CHAPTER XXII—AT CLOSE QUARTERS

 “She has diabolical¹ cunning,” said Sir Nathaniel.  “Ever since you left, she has ranged along the Brow and wherever you were accustomed to frequent.  I have not heard whence the knowledge of your movements came to her, nor have I been able to learn any data whereon to found an opinion.  She seems to have heard both of your marriage and your absence; but I gather, by inference, that she does not actually know where you and Mimi are, or of your return.  So soon as the dusk fails, she goes out on her rounds, and before dawn covers the whole ground round the Brow, and away up into the heart of the Peak.  The White Worm, in her own proper shape, certainly has great facilities for the business on which she is now engaged.  She can look into windows of any ordinary kind.  Happily, this house is beyond her reach, if she wishes—as she manifestly does—to remain unrecognised.  But, even at this height, it is wise to show no lights, lest she might learn something of our presence or absence.”

 

“Would it not be well, sir, if one of us could see this monster in her real shape at close quarters?  I am willing to run the risk—for I take it there would be no slight risk in the doing.  I don’t suppose anyone of our time has seen her close and lived to tell the tale.”

 

Sir Nathaniel held up an expostulatory hand.

 

“Good God, lad, what are you suggesting?  Think of your wife, and all that is at stake.”

 

“It is of Mimi that I think—for her sake that I am willing to risk whatever is to be risked.”

 

Adam’s young bride was proud of her man, but she blanched² at the thought of the ghastly White Worm.  Adam saw this and at once reassured³ her.

 

“So long as her ladyship does not know whereabout I am, I shall have as much safety as remains⁴ to us; bear in mind, my darling, that we cannot be too careful.”

 

Sir Nathaniel realised that Adam was right; the White Worm had no supernatural powers and could not harm them until she discovered their hiding place.  It was agreed, therefore, that the two men should go together.

 

When the two men slipped out by the back door of the house, they walked cautiously along the avenue which trended towards the west.  Everything was pitch dark—so dark that at times they had to feel their way by the palings and tree-trunks.  They could still see, seemingly far in front of them and high up, the baleful light which at the height and distance seemed like a faint line.  As they were now on the level of the ground, the light seemed infinitely⁵ higher than it had from the top of the tower.  At the sight Adam’s heart fell; the danger of the desperate enterprise which he had undertaken burst upon him.  But this feeling was shortly followed by another which restored him to himself—a fierce loathing⁶, and a desire to kill, such as he had never experienced before.

 

They went on for some distance on a level road, fairly wide, from which the green light was visible.  Here Sir Nathaniel spoke⁷ softly, placing his lips to Adam’s ear for safety.

 

“We know nothing whatever of this creature’s power of hearing or smelling, though I presume that both are of no great strength.  As to seeing, we may presume the opposite, but in any case we must try to keep in the shade behind the tree-trunks.  The slightest error would be fatal to us.”

 

Adam only nodded, in case there should be any chance of the monster seeing the movement.

 

After a time that seemed interminable, they emerged from the circling wood.  It was like coming out into sunlight by comparison with the misty⁸ blackness which had been around them.  There was light enough to see by, though not sufficient to distinguish things at a distance.  Adam’s eyes sought the green light in the sky.  It was still in about the same place, but its surroundings were more visible.  It was now at the summit of what seemed to be a long white pole, near the top of which were two pendant white masses, like rudimentary arms or fins⁹.  The green light, strangely enough, did not seem lessened¹⁰ by the surrounding starlight, but had a clearer effect and a deeper green.  Whilst they were carefully regarding this—Adam with the aid of an opera-glass—their nostrils¹¹ were assailed¹² by a horrid¹³ stench, something like that which rose from the well-hole in Diana’s Grove¹⁴.

 

By degrees, as their eyes got the right focus, they saw an immense towering mass that seemed snowy white.  It was tall and thin.  The lower part was hidden by the trees which lay between, but they could follow the tall white shaft¹⁵ and the duplicate green lights which topped it.  As they looked there was a movement—the shaft seemed to bend, and the line of green light descended¹⁶ amongst the trees.  They could see the green light twinkle as it passed between the obstructing¹⁷ branches.

 

Seeing where the head of the monster was, the two men ventured a little further forward, and saw that the hidden mass at the base of the shaft was composed of vast coils of the great serpent’s body, forming a base from which the upright mass rose.  As they looked, this lower mass moved, the glistening¹⁸ folds catching¹⁹ the moonlight, and they could see that the monster’s progress was along the ground.  It was coming towards them at a swift pace, so they turned and ran, taking care to make as little noise as possible, either by their footfalls or by disturbing the undergrowth close to them.  They did not stop or pause till they saw before them the high dark tower of Doom²⁰.

1 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。

2 blanched   

v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮

参考例句：

• The girl blanched with fear when she saw the bear coming. 那女孩见熊（向她）走来，吓得脸都白了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Their faces blanched in terror. 他们的脸因恐惧而吓得发白。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

6 loathing   

n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• She looked at her attacker with fear and loathing . 她盯着襲擊她的歹徒，既害怕又憎恨。
• They looked upon the creature with a loathing undisguised. 他们流露出明显的厌恶看那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

9 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

10 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

11 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

12 assailed   

v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对

参考例句：

• He was assailed with fierce blows to the head. 他的头遭到猛烈殴打。
• He has been assailed by bad breaks all these years. 这些年来他接二连三地倒霉。 来自《用法词典》

13 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

14 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

15 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

16 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

17 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

18 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

19 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

20 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。