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XXIV RACHEL'S FUTURE
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When the old brougham drew up in front of the colonial door, Miss Parrott let her hands fall away from the time-stained piano-keys.
 
"It can't surely be time for you to go, Rachel."
 
Then she did a thing she could not remember doing in all her life, she deliberately1 went on with her employment, allowing Simmons to wait on his carriage box, while she broke up the system of years that always made her punctual to a minute.
 
"You may sing that over again, Rachel," she said, beginning on the strains of the opera that Rachel had gathered from the barrel-organ on the street corners.
 
"Then may I dance again?" begged Rachel. "Please—just once before I go."
 
"Yes," said Miss Parrott, sitting very straight, and giving all the graceful2 little quirks3 to the slender fingers which her music-master, long since dead and buried, had taught her. "Now begin, child."
 
So up and down, high and clear, rang Rachel's voice, with no more effort than the birds outside put forth4, the sound penetrating5 the ancient walls, and paralyzing every domestic, while it nearly made Simmons, outside, fall from his box.
 
"She hain't touched that pianner in ten years," said the cook, in a hushed voice. "Oh, me! I'm afraid she's going to die," and she flung her apron6 over her head.
 
"Die!" exclaimed Hooper, finding his voice. "She won't die with that young one here," he added, in scorn.
 
"Now may I dance?" pleaded Rachel, plucking Miss Parrott's sleeve. "Do let me; you said I might."
 
"Yes," said Miss Parrott, wrenching7 herself away from the operatic strains, to begin on a little old-fashioned jig8.
 
"Oh, that's so funny," giggled9 Rachel, hopping10 aimlessly in the center of the big drawing-room and trying to keep time. "Do stop; you put me all out."
 
"But that is a dancing-tune11," said Miss Parrott, jingling12 away, "and sister and I used to dance quite prettily13 to it, I remember."
 
"Well, I can't," said Rachel, hopping wildly, and doing her best to get into step. "Oh, dear!" she brought up suddenly, flushed and panting.
 
"What is the matter, Rachel?" Miss Parrott let her hands rest on the yellow ivory keys and looked over her shoulder at her.
 
"Oh, I can't dance," said Rachel, "when you play so funnily. It doesn't go like that; it goes so." She picked up her gown again, and made a sweep off in one direction, and then in another, her feet scarcely touching14 the pictured roses and lilies with which the velvet15 carpet was strewn, all the while singing a tune that seemed to carry her off on its own melody. Miss Parrott turned around on the music-stool, and watched her breathlessly.
 
It was therefore much later than the parsonage people expected when the old brougham set Rachel down at their gate, and she walked into the house, supported on either side by Peletiah and Ezekiel, who had been watching there a full hour for her arrival.
 
"I like her," she said, marching up to the minister's wife. "She gave me these"—putting her hand on the red coral beads16 on her neck—"and I'm going back again—to-morrow, I guess."
 
But it wasn't to stay, that Rachel went back on the morrow; it was only for a day. Despite all the pleadings made by Miss Parrott, and all the desire of the parson and his wife to please their honored parishioner, and most of all, the earnest wish to consent to what would probably be for the child's best good, they held firmly to the first statement, that nothing could be arranged till Mrs. Fisher and Mr. King had been consulted.
 
"They have sent the child here to us, and here she must stay until they make some other arrangement," they said firmly, and no amount of urging could make them say anything else.
 
So letters had to fly back and forth from the parsonage and the King estate in the big city, and Miss Parrott wrote long letters in a pinched, lady-like hand in very faint ink, crossing the paper whenever she was afraid she hadn't said enough to plead her cause successfully. Which condition of mind she was in perpetually, all through these writing days. These letters old Mr. King endeavored to read at the first, but he soon threw them down impatiently.
 
"The child shall never go to a woman who has no more sense," he loudly declared.
 
Then Polly or Jasper would hurry in and wade17 through the missives. And when he saw the hungry longing18 of the desolate19 soul, and the sweet refinement20 of the writer came out, and the sterling21 honesty was revealed in the prim22 sentences, he relented and went tumultuously over to the other side.
 
"Yes, yes, she shall go," he declared, pulling out his big handkerchief to blow his nose violently, to remove all suspicion that anything was the matter with his eyes; "'twould be the best thing in the world for her. Of course she must go."
 
And so it was finally settled that Rachel was to live at Miss Parrott's and be her own little girl, going down to the parsonage every day to learn her lessons under Mr. Henderson's care, until the time when she would be ready to be sent to such a school as Miss Parrott might select should arrive.
 
"And she must come and see me sometimes," said Phronsie when the announcement was made in the King household. "My little girl may come, can't she, Grandpapa?" she begged.
 
"Yes, yes, child," said old Mr. King warmly; "we all shall want to see
Rachel now and then."
The Comfort committee being well-established and in fine running order by this time, Mrs. Sterling gathering23 them around her sofa, in her spacious24 sitting-room25 upstairs, Polly and Alexia saw no reason why they shouldn't begin work on the Cooking Club, "because," said Polly, "if we are really going to learn how to cook things, why, we ought to begin." And the mothers of the several boys and girls who were to form it, taking instantly to the idea, the two girls and Jasper set to work to write the notices of the first meeting.
 
"We ought to have another boy," said Jasper, "on the Committee."
 
Alexia wrinkled up her face. "Oh, don't; boys are so tiresome," she said.
 
"Why, I am a boy," said Jasper, bursting into a laugh.
 
"Oh, well, you are different," said Alexia; "we always expect you around."
 
"Thank you," said Jasper, with a low bow; "I'm sure I ought to feel very much complimented, Alexia," and he laughed again.
 
"Well, I'm sure boys are such nuisances," said Alexia, leaning her long arms on the table (they were in the library at Mr. King's), "and besides they won't want to come to our Cooking Club, I verily believe, so what's the use of having them on the Committee?"
 
"Oh, yes, they will," declared Jasper eagerly; "you don't know anything about it, if you say that. Why, Clare, and Pickering, and ever so many more are just wild to be asked."
 
"Oh, well, then if we've got to have some boy on the Committee," said
Alexia, accepting the situation, "let's ask Pickering Dodge26."
"I'd rather have Pick," said Jasper in a tone of great satisfaction; and
Polly saying the same thing, it was decided27 then and there.
"Well, now that matter is off our hands," said Alexia, "let's get to writing these old notices," and her hands began to bustle28 about among the little pile of paper and envelopes.
 
"Hold on," said Jasper; "if Pick is to be on this committee, he must help us with these things; and he'll want to, for it will be great fun."
 
"O bother!" exclaimed Alexia, jerking back her chair, "now we've got to wait. You see for yourself what a nuisance it is to try to get you boys in, Jasper."
 
"Oh, I'll get Pick over here in a jiffy," declared Jasper, plunging29 out of the library; "you won't have to wait long for us, Alexia."
 
It wasn't more than ten minutes by the clock, when in rushed the two boys and swarmed30 around the big table.
 
"Well, I declare," cried Alexia, looking up admiringly from a receipt book which Mrs. Fisher had loaned them, and over which the heads of the two girls were bent31, "if you boys haven't been quick, though!"
 
"Haven't we?" cried Jasper, and his eyes twinkled.
 
"Don't tell," whispered Pickering over his shoulder.
 
"And what are you two whispering about?" cried Alexia, deserting the cook-book: "Now, tell us," she demanded, dreadfully afraid she would miss some news.
 
"Well, you see—" began Jasper.
 
"Hush—hush!" said Pickering.
 
"Now don't pay any attention to Pickering," said Alexia, turning a cold shoulder to the last-mentioned individual; "do tell us, Jasper, what is it?"
 
"The fact is," said Jasper, laughing, "I didn't have to go for Pickering at all; that is, only to the corner. He was coming here."
 
"And Jasper nearly knocked the breath out of me," finished Pickering, "he bolted into me so."
 
"Well, you were on the wrong side of the pavement," retorted Jasper.
 
"Is that all?" cried Alexia, horribly disappointed to get no news. "Oh, dear me! Well, do sit down, now you have come, and let us get to these horrible old notices."
 
So the boys drew up their chairs, and Polly pushed the cook-book, with an affectionate little pat, into the center of the table. "That's what we are going to study," she said gleefully.
 
"Study?" echoed Pickering, with a very long face. "I didn't come over here to study; I get enough of that at school," and he glared in a very injured way at Jasper.
 
"Don't get upset," said Jasper, patting him on the back; "you'll like this,
Pick, I tell you."
"And it's a cook-book," said Polly, laughing merrily.
 
"All right," said Pickering, immensely relieved, and reaching out his long arm, he seized it, and whirled the leaves. "'Lemon pie'—that sounds good. 'How to cook cabbage'—oh, dear me!"
 
"See here now"—Jasper seized the book and shut it up with a bang—"no one is going to look into that, until we write these notices. Why, we haven't even got a Cooking Club yet."
 
"Give it back," roared Pickering after him, as Jasper hopped32 out of his chair, carrying the book.
 
"No, sir," cried Jasper, bearing off the book out of the room. "There, you'll never find that," he observed, coming back to slip into his seat with satisfaction.
 
"Well, now," said Alexia sweetly, "if you two boys are through scrapping33, we'll begin on these notices." She picked an envelope off from the pile. "Oh, dear me! who is the first one to ask?"
 
"I think Larry ought to have it," said Polly.
 
"Oh, Polly Pepper!" exclaimed Alexia, "Larry can't come for ever so long, with his collar bone all smashed and his leg hurt. The very idea!"
 
Polly gave a little shiver, "Well, he would like to be asked," she said.
 
"And I think so, too," declared Jasper; "a chap would enjoy it twice as much to get an invitation when he was abed and couldn't come."
 
"Well, that's nice to say," cried Alexia, bursting into a loud laugh, in which Pickering joined.
 
"You've done it now," he said, clapping Jasper on the back. "I'm glad of it, old chap, after the way you acted about that old cook-book."
 
"So I have," said Jasper grimly. Then he laughed as hard as the others. "Well, you know what I mean, and we ought to give Larry the first attention."
 
"I'm going to write the notice to him," declared Alexia, dipping her pen in the ink-well and beginning with a flourish. But she threw it down before she had finished his first name. "Polly, you ought to write the first notice," she cried; "you proposed the Club."
 
"That's no matter," said Polly, "so long as we are going to have the Club.
Go ahead, Alexia."
"No, I'm not going to," said Alexia obstinately34, and leaning back in her chair; "you've just got to do it, Polly, so there!"
 
"There'll be no peace, Polly, for any of us until you do," said Pickering, thrusting his hands lazily into his pockets.
 
"And I think people would do better to go to work and help," said Alexia decidedly, "than to set other people against—oh, dear me!" as she found herself hopelessly entangled35.
 
"You would do better to get yourself out of that sentence, Alexia," laughed
Jasper, "before you do anything else."
"Well, I don't care," said Alexia, joining in the general laugh; "it's too mean for anything, Pickering, to say I fight, when everybody knows I suffer just everything before I say a word."
 
"Oh, dear me!" cried Pickering faintly.
 
"And when you two stop sparring," said Jasper, "perhaps we can do some work. Come now, Polly and I don't propose to do the whole."
 
Alexia, at this, scrabbled up another envelope, and began to write as fast as she could. And Pickering selecting a pen and getting down to business, the room began to assume a very work-like aspect.
 
"Now that's done," said Alexia, tossing aside the envelope. "I've addressed notice number two."
 
"Whose is it?" asked Pickering, glancing up from his own to the scrawling36 characters where the envelope lay face uppermost on the table. "Who is number two, Alexia?"
 
"You mustn't see," cried Alexia, twitching37 it away; "you go on and address your own, Pickering, and let mine alone."
 
"Well, I've seen already," said Pickering coolly. "It would be impossible not to read your writing a mile off, Alexia."
 
"Well, that's much better than to write such mean, lazy little words that nobody can make them out," she retorted.
 
"Oh, clear! we haven't a pattern of the notice made yet," said Polly, leaning back in her chair, after the labor38 of getting the first envelope addressed; and she pushed up the little brown rings of hair from her brow, for Polly didn't like very well to write, and it always took her some time to achieve anything in that line. "Jasper, you draw up one, do," she begged.
 
"Oh, dear me!" cried Jasper, aghast, "I can't, Polly; you can do it much better."
 
"Misery39 me!" exclaimed Polly, "I couldn't do it in all this world," and she looked so distressed41 that Jasper hastened to say:
 
"Come along then, Pick, and help me out, and I'll try."
 
But Picketing42 protesting that he didn't know any more how to write such a notice than Prince lying on the rug before the fire, Jasper in despair drew up a sheet of paper, and wrote in big staring letters and with a great flourish, clear across the top of the page:
 
"ATTENTION."
"Goodness me!" cried Pickering, his pale eyes following Jasper's pen, "it looks like a fire-alarm summons."
 
"Or just like Miss Salisbury when she's going to say something quite ugly and horrid," said Alexia, with a grimace43.
 
"Oh, Alexia!" said Polly.
 
"Well, it does," said Alexia; "you know for yourself, Polly, she always stands up quite stiff on the platform and says, 'Attention, young ladies!' Oh, I quite hate the word, because we all have to look at her."
 
"Well, it does good service then," said Jasper coolly, "since it makes you do the very thing wanted."
 
"And we wouldn't mind looking at her," said Alexia, running on with her reminiscences, "if she didn't make us do every single thing she says."
 
"That's too bad," said Jasper, with a laugh, and flourishing away on the second line of the notice.
 
"You needn't laugh," said Alexia grimly; "I guess you wouldn't if you had our Miss Salisbury at your school, Jasper King."
 
"Is she any worse than our Mr. Fraser?" said Jasper. "I wonder. I tell you what, Alexia, he keeps us boys at it! Doesn't he, Pick?"
 
"Well, I rather guess," said Picketing concisely44, but his look told volumes.
 
"Oh, you boys have an easy enough time," said Alexia, with a sniff45, "and you are always grumbling46 about how hard it is, while I don't say a word, but just bear things."
 
"I'm so sorry for poor Miss Salisbury," observed Pickering, lazily watching
Jasper's efforts.
"Well, you needn't be," retorted Alexia; "she's very fond of me, Miss Salisbury is, and I don't in the least know what she'd do if I left her school. But I never shall go away, for I just dote on her."
 
"It looks like it," said Pickering, with a laugh.
 
"Well, I do," declared Alexia; "she's my very sweetest friend, except Polly
Pepper, so there!"
"Oh, dear me! I don't know what next to say," cried Jasper, holding off the notice at arm's length, and scowling47 at it dreadfully.
 
"You ought to see your face, Jasper," cried Alexia. "Dear me! it's positively48 awful."
 
"Well, it's not half as bad as I feel," said Jasper, "with this terrible old notice weighing me down."
 
"'Attention'," drawled Pickering, reading the two lines. "'You are requested to appear—'"
 
"Hold on!" cried Jasper, turning over the notice. "Who told you to read it out, pray tell?"
 
"I'm on the Committee, I'd have you know," said Pickering coolly.
 
"Well, we'll pitch you out," said Jasper, "neck and heels, if you don't take care. Well, but really this is awful work." He whirled over the notice again, and glared at it savagely49.
 
"Why don't we just say, 'A Cooking Club is to be formed'?" proposed Polly, "and——"
 
"Oh, that will be elegant," interrupted Alexia, clapping her hands. "Oh,
Polly, you write it."
"Oh, I couldn't," said Polly, drawing back.
 
"Yes, Polly, do," begged Jasper.
 
"Oh, no, you write it," said Polly.
 
"Well, then, you tell me what to say," said Jasper, laughing.
 
"She did," said Alexia impatiently. "A Cooking Club is to be formed'—didn't you hear her?"
 
"I have that," said Jasper, scribbling50 away on a fresh piece of paper. "Now what next?"
 
"Go on, Polly," said Alexia.
 
"Well—oh, 'Will you please come to the first meeting?'"
 
"'And see how you like it,'" finished Alexia; "that's just elegant—do write it down, Jasper."
 
"You may be sure I will," cried Jasper, vastly pleased that he was to be helped out, and finishing it all up with great energy. "Well, what else?" and he poised51 his pen in air and looked at Polly.
 
"Why, isn't that enough?" said Polly, a little pucker52 beginning to come on her forehead.
 
"I should think so," said Pickering; "it tells all the story."
 
"And they will come, you may be sure," said Jasper, holding off the notice again, this time for everybody's inspection53, "and that's the main thing."
 
"And now we can all begin to write them," said Alexia, in great satisfaction, seizing her pen, which she had dropped. "Do put it in the middle of the table, Jasper, where we can all see."
 
"Wait till I write a good one," said Jasper, beginning on a fresh sheet of paper. "I was hurrying so to get it all down; you can hardly read it." So he wrote it out in his best hand, then propped54 the notice up against the book-rack. "Now begin," he said.
 
"Let's race," cried Alexia, already scrawling the first words at a great rate.
 
"Oh, dear me! we shan't do it decently then," said Polly, in alarm. "I mean, I shan't, if we race."
 
"Nor I, either," said Jasper.
 
"Well, I'm not going to race, anyway," declared Pickering, making slow, lazy strokes with his pen; "it's quite bad enough to have to write these odious55 things, without breaking one's neck over them."
 
"Well, don't let's talk," said Alexia, seeing that she couldn't have any part in the conversation since all her mind had to go into her task. "Oh, dear me! I left out the dot to my 'i,' and misery! there's a blot56! It was all because I was listening to you, Pickering Dodge."
 
"Well, we'll all be as still as mice now," said Polly; so no sound was heard save the scratching of pens over the paper, as the work went gayly on.
 
"Oh, isn't it too bad that we can't any of us find that ten-dollar bill Joel lost at the garden party?" broke out Alexia, when this sort of thing had proceeded for some time.
 
"Ugh!" cried Polly, and her pen slipped, making an awful scratch and just spoiling the best notice she had written.
 
Jasper raised his head and cast a warning glance over the table at Alexia, but it was too late.
 
"I do believe we shall find it some time," said Polly, scraping away with the ink-eraser and only making matters worse.
 
"Take care, Polly; the ink is too fresh," warned Jasper. "Wait until it dries."
 
"Well, I've smeared57 it all up now," said Polly, leaning back in her chair and viewing her work with despair.
 
"Perhaps it can be fixed," said Alexia, overwhelmed with distress40 and leaning forward to see the worst. "I 'most know it can; let me try, Polly."
 
"No, no, Alexia, I wouldn't," said Jasper; "it's quite bad enough already."
 
"Well, maybe I can do it," persisted Alexia, "if I could only try."
 
"You may try," said Polly, pushing the paper toward her, when she saw Alexia's face, "but it's no matter anyway, I'll write another." And she had already begun it when Alexia threw down the ink-eraser.
 
"It's no sort of use," she said, "and I've made a shocking hole in the paper. Oh, dear me!" and she looked so utterly58 miserable59 that Polly's brow cleared and she began to laugh.
 
"Dear me!" she said, "it isn't a bit of matter, and see, I've ever so much done already on this. And I do believe we shall find that ten-dollar note sometime. I do verily believe so, Alexia."
 
"So do I," cried Jasper heartily60.
 
Pickering said nothing; he didn't really believe the ten-dollar bill would ever be found, having helped Jasper to ransack61 so many possible and impossible places, but he wasn't going to say so, and thus add to the general gloom.
 
"And I think it was awfully62 nice of Joel to do that dreadful work over Mr.
King's old books, and earn the money," said Alexia.
Polly looked up with a smile. "Wasn't it?" she cried radiantly.
 
"And Father says Joe does the lists so well," said Jasper heartily; "he sticks at it every day like a leech63, and there can't anything get him off to play till the hour is over."
 
"Well, I don't see how he can," said Alexia, drawing a long breath. "Dear me, it would just tire me to death. Why, Polly Pepper!" Alexia threw clown her pen and stared at her. "When is the first meeting to be?"
 
"Why, you know," said Polly, writing away, laboriously64; "next Wednesday evening, of course."
 
"Well, we don't say so," said Alexia. "How in the world are they to know?"
 
The other members of the Committee stopped work immediately and glanced ruefully at the little pile of notices accumulating in the middle of the table.
 
"We can never write those all over," began Polly tragically65.
 
Pickering put out a long hand and picked out from the pile the one he had written.
 
"I shall just write, 'Wednesday evening, July 21st,' down in one corner," he said.
 
"Oh, goody!" exclaimed Alexia, her face brightening; "I shall do mine so"—pulling out her scrawls66 from the heap of notices.
 
"But we don't tell where the meeting is to be," said Jasper after they had all fallen to work again.
 
At this second fright no one seemed to be able to speak. It was Alexia who first found her voice.
 
"Why not put it in the other corner?" she said.
 
"And that just balances," said Jasper, holding one of his notices up when the two additions had been made, "so it really looks better than ever."
 
"But we mustn't make any more blunders," observed Pickering wisely, "for we haven't any extra corners to go to now."
 
"Oh, we aren't going to make any," declared Alexia, "and we will soon be through, thank goodness!"—as the pens set up lively work once more.
 
"I hope so." Polly gave a long sigh. "Oh, dear me! it wouldn't be one-half so hard to do cooking for the Club, as to write a single one of these things."
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地
参考例句:
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
2 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
3 quirks 45fdbe6cf154fe3b8bcba6cba262afa0     
n.奇事,巧合( quirk的名词复数 );怪癖
参考例句:
  • One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
5 penetrating ImTzZS     
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的
参考例句:
  • He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
  • He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。
6 apron Lvzzo     
n.围裙;工作裙
参考例句:
  • We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
  • She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。
7 wrenching 30892474a599ed7ca0cbef49ded6c26b     
n.修截苗根,苗木铲根(铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土)v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的现在分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛
参考例句:
  • China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
  • A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛,把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
8 jig aRnzk     
n.快步舞(曲);v.上下晃动;用夹具辅助加工;蹦蹦跳跳
参考例句:
  • I went mad with joy and danced a little jig.我欣喜若狂,跳了几步吉格舞。
  • He piped a jig so that we could dance.他用笛子吹奏格舞曲好让我们跳舞。
9 giggled 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12     
v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 hopping hopping     
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
  • I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。
11 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
12 jingling 966ec027d693bb9739d1c4843be19b9f     
叮当声
参考例句:
  • A carriage went jingling by with some reclining figure in it. 一辆马车叮当驶过,车上斜倚着一个人。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Melanie did not seem to know, or care, that life was riding by with jingling spurs. 媚兰好像并不知道,或者不关心,生活正马刺丁当地一路驶过去了呢。
13 prettily xQAxh     
adv.优美地;可爱地
参考例句:
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back.此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。
  • She pouted prettily at him.她冲他撅着嘴,样子很可爱。
14 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
15 velvet 5gqyO     
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的
参考例句:
  • This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
  • The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。
16 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
17 wade nMgzu     
v.跋涉,涉水;n.跋涉
参考例句:
  • We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
  • We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。
18 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
19 desolate vmizO     
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂
参考例句:
  • The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
  • We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后,我们都觉得万分孤寂。
20 refinement kinyX     
n.文雅;高尚;精美;精制;精炼
参考例句:
  • Sally is a woman of great refinement and beauty. 莎莉是个温文尔雅又很漂亮的女士。
  • Good manners and correct speech are marks of refinement.彬彬有礼和谈吐得体是文雅的标志。
21 sterling yG8z6     
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑)
参考例句:
  • Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率?
  • Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺,这有助于减轻通胀压力。
22 prim SSIz3     
adj.拘泥形式的,一本正经的;n.循规蹈矩,整洁;adv.循规蹈矩地,整洁地
参考例句:
  • She's too prim to enjoy rude jokes!她太古板,不喜欢听粗野的笑话!
  • He is prim and precise in manner.他的态度一本正经而严谨
23 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
24 spacious YwQwW     
adj.广阔的,宽敞的
参考例句:
  • Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞,足够建一座游泳池。
  • The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。
25 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
26 dodge q83yo     
v.闪开,躲开,避开;n.妙计,诡计
参考例句:
  • A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪,才没被车从身上辗过。
  • The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。
27 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
28 bustle esazC     
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹
参考例句:
  • The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深,喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
  • There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。
29 plunging 5fe12477bea00d74cd494313d62da074     
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发,生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
30 swarmed 3f3ff8c8e0f4188f5aa0b8df54637368     
密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去
参考例句:
  • When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响,孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
  • When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下,人群就蜂拥回了旅社。
31 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
32 hopped 91b136feb9c3ae690a1c2672986faa1c     
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花
参考例句:
  • He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
  • He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车,向市区开去。
33 scrapping 6327b12f2e69f7c7fd6f72afe416a20a     
刮,切除坯体余泥
参考例句:
  • He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
  • These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。
34 obstinately imVzvU     
ad.固执地,顽固地
参考例句:
  • He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
  • Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。
35 entangled e3d30c3c857155b7a602a9ac53ade890     
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
  • Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
36 scrawling eb6c4d9bcb89539d82c601edd338242c     
乱涂,潦草地写( scrawl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
37 twitching 97f99ba519862a2bc691c280cee4d4cf     
n.颤搐
参考例句:
  • The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
38 labor P9Tzs     
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
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
39 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
40 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
41 distressed du1z3y     
痛苦的
参考例句:
  • He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑,无法回答他们的问题。
  • The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。
42 picketing 3622c3682ad01d59f573404fdf46f968     
[经] 罢工工人劝阻工人上班,工人纠察线
参考例句:
  • mass picketing of the factory 罢工工人集体对工厂的封锁
  • "And my chaps were also there to prevent picketing! “我的人也是防着女工们要拦厂! 来自子夜部分
43 grimace XQVza     
v.做鬼脸,面部歪扭
参考例句:
  • The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
  • Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。
44 concisely Jvwzw5     
adv.简明地
参考例句:
  • These equations are written more concisely as a single columnmatrix equation. 这些方程以单列矩阵方程表示会更简单。 来自辞典例句
  • The fiber morphology can be concisely summarized. 可以对棉纤维的形态结构进行扼要地归纳。 来自辞典例句
45 sniff PF7zs     
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视
参考例句:
  • The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
  • When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候,他们会彼此嗅一会儿。
46 grumbling grumbling     
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的
参考例句:
  • She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
  • We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。
47 scowling bbce79e9f38ff2b7862d040d9e2c1dc7     
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里,穿着灰色的衣服,漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
48 positively vPTxw     
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实
参考例句:
  • She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
  • The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。
49 savagely 902f52b3c682f478ddd5202b40afefb9     
adv. 野蛮地,残酷地
参考例句:
  • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
  • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
50 scribbling 82fe3d42f37de6f101db3de98fc9e23d     
n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下
参考例句:
  • Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字! 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字,妈妈看在眼里,就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网
51 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
52 pucker 6tJya     
v.撅起,使起皱;n.(衣服上的)皱纹,褶子
参考例句:
  • She puckered her lips into a rosebud and kissed him on the nose.她双唇努起犹如一朵玫瑰花蕾,在他的鼻子上吻了一下。
  • Toby's face puckered.托比的脸皱了起来。
53 inspection y6TxG     
n.检查,审查,检阅
参考例句:
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
  • The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。
54 propped 557c00b5b2517b407d1d2ef6ba321b0e     
支撑,支持,维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
  • This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。
55 odious l0zy2     
adj.可憎的,讨厌的
参考例句:
  • The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
  • His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。
56 blot wtbzA     
vt.弄脏(用吸墨纸)吸干;n.污点,污渍
参考例句:
  • That new factory is a blot on the landscape.那新建的工厂破坏了此地的景色。
  • The crime he committed is a blot on his record.他犯的罪是他的履历中的一个污点。
57 smeared c767e97773b70cc726f08526efd20e83     
弄脏; 玷污; 涂抹; 擦上
参考例句:
  • The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
  • A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。
58 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
59 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
60 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
61 ransack fALzi     
v.彻底搜索,洗劫
参考例句:
  • He began to ransack his mother's workbox for a piece of thread.他要找一根线,开始翻腾妈妈的针线盒。
  • She ransack my apartment for the bankbook.她在我公寓里到处搜索寻找存折。
62 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
63 leech Z9UzB     
n.水蛭,吸血鬼,榨取他人利益的人;vt.以水蛭吸血;vi.依附于别人
参考例句:
  • A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫,通常生活在水中。
  • One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭,吸走了我的时间和欢笑。
64 laboriously xpjz8l     
adv.艰苦地;费力地;辛勤地;(文体等)佶屈聱牙地
参考例句:
  • She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句
65 tragically 7bc94e82e1e513c38f4a9dea83dc8681     
adv. 悲剧地,悲惨地
参考例句:
  • Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
  • Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。
66 scrawls 5c879676a9613d890d37c30a83043324     
潦草的笔迹( scrawl的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He scrawls, and no one can recognize what he writes. 他写字像鬼画符,没人能认出来。


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