Even in Elkhead there were fires this day. In the Gilead saloon one might have thought that the liquid heat which the men imbibed1 would serve in place of stoves, but the proprietor2, "Pale Annie," had an eye to form, and when the sky was grey he always lighted the stove.
"Pale Annie" he was called because his real name was Anderson Hawberry Sandringham. That name had been a great aid to him when he was an undertaker in Kansas City; but Anderson Hawberry Sandringham had fallen from the straight and narrow path of good undertakers some years before and he had sought refuge in the mountain-desert, where most things prosper3 except sheriffs and grass. He was fully4 six inches more than six feet in height and his face was so long and pale that even Haw-Haw Langley seemed cheerful beside the ex-undertaker. In Kansas City this had been much prized, for that single face could lend solemnity to any funeral. In Elkhead it was hardly less of an asset.
People came out of curiosity to see Pale Annie behind the bar with his tall silk hat—which he could never bring himself to lay aside—among the cobwebs of the rafters. They came out of curiosity and they remained to drink—which is a habit in the mountain-desert. A travelling drummer or a patent medicine man had offered Pale Annie a handsome stake to simply go about with him and lend the sanction of his face to the talk of the drummer, but Pale Annie had discovered a veritable philosopher's stone in Elkhead and he was literally5 turning whiskey into gold.
This day was even more prosperous than usual for Pale Annie, for the grey weather and the chilly6 air made men glad of the warmth, both external and internal, which Pale Annie possessed7 in his barroom. His dextrous hands were never for a moment still at the bar, either setting out drinks or making change, except when he walked out and threw a fresh feed into the fire, and stirred up the ruddy depths of the stove with a tall poker8. It was so long, indeed, that it might have served even Pale Annie for a cane9 and it was a plain untapered bar of iron which the blacksmith had given him as the price of a drink, on a day. He needed a large poker, however, for there was only the one stove in the entire big room, and it was a giant of its kind, as capacious as a hogshead. This day Pale Annie kept it red hot, so that the warmth might penetrate10 to the door on the one hand and to the rear of the room where the tables and chairs were, on the other.
Since Pale Annie's crowd took little exercise except for bending their elbows now and again, and since the majority of them had been in the place fully half the day, by ten in the evening sounds of hilarity11 began to rise from the saloon. Solemn-faced men who had remained in their places for hour after hour, industriously12 putting away the red-eye, now showed symptoms of life. Some of them discovered hitherto hidden talents as singers, and they would rise from their places, remove their hats, open their bearded mouths, and burst into song. An antiquarian who had washed gold in '49 and done nothing the rest of his life save grow a prodigious13 set of pure white whiskers, sprang from his place and did a hoe-down that ravished the beholders. Thrice he was compelled to return to the floor; and in the end his performance was only stopped by an attack of sciatica. Two strong men carried him back to his chair and wept over him, and there was another drink all around.
In this scene of universal joy there were two places of shadow. For at the rear end of the room, almost out of reach of the lantern-light, sat Haw-Haw Langley and Mac Strann. The more Haw-Haw Langley drank the more cadaverous grew his face, until in the end it was almost as solemn as that of Pale Annie himself; as for Mac Strann, he seldom drank at all.
A full hour had just elapsed since either of them spoke14, yet Haw-Haw Langley said, as if in answer to a remark: "He's heard too much about you, Mac. He ain't no such fool as to come to Elkhead."
"He ain't had time," answered the giant.
"Ain't had time? All these days?"
"Wait till the dog gets well. He'll follow the dog to Elkhead."
"Why, Mac, the trail's been washed out long ago. That wind the other day would of knocked out any trail less'n a big waggon15."
"It won't wash out the trail for that dog," said Mac Strann calmly.
"Well," snarled16 Haw-Haw, "I got to be gettin' back home pretty soon. I ain't rollin' in coin the way you are, Mac."
The other returned no answer, but let his eyes rove vacantly over the room, and since his head was turned the other way, Haw-Haw Langley allowed a sneer17 to twist at his lips for a moment.
"If I had the price," he said, "we'd have another drink."
"I ain't drinkin'," answered the giant monotonously18.
So he unfurled his length and stalked through the crowd up to the bar.
Here he leaned and confidentially20 whispered in the ear of Pale Annie.
"Partner, I been sprinklin' dust for a long time in here, and there ain't been any reward. I'm dry, Annie."
Pale Annie regarded him with grave disapproval21.
"My friend," he said solemnly, "liquor is the real root of all evil. For my part, I quench22 my thirst with water. They's a tub over there in the corner with a dipper handy. Don't mention it."
"I didn't thank you," said Haw-Haw Langley furiously. "Damn a tight-wad, say I!"
The long hand of Pale Annie curled affectionately around the neck of an empty bottle.
"I didn't quite gather what you said?" he remarked courteously23, and leaned across the bar—within striking distance.
As he did so two comparatively recent arrivals came up beside him. They were fresh from a couple of months of range-finding, and they had been quenching25 a concentrated thirst by concentrated effort. Haw-Haw Langley looked them over, sighed with relief, and then instantly produced Durham and the brown papers. He paused in the midst of rolling his cigarette and offered them to the nearest fellow.
"Smoke?" he asked.
Now a man of the mountain-desert knows a great many things, but he does not know how to refuse. The proffer26 of a gift embarrasses him, but he knows no way of avoiding it; also he never rests easy until he has made some return.
"Sure," said the man, and gathered in the tobacco and papers. "Thanks!"
He covertly27 dropped the cigarette which he had just lighted, and stepped on it, then he rolled another from Haw-Haw's materials. The while, he kept an uneasy eye on his new companion.
"Drinkin'?" he asked at length.
"Not jest now," said Haw-Haw carelessly.
"Always got room for another," protested the other, still more in earnest as he saw his chance of a return disappearing.
"All right, then," said Haw-Haw. "Jest one more."
And he poured a glass to the brim, waved it gracefully28 towards the others without spilling a drop, and downed it at a gulp29.
"Ben in town long?" he asked.
"Not long enough to find any action," answered the other.
The eye of Haw-Haw Langley brightened. He looked over the two carefully. The one had black hair and the other red, but they were obviously brothers, both tall, thick-shouldered, square-jawed, and pug-nosed. There was Irish blood in that twain; the fire in their eyes could have come from only one place on earth. And Haw-Haw grinned and looked down the length of the room to where Mac Strann sat, a heavy, inert31 mass, his fleshy forehead puckered32 into a half-frown of animal wistfulness.
"You ain't the only ones," he said to his companion at the bar. "They's a man in town who says they don't turn out any two men in this range that could give him action."
"'S matter of fact," continued Haw-Haw easily, "he's right here now!"
He looked again towards Mac Strann and remembered once more the drink which Mac might so easily have purchased for him.
"It ain't Pale Annie, is it?" asked the black haired man, casting a dubious34 glance up and down the vast frame of the undertaker.
"Him? Not half!" grinned Haw-Haw. "It's a fet feller down to the end of the bar. I guess he's been drinkin' some. Kind of off his nut."
He indicated Mac Strann.
"He looks to me," said the red-haired man, setting his jaw30, "like a feller that ain't any too old to learn one more thing about the range in these parts."
"He looks to me," chimed in the black haired brother, "like a feller that might be taught something right here in Pale Annie's barroom. Anyway, he's got room at his table for two more."
So saying the two swallowed their drinks and rumbled35 casually36 down the length of the room until they came to the table where Mac Strann sat. Haw-Haw Langley followed at a discreet37 distance and came within earshot to hear the deep voice of Mac Strann rumbling38: "Sorry, gents, but that chair is took."
The black-haired man sank into the indicated chair.
"You're right," he announced calmly. "Anybody could see with half an eye that you ain't a fool. It's took by me!"
And he grinned impudently39 in the face of Mac Strann. The latter, who had been sitting with slightly bent40 head, now raised it and looked the pair over carelessly; there was in his eye the same dumb curiosity which Haw-Haw Langley had seen many a time in the eye of a bull, leader of the herd41.
The giant explained carefully: "I mean, they's a friend of mine that's been sittin' in that chair."
"If I ain't your friend," answered the black-haired brother instantly, "it ain't any fault of mine. Lay it up to yourself, partner!"
Mac Strann stretched out his hand on the surface of the table.
He said: "I got an idea you better get out of that chair."
The other turned his head slowly on all sides and then looked Mac Strann full in the face.
"Maybe they's something wrong with my eyes," he said, "but I don't see no reason."
The little dialogue had lasted long enough to focus all eyes on the table at the end of the room, and therefore there were many witnesses to what followed. The arm of Mac Strann shot out; his hand fastened in the collar of the black-haired man's shirt, and the latter was raised from his seat and propelled to one side by a convulsive jerk. He probably would have been sent crashing into the bar had not his shirt failed under the strain. It ripped in two at the shoulders, and the seeker after action, naked to the waist, went reeling back to the middle of the room, before he gained his balance. After him went Mac Strann with an agility42 astonishing in that squat43, formless bulk. His long arms were outstretched and his fingers tensed, and in his face there was an uncanny joy; his lip had lifted in that peculiarly disheartening sneer.
He was not a pace from him of the black hair when a yell of rage behind him and the other brother leaped through the air and landed on Mac Strann's back. He doubled up, slipped his arms behind him, and the next instant, without visible reason, the red-headed man hurtled through the air and smashed against the bar with a jolt44 that set the glassware shivering and singing. Then he relaxed on the floor, a twisted and foolish looking mass.
As for the seeker after action, he had at first reached after his revolver, but he changed his mind at the last instant and instead picked up the great poker which leaned against the stove. It was a ponderous45 weapon and he had to wield46 it in both hands. As he swung it around his head there was a yell from men ducking out of the way, and Pale Annie curled his hand again around his favorite empty bottle. He had no good opportunity to demonstrate its efficiency, however. Mac Strann, crouching47 in the position from which he had catapulted the red-haired man, cast upwards48 a single glance at the other brother, and then he sprang in. The poker hissed49 through the air with the vigour50 of a strong man's arms behind it and it would have cracked the head of Mac Strann like an empty egg-shell if it had hit its mark. But it was heaved too high, and Mac Strann went in like a football player rushing the line, almost doubled up against the floor as he ran. His shoulders struck the other hardly higher than the knees, and they went down together, but so doing the head of Mac Strann's victim cracked against the floor, and he also was still.
The exploit was greeted by a yell of applause and then someone proposed a cheer, and it was given. It died off short on the lips of the applauders, however, for it was seen that Mac Strann was not yet done with his work, and he went about it in a manner which made men sober suddenly and exchange glances.
First the stranger dragged the two brothers together, laying one of them face down on the floor. The second he placed over the first, back to back. Next he picked up the long poker from the floor and slipped it under the head and down to the neck of the first man. The bystanders watched in utter silence, with a touch of horror coming now in their eyes.
Now Mac Strann caught the ends of the iron and began to twist up on them. There was no result at first. He refreshed his hold and tried again. The sleeves of his shirt were seen to swell51 and then grow hard and taut52 with vast play of muscle beneath. His head bowed lower between his shoulders, and those shoulders trembled, and the muscles over them quivered like heat-waves rising of a spring morning. There was a creaking, now, and then the iron was seen to shiver and then bend, slowly, and once it was wrenched53 out of the horizontal, the motion was more and more rapid. Until, when the giant was done with his labor54, the ends of the iron over-lapped around the necks of the two luckless brothers. Mac Strann stepped back and surveyed his work; the rest of the room was in silence, saving that the red-headed man was coming back to consciousness and now writhed55 and groaned56 feebly. He could not rise; that was manifest, for the thick band of iron tied his neck to the neck of his brother.
Upon this scene Mac Strann gazed with a thoughtful air and then stepped to the side of the room where stood a bucket of dirty water, recently used for mopping behind the bar. This he caught up, returned, and dashed the black, greasy57 water over the pair.
If it had been electricity it could not have operated more effectively. The two awoke with one mind, and with a tremendous spluttering and cursing struggled to regain58 their feet. It was no easy thing, however, for when one stood up the other slipped and in his fall involved the brother. In the meantime it made a jest exactly suited to the mind of Elkhead, and shrieks59 of hysterical60 laughter rewarded their struggles. Until at length they sat solemnly, back to back, easing the pressure of the iron as best they might with their hands. Assembled Elkhead reeled about the room, drunken with laughter. But Mac Strann went quietly back to his table and paid no attention to the scene.
There is an end to all good things, however, and finally the two brothers concerted action together, rose, and then side-stepped towards the door, dripping the mop-water at every step. Obviously they were bound for the blacksmith's to lose their collar; and everyone in the saloon knew that the blacksmith was not in town.
The old man who had done the hoe-down hobbled to the end of the barroom and before the table of Mac Strann made a speech to the effect that Elkhead had everything it needed except laughter, that Mac Strann had come to their assistance in that respect, and that if he, the old man, had the power, he would pension such an efficient jester and keep him permanently61 in the town. To all of this Mac Strann paid not the slightest heed62, but with his fleshy brow puckered considered the infinite distance. Even the drink which Pale Annie, grateful for the averted63 riot, placed on the table before him, Mac Strann allowed to stand untasted. And it was private stock!
It was at this time that Haw-Haw Langley made his way back to the table and occupied the contested seat.
"That was a bum play," he said solemnly to Mac Strann. "When Barry hears about what you done here to two men, d'you think that he'll ever hit your trail?"
The other started.
"I never thought about it," he murmured, his thick lips, as always, framing speech with difficulty. "D'you s'pose I'd ought to go back to the Cumberland place for him?"
A yell rose at the farther end of the room.
"A wolf! Hey! Shoot the damn wolf!"
"You fool!" cried another. "He ain't skinny enough to be a wolf.
Besides, whoever heard of a tame wolf comin' into a barroom?"
Nevertheless many a gun was held in readiness, and the men, even the most drunken, fell back to one side and allowed a free passage for the animal. It seemed, indeed, to be a wolf, and a giant of its kind, and it slunk now with soundless step through the silence of the barroom, glancing neither to right nor to left, until it came before the table of Mac Strann. There it halted and slunk back a little, the upper lip lifted away from the long fangs64, its eyes glittered upon the face of the giant, and then it swung about and slipped out of the barroom as it had come, in utter silence.
In the utter silence Mac Strann leaned across the table to Haw-Haw
Langley.
"He's come alone this time," he said, "but the next time he'll bring his master with him. We'll wait!"
The Adam's-apple rose and fell in the throat of Haw-Haw.
"We'll wait," he nodded, and he burst into the harsh, unhuman laughter which had given him his name.
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收听单词发音
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1
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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4
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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7
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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10
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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11
hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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industriously
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13
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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14
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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15
waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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16
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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17
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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18
monotonously
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| adv.单调地，无变化地 | |
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bum
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| n.臀部；流浪汉，乞丐；vt.乞求，乞讨 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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21
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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22
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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23
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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25
quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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proffer
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| v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议 | |
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covertly
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| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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28
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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30
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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32
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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34
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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35
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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38
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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39
impudently
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40
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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41
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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42
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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43
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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44
jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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45
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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46
wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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47
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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48
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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49
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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50
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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51
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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52
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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53
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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54
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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55
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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57
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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58
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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59
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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60
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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61
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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62
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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63
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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