The girl laughed out merrily as the first great splashes struck her face, then retreated into the shelter as she was bidden and sat quietly watching, and wondering over it all.
Here was she, a carefully nurtured4 daughter of society, until now never daring to step one inch beyond the line of conventionality, sitting afar from all her friends and kindred on a wide desert plain, under a bit of canvas with a strange missionary5's arm about her, and sitting as securely and contentedly6, nay7 happily, as if she had been in her own cushioned chair in her New York boudoir. It is true the arm was about her for the purpose of holding down the canvas and keeping out the rain, but there was a wonderful security and sense of strength in it that filled her with a strange new joy and made her wish that the elements of the universe might continue to rage in brilliant display about her head a little longer, if thereby8 she might continue to feel the strength of that fine presence near her and about her. A great weariness was upon her and this was rest and content, so she put all other thoughts out of her mind for the time and rested back against the strong arm in full realization9 of her safety amidst the disturbance10 of the elements.
The missionary wore his upward look. No word passed between them as the panorama11 of the storm swept by. Only God knew what was passing in his soul, and how out of that dear nearness of the beautiful girl a great longing12 was born to have her always near him, his right to ever protect her from the storms of life.
But he was a man of marked self-control. He held even his thoughts in obedience13 to a higher power, and while the wild wish of his heart swept exquisitely14 over him he stood calmly, and handed it back to heaven as though he knew it were a wandering wish, a testing of his true self.
At the first instant of relief from necessity he took his arm away. He did not presume a single second to hold the canvas after the wind had subsided15, and she liked him the better for it, and felt her trust in him grow deeper as he gently shook the raindrops from their temporary shelter.
The rain had lasted but a few minutes, and as the clouds cleared the earth grew lighter16 for a space. Gently melting into the silver and amethyst17 and emerald of the sky the rainbow faded and now they hurried on, for Brownleigh wished to reach a certain spot where he hoped to find dry shelter for the night. He saw that the excitement of travel and the storm had sorely spent the strength of the girl, and that she needed rest, so he urged the horse forward, and hurried along by his side.
But suddenly he halted the horse and looked keenly into the face of his companion in the dying light.
"You are very tired," he said. "You can hardly sit up any longer."
She smiled faintly.
"We must stop here," he said and cast about him for a suitable spot. "Well, this will do. Here is a dry place, the shelter of that big rock. The rain was from the other direction, and the ground around here did not even get sprinkled. That group of trees will do for a private room for you. We'll soon have a fire and some supper and then you'll feel better."
With that he stripped off his coat and, spreading it upon the ground in the dry shelter of a great rock, lifted the drooping girl from the saddle and laid her gently on the coat.
She closed her eyes wearily and sank back. In truth she was nearer to fainting than she had ever been in her life, and the young man hastened to administer a restorative which brought the colour back to her pale cheeks.
"It is nothing," she murmured, opening her eyes and trying to smile. "I was just tired, and my back ached with so much riding."
"Don't talk!" he said gently. "I'll give you something to hearten you up in a minute."
He quickly gathered sticks and soon had a blazing fire not far from where she lay, and the glow of it played over her face and her golden hair, while he prepared a second cup of beef extract, and blessed the fortune that had made him fill his canteen with water at the spring in the canyon19, for water might not be very near, and he felt that to have to move the girl further along that night would be a disaster. He could see that she was about used up. But while he was making preparations for supper, Billy, who was hobbled but entirely20 able to edge about slowly, had discovered a water-hole for himself, and settled that difficulty. Brownleigh drew a sigh of relief, and smiled happily as he saw his patient revive under the influence of the hot drink and a few minutes' rest.
"I'm quite able to go on a little further," she said, sitting up with an effort, "if you think we should go further to-night. I really don't feel bad at all any more."
He smiled with relief.
"I'm so glad," he said; "I was afraid I had made you travel too far. No, we'll not go further till daylight, I think. This is as good a place to camp as any, and water not far away. You will find your boudoir just inside that group of trees, and in half an hour or so the canvas will be quite dry for your bed. I've got it spread out, you see, close to the fire on the other side there. And it wasn't wet through. The blanket was sheltered. It will be warm and dry. I think we can make you comfortable. Have you ever slept out under the stars before—that is, of course, with the exception of last night? I don't suppose you really enjoyed that experience."
"I don't remember much, only awful darkness and howling. Will those creatures come this way, do you think? I feel as if I should die with fright if I have to hear them again."
"You may hear them in the distance, but not nearby," he answered reassuringly22; "they do not like the fire. They will not come near nor disturb you. Besides, I shall be close at hand all night. I am used to listening and waking in the night. I shall keep a bright fire blazing."
"But you—you—what will you do? You are planning to give me the canvas and the blanket, and stay awake yourself keeping watch. You have walked all day while I have ridden, and you have been nurse and cook as well, while I have been good for nothing. And now you want me to rest comfortably all night while you sit up."
There was a ring in the young man's voice as he answered her that thrilled her to the heart.
"I shall be all right," he said, and his voice was positively23 joyous24, "and I shall have the greatest night of my life taking care of you. I count it a privilege. Many a night have I slept alone under the stars with no one to guard, and felt the loneliness. Now I shall always have this to remember. Besides, I shall not sit up. I am used to throwing myself down anywhere. My clothing is warm, and my saddle is used to acting25 as a pillow. I shall sleep and rest, and yet be always on the alert to keep up the fire and hear any sound that comes near." He talked as though he were recounting the plan of some delightful26 recreation, and the girl lay and watched his handsome face in the play of the firelight and rejoiced in it. Somehow there was something very sweet in companionship alone in the vast silence with this stranger friend. She found herself glad of the wideness of the desert and the stillness of the night that shut out the world and made their most unusual relationship possible for a little while. A great longing possessed27 her to know more and understand better the fine personality of this man who was a man among men, she was convinced.
Suddenly as he came and sat down by the fire not far from her after attending to the few supper dishes, she burst forth28 with a question:
"Why did you do it?"
He turned to her eyes that were filled with a deep content and asked, "Do what?"
"Come here! Be a missionary! Why did you do it? You are fitted for better things. You could fill a large city church, or—even do other things in the world. Why did you do it?"
The firelight flickered29 on his face and showed his features fine and strong in an expression of deep feeling that gave it an exalted30 look. There seemed a light in his eyes that was more than firelight as he raised them upward in a swift glance and said quietly, as though it were the simplest matter in the universe:
"Because my Father called me to this work. And—I doubt if there can be any better. Listen!"
And then he told her of his work while the fire burned cheerfully, and the dusk grew deeper, till the moon showed clear her silver orb31 riding high in starry32 heavens.
The mournful voice of the coyotes echoed distantly, but the girl was not frightened, for her thoughts were held by the story of the strange childlike race for whom this man among men was giving his life.
He told her of the Indian hogans, little round huts built of logs on end, and slanting33 to a common centre thatched with turf and straw, an opening for a door and another in the top to let out the smoke of the fire, a dirt floor, no furniture but a few blankets, sheepskins, and some tin dishes. He carried her in imagination to one such hogan where lay the little dying Indian maiden34 and made the picture of their barren lives so vivid that tears stood in her eyes as she listened. He told of the medicine-men, the ignorance and superstition35, the snake dances and heathen rites36; the wild, poetic37, conservative man of the desert with his distrust, his great loving heart, his broken hopes and blind aspirations38; until Hazel began to see that he really loved them, that he had seen the possibility of greatness in them, and longed to help develop it.
He told her of the Sabbath just past, when in company with his distant neighbour missionary he had gone on an evangelistic tour among the tribes far away from the mission station. He pictured the Indians sitting on rocks and stones amid the long shadows of the cedar39 trees, just before the sundown, listening to a sermon. He had reminded them of their Indian god Begochiddi and of Nilhchii whom the Indians believe to have[110] made all things, the same whom white men call God; and showed them a book called the Bible which told the story of God, and of Jesus His Son who came to save men from their sin. Not one of the Indians had ever heard the name of Jesus before, nor knew anything of the great story of salvation40.
Hazel found herself wondering why it made so very much difference whether these poor ignorant creatures knew all this or not, and yet she saw from the face of the man before her that it did matter, infinitely41. To him it mattered more than anything else. A passing wish that she were an Indian to thus hold his interest flashed through her mind, but he was speaking yet of his work, and his rapt look filled her with awe42. She was overwhelmed with the greatness and the fineness of the man before her. Sitting there in the fitful firelight, with its ruddy glow upon his face, his hat off and the moon laying a silver crown upon his head, he seemed half angel, half god. She had never before been so filled with the joy of beholding43 another soul. She had no room for thoughts of anything else.
Then suddenly he remembered that it was late.
"I have kept you awake far too long," he said penitently44, looking at her with a smile that seemed all tenderness. "We ought to get on our way as soon as it is light, and I have made you listen to me when you ought to have been sleeping. But I always like to have a word with my Father before retiring. Shall we have our worship together?"
Hazel, overcome by wonder and embarrassment45, assented46 and lay still in her sheltered spot watching him as he drew a small leather book from his breast pocket and opened to the place marked by a tiny silken cord. Then stirring up the fire to brightness he began to read and the majestic47 words of the ninety-first psalm48 came to her unaccustomed ears as a charmed page.
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide49 under the shadow of the Almighty50."
"He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shalt thou trust." The words were uttered with a ringing tone of trust. The listener knew little of birds and their ways, but the phrasing reminded her of the way she had been sheltered from the storm a little while before and her heart thrilled anew with the thought of it.
"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night!"
Ah! Terror by night! She knew what that meant. That awful night of darkness, steep riding, howling beasts and black oblivion! She shuddered involuntarily at the remembrance. Not afraid! What confidence the voice had as it rang on, and all at once she knew that this night was free from terror for her because of the man whose confidence was in the Unseen.
"He shall give His angels charge over thee," and looking at him she half expected to see flitting wings in the moonlit background. How strong and true the face! How tender the lines about the mouth! What a glow of inner quietness and power in the eyes as he raised them now and again to her face across the firelight! What a thing it would be to have a friend like that always to guard one! Her eyes glowed softly at the thought and once again there flashed across her mind the contrast between this man and the one from whom she had fled in horror the day before.
The reading ended, he replaced the little marker, and dropping upon one knee on the desert with his face lifted to the sky and all the radiance of the moon flooding over him he spoke51 to God as a man speaks with his friend, face to face.
Hazel lay with open, wondering eyes and watched him, awe growing within her. The sense of an unseen Presence close at hand was so strong that once she lifted half frightened eyes to the wide clear sky. The light on the face of the missionary seemed like glory from another world.
She felt herself enfolded and upborne into the Presence of the infinite by his words, and he did not forget to commend her loved ones to the care of the Almighty. A great peace came upon her as she listened to the simple, earnest words and a sense of security such as she had never known before.
After the brief prayer he turned to her with a smile and a few words of assurance about the night. There was her dressing-room behind those trees, and she need not be afraid; he would not be far away. He would keep the fire bright all night so that she would not be annoyed by the near howling of the coyotes. Then he moved away to gather more wood, and she heard him singing, softly at first, and then gathering52 volume as he got further away, his rich tenor53 voice ringing clear upon the night in an old hymn54. The words floated back distinctly to her listening ears:
"My God, is any hour so sweet
From flush of dawn to evening star,
As that which calls me to Thy feet,
The hour of prayer?
"Then is my strength by Thee renewed;
Then are my sins by Thee forgiven;
With hopes of heaven.
"No words can tell what sweet relief
There for my every want I find;
What peace of mind!"
She lay down for the night marvelling57 still over the man. He was singing those words as if he meant every one, and she knew that he possessed something that made him different from other men. What was it? It seemed to her that he was the one man of all the earth, and how was it that she had found him away out here alone in the desert?
The great stars burned sharply in the heavens over her, the white radiance of the moon lay all about her, the firelight played at her feet. Far away she could hear the howling of the coyotes, but she was not afraid.
She could see the broad shoulders of the man as he stooped over on the other side of the fire to throw on more wood. Presently she knew he had thrown himself down with his head on the saddle, but she could hear him still humming softly something that sounded like a lullaby. When the firelight flared58 up it showed his fine profile.
Not far away she could hear Billy cropping the grass, and throughout the vast open universe there seemed to brood a great and peaceful silence. She was very tired and her eyelids59 drooped60 shut. The last thing she remembered was a line he had read from the little book, "He shall give His angels charge——" and she wondered if they were somewhere about now.
That was all until she awoke suddenly with the consciousness that she was alone, and that in the near distance a conversation in a low tone was being carried on.
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1
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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2
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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3
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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4
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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8
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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12
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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14
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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15
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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16
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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17
amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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18
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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19
canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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20
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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21
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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22
reassuringly
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| ad.安心，可靠 | |
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23
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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24
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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25
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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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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27
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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29
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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31
orb
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| n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形 | |
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32
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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35
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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36
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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37
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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38
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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39
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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40
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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41
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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42
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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43
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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44
penitently
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45
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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46
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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48
psalm
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| n.赞美诗，圣诗 | |
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49
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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50
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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51
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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52
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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53
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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54
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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55
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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56
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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57
marvelling
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 ) | |
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58
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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59
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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60
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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