She returned to the play box by the fire, and rummaged1 for a few minutes among the tangled2 toys. Then with something like a chuckle3 she drew out a soft, pale creature with four wobbly legs.
"The Flanton Dog!" she said. "Well, I vow4! I had forgotten all about him. It was Tom who coined the name for him because he was made of Canton flannel5."
She stood the thing up on the table as well as his weak legs would allow, and inspected him critically. He certainly was a forlorn specimen6. One of the black beads7 which had served him for eyes was gone. His ears, which had originally stood up saucily8 on his head, now drooped9 in limp dejection. One of them was a mere10 shapeless rag hanging by a thread. He was dirty and discolored, and his tail was gone. But still he smiled with his red-thread mouth and seemed trying to make the best of things.
"What a nightmare!" said Miss Terry contemptuously. "I know there isn't a child in the city who wants such a looking thing. Why, even the Animal Rescue folks would give the boys a 'free shot' at that. This isn't going to bring out any Christmas spirit," she sneered11. "I will try it and see."
Once more she lifted the window and tossed the dog to the sidewalk. He rolled upon his back and lay pathetically with crooked12 legs yearning13 upward, still smiling. Hardly had Miss Terry time to conceal14 herself behind the curtain when she saw a figure approaching, airily waving a stick.
"No ragamuffin this time," she said. "Hello! It is that good-for-nothing young Cooper fellow from the next block. They say he is a millionaire. Well, he isn't even going to see the Flanton Dog."
The young man came swinging along, debonairly15; he was whistling under his breath. He was a dapper figure in a long coat and a silk hat, under which the candles lighted a rather silly face. When he reached the spot in the sidewalk where the Flanton Dog lay, he paused a moment looking down. Then he poked16 the object with his stick. On the other side of the street a mother and her little boy were passing at the time. The child's eyes caught sight of the dog on the sidewalk, and he hung back, watching to see what the young man would do to it. But his mother drew him after her. Just then an automobile17 came panting through the snow. With a quick movement Cooper picked up the dog on the end of his stick and tossed it into the street, under the wheels of the machine. The baby across the street uttered a howl of anguish18 at the sight. Miss Terry herself was surprised to feel a pang19 shoot through her as the car passed over the queer old toy. She retreated from the window quickly.
"Well, that's the end of Flanton," she said with half a sigh. "I knew that fellow was a brute20. I might have expected something like that. But it looked so—so—" She hesitated for a word, and did not finish her sentence, but bit her lip and sniffed21 cynically22.
点击收听单词发音
1 rummaged | |
翻找,搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 ); 已经海关检查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 chuckle | |
vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 flannel | |
n.法兰绒;法兰绒衣服 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 saucily | |
adv.傲慢地,莽撞地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 drooped | |
弯曲或下垂,发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 sneered | |
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 crooked | |
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 yearning | |
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 debonairly | |
adj.(通常指男人)愉快而自信的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 poked | |
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 automobile | |
n.汽车,机动车 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 pang | |
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 sniffed | |
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 cynically | |
adv.爱嘲笑地,冷笑地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |