And yet this silence was presently broken by a recurring16 sound like breathing, interrupted occasionally by inarticulate and stertorous17 gasps18. It was not the quick, panting, listening breath of some stealthy feline19 or canine20 animal, but indicated a larger, slower, and more powerful organization, whose progress was less watchful21 and guarded, or as if a fragment of one of the fallen monsters had become animate22. At times this life seemed to take visible form, but as vaguely23, as misshapenly, as the phantom24 of a nightmare. Now it was a square object moving sideways, endways, with neither head nor tail and scarcely visible feet; then an arched bulk rolling against the trunks of the trees and recoiling26 again, or an upright cylindrical27 mass, but always oscillating and unsteady, and striking the trees on either hand. The frequent occurrence of the movement suggested the figures of some weird rhythmic29 dance to music heard by the shape alone. Suddenly it either became motionless or faded away.
There was the frightened neighing of a horse, the sudden jingling30 of spurs, a shout and outcry, and the swift apparition31 of three dancing torches in one of the dark aisles; but so intense was the obscurity that they shed no light on surrounding objects, and seemed to advance of their own volition32 without human guidance, until they disappeared suddenly behind the interposing bulk of one of the largest trees. Beyond its eighty feet of circumference33 the light could not reach, and the gloom remained inscrutable. But the voices and jingling spurs were heard distinctly.
“That's jist what I hev. And these blasted pine-knots don't give light an inch beyond 'em. D—d if I don't think they make this cursed hole blacker.”
There was a laugh—a woman's laugh—hysterical35, bitter, sarcastic36, exasperating37. The second speaker, without heeding38 it, went on:—
“What in thunder skeert the hosses? Did you see or hear anything?”
“If you know anything, why in h-ll don't you say so, instead of cackling like a d—d squaw there? P'raps you reckon you ken15 find the trail too.”
“Take this rope off my wrist,” said the woman's voice, “untie my hands, let me down, and I'll find it.” She spoke41 quickly and with a Spanish accent.
It was the men's turn to laugh. “And give you a show to snatch that six-shooter and blow a hole through me, as you did to the Sheriff of Calaveras, eh? Not if this court understands itself,” said the first speaker dryly.
“Not before a lady,” responded the other. There was another laugh from the men, the spurs jingled44 again, the three torches reappeared from behind the tree, and then passed away in the darkness.
For a time silence and immutability45 possessed the woods; the great trunks loomed46 upwards, their fallen brothers stretched their slow length into obscurity. The sound of breathing again became audible; the shape reappeared in the aisle3, and recommenced its mystic dance. Presently it was lost in the shadow of the largest tree, and to the sound of breathing succeeded a grating and scratching of bark. Suddenly, as if riven by lightning, a flash broke from the center of the tree-trunk, lit up the woods, and a sharp report rang through it. After a pause the jingling of spurs and the dancing of torches were revived from the distance.
“Hallo?”
No answer.
“Who fired that shot?”
But there was no reply. A slight veil of smoke passed away to the right, there was the spice of gunpowder47 in the air, but nothing more.
The torches came forward again, but this time it could be seen they were held in the hands of two men and a woman. The woman's hands were tied at the wrist to the horse-hair reins48 of her mule49, while a riata, passed around her waist and under the mule's girth, was held by one of the men, who were both armed with rifles and revolvers. Their frightened horses curveted, and it was with difficulty they could be made to advance.
“Ho! stranger, what are you shooting at?”
The woman laughed and shrugged50 her shoulders. “Look yonder at the roots of the tree. You're a d—d smart man for a sheriff, ain't you?”
The man uttered an exclamation51 and spurred his horse forward, but the animal reared in terror. He then sprang to the ground and approached the tree. The shape lay there, a scarcely distinguishable bulk.
It was true. The strange shape lit up by the flaring53 torches seemed more vague, unearthly, and awkward in its dying throes, yet the small shut eyes, the feeble nose, the ponderous54 shoulders, and half-human foot armed with powerful claws were unmistakable. The men turned by a common impulse and peered into the remote recesses55 of the wood again.
“Hi, Mister! come and pick up your game. Hallo there!”
The challenge fell unheeded on the empty woods.
“And yet,” said he whom the woman had called the sheriff, “he can't be far off. It was a close shot, and the bear hez dropped in his tracks. Why, wot's this sticking in his claws?”
The two men bent56 over the animal. “Why, it's sugar, brown sugar—look!” There was no mistake. The huge beast's fore43 paws and muzzle57 were streaked58 with the unromantic household provision, and heightened the absurd contrast of its incongruous members. The woman, apparently59 indifferent, had taken that opportunity to partly free one of her wrists.
“If we hadn't been cavorting60 round this yer spot for the last half hour, I'd swear there was a shanty61 not a hundred yards away,” said the sheriff.
The other man, without replying, remounted his horse instantly.
“If there is, and it's inhabited by a gentleman that kin28 make centre shots like that in the dark, and don't care to explain how, I reckon I won't disturb him.”
The sheriff was apparently of the same opinion, for he followed his companion's example, and once more led the way. The spurs tinkled62, the torches danced, and the cavalcade63 slowly reentered the gloom. In another moment it had disappeared.
The wood sank again into repose64, this time disturbed by neither shape nor sound. What lower forms of life might have crept close to its roots were hidden in the ferns, or passed with deadened tread over the bark-strewn floor. Towards morning a coolness like dew fell from above, with here and there a dropping twig65 or nut, or the crepitant awakening66 and stretching-out of cramped67 and weary branches. Later a dull, lurid68 dawn, not unlike the last evening's sunset, filled the aisles. This faded again, and a clear gray light, in which every object stood out in sharp distinctness, took its place. Morning was waiting outside in all its brilliant, youthful coloring, but only entered as the matured and sobered day.
Seen in that stronger light, the monstrous69 tree near which the dead bear lay revealed its age in its denuded70 and scarred trunk, and showed in its base a deep cavity, a foot or two from the ground, partly hidden by hanging strips of bark which had fallen across it. Suddenly one of these strips was pushed aside, and a young man leaped lightly down.
But for the rifle he carried and some modern peculiarities71 of dress, he was of a grace so unusual and unconventional that he might have passed for a faun who was quitting his ancestral home. He stepped to the side of the bear with a light elastic72 movement that was as unlike customary progression as his face and figure were unlike the ordinary types of humanity. Even as he leaned upon his rifle, looking down at the prostrate73 animal, he unconsciously fell into an attitude that in any other mortal would have been a pose, but with him was the picturesque74 and unstudied relaxation75 of perfect symmetry.
“Hallo, Mister!”
He raised his head so carelessly and listlessly that he did not otherwise change his attitude. Stepping from behind the tree, the woman of the preceding night stood before him. Her hands were free except for a thong76 of the riata, which was still knotted around one wrist, the end of the thong having been torn or burnt away. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair hung over her shoulders in one long black braid.
“I reckoned all along it was YOU who shot the bear,” she said; “at least some one hiding yer,” and she indicated the hollow tree with her hand. “It wasn't no chance shot.” Observing that the young man, either from misconception or indifference77, did not seem to comprehend her, she added, “We came by here, last night, a minute after you fired.”
“Oh, that was YOU kicked up such a row, was it?” said the young man, with a shade of interest.
“I reckon,” said the woman, nodding her head, “and them that was with me.”
“And who are they?”
“Sheriff Dunn, of Yolo, and his deputy.”
“And where are they now?”
“The deputy—in h-ll, I reckon; I don't know about the sheriff.”
“I see,” said the young man quietly; “and you?”
“I—got away,” she said savagely78. But she was taken with a sudden nervous shiver, which she at once repressed by tightly dragging her shawl over her shoulders and elbows, and folding her arms defiantly79.
“And you're going?”
“To follow the deputy, may be,” she said gloomily. “But come, I say, ain't you going to treat? It's cursed cold here.”
“Wait a moment.” The young man was looking at her, with his arched brows slightly knit and a half smile of curiosity. “Ain't you Teresa?”
She was prepared for the question, but evidently was not certain whether she would reply defiantly or confidently. After an exhaustive scrutiny81 of his face she chose the latter, and said, “You can bet your life on it, Johnny.”
“I don't bet, and my name isn't Johnny. Then you're the woman who stabbed Dick Curson over at Lagrange's?”
“That's me, all the time. What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. And you used to dance at the Alhambra?” She whisked the shawl from her shoulders, held it up like a scarf, and made one or two steps of the sembicuacua. There was not the least gayety, recklessness, or spontaneity in the action; it was simply mechanical bravado82. It was so ineffective, even upon her own feelings, that her arms presently dropped to her side, and she coughed embarrassedly. “Where's that whiskey, pardner?” she asked.
The young man turned toward the tree he had just quitted, and without further words assisted her to mount to the cavity. It was an irregular-shaped vaulted83 chamber84, pierced fifty feet above by a shaft2 or cylindrical opening in the decayed trunk, which was blackened by smoke, as if it had served the purpose of a chimney. In one corner lay a bearskin and blanket; at the side were two alcoves85 or indentations, one of which was evidently used as a table, and the other as a cupboard. In another hollow, near the entrance, lay a few small sacks of flour, coffee, and sugar, the sticky contents of the latter still strewing86 the floor. From this storehouse the young man drew a wicker flask87 of whiskey, and handed it, with a tin cup of water, to the woman. She waved the cup aside, placed the flask to her lips, and drank the undiluted spirit. Yet even this was evidently bravado, for the water started to her eyes, and she could not restrain the paroxysm of coughing that followed.
“I reckon that's the kind that kills at forty rods,” she said, with a hysterical laugh. “But I say, pardner, you look as if you were fixed88 here to stay,” and she stared ostentatiously around the chamber. But she had already taken in its minutest details, even to observing that the hanging strips of bark could be disposed so as to completely hide the entrance.
“Well, yes,” he replied; “it wouldn't be very easy to pull up the stakes and move the shanty further on.”
Seeing that either from indifference or caution he had not accepted her meaning, she looked at him fixedly89, and said,—
“What is your little game?”
“Eh?”
“What are you hiding for—here, in this tree?”
“But I'm not hiding.”
“Then why didn't you come out when they hailed you last night?”
“Because I didn't care to.”
Teresa whistled incredulously. “All right—then if you're not hiding, I'm going to.” As he did not reply, she went on: “If I can keep out of sight for a couple of weeks, this thing will blow over here, and I can get across into Yolo. I could get a fair show there, where the boys know me. Just now the trails are all watched, but no one would think of lookin' here.”
“Then how did you come to think of it?” he asked carelessly.
“Because I knew that bear hadn't gone far for that sugar; because I know he hadn't stole it from a cache—it was too fresh, and we'd have seen the torn-up earth; because we had passed no camp; and because I knew there was no shanty here. And, besides,” she added in a low voice, “maybe I was huntin' a hole myself to die in—and spotted90 it by instinct.”
There was something in this suggestion of a hunted animal that, unlike anything she had previously91 said or suggested, was not exaggerated, and caused the young man to look at her again. She was standing92 under the chimney-like opening, and the light from above illuminated93 her head and shoulders. The pupils of her eyes had lost their feverish94 prominence95, and were slightly suffused96 and softened97 as she gazed abstractedly before her. The only vestige98 of her previous excitement was in her left-hand fingers, which were incessantly99 twisting and turning a diamond ring upon her right hand, but without imparting the least animation100 to her rigid101 attitude. Suddenly, as if conscious of his scrutiny, she stepped aside out of the revealing light and by a swift feminine instinct raised her hand to her head as if to adjust her straggling hair. It was only for a moment, however, for, as if aware of the weakness, she struggled to resume her aggressive pose.
“Well,” she said. “Speak up. Am I goin' to stop here, or have I got to get up and get?”
“You can stay,” said the young man quietly; “but as I've got my provisions and ammunition102 here, and haven't any other place to go to just now, I suppose we'll have to share it together.”
She glanced at him under her eyelids103, and a half-bitter, half-contemptuous smile passed across her face. “All right, old man,” she said, holding out her hand, “it's a go. We'll start in housekeeping at once, if you like.”
“I'll have to come here once or twice a day,” he said, quite composedly, “to look after my things, and get something to eat; but I'll be away most of the time, and what with camping out under the trees every night I reckon my share won't incommode you.”
She opened her black eyes upon him, at this original proposition. Then she looked down at her torn dress. “I suppose this style of thing ain't very fancy, is it?” she said, with a forced laugh.
“I think I know where to beg or borrow a change for you, if you can't get any,” he replied simply.
She stared at him again. “Are you a family man?”
“No.”
She was silent for a moment. “Well,” she said, “you can tell your girl I'm not particular about its being in the latest fashion.”
There was a slight flush on his forehead as he turned toward the little cupboard, but no tremor104 in his voice as he went on: “You'll find tea and coffee here, and, if you're bored, there's a book or two. You read, don't you—I mean English?”
She nodded, but cast a look of undisguised contempt upon the two worn, coverless novels he held out to her. “You haven't got last week's 'Sacramento union,' have you? I hear they have my case all in; only them lying reporters made it out against me all the time.”
“I don't see the papers,” he replied curtly.
“They say there's a picture of me in the 'Police Gazette,' taken in the act,” and she laughed.
He looked a little abstracted, and turned as if to go. “I think you'll do well to rest a while just now, and keep as close hid as possible until afternoon. The trail is a mile away at the nearest point, but some one might miss it and stray over here. You're quite safe if you're careful, and stand by the tree. You can build a fire here,” he stepped under the chimney-like opening, “without its being noticed. Even the smoke is lost and cannot be seen so high.”
The light from above was falling on his head and shoulders, as it had on hers. She looked at him intently.
“You travel a good deal on your figure, pardner, don't you?” she said, with a certain admiration105 that was quite sexless in its quality; “but I don't see how you pick up a living by it in the Carquinez Woods. So you're going, are you? You might be more sociable106. Good-by.”
“Good-by!” He leaped from the opening.
“I say pardner!”
He turned a little impatiently. She had knelt down at the entrance, so as to be nearer his level, and was holding out her hand. But he did not notice it, and she quietly withdrew it.
“If anybody dropped in and asked for you, what name will they say?”
He smiled. “Don't wait to hear.”
“But suppose I wanted to sing out for you, what will I call you?”
He hesitated. “Call me—Lo.”
“Lo, the poor Indian?” *
“Exactly.”
* The first word of Pope's familiar apostrophe is humorously
used in the Far West as a distinguishing title for the
Indian.
It suddenly occurred to the woman, Teresa, that in the young man's height, supple107, yet erect108 carriage, color, and singular gravity of demeanor109 there was a refined, aboriginal110 suggestion. He did not look like any Indian she had ever seen, but rather as a youthful chief might have looked. There was a further suggestion in his fringed buckskin shirt and moccasins; but before she could utter the half-sarcastic comment that rose to her lips he had glided111 noiselessly away, even as an Indian might have done.
She readjusted the slips of hanging bark with feminine ingenuity112, dispersing113 them so as to completely hide the entrance. Yet this did not darken the chamber, which seemed to draw a purer and more vigorous light through the soaring shaft that pierced the roof than that which came from the dim woodland aisles below. Nevertheless, she shivered, and drawing her shawl closely around her began to collect some half-burnt fragments of wood in the chimney to make a fire. But the preoccupation of her thoughts rendered this a tedious process, as she would from time to time stop in the middle of an action and fall into an attitude of rapt abstraction, with far-off eyes and rigid mouth. When she had at last succeeded in kindling114 a fire and raising a film of pale blue smoke, that seemed to fade and dissipate entirely115 before it reached the top of the chimney shaft, she crouched116 beside it, fixed her eyes on the darkest corner of the cavern117, and became motionless.
What did she see through that shadow?
Nothing at first but a confused medley118 of figures and incidents of the preceding night; things to be put away and forgotten; things that would not have happened but for another thing—the thing before which everything faded! A ball-room; the sounds of music; the one man she had cared for insulting her with the flaunting119 ostentation120 of his unfaithfulness; herself despised, put aside, laughed at, or worse, jilted. And then the moment of delirium121, when the light danced; the one wild act that lifted her, the despised one, above them all—made her the supreme122 figure, to be glanced at by frightened women, stared at by half-startled, half-admiring men! “Yes,” she laughed; but struck by the sound of her own voice, moved twice round the cavern nervously123, and then dropped again into her old position.
As they carried him away he had laughed at her—like a hound that he was; he who had praised her for her spirit, and incited124 her revenge against others; he who had taught her to strike when she was insulted; and it was only fit he should reap what he had sown. She was what he, what other men, had made her. And what was she now? What had she been once?
She tried to recall her childhood: the man and woman who might have been her father and mother; who fought and wrangled125 over her precocious126 little life; abused or caressed127 her as she sided with either; and then left her with a circus troupe128, where she first tasted the power of her courage, her beauty, and her recklessness. She remembered those flashes of triumph that left a fever in her veins—a fever that when it failed must be stimulated129 by dissipation, by anything, by everything that would keep her name a wonder in men's mouths, an envious130 fear to women. She recalled her transfer to the strolling players; her cheap pleasures, and cheaper rivalries131 and hatred—but always Teresa! the daring Teresa! the reckless Teresa! audacious as a woman, invincible132 as a boy; dancing, flirting133, fencing, shooting, swearing, drinking, smoking, fighting Teresa! “Oh, yes; she had been loved, perhaps—who knows?—but always feared. Why should she change now? Ha, he should see.”
She had lashed134 herself in a frenzy135, as was her wont136, with gestures, ejaculations, oaths, adjurations, and passionate137 apostrophes, but with this strange and unexpected result. Heretofore she had always been sustained and kept up by an audience of some kind or quality, if only perhaps a humble138 companion; there had always been some one she could fascinate or horrify139, and she could read her power mirrored in their eyes. Even the half-abstracted indifference of her strange host had been something. But she was alone now. Her words fell on apathetic140 solitude; she was acting141 to viewless space. She rushed to the opening, dashed the hanging bark aside, and leaped to the ground.
She ran forward wildly a few steps, and stopped.
“Hallo!” she cried. “Look, 'tis I, Teresa!”
The profound silence remained unbroken. Her shrillest tones were lost in an echoless space, even as the smoke of her fire had faded into pure ether. She stretched out her clenched142 fists as if to defy the pillared austerities of the vaults around her.
“Come and take me if you dare!”
The challenge was unheeded. If she had thrown herself violently against the nearest tree-trunk, she could not have been stricken more breathless than she was by the compact, embattled solitude that encompassed143 her. The hopelessness of impressing these cold and passive vaults with her selfish passion filled her with a vague fear. In her rage of the previous night she had not seen the wood in its profound immobility. Left alone with the majesty144 of those enormous columns, she trembled and turned faint. The silence of the hollow tree she had just quitted seemed to her less awful than the crushing presence of these mute and monstrous witnesses of her weakness. Like a wounded quail145 with lowered crest146 and trailing wing, she crept back to her hiding place.
Even then the influence of the wood was still upon her. She picked up the novel she had contemptuously thrown aside, only to let it fall again in utter weariness. For a moment her feminine curiosity was excited by the discovery of an old book, in whose blank leaves were pressed a variety of flowers and woodland grasses. As she could not conceive that these had been kept for any but a sentimental147 purpose, she was disappointed to find that underneath148 each was a sentence in an unknown tongue, that even to her untutored eye did not appear to be the language of passion. Finally she rearranged the couch of skins and blankets, and, imparting to it in three clever shakes an entirely different character, lay down to pursue her reveries. But nature asserted herself, and ere she knew it she was asleep.
So intense and prolonged had been her previous excitement that, the tension once relieved, she passed into a slumber149 of exhaustion150 so deep that she seemed scarce to breathe. High noon succeeded morning, the central shaft received a single ray of upper sunlight, the afternoon came and went, the shadows gathered below, the sunset fires began to eat their way through the groined roof, and she still slept. She slept even when the bark hangings of the chamber were put aside, and the young man reentered.
He laid down a bundle he was carrying and softly approached the sleeper151. For a moment he was startled from his indifference; she lay so still and motionless. But this was not all that struck him; the face before him was no longer the passionate, haggard visage that confronted him that morning; the feverish air, the burning color, the strained muscles of mouth and brow, and the staring eyes were gone; wiped away, perhaps, by the tears that still left their traces on cheek and dark eyelash. It was the face of a handsome woman of thirty, with even a suggestion of softness in the contour of the cheek and arching of her upper lip, no longer rigidly152 drawn153 down in anger, but relaxed by sleep on her white teeth.
With the lithe154, soft tread that was habitual155 to him, the young man moved about, examining the condition of the little chamber and its stock of provisions and necessaries, and withdrew presently, to reappear as noiselessly with a tin bucket of water. This done, he replenished156 the little pile of fuel with an armful of bark and pine cones157, cast an approving glance about him, which included the sleeper, and silently departed.
It was night when she awoke. She was surrounded by a profound darkness, except where the shaft-like opening made a nebulous mist in the corner of her wooden cavern. Providentially she struggled back to consciousness slowly, so that the solitude and silence came upon her gradually, with a growing realization158 of the events of the past twenty-four hours, but without a shock. She was alone here, but safe still, and every hour added to her chances of ultimate escape. She remembered to have seen a candle among the articles on the shelf, and she began to grope her way towards the matches. Suddenly she stopped. What was that panting?
Was it her own breathing, quickened with a sudden nameless terror? or was there something outside? Her heart seemed to stop beating while she listened. Yes! it was a panting outside—a panting now increased, multiplied, redoubled, mixed with the sounds of rustling159, tearing, craunching, and occasionally a quick, impatient snarl160. She crept on her hands and knees to the opening and looked out. At first the ground seemed to be undulating between her and the opposite tree. But a second glance showed her the black and gray, bristling161, tossing backs of tumbling beasts of prey162, charging the carcass of the bear that lay at its roots, or contesting for the prize with gluttonous163, choked breath, sidelong snarls164, arched spines165, and recurved tails. One of the boldest had leaped upon a buttressing166 root of her tree within a foot of the opening. The excitement, awe167, and terror she had undergone culminated168 in one wild, maddened scream, that seemed to pierce even the cold depths of the forest, as she dropped on her face, with her hands clasped over her eyes in an agony of fear.
Her scream was answered, after a pause, by a sudden volley of firebrands and sparks into the midst of the panting, crowding pack; a few smothered169 howls and snaps, and a sudden dispersion of the concourse. In another moment the young man, with a blazing brand in either hand, leaped upon the body of the bear.
Teresa raised her head, uttered a hysterical cry, slid down the tree, flew wildly to his side, caught convulsively at his sleeve, and fell on her knees beside him.
“Save me! save me!” she gasped170, in a voice broken by terror. “Save me from those hideous171 creatures. No, no!” she implored172, as he endeavored to lift her to her feet. “No—let me stay here close beside you. So,” clutching the fringe of his leather hunting-shirt, and dragging herself on her knees nearer him—“so—don't leave me, for God's sake!”
“They are gone,” he replied, gazing down curiously173 at her, as she wound the fringe around her hand to strengthen her hold; “they're only a lot of cowardly coyotes and wolves, that dare not attack anything that lives and can move.”
The young woman responded with a nervous shudder174. “Yes, that's it,” she whispered, in a broken voice; “it's only the dead they want. Promise me—swear to me, if I'm caught, or hung, or shot, you won't let me be left here to be torn and—ah! my God! what's that?”
She had thrown her arms around his knees, completely pinioning175 him to her frantic176 breast. Something like a smile of disdain177 passed across his face as he answered, “It's nothing. They will not return. Get up!”
Even in her terror she saw the change in his face. “I know, I know!” she cried. “I'm frightened—but I cannot bear it any longer. Hear me! Listen! Listen—but don't move! I didn't mean to kill Curson—no! I swear to God, no! I didn't mean to kill the sheriff—and I didn't. I was only bragging—do you hear? I lied! I lied—don't move, I swear to God I lied. I've made myself out worse than I was. I have. Only don't leave me now—and if I die—and it's not far off, may be—get me away from here—and from THEM. Swear it!”
“All right,” said the young man, with a scarcely concealed178 movement of irritation179. “But get up now, and go back to the cabin.”
“No; not THERE alone.” Nevertheless, he quietly but firmly released himself.
“I will stay here,” he replied. “I would have been nearer to you, but I thought it better for your safety that my camp-fire should be further off. But I can build it here, and that will keep the coyotes off.”
“Let me stay with you—beside you,” she said imploringly180.
She looked so broken, crushed, and spiritless, so unlike the woman of the morning that, albeit181 with an ill grace, he tacitly consented, and turned away to bring his blankets. But in the next moment she was at his side, following him like a dog, silent and wistful, and even offering to carry his burden. When he had built the fire, for which she had collected the pine-cones and broken branches near them, he sat down, folded his arms, and leaned back against the tree in reserved and deliberate silence.
Humble and submissive, she did not attempt to break in upon a reverie she could not help but feel had little kindliness182 to herself. As the fire snapped and sparkled, she pillowed her head upon a root, and lay still to watch it.
It rose and fell, and dying away at times to a mere183 lurid glow, and again, agitated184 by some breath scarcely perceptible to them, quickening into a roaring flame. When only the embers remained, a dead silence filled the wood. Then the first breath of morning moved the tangled185 canopy186 above, and a dozen tiny sprays and needles detached from the interlocked boughs187 winged their soft way noiselessly to the earth. A few fell upon the prostrate woman like a gentle benediction188, and she slept. But even then, the young man, looking down, saw that the slender fingers were still aimlessly but rigidly twisted in the leather fringe of his hunting-shirt.
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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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7
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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11
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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12
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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13
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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14
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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15
ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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16
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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17
stertorous
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| adj.打鼾的 | |
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18
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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19
feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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20
canine
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| adj.犬的，犬科的 | |
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21
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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22
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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23
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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24
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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25
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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26
recoiling
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| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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27
cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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28
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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29
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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30
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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31
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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32
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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33
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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34
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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35
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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36
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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37
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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38
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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39
graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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40
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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41
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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42
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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43
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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44
jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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45
immutability
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| n.不变(性) | |
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46
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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47
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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48
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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49
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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50
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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52
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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53
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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54
ponderous
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|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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55
recesses
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|
| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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56
bent
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|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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57
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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58
streaked
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| adj.有条斑纹的，不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 )；使布满条纹 | |
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59
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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60
cavorting
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| v.跳跃( cavort的现在分词 ) | |
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61
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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62
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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63
cavalcade
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| n.车队等的行列 | |
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64
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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65
twig
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|
| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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66
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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67
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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68
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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69
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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70
denuded
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|
| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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71
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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72
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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73
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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74
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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75
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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76
thong
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|
| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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77
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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78
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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79
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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80
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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81
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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82
bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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83
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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84
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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85
alcoves
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| n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 )；（花园）凉亭；僻静处；壁龛 | |
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86
strewing
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|
| v.撒在…上( strew的现在分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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87
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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88
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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89
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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90
spotted
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|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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91
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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92
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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93
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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94
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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95
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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96
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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98
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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99
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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100
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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101
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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102
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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103
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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104
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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105
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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106
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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107
supple
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| adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺 | |
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108
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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109
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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110
aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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111
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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112
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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113
dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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114
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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115
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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116
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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118
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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119
flaunting
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| adj.招摇的，扬扬得意的，夸耀的v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的现在分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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120
ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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121
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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122
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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123
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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124
incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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127
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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129
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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130
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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131
rivalries
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| n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 ) | |
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132
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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133
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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134
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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135
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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136
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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137
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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138
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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139
horrify
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| vt.使恐怖，使恐惧，使惊骇 | |
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140
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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141
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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142
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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143
encompassed
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| v.围绕( encompass的过去式和过去分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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144
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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145
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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146
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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147
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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148
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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149
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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150
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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151
sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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152
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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153
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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155
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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156
replenished
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| 补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 )； 重新装满 | |
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157
cones
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| n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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158
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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159
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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160
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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161
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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162
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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gluttonous
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| adj.贪吃的，贪婪的 | |
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164
snarls
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| n.（动物的）龇牙低吼( snarl的名词复数 )；愤怒叫嚷（声）；咆哮（声）；疼痛叫声v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的第三人称单数 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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165
spines
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| n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊 | |
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166
buttressing
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| v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的现在分词 ) | |
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167
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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168
culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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170
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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171
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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172
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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174
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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175
pinioning
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的现在分词 ) | |
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176
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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177
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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178
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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179
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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180
imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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181
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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182
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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183
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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184
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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185
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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186
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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187
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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188
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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