But her progress was scarcely free or exhilarating. She was not accustomed to walking in a country where “buggy-riding” was considered the only genteel young-lady-like mode of progression, and its regular provision the expected courtesy of mankind. Always fastidiously booted, her low-quartered shoes were charming to the eye, but hardly adapted to the dust and inequalities of the highroad. It was true that she had thought of buying a coarser pair at Indian Spring, but once face to face with their uncompromising ugliness, she had faltered14 and fled. The sun was unmistakably hot, but her parasol was too well known and offered too violent a contrast to the duster for practical use. Once she stopped with an exclamation15 of annoyance16, hesitated, and looked back. In half an hour she had twice lost her shoe and her temper; a pink flush took possession of her cheeks, and her eyes were bright with suppressed rage. Dust began to form grimy circles around their orbits; with cat-like shivers she even felt it pervade17 the roots of her blond hair. Gradually her breath grew more rapid and hysterical18, her smarting eyes became humid, and at last, encountering two observant horsemen in the road, she turned and fled, until, reaching the wood, she began to cry.
Nevertheless she waited for the two horsemen to pass, to satisfy herself that she was not followed; then pushed on vaguely19, until she reached a fallen tree, where, with a gesture of disgust, she tore off her hapless duster and flung it on the ground. She then sat down sobbing20, but after a moment dried her eyes hurriedly and started to her feet. A few paces distant, erect21, noiseless, with outstretched hand, the young solitary22 of the Carquinez Woods advanced towards her. His hand had almost touched hers, when he stopped.
“What has happened?” he asked gravely.
“Nothing,” she said, turning half away, and searching the ground with her eyes, as if she had lost something. “Only I must be going back now.”
“You shall go back at once, if you wish it,” he said, flushing slightly. “But you have been crying; why?”
Frank as Miss Nellie wished to be, she could not bring herself to say that her feet hurt her, and the dust and heat were ruining her complexion23. It was therefore with a half-confident belief that her troubles were really of a moral quality that she answered, “Nothing—nothing, but—but—it's wrong to come here.”
“But you did not think it was wrong when you agreed to come, at our last meeting,” said the young man, with that persistent24 logic25 which exasperates26 the inconsequent feminine mind. “It cannot be any more wrong to-day.”
“But it was not so far off,” murmured the young girl, without looking up.
“Oh, the distance makes it more improper27, then,” he said abstractedly; but after a moment's contemplation of her half-averted face, he asked gravely, “Has anyone talked to you about me?”
Ten minutes before, Nellie had been burning to unburthen herself of her father's warning, but now she felt she would not. “I wish you wouldn't call yourself Low,” she said at last.
“But it's my name,” he replied quietly.
“Nonsense! It's only a stupid translation of a stupid nickname. They might as well call you 'Water' at once.”
“But you said you liked it.”
“Well, so I do. But don't you see—I—oh dear! you don't understand.”
Low did not reply, but turned his head with resigned gravity towards the deeper woods. Grasping the barrel of his rifle with his left hand, he threw his right arm across his left wrist and leaned slightly upon it with the habitual28 ease of a Western hunter—doubly picturesque29 in his own lithe30, youthful symmetry. Miss Nellie looked at him from under her eyelids31, and then half defiantly32 raised her head and her dark lashes33. Gradually an almost magical change came over her features; her eyes grew larger and more and more yearning34, until they seemed to draw and absorb in their liquid depths the figure of the young man before her; her cold face broke into an ecstasy35 of light and color; her humid lips parted in a bright, welcoming smile, until, with an irresistible36 impulse, she arose, and throwing back her head stretched towards him two hands full of vague and trembling passion.
In another moment he had seized them, kissed them, and, as he drew her closer to his embrace, felt them tighten37 around his neck. “But what name do you wish to call me?” he asked, looking down into her eyes.
Miss Nellie murmured something confidentially38 to the third button of his hunting shirt. “But that,” he replied, with a smile, “THAT wouldn't be any more practical, and you wouldn't want others to call me dar—” Her fingers loosened around his neck, she drew her head back, and a singular expression passed over her face, which to any calmer observer than a lover would have seemed, however, to indicate more curiosity than jealousy39.
“Who else DOES call you so?” she added earnestly. “How many, for instance?”
Low's reply was addressed not to her ear, but her lips. She did not avoid it, but added, “And do you kiss them all like that?” Taking him by the shoulders, she held him a little way from her, and gazed at him from head to foot. Then drawing him again to her embrace, she said, “I don't care, at least no woman has kissed you like that.” Happy, dazzled, and embarrassed, he was beginning to stammer40 the truthful41 protestation that rose to his lips, but she stopped him: “No, don't protest! say nothing! Let ME love YOU—that is all. It is enough.” He would have caught her in his arms again, but she drew back. “We are near the road,” she said quietly. “Come! You promised to show me where you camped. Let US make the most of our holiday. In an hour I must leave the woods.”
“But I shall accompany you, dearest.”
“No, I must go as I came—alone.”
“But Nellie—”
“I tell you no,” she said, with an almost harsh practical decision, incompatible42 with her previous abandonment. “We might be seen together.”
“Well, suppose we are; we must be seen together eventually,” he remonstrated44.
The young girl made an involuntary gesture of impatient negation45, but checked herself. “Don't let us talk of that now. Come, while I am here under your own roof—” she pointed46 to the high interlaced boughs47 above them—“you must be hospitable48. Show me your home; tell me, isn't it a little gloomy sometimes?”
“It never has been; I never thought it WOULD be until the moment you leave it to-day.”
She pressed his hand briefly49 and in a half-perfunctory way, as if her vanity had accepted and dismissed the compliment. “Take me somewhere,” she said inquisitively50, “where you stay most; I do not seem to see you HERE,” she added, looking around her with a slight shiver. “It is so big and so high. Have you no place where you eat and rest and sleep?”
“Except in the rainy season, I camp all over the place—at any spot where I may have been shooting or collecting.”
“Yes; with the herbarium, you know.”
“Yes,” said Nellie dubiously52. “But you told me once—the first time we ever talked together,” she added, looking in his eyes—“something about your keeping your things like a squirrel in a tree. Could we not go there? Is there not room for us to sit and talk without being brow-beaten and looked down upon by these supercilious53 trees?”
“It's too far away,” said Low truthfully, but with a somewhat pronounced emphasis, “much too far for you just now; and it lies on another trail that enters the wood beyond. But come, I will show you a spring known only to myself, the wood ducks, and the squirrels. I discovered it the first day I saw you, and gave it your name. But you shall christen it yourself. It will be all yours, and yours alone, for it is so hidden and secluded54 that I defy any feet but my own or whoso shall keep step with mine to find it. Shall that foot be yours, Nellie?”
Her face beamed with a bright assent55. “It may be difficult to track it from here,” he said, “but stand where you are a moment, and don't move, rustle56, nor agitate57 the air in any way. The woods are still now.” He turned at right angles with the trail, moved a few paces into the ferns and underbrush, and then stopped with his finger on his lips. For an instant both remained motionless; then with his intent face bent58 forward and both arms extended, he began to sink slowly upon one knee and one side, inclining his body with a gentle, perfectly59-graduated movement until his ear almost touched the ground. Nellie watched his graceful60 figure breathlessly, until, like a bow unbent, he stood suddenly erect again, and beckoned61 to her without changing the direction of his face.
“What is it?” she asked eagerly.
“All right; I have found it,” he continued, moving forward without turning his head.
“But how? What did you kneel for?” He did not reply, but taking her hand in his continued to move slowly on through the underbrush, as if obeying some magnetic attraction. “How did you find it?” again asked the half-awed girl, her voice unconsciously falling to a whisper. Still silent, Low kept his rigid62 face and forward tread for twenty yards further; then he stopped and released the girl's half-impatient hand. “How did you find it?” she repeated sharply.
“With my ears and nose,” replied Low gravely.
“With your nose?”
Still fresh with the memory of his picturesque attitude, the young man's reply seemed to involve something more irritating to her feelings than even that absurd anticlimax64. She looked at him coldly and critically, and appeared to hesitate whether to proceed. “Is it far?” she asked.
“Not more than ten minutes now, as I shall go.”
“And you won't have to smell your way again?”
“No; it is quite plain now,” he answered seriously, the young girl's sarcasm65 slipping harmlessly from his Indian stolidity66. “Don't you smell it yourself?”
“Nor hear it? Listen!”
“You forget I suffer the misfortune of having been brought up under a roof,” she replied coldly.
“That's true,” repeated Low, in all seriousness; “it's not your fault. But do you know, I sometimes think I am peculiarly sensitive to water; I feel it miles away. At night, though I may not see it or even know where it is, I am conscious of it. It is company to me when I am alone, and I seem to hear it in my dreams. There is no music as sweet to me as its song. When you sang with me that day in church, I seemed to hear it ripple68 in your voice. It says to me more than the birds do, more than the rarest plants I find. It seems to live with me and for me. It is my earliest recollection; I know it will be my last, for I shall die in its embrace. Do you think, Nellie,” he continued, stopping short and gazing earnestly in her face—“do you think that the chiefs knew this when they called me 'Sleeping Water'?”
To Miss Nellie's several gifts I fear the gods had not added poetry. A slight knowledge of English verse of a select character, unfortunately, did not assist her in the interpretation69 of the young man's speech, nor relieve her from the momentary70 feeling that he was at times deficient71 in intellect. She preferred, however, to take a personal view of the question, and expressed her sarcastic72 regret that she had not known before that she had been indebted to the great flume and ditch at Excelsior for the pleasure of his acquaintance. This pert remark occasioned some explanation, which ended in the girl's accepting a kiss in lieu of more logical argument. Nevertheless, she was still conscious of an inward irritation—always distinct from her singular and perfectly material passion—which found vent43 as the difficulties of their undeviating progress through the underbrush increased. At last she lost her shoe again, and stopped short. “It's a pity your Indian friends did not christen you 'Wild Mustard' or 'Clover,'” she said satirically, “that you might have had some sympathies and longings73 for the open fields instead of these horrid74 jungles! I know we will not get back in time.”
Unfortunately, Low accepted this speech literally75 and with his remorseless gravity. “If my name annoys you, I can get it changed by the legislature, you know, and I can find out what my father's name was, and take that. My mother, who died in giving me birth, was the daughter of a chief.”
“Then your mother was really an Indian?” said Nellie, “and you are—” She stopped short.
“But I told you all this the day we first met,” said Low, with grave astonishment76. “Don't you remember our long talk coming from church?”
“No,” said Nellie coldly, “you didn't tell me.” But she was obliged to drop her eyes before the unwavering, undeniable truthfulness77 of his.
“You have forgotten,” he said calmly; “but it is only right you should have your own way in disposing of a name that I have cared little for; and as you're to have a share of it—”
“Yes, but it's getting late, and if we are not going forward—” interrupted the girl impatiently.
“We ARE going forward,” said Low imperturbably78; “but I wanted to tell you, as we were speaking on THAT subject” (Nellie looked at her watch), “I've been offered the place of botanist79 and naturalist80 in Professor Grant's survey of Mount Shasta, and if I take it—why, when I come back, darling—well—”
“But you're not going just yet,” broke in Nellie, with a new expression in her face.
“No.”
Her sudden vivacity82 relieved him. “I see what's the matter,” he said gently, looking down at her feet; “these little shoes were not made to keep step with a moccasin. We must try another way.” He stooped as if to secure the erring83 buskin, but suddenly lifted her like a child to his shoulder. “There,” he continued, placing her arm round his neck, “you are clear of the ferns and brambles now, and we can go on. Are you comfortable?” He looked up, read her answer in her burning eyes and the warm lips pressed to his forehead at the roots of his straight dark hair, and again moved onward84 as in a mesmeric dream. But he did not swerve85 from his direct course, and with a final dash through the undergrowth parted the leafy curtain before the spring.
At first the young girl was dazzled by the strong light that came from a rent in the interwoven arches of the wood. The breach86 had been caused by the huge bulk of one of the great giants that had half fallen, and was lying at a steep angle against one of its mightiest87 brethren, having borne down a lesser88 tree in the arc of its downward path. Two of the roots, as large as younger trees, tossed their blackened and bare limbs high in the air. The spring—the insignificant89 cause of this vast disruption—gurgled, flashed, and sparkled at the base; the limpid90 baby fingers that had laid bare the foundations of that fallen column played with the still clinging rootlets, laved the fractured and twisted limbs, and, widening, filled with sleeping water the graves from which they had been torn.
“It had been going on for years, down there,” said Low, pointing to a cavity from which the fresh water now slowly welled, “but it had been quickened by the rising of the subterranean91 springs and rivers which always occurs at a certain stage of the dry season. I remember that on that very night—for it happened a little after midnight, when all sounds are more audible—I was troubled and oppressed in my sleep by what you would call a nightmare; a feeling as if I was kept down by bonds and pinions92 that I longed to break. And then I heard a crash in this direction, and the first streak93 of morning brought me the sound and scent94 of water. Six months afterwards I chanced to find my way here, as I told you, and gave it your name. I did not dream that I should ever stand beside it with you, and have you christen it yourself.”
He unloosened the cup from his flask95, and filling it at the spring handed it to her. But the young girl leant over the pool, and pouring the water idly back said, “I'd rather put my feet in it. Mayn't I?”
“I don't understand you,” he said wonderingly.
“My feet are SO hot and dusty. The water looks deliciously cool. May I?”
“Certainly.”
He turned away as Nellie, with apparent unconsciousness, seated herself on the bank, and removed her shoes and stockings. When she had dabbled96 her feet a few moments in the pool, she said over her shoulder—
“We can talk just as well, can't we?”
“Certainly.”
“Well, then, why didn't you come to church more often, and why didn't you think of telling father that you were convicted of sin and wanted to be baptized?”
“I don't know,” hesitated the young man.
“Well, you lost the chance of having father convert you, baptize you, and take you into full church fellowship.”
“I never thought—” he began.
“I suppose so.”
“He supposes so! Have you no convictions—no profession?”
“But, Nellie, I never thought that you—”
“Never thought that I—what? Do you think that I could ever be anything to a man who did not believe in justification98 by faith, or in the covenant99 of church fellowship? Do you think father would let me?”
In his eagerness to defend himself he stepped to her side. But seeing her little feet shining through the dark water, like outcroppings of delicately veined quartz100, he stopped embarrassed. Miss Nellie, however, leaped to one foot, and, shaking the other over the pool, put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. “You haven't got a towel—or,” she said dubiously, looking at her small handkerchief, “anything to dry them on?”
But Low did not, as she perhaps expected, offer his own handkerchief.
“If you take a bath after our fashion,” he said gravely, “you must learn to dry yourself after our fashion.”
Lifting her again lightly in his arms, he carried her a few steps to the sunny opening, and bade her bury her feet in the dried mosses101 and baked withered102 grasses that were bleaching103 in a hollow. The young girl uttered a cry of childish delight, as the soft ciliated fibres touched her sensitive skin.
“It is healing, too,” continued Low; “a moccasin filled with it after a day on the trail makes you all right again.”
But Miss Nellie seemed to be thinking of something else.
“Is that the way the squaws bathe and dry themselves?”
“I don't know; you forget I was a boy when I left them.”
“And you're sure you never knew any?”
“None.”
The young girl seemed to derive104 some satisfaction in moving her feet up and down for several minutes among the grasses in the hollow; then, after a pause, said, “You are quite certain I am the first woman that ever touched this spring?”
“Not only the first woman, but the first human being, except myself.”
“How nice!”
They had taken each other's hands; seated side by side, they leaned against a curving elastic105 root that half supported, half encompassed106, them. The girl's capricious, fitful manner succumbed107 as before to the near contact of her companion. Looking into her eyes, Low fell into a sweet, selfish lover's monologue108, descriptive of his past and present feelings towards her, which she accepted with a heightened color, a slight exchange of sentiment, and a strange curiosity. The sun had painted their half-embraced silhouettes109 against the slanting110 tree-trunk, and began to decline unnoticed; the ripple of the water mingling111 with their whispers came as one sound to the listening ear; even their eloquent112 silences were as deep, and, I wot, perhaps as dangerous, as the darkened pool that filled so noiselessly a dozen yards away. So quiet were they that the tremor113 of invading wings once or twice shook the silence, or the quick scamper114 of frightened feet rustled115 the dead grass. But in the midst of a prolonged stillness the young man sprang up so suddenly that Nellie was still half clinging to his neck as he stood erect. “Hush!” he whispered; “some one is near!”
He disengaged her anxious hands gently, leaped upon the slanting tree-trunk, and running half-way up its incline with the agility116 of a squirrel, stretched himself at full length upon it and listened.
To the impatient, inexplicably117 startled girl, it seemed an age before he rejoined her.
“You are safe,” he said; “he is going by the western trail towards Indian Spring.”
“Who is HE?” she asked, biting her lips with a poorly restrained gesture of mortification118 and disappointment.
“Some stranger,” replied Low.
“As long as he wasn't coming here, why did you give me such a fright?” she said pettishly119. “Are you nervous because a single wayfarer120 happens to stray here?”
“It was no wayfarer, for he tried to keep near the trail,” said Low. “He was a stranger to the wood, for he lost his way every now and then. He was seeking or expecting some one, for he stopped frequently and waited or listened. He had not walked far, for he wore spurs that tinkled121 and caught in the brush; and yet he had not ridden here, for no horse's hoofs122 passed the road since we have been here. He must have come from Indian Spring.”
“And you heard all that when you listened just now?” asked Nellie, half disdainfully.
Impervious123 to her incredulity Low turned his calm eyes on her face. “Certainly, I'll bet my life on what I say. Tell me: do you know anybody in Indian Spring who would likely spy upon you?”
The young girl was conscious of a certain ill-defined uneasiness, but answered, “No.”
“Then it was not YOU he was seeking,” said Low thoughtfully. Miss Nellie had not time to notice the emphasis, for he added, “You must go at once, and lest you have been followed I will show you another way back to Indian Spring. It is longer, and you must hasten. Take your shoes and stockings with you until we are out of the bush.”
He raised her again in his arms and strode once more out through the covert124 into the dim aisles125 of the wood. They spoke126 but little; she could not help feeling that some other discordant127 element, affecting him more strongly than it did her, had come between them, and was half perplexed128 and half frightened. At the end of ten minutes he seated her upon a fallen branch, and telling her he would return by the time she had resumed her shoes and stockings glided129 from her like a shadow. She would have uttered an indignant protest at being left alone, but he was gone ere she could detain him. For a moment she thought she hated him. But when she had mechanically shod herself once more, not without nervous shivers at every falling needle, he was at her side.
“Do you know anyone who wears a frieze130 coat like that?” he asked, handing her a few torn shreds131 of wool affixed132 to a splinter of bark.
Miss Nellie instantly recognized the material of a certain sporting coat worn by Mr. Jack133 Brace on festive134 occasions, but a strange yet infallible instinct that was part of her nature made her instantly disclaim135 all knowledge of it.
“No,” she said.
“Not anyone who scents136 himself with some doctor's stuff like cologne?” continued Low, with the disgust of keen olfactory137 sensibilities.
Again Miss Nellie recognized the perfume with which the gallant138 expressman was wont139 to make redolent her little parlor140, but again she avowed141 no knowledge of its possessor. “Well,” returned Low with some disappointment, “such a man has been here. Be on your guard. Let us go at once.”
She required no urging to hasten her steps, but hurried breathlessly at his side. He had taken a new trail by which they left the wood at right angles with the highway, two miles away. Following an almost effaced142 mule143 track along a slight depression of the plain, deep enough, however, to hide them from view, he accompanied her, until, rising to the level again, she saw they were beginning to approach the highway and the distant roofs of Indian Spring. “Nobody meeting you now,” he whispered, “would suspect where you had been. Good night! until next week—remember.”
They pressed each other's hands, and standing144 on the slight ridge145 outlined against the paling sky, in full view of the highway, parting carelessly, as if they had been chance met travelers. But Nellie could not restrain a parting backward glance as she left the ridge. Low had descended146 to the deserted147 trail, and was running swiftly in the direction of the Carquinez Woods.
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detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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outskirts
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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extemporized
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| v.即兴创作，即席演奏( extemporize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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hysterical
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vaguely
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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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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solitary
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complexion
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persistent
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logic
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exasperates
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improper
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habitual
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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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lithe
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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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defiantly
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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37
tighten
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| v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧 | |
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38
confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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39
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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40
stammer
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| n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说 | |
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41
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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42
incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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43
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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44
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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45
negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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46
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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47
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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48
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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49
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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50
inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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51
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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52
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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53
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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54
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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56
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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57
agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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58
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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59
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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60
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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61
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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62
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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63
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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64
anticlimax
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| n.令人扫兴的结局；突降法 | |
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65
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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66
stolidity
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| n.迟钝，感觉麻木 | |
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67
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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68
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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69
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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70
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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71
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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72
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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73
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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74
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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75
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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76
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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77
truthfulness
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| n. 符合实际 | |
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78
imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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79
botanist
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| n.植物学家 | |
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80
naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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81
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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82
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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83
erring
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| 做错事的，错误的 | |
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84
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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85
swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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86
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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87
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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88
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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89
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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90
limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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91
subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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92
pinions
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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93
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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94
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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95
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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96
dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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97
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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98
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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99
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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100
quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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101
mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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102
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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103
bleaching
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| 漂白法，漂白 | |
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104
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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105
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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106
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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107
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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108
monologue
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| n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白 | |
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109
silhouettes
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| 轮廓( silhouette的名词复数 )； （人的）体形； （事物的）形状； 剪影 | |
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110
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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111
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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112
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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113
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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114
scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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115
rustled
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| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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117
inexplicably
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| adv.无法说明地，难以理解地，令人难以理解的是 | |
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118
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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119
pettishly
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120
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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121
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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122
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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123
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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124
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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125
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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126
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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127
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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128
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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129
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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130
frieze
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| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
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131
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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132
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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133
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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134
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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135
disclaim
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| v.放弃权利，拒绝承认 | |
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136
scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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137
olfactory
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| adj.嗅觉的 | |
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138
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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139
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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140
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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141
avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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142
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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143
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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144
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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145
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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146
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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147
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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