They had hardly passed the front door of the house when they were met by a tall man with dark hair and dark, deep-set eyes. He was tanned to the bronze of an Indian, and he might have been termed handsome had not his features been so deeply cut and roughly finished. His black hair was quite long, and as the wind from the opened door stirred it, there was a touch of wildness about the fellow that made the heart of Randall Byrne jump. When this man saw the girl his face lighted, briefly1; when his glance fell on Byrne the light went out.
"Couldn't get the doc, Kate?" he asked.
"Not Doctor Hardin," she answered, "and I've brought Doctor Byrne instead."
Randall Byrne.
Then: "H'ware you, doc?" he said, and extended a big hand. It occurred to Byrne that all these men of the mountain-desert were big; there was something intensely irritating about their mere3 physical size; they threw him continually on the defensive4 and he found himself making apologies to himself and summing up personal merits. In this case there was more direct reason for his anger. It was patent that the man did not weight the strange doctor against any serious thoughts.
"Nothin' much," answered Buck Daniels. "Come along towards evening and he said he was feeling kind of cold. So I wrapped him up in a rug. Then he sat some as usual, one hand inside of the other, looking steady at nothing. But a while ago he began getting sort of nervous."
"What did he do?"
"Nothing. I just felt he was getting excited. The way you know when your hoss is going to shy."
"Do you want to go to your room first, doctor, or will you go in to see him now?"
The room reminded the doctor more of a New England interior than of the mountain-desert. There was a round rag rug on the floor with every imaginable colour woven into its texture7, but blended with a rude design, reds towards the centre and blue-greys towards the edges. There were chairs upholstered in green which looked mouse-coloured where the high lights struck along the backs and the arms—shallow-seated chairs that made one's knees project foolishly high and far. Byrne saw a cabinet at one end of the room, filled with sea-shells and knicknacks, and above it was a memorial cross surrounded by a wreath inside a glass case. Most of the wall space thronged8 with engravings whose subjects ranged from Niagara Falls to Lady Hamilton. One entire end of the room was occupied by a painting of a neck and neck finish in a race, and the artist had conceived the blooded racers as creatures with tremendous round hips9 and mighty-muscled shoulders, while the legs tapered10 to a faun-like delicacy11. These animals were spread-eagled in the most amazing fashion, their fore-hoofs12 reaching beyond their noses and their rear hoofs striking out beyond the tips of the tails. The jockey in the lead sat quite still, but he who was losing had his whip drawn13 and looked like an automatic doll—so pink were his cheeks. Beside the course, in attitudes of graceful14 ease, stood men in very tight trousers and very high stocks and ladies in dresses which pinched in at the waist and flowed out at the shoulders. They leaned upon canes15 or twirled parasols and they had their backs turned upon the racetrack as if they found their own negligent16 conversation far more exciting than the breathless, driving finish.
Under the terrific action and still more terrific quiescence17 of this picture lay the sick man, propped18 high on a couch and wrapped to the chest in a Navajo blanket.
"Dad," said Kate Cumberland, "Doctor Hardin was not in town. I've brought out Doctor Byrne, a newcomer."
The invalid19 turned his white head slowly towards them, and his shaggy brows lifted and fell slightly—a passing shadow of annoyance20. It was a very stern face, and framed in the long, white hair it seemed surrounded by an atmosphere of Arctic chill. He was thin, terribly thin—not the leanness of Byrne, but a grim emaciation21 which exaggerated the size of a tall forehead and made his eyes supernally22 bright. It was in the first glance of those eyes that Byrne recognized the restlessness of which Kate had spoken; and he felt almost as if it were an inner fire which had burned and still was wasting the body of Joseph Cumberland. To the attentions of the doctor the old man submitted with patient self-control, and Byrne found a pulse feeble, rapid, but steady. There was no temperature. In fact, the heat of the body was a trifle sub-normal, considering that the heart was beating so rapidly.
Doctor Byrne started. Most of his work had been in laboratories, and the horror of death was not yet familiar, but old Joseph Cumberland was dying. It was not a matter of moment. Death might be a week or a month away, but die soon he inevitably23 must; for the doctor saw that the fire was still raging in the hollow breast of the cattleman, but there was no longer fuel to feed it.
He stared again, and more closely. Fire without fuel to feed it!
Doctor Byrne gave what seemed to be an infinitely24 muffled25 cry of exultation26, so faint that it was hardly a whisper; then he leaned closer and pored over Joe Cumberland with a lighted eye. One might have thought that the doctor was gloating over the sick man.
Suddenly he straightened and began to pace up and down the room, muttering to himself. Kate Cumberland listened intently and she thought that what the man muttered so rapidly, over and over to himself, was: "Eureka! Eureka! I have found it!"
Found what? The triumph of mind over matter!
On that couch was a dead body. The flutter of that heart was not the strong beating of the normal organ; the hands were cold; even the body was chilled; yet the man lived.
Or, rather, his brain lived, and compelled the shattered and outworn body to comply with its will. Doctor Byrne turned and stared again at the face of Cumberland. He felt as if he understood, now, the look which was concentrated so brightly on the vacant air. It was illumined by a steady and desperate defiance27, for the old man was denying his body to the grave.
The scene changed for Randall Byrne. The girl disappeared. The walls of the room were broken away. The eyes of the world looked in upon him and the wise men of the world kept pace with him up and down the room, shaking their heads and saying: "It is not possible!"
But the fact lay there to contradict them.
Prometheus stole fire from heaven and paid it back to an eternal death. The old cattleman was refusing his payment. It was no state of coma28 in which he lay; it was no prolonged trance. He was vitally, vividly29 alive; he was concentrating with a bitter and exhausting vigour30 day and night, and fighting a battle the more terrible because it was fought in silence, a battle in which he could receive no aid, no reinforcement, a battle in which he could not win, but in which he might delay defeat.
Ay, the wise men would smile and shake their heads when he presented this case to their consideration, but he would make his account so accurate and particular and so well witnessed that they would have to admit the truth of all he said. And science, which proclaimed that matter was indestructible and that the mind was matter and that the brain needed nourishment31 like any other muscle—science would have to hang the head and wonder!
The eyes of the girl brought him to halt in his pacing, and he stopped, confronting her. His excitement had transformed him. His nostrils32 were quivering, his eyes were pointed33 with light, his head was high, and he breathed fast. He was flushed as the Roman Conqueror34. And his excitement tinged35 the girl, also, with colour.
She offered to take him to his room as soon as he wished to go. He was quite willing. He wanted to be alone, to think. But when he followed her she stopped him in the hall. Buck Daniels lumbered36 slowly after them in a clumsy attempt at sauntering.
"Well?" asked Kate Cumberland.
She had thrown a blue mantle37 over her shoulders when she entered the house, and the touch of boyish self-confidence which had been hers on the ride was gone. In its place there was something even more difficult for Randall Byrne to face. If there had been a garish38 brightness about her when he had first seen her, the brilliancy of a mirror playing in the sun against his feeble eyes, there was now a blending of pastel shades, for the hall was dimly illumined and the shadow tarnished39 her hair and her pallor was like cold stone; even her eyes were misted by fear. Yet a vital sense of her nearness swept upon Byrne, and he felt as if he were surrounded—by a danger.
"Opinions," said the doctor, "based on so summary an examination are necessarily inexact, yet the value of a first impression is not negligible. The best I can say is that there is probably no immediate40 danger, but Mr. Cumberland is seriously ill. Furthermore, it is not old age."
He would not say all he thought; it was not yet time.
She winced41 and clasped her hands tightly together. She was like a child about to be punished for a crime it has not committed, and it came vaguely42 to the doctor that he might have broached43 his ill tidings more gently.
He added: "I must have further opportunities for observance before I give a detailed44 opinion and suggest a treatment."
Her glance wandered past him and at once the heavy step of Buck Daniels approached.
"At least," she murmured, "I am glad that you are frank. I don't want to have anything kept from me, please. Buck, will you take the doctor up to his room?" She managed a faint smile. "This is an old-fashioned house, Doctor Byrne, but I hope we can make you fairly comfortable. You'll ask for whatever you need?"
The doctor bowed, and was told that they would dine in half an hour, then the girl went back towards the room in which Joe Cumberland lay. She walked slowly, with her head bent45, and her posture46 seemed to Byrne the very picture of a burden-bearer. Then he followed Daniels up the stairs, led by the jingling47 of the spurs, great-rowelled spurs that might grip the side of a refractory48 horse like teeth.
A hall-light guided them, and from the hall Buck Daniels entered a room and fumbled49 above him until he had lighted a lamp which was suspended by two chains from the ceiling, a circular burner which cast a glow as keen as an electric globe. It brought out every detail of the old-fashioned room—the bare, painted floor; the bed, in itself a separate and important piece of architecture with its four tall posts, a relic50 of the times when beds were built, not simply made; and there was a chest of drawers with swelling51, hospitable52 front, and a rectangular mirror above with its date in gilt53 paint on the upper edge. A rising wind shook the window and through some crack stirred the lace curtains; it was a very comfortable retreat, and the doctor became aware of aching muscles and a heavy brain when he glanced at the bed.
The same gust54 of wind which rattled55 the window-pane now pushed, as with invisible and ghostly hand, a door which opened on the side of the bedroom, and as it swung mysteriously and gradually wide the doctor found himself looking into an adjoining chamber56. All he could see clearly was a corner on which struck the shaft57 of light from the lamp, and lying on the floor in that corner was something limp and brown. A snake, he surmised58 at first, but then he saw clearly that it was a chain of formidable proportions bolted against the wall at one end and terminating at the other in a huge steel collar. A chill started in the boots of the doctor and wriggled59 its uncomfortable way up to his head.
"Hell!" burst out Buck Daniels. "How'd that door get open?" He slammed it with violence. "She's been in there again, I guess," muttered the cowpuncher, as he stepped back, scowling60.
"Who?" ventured the doctor.
Buck Daniels whirled on him.
"None of your—" he began hotly, but checked himself with choking suddenness and strode heavily from the room.
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1
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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tapered
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| adj. 锥形的，尖削的，楔形的，渐缩的，斜的 动词taper的过去式和过去分词 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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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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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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canes
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| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
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negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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quiescence
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| n.静止 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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emaciation
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| n.消瘦，憔悴，衰弱 | |
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supernally
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| adj.天国的；神的；天空的；崇高的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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26
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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coma
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| n.昏迷，昏迷状态 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lumbered
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| 砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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garish
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| adj.华丽而俗气的，华而不实的 | |
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tarnished
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| （通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏 | |
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40
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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43
broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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44
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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45
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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47
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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49
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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50
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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51
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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52
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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54
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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55
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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56
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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57
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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58
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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