fenced enclosure; a timber-yard by the look of it. This time I stripped from the waist downward, waded24 over, dressed again, and climbed the paling. (There was a cottage standing25 back, but its occupants evidently slept.) I was in a timber-yard, by the stacks of wood and the steam saw-mill; but something more than a timber-yard, for as I warily26 advanced under the shadow of the trees at the edge of the clearing I came to a long tin shed which strangely reminded me of Memmert, and below it, nearer the canal, loomed27 a dark skeleton framework, which proved to be a half-built vessel28 on stocks. Close by was a similar object, only nearly completed—a barge. A paved slipway led to the water here, and the canal broadened to a siding or back-water in which lay seven or eight more barges in tiers. I scaled another paling and went on, walking, I should think, three miles by the side of the canal, till the question of bed and ulterior plans brought me to a halt. It was past midnight, and I was adding little to my information. I had encountered a brick-field, but soon after that there was increasing proof that the canal was as yet little used for traffic. It grew narrower, and there were many signs of recent labour for its improvement. In one place a dammed-off deviation29 was being excavated30, evidently to abridge31 an impossible bend. The path had become atrocious, and my boots were heavy with clay. Bearing in mind the abruptly-ending blue line on the map, I considered it useless to go farther, and retraced32 my steps, trying to concoct33 a story which would satisfy an irritable34 Esens inn-keeper that it was a respectable wayfarer35, and not a tramp or a lunatic, who knocked him up at half-past one or thereabouts.
But a much more practical resource occurred to me as I approached the timber-yard; for lodging, free and accessible, lay there ready to hand. I boarded one of the empty barges in the backwater, and surveyed my quarters for the night. It was of a similar pattern to all the others I had seen; a lighter36, strictly37, in the sense that it had no means of self-propulsion, and no separate quarters for a crew, the whole interior of the hull38 being free for cargo39. At both bow and stern there were ten feet or so of deck, garnished40 with bitts and bollards. The rest was an open well, flanked by waterways of substantial breadth; the whole of stout41 construction and, for a humble1 lighter, of well-proportioned and even graceful42 design, with a marked forward sheer, and, as I had observed in the specimen43 on the stocks, easy lines at the stern. In short, it was apparent, even to an ignorant landsman like myself, that she was designed not merely for canal work but for rough water; and well she might be, for, though the few miles of sea she had to cross in order to reach the islands were both shallow and sheltered, I knew from experience what a vicious surf they could be whipped into by a sudden gale44. It must not be supposed that I dwelt on this matter. On limited lines I was making progress, but the wings of imagination still drooped45 nervelessly at my sides. Otherwise I perhaps should have examined this lighter more particularly, instead of regarding it mainly as a convenient hiding-place. Under the stern-deck was stored a massive roll of tarpaulin46, a corner of which made an excellent blanket, and my bundle a good pillow. It was a descent from the luxury of last night; but a spy, I reflected philosophically48, cannot expect a feather bed two nights running, and this one was at any rate airier and roomier than the coffin-like bunk49 of the Dulcibella, and not so very much harder.
When snugly50 ensconced, I studied the map by intermittent51 match-light. It had been dawning on me in the last half-hour that this canal was only one of several; that in concentrating myself on Esens and Bensersiel, I had forgotten that there were other villages ending in siel, also furnished on the chart with corkscrew streams; and, moreover, that Böhme’s statistics of depth and distance had been marshalled in seven categories, A to G. The very first match brought full recollection as to the villages. The suffix52 siel repeated itself all round the coast-line. Five miles eastward53 of Bensersiel was Neuharlingersiel, and farther on Carolinensiel. Four miles westward54 was Dornumersiel; and farther on Nessmersiel and Hilgenriedersiel. That was six on the north coast of the peninsula alone. On the west coast, facing the Ems, there was only one, Greetsiel, a good way south of Norden. But on the east, facing the Jade55, there were no less than eight, at very close intervals56. A moment’s thought and I disregarded this latter group; they had nothing to do with Esens, nor had they any imaginable raison d’étre as veins57 for commerce; differing markedly in this respect from the group of six on the north coast, whose outlook was the chain of islands, and whose inland centre, almost exactly, was Esens. I still wanted one to make seven, and as a working hypothesis added the solitary58 Greetsiel. At all seven villages streams debouched, as at Bensersiel. From all seven points of issue dotted lines were marked seaward, intersecting the great tidal sands and leading towards the islands. And on the mainland behind the whole sevenfold system ran the loop of railway. But there were manifold minor59 points of difference. No stream boasted so deep and decisive a blue lintel as did Benser Tief; none penetrated60 so far into the Hinterland. They varied61 in length and sinuosity. Two, those belonging to Hilgenriedersiel and Greetsiel, appeared not to reach the railway at all. On the other hand, Carolinensiel, opposite Wangeroog Island, had a branch line all to itself.
Match after match waxed and waned63 as I puzzled over the mystic seven. In the end I puzzled myself to sleep, with the one fixed64 idea that to-morrow, on my way back to Norden, I must see more of these budding canals, if such they were. My dreams that night were of a mighty65 chain of redoubts and masked batteries couching perdus among the sand-dunes of desolate66 islets; built, coral-like, by infinitely67 slow and secret labour; fed by lethal68 cargoes69 borne in lighters70 and in charge of stealthy mutes who, one and all, bore the likeness71 of Grimm.
I was up and away at daylight (the weather mild and showery), meeting some navvies on my way back to the road, who gave me good morning and a stare. On the bridge I halted and fell into torments72 of indecision. There was so much to do and so little time to do it in. The whole problem seemed to have been multiplied by seven, and the total again doubled and redoubled—seven blue lines on land, seven dotted lines on the sea, seven islands in the offing. Once I was near deciding to put my pretext73 into practice, and cross to Langeoog; but that meant missing the rendezvous74, and I was loth to do that.
At any rate, I wanted breakfast badly; and the best way to get it, and at the same time to open new ground, was to walk to Dornum. Then I should find a blue line called the Neues Tief leading to Dornumersiel, on the coast. That explored, I could pass on to Nesse, where there was another blue line to Nessmersiel. All this was on the way to Norden, and I should have the railway constantly at my back, to carry me there in the evening. The last train (my time-table told me) was one reaching Norden at 7.15 p.m. I could catch this at Hage Station at 7.5.
A brisk walk of six miles brought me, ravenously75 hungry, to Dornum. Road and railway had clung together all the time, and about half-way had been joined on the left by a third companion in the shape of a puny76 stream which I knew from the map to be the upper portion of Neues Tief. Wriggling77 and doubling like an eel78, choked with sedges and reeds, it had no pretensions79 to being navigable. At length it looped away into the fens out of sight, only to reappear again close to Dornum in a much more dignified80 guise81.
There was no siding where the railway crossed it, but at the town itself, which it skirted on the east, a towpath began, and a piled wharf82 had been recently constructed. Going on to this was a red-brick building with the look of a warehouse83, roofless as yet, and with workmen on its scaffolds. It sharpened the edge of my appetite.
If I had been wise I should have been content with a snack bought at a counter, but a thirst for hot coffee and clues induced me to repeat the experiment of Esens and seek a primitive84 beer-house. I was less lucky on this occasion. The house I chose was obscure enough, but its proprietor85 was no simple Frisian, but an ill-looking rascal86 with shifty eyes and a debauched complexion87, who showed a most unwelcome curiosity in his customer. As a last fatality88, he wore a peaked cap like my own, and turned out to be an ex-sailor. I should have fled at the sight of him had I had the chance, but I was attended to first by a slatternly girl who, I am sure, called him up to view me. To explain my muddy boots and trousers I said I had walked from Esens, and from that I found myself involved in a tangle89 of impromptu90 lies. Floundering down an old groove91, I placed my sister this time on Baltrum Island, and said I was going to Dornumersiel (which is opposite Baltrum) to cross from there. As this was drawing a bow at a venture, I dared not assume local knowledge, and spoke of the visit as my first. Dornumersiel was a lucky shot; there was a ferry-galliot from there to Baltrum; but he knew, or pretended to know, Baltrum, and had not heard of my sister. I grew the more nervous in that I saw from the first that he took me to be of better condition than most merchant seamen92; and, to make matters worse, I was imprudent enough in pleading haste to pull out from an inner pocket my gold watch with the chain and seals attached. He told me there was no hurry, that I should miss the tide at Dornumersiel, and then fell to pressing strong waters on me, and asking questions whose insinuating93 grossness gave me the key to his biography. He must have been at one stage in his career a dock-side crimp, one of those foul94 sharks who prey95 on discharged seamen, and as often as not are ex-seamen themselves, versed96 in the weaknesses of the tribe. He was now keeping his hand in with me, who, unhappily, purported97 to belong to the very class he was used to victimise, and, moreover, had a gold watch, and, doubtless, a full purse. Nothing more ridiculously inopportune could have befallen me, or more dangerous; for his class are as cosmopolitan98 as waiters and concierges99, with as facile a gift for language and as unerring a scent47 for nationality. Sure enough, the fellow recognised mine, and positively100 challenged me with it in fairly fluent English with a Yankee twang. Encumbered101 with the mythical102 sister, of course I stuck to my lie, said I had been on an English ship so long that I had picked up the accent, and also gave him some words in broken English. At the same time I showed I thought him an impertinent nuisance, paid my score and walked out—quit of him? Not a bit of it! He insisted on showing me the way to Dornumersiel, and followed me down the street. Perceiving that he was in liquor, in spite of the early hour, I dared not risk a quarrelsome scene with a man who already knew so much about me, and might at any moment elicit103 more. So I melted, and humoured him; treated him in a ginshop in the hope of giving him the slip—a disastrous104 resource, which was made a precedent105 for further potations elsewhere. I would gladly draw a veil over our scandalous progress through peaceable Dornum, of the terrors I experienced when he introduced me as his friend, and as his English friend, and of the abasement107 I felt, too, as, linked arm in arm, we trod the three miles of road coastwards. It was his malicious108 whim109 that we should talk English; a fortunate whim, as it turned out, because I knew no fo’c’sle German, but had a smattering of fo’c’sle English, gathered from Cutcliffe Hyne and Kipling. With these I extemporised a disreputable hybrid110, mostly consisting of oaths and blasphemies111, and so yarned112 of imaginary voyages. Of course he knew every port in the world, but happily was none too critical, owing to repeated schnappsen.
Nevertheless, it was a deplorable contretemps from every point of view. I was wasting my time, for the road took a different direction to the Neues Tief, so that I had not even the advantage of inspecting the canal and only met with it when we reached the sea. Here it split into two mouths, both furnished with locks, and emptying into two little mud-hole harbours, replicas113 of Bensersiel, each owning its cluster of houses. I made straight for the Gasthaus at Dornumersiel, primed my companion well, and asked him to wait while I saw about a boat in the harbour; but, needless to say, I never rejoined him. I just took a cursory114 look at the left-hand harbour, saw a lighter locking through (for the tide was high), and then walked as fast as my legs would carry me to the outermost115 dyke116, mounted it, and strode along the sea westwards in the teeth of a smart shower of rain, full of deep apprehensions117 as to the stir and gossip my disappearance118 might cause if my odious119 crimp was sober enough to discover it. As soon as I deemed it safe, I dropped on to the sand and ran till I could run no more. Then I sat on my bundle with my back to the dyke in partial shelter from the rain, watching the sea recede106 from the flats and dwindle120 into slender meres121, and the laden122 clouds fly weeping over the islands till those pale shapes were lost in mist.
The barge I had seen locking through was creeping across towards Langeoog behind a tug123 and a wisp of smoke.
No more exploration by daylight! That was my first resolve, for I felt as if the country must be ringing with reports of an Englishman in disguise. I must remain in hiding till dusk, then regain124 the railway and slink into that train to Norden. Now directly I began to resign myself to temporary inaction, and to centre my thoughts on the rendezvous, a new doubt assailed125 me. Nothing had seemed more certain yesterday than that Norden was the scene of the rendezvous, but that was before the seven siels had come into prominence126. The name Norden now sounded naked and unconvincing. As I wondered why, it suddenly occurred to me that all the stations along this northern line, though farther inland than Norden, were equally “coast stations”, in the sense that they were in touch with harbours (of a sort) on the coast. Norden had its tidal creek127, but Esens and Dornum had their “tiefs” or canals. Fool that I had been to put such a narrow and literal construction on the phrase “the tide serves!” Which was it more likely that my conspirators128 would visit—Norden, whose intrusion into our theories was purely129 hypothetical, or one of these siels to whose sevenfold systems all my latest observations gave such transcendent significance?
There was only one answer; and it filled me with profound discouragement. Seven possible rendezvous!—eight, counting Norden. Which to make for? Out came the time-table and map, and with them hope. The case was not so bad after all; it demanded no immediate130 change of plan, though it imported grave uncertainties131 and risks. Norden was still the objective, but mainly as a railway junction132, only remotely as a seaport133. Though the possible rendezvous were eight, the possible stations were reduced to five—Norden, Hage, Dornum, Esens, Wittmund—all on one single line. Trains from east to west along this line were negligible, because there were none that could be called night trains, the latest being the one I had this morning fixed on to bring me to Norden, where it arrived at 7.15. Of trains from west to east there was only one that need be considered, the same one that I had travelled by last night, leaving Norden at 7.43 and reaching Esens at 8.50, and Wittmund at 9.13. This train, as the reader who was with me in it knows, was in correspondence with another from Emden and the south, and also, I now found, with services from Hanover, Bremen, and Berlin. He will also remember that I had to wait three-quarters of an hour at Norden, from 7 to 7.43.
The platform at Norden Junction, therefore, between 7.15, when I should arrive at it from the east, and 7.43 when Böhme and his unknown friend should leave it for the east; there, and in that half-hour, was my opportunity for recognising and shadowing two at least of the conspirators. I must take the train they took, and alight where they alighted. If I could not find them at all I should be thrown back on the rejected view that Norden itself was the rendezvous, and should wait there till 10.46.
In the meantime it was all very well to resolve on inaction till dusk; but after an hour’s rest, damp clothes and feet, and the absence of pursuers, tempted134 me to take the field again. Avoiding roads and villages as long as it was light, I cut across country south-westwards—a dismal135 and laborious136 journey, with oozy137 fens and knee-deep drains to course, with circuits to be made to pass clear of peasants, and many furtive138 crouchings behind dykes139 and willows. What little I learnt was in harmony with previous explorations, for my track cut at right angles the line of the Harke Tief, the stream issuing at Nessmersiel. It, too, was in the nature of a canal, but only in embryo140 at the point I touched it, south of Nesse. Works on a deviation were in progress, and in a short digression down stream I sighted another lighter-building yard. As for Hilgenriedersiel, the fourth of the seven, I had no time to see anything of it at all. At seven o’clock I was at Hage Station, very tired, wet, and footsore, after covering nearly twenty miles all told since I left my bed in the lighter.
From here to Norden it was a run in the train of ten minutes, which I spent in eating some rye bread and smoked eel, and in scraping the mud off my boots and trousers. Fatigue141 vanished when the train drew up at the station, and the momentous142 twenty-eight minutes began to run their course. Having donned a bulky muffler and turned up the collar of my pea-jacket, I crossed over immediately to the up-platform, walked boldly to the booking-office, and at once sighted—von Brüning—yes, von Brüning in mufti; but there was no mistaking his tall athletic143 figure, pleasant features, and neat brown beard. He was just leaving the window, gathering144 up a ticket and some coins. I joined a queue of three or four persons who were waiting their turn, flattened145 myself between them and the partition till I heard him walk out. Not having heard what station he had booked for, I took a fourth-class ticket to Wittmund, which covered all chances. Then, with my chin buried in my muffler, I sought the darkest corner of the ill-lit combination of bar and waiting-room where, by the tiresome146 custom in Germany, would-be travellers are penned till their train is ready. Von Brüning I perceived sitting in another corner, with his hat over his eyes and a cigar between his lips. A boy brought me a tankard of tawny147 Munich beer, and, sipping148 it, I watched. People passed in and out, but nobody spoke to the sailor in mufti. When a quarter of an hour elapsed, a platform door opened, and a raucous149 voice shouted: “Hage, Dornum, Esens, Wittmund!” A knot of passengers jostled out to the platform, showing their tickets. I was slow over my beer, and was last of the knot, with von Brüning immediately ahead of me, so close that his cigar-smoke curled into my face. I looked over his shoulder at the ticket he showed, missed the name, but caught a muttered double sibilant from the official who checked it; ran over the stations in my head, and pounced150 on Esens. That was as much I wanted to know for the present; so I made my way to a fourth-class compartment151, and lost sight of my quarry152, not venturing, till the last door had banged, to look out of the window. When I did so two late arrivals were hurrying up to a carriage—one tall, one of middle height; both in cloaks and comforters. Their features I could not distinguish, but certainly neither of them was Böhme. They had not come through the waiting-room door, but, plainly, from the dark end of the platform, where they had been waiting. A guard, with some surly remonstrances153, shut them in, and the train started.
Esens—the name had not surprised me; it fulfilled a presentiment154 that had been growing in strength all the afternoon. For the last time I referred to the map, pulpy155 and blurred156 with the day’s exposure, and tried to etch it into my brain. I marked the road to Bensersiel, and how it converged157 by degrees on the Benser Tief until they met at the sea. “The tide serves!” Longing62 for Davies to help me, I reckoned, by the aid of my diary, that high tide at Bensersiel would be about eleven, and for two hours, I remembered (say from ten to twelve to-night), there were from five to six feet of water in the harbour.
We should reach Esens at 8.50. Would they drive, as von Brüning had done a week ago? I tightened158 my belt, stamped my mud-burdened boots, and thanked God for the Munich beer. Whither were they going from Bensersiel, and in what; and how was I to follow them? These were nebulous questions, but I was in fettle for anything; boat-stealing was a bagatelle159. Fortune, I thought, smiled; Romance beckoned160; even the sea looked kind. Ay, and I do not know but that Imagination was already beginning to unstiffen and flutter those nerveless wings.
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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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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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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5
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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shareholders
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| n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 ) | |
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bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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skulked
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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fens
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| n.（尤指英格兰东部的）沼泽地带( fen的名词复数 ) | |
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quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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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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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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warily
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| adv.留心地 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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abridge
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| v.删减，删节，节略，缩短 | |
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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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concoct
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| v.调合，制造 | |
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34
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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35
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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36
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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37
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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38
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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39
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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40
garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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43
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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44
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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45
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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47
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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48
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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49
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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50
snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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51
intermittent
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| adj.间歇的，断断续续的 | |
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52
suffix
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| n.后缀；vt.添后缀 | |
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53
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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54
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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55
jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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56
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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57
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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58
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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59
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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60
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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61
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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62
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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63
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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64
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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65
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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66
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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67
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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68
lethal
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| adj.致死的；毁灭性的 | |
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69
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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70
lighters
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| n.打火机，点火器( lighter的名词复数 ) | |
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71
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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72
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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73
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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74
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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75
ravenously
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| adv.大嚼地，饥饿地 | |
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76
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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77
wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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78
eel
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| n.鳗鲡 | |
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79
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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80
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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81
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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82
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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83
warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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84
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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85
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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86
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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87
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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88
fatality
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| n.不幸，灾祸，天命 | |
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89
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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90
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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91
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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92
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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93
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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94
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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95
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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96
versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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97
purported
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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98
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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99
concierges
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| n.看门人，门房( concierge的名词复数 ) | |
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100
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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101
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
mythical
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| adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的 | |
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103
elicit
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| v.引出,抽出,引起 | |
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104
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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105
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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106
recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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107
abasement
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| n.滥用 | |
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108
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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109
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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110
hybrid
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| n.(动，植）杂种，混合物 | |
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111
blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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112
yarned
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| vi.讲故事（yarn的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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113
replicas
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| n.复制品( replica的名词复数 ) | |
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114
cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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115
outermost
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| adj.最外面的，远离中心的 | |
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116
dyke
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| n.堤，水坝，排水沟 | |
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117
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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118
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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119
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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120
dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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121
meres
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| abbr.matrix of environmental residuals for energy systems 能源系统环境残留矩阵 | |
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122
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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123
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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124
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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125
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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126
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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127
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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128
conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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129
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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130
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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131
uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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132
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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133
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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134
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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135
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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136
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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137
oozy
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| adj.软泥的 | |
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138
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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139
dykes
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| abbr.diagonal wire cutters 斜线切割机n.堤( dyke的名词复数 )；坝；堰；沟 | |
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140
embryo
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| n.胚胎，萌芽的事物 | |
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141
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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142
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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143
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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144
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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145
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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146
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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147
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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148
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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149
raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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150
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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151
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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152
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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153
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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154
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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155
pulpy
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| 果肉状的，多汁的，柔软的； 烂糊； 稀烂 | |
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156
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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157
converged
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| v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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158
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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159
bagatelle
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| n.琐事；小曲儿 | |
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160
beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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