In his capacity of Indian agent Walter Lowell often had occasion to scan the business deals of his more progressive wards1. He was at once banker and confidant of most of the Indians who were getting ahead in agriculture and stock-raising. He did not seek such a position, nor did he discourage it. Though it cost him much extra time and work, he advised the Indians whenever requested.
One of the reservation's most prosperous stock-raisers, who had been given permission to sell off some of his cattle, came to Lowell with a thousand-dollar bill, asking if it were genuine.
"It's all right," said Lowell, "but where did you get it?"
The Indian said he had received it from Bill Talpers in the sale of some livestock2. Lowell handed it back without comment, but soon afterward3 found occasion to call on Bill Talpers at the trader's store.
Bill had been a frequent and impartial4 visitor to the bottles that were tucked away at both ends of his store. His hands and voice were shaky. His hat was perched well forward on his head, covering a patch of court-plaster which his clerk had put over a scalp wound, following a painful process of hair-cutting. Bill had just been through the process of "bouncing" Andy Wolters, who remained outside, expressing wonder and indignation to all who called.
"All I did was ask Bill where his favorite gun was gone," quoth Andy in his nasal voice, as Lowell drove up to the store platform. "I never seen Bill without that gun before in my life. I jest started to kid him a little by askin' him who took it away from him, when he fired up and throwed me out of the store."
Lowell stepped inside the store.
"Bill," said Lowell, as the trader rose from his chair behind the screen of letter-boxes, "I want you to help me out in an important matter."
"It's this," went on Lowell. "If any of the Indians bring anything here to pawn6 outside of the usual run of turquoise7 jewelry8 and spurs, I want you to let me know. Also, if they offer any big bills in payment for goods—say anything like a thousand-dollar bill—just give me the high sign, will you? It may afford a clue in this murder case."
Talpers darted9 a look of suspicion at the agent. Lowell's face was serene10. He was leaning confidentially11 across the counter, and his eyes met Bill's in a look that made the trader turn away.
"You know," said Lowell, "it's quite possible that money and valuables were taken from Sargent's body. To be sure, they found his checkbook and papers, but they wouldn't be of use to anyone else. A man of Sargent's wealth must have had considerable ready cash with him, and yet none was found. He would hardly be likely to start out on a long trip across country without a watch, and yet nothing of the sort was discovered. That's why I thought that if any Indians came in here with large amounts of money, or if they tried to pawn valuables which might have belonged to a man in Sargent's position, you could help clear up matters."
Hatred12 and suspicion were mingled13 in Talpers's look. The trader had spent most of his hours, since his return from Morgan's ranch14, cursing the folly15 that had led him into wearing Sargent's watch. And now came this young Indian agent, with talk about thousand-dollar bills. There was another mistake Bill had made. He should have taken those bills far away and had them exchanged for money of smaller denomination17. But he had been hard-pressed for cash, and suspicion seemed to point in such convincing fashion toward Fire Bear and the other Indians that it did not seem possible that it could be shifted elsewhere. Yet all his confidence had been shaken when Helen Ervin had calmly and correctly recounted to him the exact things that he had taken from that body on the hill. Probably she had been talking to the agent and had told him all she knew.
"I know what you're drivin' at," snarled18 Bill, his rage getting the better of his judgment19. "You've been talkin' to that girl at Morgan's ranch, and she's been tellin' you all she thinks she knows. But she'd better go slow with all her talk about valuables and thousand-dollar bills. She forgets that she's as deep in this thing as anybody and I've got the document to prove it."
The surprise in the Indian agent's face was too genuine to be mistaken. Talpers realized that he had been betrayed into overshooting his mark. The agent had been engaged in a little game of bluff20, and Talpers had fallen into his trap.
"All this is mighty21 interesting to me, Bill," said Lowell, regaining22 his composure. "I just dropped in here, hoping for a little general cooperation on your part, and here I find that you know a lot more than anybody imagined."
"You ain't got anything on me," growled23 Bill, "and if you go spillin' any remarks around here, it's your death-warrant sure."
Lowell did not take his elbow from the counter. His leaning position brought out the breadth of his shoulders and emphasized the athletic24 lines of his figure. He did not seem ruffled25 at Bill's open threat. He regarded Talpers with a steady look which increased Bill's rage and fear.
"The trouble with you is that you're so dead set on protectin' them Injuns of yours," said the trader, "that you're around tryin' to throw suspicion on innocent white folks. The hull26 county knows that Fire Bear done that murder, and if you hadn't got him on to the reservation the jail'd been busted27 into and he'd been lynched as he ought to have been."
Bill waited for an answer, but none came. The young agent's steady, thoughtful scrutiny28 was not broken.
"You've coddled them Injuns ever sence you've been on the job," went on Bill, casting aside discretion29, "and now you're encouragin' them in downright murder. Here this young cuss, Fire Bear, is traipsin' around as he pleases, on nothin' more than his word that he'll appear for trial. But when Jim McFann busts30 out of jail, you rush out the hull Injun police force to run him down. And now here you are around, off the reservation, tryin' to saddle suspicion on your betters. It ain't right, I claim. Self-respectin' white men ought to have more protection around here."
"Bill," he said, "you aren't as much of a man as I gave you credit for being, and what's more you've been in some crooked32 game, just as sure as thousand-dollar bills have four figures on them."
Paying no attention to the imprecations which Talpers hurled33 after him, the agent went back to his automobile34 and turned toward the agency. He had intended going on to the Greek Letter Ranch, but Talpers's words had caused him to make a change in his plans. At the agency he brought out a saddle horse, and, following a trail across the undulating hills on the reservation, reached the wagon-road below the ranch, without arousing Talpers's suspicion.
As he tied his pony35 at the gate, Lowell noticed further improvement in the general appearance of the ranch.
"Somebody more than Wong has been doing this heavy work," he said to Helen, who had come out to greet him. "It must be that Morgan—your stepfather is well enough to help. Anyway, the ranch looks better every time I come."
"Yes, he is helping36 some," said Helen uneasily. "But I'm getting to be a first-rate ranch-woman. I had no idea it was so much fun running a place like this."
"I came over to see if you couldn't take time enough off for a little horseback ride," said Lowell. "This is a country for the saddle, after all. I still get more enjoyment37 from a good horseback ride than from a dozen automobile trips. I'll saddle up the old white horse while you get ready."
Helen ran indoors, and Lowell went to the barn and proceeded to saddle the white horse that bore the Greek Letter brand. The smiling Wong came out to cast an approving eye over the work.
"This old fly-fighter's a pretty good horse for one of his age, isn't he, Wong?" said Lowell, giving a last shake to the saddle, after the cinch had been tightened38.
In shattered English Wong went into ecstasies39 over the white horse. Then he said, suddenly and mysteriously:
"You know Talpels?"
"You mean Bill Talpers?" asked Lowell. "What about him?"
Once more the dominant40 tongue of the Occident41 staggered beneath Wong's assault, as the cook described, partly in pantomime, the manner of Bill Talpers's downfall the night before.
"Do you mean to say that Talpers was over here last night and that here is where he got that scalp-wound?" demanded Lowell.
Wong grinned assent42, and then vanished, after making a sign calling for secrecy43 on Lowell's part, as Helen arrived, ready for the ride.
Lowell was a good horseman, and the saddle had become Helen's chief means of recreation. In fact riding seemed to bring to her the only contentment she had known since she had come to the Greek Letter Ranch. She had overcome her first fear of the Indians. All her rides that were taken alone were toward the reservation, as she had studiously avoided going near Talpers's place. Also she did not like to ride past the hill on the Dollar Sign road, with its hints of unsolved mystery. But she had quickly grown to love the broad, free Indian reservation, with its limitless miles of unfenced hills. She liked to turn off the road and gallop44 across the trackless ways, sometimes frightening rabbits and coyotes from the sagebrush. Several times she had startled antelope45, and once her horse had shied at a rattlesnake coiled in the sunshine. The Indians she had learned to look upon as children. She had visited the cabins and lodges46 of some of those who lived near the ranch, and was not long in winning the esteem47 of the women who were finding the middle ground, between the simplicity48 of savage49 life and the complexities50 of civilization, something too much for mastery.
Lowell and Helen galloped51 in silence for miles along the road they had followed in the automobile not many days before. At the crest52 of a high ridge53, Helen turned at right angles, and Lowell followed.
"There's a view over here I had appropriated for myself, but I'm willing to share it with you, seeing that this is your own particular reservation and you ought to know about everything it contains," said Helen.
The ridge dipped and then rose again, higher than before. The plains fell away on both sides—infinite miles of undulations. Straight ahead loomed54 the high blue wall of the mountains. They walked their horses, and finally stopped them altogether. The chattering55 of a few prairie dogs only served to intensify56 the great, mysterious silence.
"Sometimes the stillness seems to roll in on you here like a tide," said Helen. "I can positively57 feel it coming up these great slopes and blanketing everything. It seems to me that this ridge must have been used by Indian watchers in years gone by. I can imagine a scout58 standing59 here sending up smoke signals. And those little white puffs60 of clouds up there are the signals he sent into the sky."
"I think you belong in this country," Lowell answered smilingly.
"I'm sure I do. You remember when I first saw these plains and hills I told you the bigness frightened me a little when the sun brought it all out in detail. Well, it doesn't any more. Just to be unfettered in mind, and to live and breathe as part of all this vastness, would be ideal."
"That's where you're in danger of going to the other extreme," the agent replied. "You'll remember that I told you human companionship is as necessary as bacon and flour and salt in this country. You're more dependent on the people about you here, even if your nearest neighbor is five or ten miles away, than you would be in any apartment building in a big city. You might live and die there, and no one would be the wiser. Also you might get along tolerably well, while living alone. But you can't do it out here and keep a normal mental grip on life."
"My, what a lecture!" laughed the girl, though there was no merriment in her voice. "But it hardly applies to me, for the reason that I always depend upon my neighbors in the ordinary affairs of life. I'm sure I love to be sociable61 to my Indian neighbors, and even to their agent. Haven't I ridden away out here just to be sociable to you?"
"No dodging62! I promised I wouldn't say anything more about the matters that have been disturbing you so, but that promise was contingent63 on your playing fair with me. I understand Bill Talpers has been causing you some annoyance64, and you haven't said a word to me about it."
Helen flashed a startled glance at Lowell. He was impassive as her questioning eyes searched his face. Amazement65 and concern alternated in her features. Then she took refuge in a blaze of anger.
"I don't know how you found out about Talpers!" she cried. "It is true that he did cause a—a little annoyance, but that is all gone and forgotten. But I am not going to forget your impertinence quite so easily."
"My what?"
"Your impertinence?"
The girl was trembling with anger, or apprehension66, and tapped her boot nervously67 with her quirt as she spoke68.
"You've been lecturing me about various things," she went on, "and now you bring up Talpers as a sort of bugaboo to frighten me."
"You don't know Bill Talpers. If he has any sort of hold on you or on Willis Morgan, he'll try to break you both. He is as innocent of scruples69 as a lobo wolf."
"What hold could he possibly have on me—on us?"
She looked at Lowell defiantly70 as she asked the question, but he thought he detected a note of concern in her voice.
"I didn't say he had any hold. I merely pointed71 out that if he were given any opportunity he'd make life miserable72 for both of you."
Lowell did not add that Talpers, in a fit of rage and suspicion, augmented73 by strong drink, had hinted that Helen knew something of the murder. He had been inclined to believe that Talpers had merely been "fighting wild" when he made the veiled accusation—that the trader, being very evidently only partly recovered from a bout16 with his pet bottles, had made the first counter-assertion that had come into his head in the hope of provoking Lowell into a quarrel. But there was a quality of terror in the girl's voice which struck Lowell with chilling force. Something in his look must have caught Helen's attention, for her nervousness increased.
"You have no right to pillory74 me so," she said rapidly. "You have been perfectly75 impossible right along—that is, ever since this crime happened. You've been spying here and there—"
"Spying!"
"Yes, downright spying! You've been putting suspicion where it doesn't belong. Why, everybody believes the Indians did it—everybody but you. Probably some Indians did it who never have been suspected and never will be—not the Indians who are under suspicion now."
"That's just about what another party was telling me not long ago—that I was coddling the Indians and trying to fasten suspicion where it didn't rightfully belong."
"Who else told you that?"
"No less a person than Bill Talpers."
"There you go again, bringing in that cave man. Why do you keep talking to me about Talpers? I'm not afraid of him."
Most girls would have been on the verge76 of hysteria, Lowell thought, but, while Helen was plainly under a nervous strain, her self-command returned. The agent was in possession of some information—how much she did not know. Perhaps she could goad77 him into betraying the source of his knowledge.
"I know you're not afraid of Talpers," remarked Lowell, after a pause, "but at least give me the privilege of being afraid for you. I know Bill Talpers better than you do."
"What right have you to be afraid for me? I'm of age, and besides, I have a protector—a guardian—at the ranch."
Lowell was on the point of making some bitter reply about the undesirability78 of any guardianship79 assumed by Willis Morgan, squaw man, recluse80, and recipient81 of common hatred and contempt. But he kept his counsel, and remarked, pleasantly:
"My rights are merely those of a neighbor—the right of one neighbor to help another."
"There are no rights of that sort where the other neighbor isn't asking any help and doesn't desire it."
"I'm not sure about your not needing it. Anyway, if you don't now, you may later."
The girl did not answer. The horses were standing close together, heads drooping82 lazily. Warm breezes came fitfully from the winds' playground below. The handkerchief at the girl's neck fluttered, and a strand83 of her hair danced and glistened84 in the sunshine. The graceful85 lines of her figure were brought out by her riding-suit. Lowell put his palm over the gloved hand on her saddle pommel. Even so slight a touch thrilled him.
"If a neighbor has no right to give advice," said Lowell, "let us assume that my unwelcome offerings have come from a man who is deeply in love with you. It's no great secret, anyway, as it seems to me that even the meadow-larks have been singing about it ever since we started on this ride."
The girl buried her face in her hands. Lowell put his arm about her waist, and she drooped86 toward him, but recovered herself with an effort. Putting his arm away, she said:
"You make matters harder and harder for me. Please forget what I have said and what you have said, and don't come to see me any more."
"Not come to see you any more! Why such an extreme sentence?"
"Because there is an evil spell on the Greek Letter Ranch. Everybody who comes there is certain to be followed by trouble—deep trouble."
"Look here!" began Lowell. "This thing is beyond all promises of silence. I—"
"Don't ask what I mean!" said the girl. "You might find it awkward. You say you are in love with me?"
"I repeat it a thousand times."
"Well, you are the kind of man who will choose honor every time. I realize that much. Suppose you found that your love for me was bringing you in direct conflict with your duty?"
"I know that such a thing is impossible," broke in Lowell.
Helen smiled, bitterly.
"It is so far from being impossible that I am asking you to forget what you have said, and to forget me as well. There is so much of evil on the Greek Letter Ranch that the very soil there is steeped in it. I am going away, but I know its spell will follow me."
"When these men now charged with the murder are acquitted90. They will be acquitted, will they not?"
The eager note in her question caught Lowell by surprise.
"No man can tell," he replied. "It's all as inscrutable as that mountain wall over there."
Helen shaded her eyes with her gauntleted hand as she looked in the direction indicated by Lowell. Black clouds were pouring in masses over the mountain-range. The sunshine was being blotted91 out, as if by some giant hand. The storm-clouds swept toward them as they turned the horses and started back along the ridge. A huge shadow, which Helen shudderingly92 likened to the sprawling93 figure of Talpers in the lamplight, raced toward them over the plains.
"There isn't a storm in all that blackness," Lowell assured her. "It's all shadow and no substance. Perhaps your fears will turn out that way."
The girl regarded him gravely.
"I've tried to hope as much, but it's no use, especially when you've felt the first actual buffetings of the storm."
The approaching cloud shadow seemed startlingly solid. The girl urged her horse into a gallop, and Lowell rode silently at her side. The shadow overtook them. Angry winds seemed to clutch at them from various angles, but no rain came from the cloud mass overhead. When they rode into the ranch yard, the sun was shining again. They dismounted near the barn, and Wong took the white horse. Lowell and the girl walked through the yard to the front gate, the agent leading his horse. As they passed near the porch there came through the open door that same chilling, sarcastic94 voice which stirred all the ire in Lowell's nature.
"Helen," the voice said, "that careless individual, Wong, must be reprimanded. He has mislaid one of my choicest volumes. Perhaps it would be better for you to attend to replacing the books on the shelves after this."
Every word was intended to humiliate95, yet the voice was moderately pitched. There was even a slight drawl to it.
Lowell's face betrayed his anger as he glanced at the girl. He made a gesture of impatience96, but Helen motioned to him, in warning.
"Some day you're going to let me take you away from this," he said grimly, looking at her with an intensity of devotion which brought the red to her cheeks. "Meantime, thanks for taking me out on that magic ridge. I'll never forget it."
"It will be better for you to forget everything," answered the girl.
Lowell was about to make a reply, when the voice came once more, cutting like a whiplash in a renewal97 of the complaint concerning the lost book. The girl turned, with a good-bye gesture, and ran indoors. Lowell led his horse outside the yard and rode toward Talpers's place, determined98 to have a few definite words with the trader.
When Lowell reached Talpers's, the usual knot of Indians was gathered on the front porch, with the customary collection of cowpunchers and ranchmen discussing matters inside the store.
"Bill ain't been here all the afternoon," said Talpers's clerk in answer to Lowell's question. "He sat around here for a while after you left this morning, and then he saddled up and took a pack-horse and hit off toward the reservation, but I don't know where he went or when he'll be back."
Lowell rode thoughtfully to the agency, trying in vain to bridge the gap between Talpers's cryptic99 utterances100 bearing on the murder, and the not less cryptic statements of Helen in the afternoon—an occupation which kept him unprofitably employed until far into the night.
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1
wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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livestock
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| n.家畜，牲畜 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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pawn
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| n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押 | |
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7
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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denomination
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| n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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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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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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27
busted
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| adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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38
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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39
ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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40
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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41
occident
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| n.西方；欧美 | |
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42
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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43
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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44
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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45
antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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complexities
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| 复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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52
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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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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54
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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55
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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56
intensify
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| vt.加强；变强；加剧 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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62
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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pillory
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| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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goad
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| n.刺棒，刺痛物；激励；vt.激励，刺激 | |
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undesirability
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| n.不受欢迎 | |
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guardianship
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| n. 监护, 保护, 守护 | |
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recluse
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| n.隐居者 | |
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recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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82
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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83
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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86
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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87
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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88
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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89
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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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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91
blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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shudderingly
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93
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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94
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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95
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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96
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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97
renewal
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| adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来 | |
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98
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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99
cryptic
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| adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的 | |
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100
utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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