THE subsiding1 sea was now a liquid Paradise: its great pellucid2 braes and hillocks shone with the sparkle and the hues3 of all the jewels in an emperor’s crown. Imagine — after three days of inky sea, and pitchy sky, and Death’s deep jaws4 snapping and barely missing — ten thousand great slopes of emerald, aquamarine, amethyst6 and topaz, liquid, alive, and dancing jocundly7 beneath a gorgeous sun: and you will have a faint idea of what met the eyes and hearts of the rescued looking out of that battered8, jagged ship, upon ocean smiling back to smiling Heaven.
Yet one man felt no buoyancy, nor gush9 of joy. He leaned against a fragment of the broken bulwark10, confused between the sweetness of life preserved and the bitterness of treasure lost — his wife’s and children’s treasured treasure; benumbed at heart, and almost weary of the existence he had battled for so stoutly11. He looked so moody12, and answered so grimly and unlike himself, that they all held aloof13 from him; heavy heart among so many joyful14 ones, he was in true solitude15; the body in a crowd, the soul alone. And he was sore as well as heavy; for of all the lubberly acts he had ever known, the way he had lost his dear ones’ fortune seemed to him the worst.
A voice sounded in his ear: “Poor thing! she has s foundered16.”
It was Fullalove scanning the horizon with his famous glass.
“Foundered? Who?” said Dodd; though he did not care much who sank, who swam. Then he remembered the vessel18, whose flashing guns had shed a human ray on the unearthly horror of the black hurricane. He looked all round.
Blank.
Ay, she had perished with all hands. The sea had swallowed her, and spared him — ungrateful.
This turned his mind sharply. Suppose the Agra had gone down, the money would be lost as now, and his life into the bargain — a life dearer to all at home than millions of gold: he prayed inwardly to Heaven for gratitude19 and goodness to feel its mercy. This softened20 him a little; and his heart swelled21 so, he wished he was a woman to cry over his children’s loss for an hour, and then shake all off and go through his duty somehow; for now he was paralysed, and all seemed ended. Next, nautical22 superstition23 fastened on him. That pocket-book of his was Jonah: it had to go or else the ship; the moment it did go, the storm had broken as by magic.
Now Superstition is generally stronger than rational Religion, whether they lie apart or together in one mind; and this superstitious24 notion did something toward steeling the poor man. “Come,” said he to himself “my loss has saved all these poor souls on board this ship. So be it! Heaven’s will be done! I must bustle25, or else go mad.”
He turned to and worked like a horse: and with his own hands helped the men to rig parallel ropes — a substitute for bulwarks26 — till the perspiration27 ran down him.
Bayliss now reported the well nearly dry, and Dodd was about to bear up and make sail again, when one of the ship-boys, a little fellow with a bright eye and a chin like a monkey’s, came up to him and said —
“Please, captain!” Then glared with awe28 at what he had done, and broke down.
“Well, my little man?” said Dodd gently.
Thus encouraged, the boy gave a great gulp29, and burst in in a brogue, “Och your arnr, sure there’s no rudder on her at all barrin the tiller.”
“What d’ye mean?”
“Don’t murder me, your arnr, and I’ll tell ye. It’s meself looked over the starrn just now; and I seen there was no rudder at all at all. Mille diaoul, sis I; ye old bitch, I’ll tell his arur what y’are after, slipping your rudder like my granny’s list shoe, I will.”
Dodd ran to the helm and looked down; the brat30 was right: the blows which had so endangered the ship, had broken the rudder, and the sea had washed away more than half of it. The sight and the reflection made him faintish for a moment. Death passing so very close to a man sickens him afterwards, unless he has the luck to be brainless.
“What is your name, urchin31?”
“Ned Murphy, sir.”
“Very well, Murphy, then you are a fine little fellow, and have wiped all our eyes in the ship: run and send the carpenter aft.”
“Ay, ay, sir.”
The carpenter came. Like most artisans, he was clever in a groove32: take him out of that, and lo! a mule33, a pig, an owl34. He was not only unable to invent, but so stiffly disinclined: a makeshift rudder was clean out of his way; and, as his whole struggle was to get away from every suggestion Dodd made back to groove aforesaid, the thing looked hopeless. Then Fullalove, who had stood by grinning, offered to make a bunkum rudder, provided the carpenter and mates were put under his orders. “But” said he, “I must bargain they shall be disrated if they attempt to reason.” “That is no more than fair,” said Dodd. The Yankee inventor demanded a spare maincap, and cut away one end of the square piece, so as to make it fit the stem-post: through the circle of the cap he introduced a spare mizen topmast: to this he seized a length of junk, another to that, another to that, and so on: to the outside junk he seized a spare maintop-gallant mast, and this conglomerate35 being now nearly as broad as a rudder, he planked over all. The sea by this time was calm; he got the machine over the stern, and had the square end of the cap bolted to the stern-post. He had already fixed36 four spans of nine-inch hawser37 to the sides of the makeshift, two fastened to tackles, which led into the gunroom ports, and were housed taut39 — these kept the lower part of the makeshift close to the stern post — and two, to which guys were now fixed and led through the aftermost ports on to the quarter-deck, where luff-tackles were attached to them, by means of which the makeshift was to be worked as a rudder.
Some sail was now got on the ship, and she was found to steer40 very well. Dodd tried her on every tack38, and at last ordered Sharpe to make all sail and head for the Cape41.
This electrified42 the first mate. The breeze was very faint but southerly, and the Mauritius under their lee. They could make it in a night and there refit, and ship a new rudder. He suggested the danger of sailing sixteen hundred miles steered43 by a gimcrack; and implored44 Dodd to put into port.
Dodd answered with a roughness and a certain wildness never seen in him before: “Danger, sir! There will be no more foul45 weather this voyage; Jonah is overboard.” Sharpe stared an inquiry46. “I tell you we shan’t lower our topgallants once from this to the Cape: Jonah is overboard:” and he slapped his forehead in despair; then, stamping impatiently with his foot, told Sharpe his duty was to obey orders, not discuss them. “Certainly, sir,” said Sharpe sullenly48, and went out of the cabin with serious thoughts of communicating to the other mates an alarming suspicion about Dodd, that now, for the first time, crossed his mind. But long habit of discipline prevailed, and he made all sail on the ship, and bore away for the Cape with a heavy heart. The sea was like a mill-pond, but in that he saw only its well-known treachery, to lead them on to this unparalleled act of madness: each sail he hoisted49 seemed one more agent of Destruction rising at his own suicidal command.
Towards evening it became nearly dead calm. The sea heaved a little, but was waveless, glassy, and the colour of a rose, incredibly brave and delicate.
The look-out reported pieces of wreck50 to windward. As the ship was making so little way, Dodd beat up towards them: he feared it was a British ship that had foundered in the storm, and thought it his duty to ascertain51 and carry the sad news home. In two tacks52 they got near enough to see with their glasses that the fragments belonged, not to a stranger, but to the Agra herself. There was one of her waterbutts, and a broken mast with some rigging: and as more wreck was descried54 coming in at a little distance, Dodd kept the ship close to the wind to inspect it: on drifting near, it proved to be several pieces of the bulwark, and a mahogany table out of the cuddy This sort of flotsam was not worth delaying the ship to pick it up; so Dodd made sail again, steering55 now south-east.
He had sailed about half a mile when the look-out hailed the deck again.
“A man in the water!”
“Whereabouts?”
“A short league on the weather quarter.”
“Oh, we can’t beat to windward for him,” said Sharpe; “he is dead long ago.”
“Holds his head very high for a corpse,” said the look-out.
“I’ll soon know,” cried Dodd. “Lower the gig; I’ll go myself.”
The gig was lowered, and six swift rowers pulled him to windward, while the ship kept on her course.
It is most unusual for a captain to leave the ship at sea on such petty errands: but Dodd half hoped the man might be alive; and he was so unhappy; and, like his daughter, who probably derived56 the trait from him, grasped instinctively57 at a chance of doing kindness to some poor fellow alive or dead. That would soothe58 his own sore, good heart.
When they had pulled about two miles, the sun was sinking into the horizon. “Give way, men,” said Dodd, “or we shall not be able to see him.” The men bent59 to their oars60 and made the boat fly
Presently the coxswain caught sight of an object bobbing on the water abeam61.
“Why, that must be it,” said he: “the lubber! to take it for a man’s head. Why, it is nothing but a thundering old bladder, speckled white.”
“What?” cried Dodd, and fell a-trembling. “Steer for it! Give way!”
“Ay, ay, sir!”
They soon came alongside the bladder, and the coxswain grabbed it. “Hallo! here’s something lashed62 to it: a bottle!”
“Give it me!” gasped63 Dodd in a voice choked with agitation64. “Give it me! Back to the ship! Fly! fly! Cut her off, or she’ll give us the slip now.”
He never spoke65 a word more, but sat in a stupor66 of joyful wonder.
They soon caught the ship; he got into his cabin, he scarce knew how: broke the bottle to atoms, and found the indomitable Cash uninjured. With trembling hands he restored it to its old place in his bosom67, and sewed it tighter than ever.
Until he felt it there once more, he could hardly realise a stroke of good fortune that seemed miraculous68 — though, in reality, it was less strange than the way he had lost it;10 but now, laid bodily on his heart, it set his bosom on fire. Oh, the bright eye, the bounding pulse, the buoyant foot, the reckless joy! He slapped Sharpe on the back a little vulgarly for him:—
“Jonah is on board again, old fellow: look out for squalls.”
10 The Agra, being much larger than the bottle, had drifted faster to leeward69 in the storm.
He uttered this foreboding in a tone of triumph, and with a gay elastic70 recklessness, which harmonised so well with his makeshift rudder, that Sharpe groaned71 aloud, and wished himself under any captain in the world but this, and in any other ship. He looked round to make sure he was not watched, and then tapped his forehead significantly. This somewhat relieved him, and he did his duty smartly for a man going to the bottom with his eyes open.
But ill luck is not to be bespoken73 any more than good: the Agra’s seemed to have blown itself out; the wind veered74 to the south-west, and breathed steadily75 in that quarter for ten days. The topgallant sails were never lowered nor shifted day nor night all that time, and not a single danger occurred between this and the Cape, except to a monkey, which I fear I must relate, on account of its remoter consequences. One fine afternoon, everybody was on deck amusing themselves as they could: Mrs. Beresford, to wit, was being flattered under the Poop awning76 by Kenealy. The feud77 between her and Dodd continued, but under a false impression. The lady had one advantage over the gentler specimens78 of her sex; she was never deterred79 from a kind action by want of pluck, as they are. Pluck? Aquilina was brimful of it. When she found Dodd was wounded, she cast her wrongs to the wind, and offered to go and nurse him. Her message came at an unlucky moment, and by an unlucky messenger: the surgeon said hastily, “I can’t have him bothered.” The stupid servant reported, “He can’t be worried;” and Mrs. Beresford, thinking Dodd had a hand in this answer, was bitterly mortified80; and with some reason. She would have forgiven him, though, if he had died; but, as he lived, she thought she had a right to detest81 him, and did; and showed her sentiments like a lady, by never speaking to him, nor looking at him, but ignoring him with frigid82 magnificence on his own quarter-deck.
Now, among the crew of this ship was a favourite goat, good-tempered, affectionate, and playful; but a single vice83 counterbalanced all his virtues84: he took a drop. A year or two ago some light-hearted tempter taught him to sip85 grog; he took to it kindly86, and was now arrived at such a pitch that at grog-time he used to butt53 his way in among the sailors, and get close to the canteen; and, — by arrangement, an allowance was always served out to him. On imbibing87 it, he passed with quadrupedal rapidity through three stages, the absurd, the choleric88, the sleepy; and was never his own goat again until he awoke from the latter. Now Master Fred Beresford encountered him in the second stage of inebriety89, and, being a rough playfellow, tapped his nose with a battledore. Instantly Billy butted90 at him; mischievous91 Fred screamed and jumped on the bulwarks. Pot-angry Billy went at him there; whereupon the young gentleman, with all eldrich screech92, and a comparative estimate of perils93 that smacked94 of inexperience, fled into the sea, at the very moment when his anxious mother was rushing to save him. She uttered a scream of agony, and would actually have followed him, but was held back, uttering shriek95 after shriek, that pierced every heart within hearing.
But Dodd saw the boy go overboard, and vaulted96 over the bulwark near the helm, roared in the very air, “Heave the ship to!” and went splash into the water about ten yards from the place. He was soon followed by Vespasian, and a boat was lowered as quickly as possible. Dodd caught sight of a broad straw hat on the top of a wave, swam lustily to it, and found Freddy inside: it was tied under his chin, and would have floated Goliath. Dodd turned to the ship, saw the poor mother with white face and arms outstretched as if she would fly at them, and held the urchin up high to her with a joyful “hurrah97.” The ship seemed alive and to hurrah in return with giant voice: the boat soon picked them up, and Dodd came up the side with Freddy in his arms, and placed him in his mother’s with honest pride and deep parental98 sympathy.
Guess how she scolded and caressed99 her child all in a breath, and sobbed100 over him! For this no human pen has ever told, nor ever will. All I can just manage to convey is that, after she had all but eaten the little torment101, she suddenly dropped him, and made a great maternal102 rush at Dodd. She flung her arms round him, and kissed him eagerly, almost fiercely: then, carried away wild by mighty103 Nature, she patted him all over in the strangest way, and kissed his waistcoat, his arms, his hands, and rained tears of joy and gratitude on them.
Dodd was quite overpowered. “No! no!” said he. “Don’t now, pray, don’t! There! there! I know, my dear, I know; I’m a father.” And he was very near whimpering himself; but recovered the man and the commander, and said, soothingly104, “There! there!” and he handed her tenderly down to her cabin.
All this time he had actually forgotten the packet. But now a horrible fear came on him. He hurried to his own cabin and examined it. A little salt water had oozed105 through the bullet-hole and discoloured the leather; but that was all.
He breathed again.
“Thank Heaven I forgot all about it!” said he: “it would have made a cur of me.”
Lady Beresford’s petty irritation106 against Dodd melted at once — before so great a thing: she longed to make friends with him; but for once felt timid. It struck her now all of a sudden that she had been misbehaving. However, she caught Dodd alone on the deck, and said to him softly, “I want so to end our quarrel.”
“Our quarrel, madam!” said he; “why, I know of none: oh, about the light eh? Well, you see the master of a ship is obliged to be a tyrant107 in some things.”
“I make no complaint,” said the lady hastily, and hung her head. “All I ask you is to forgive one who has behaved like a fool, without even the excuse of being one; and — will you give me your hand, sir?”
“Ay, and with all my heart,” said Dodd warmly, enclosing the soft little hand in his honest grasp.
And with no more ado these two highflyers ended one of those little misunderstandings petty spirits nurse into a feud.
The ship being in port at the Cape, and two hundred hammers tapping at her, Dodd went ashore109 in search of Captain Robarts, and made the Agra over to him in the friendliest way, adding warmly that he had found every reason to be satisfied with the officers and the crew. To his surprise, Captain Robarts received all this ungraciously. “You ought to have remained on board, sir, and made me over the command on the quarter-deck.” Dodd replied politely that it would have been more formal. “Suppose I return immediately, and man the side for you: and then you board her, say, in half-an-hour?”
“I shall come when I like,” replied Robarts crustily.
“And when will you like to come?” inquired Dodd, with imperturbable111 good-humour.
“Now, this moment: and I’ll trouble you to come along with me.”
“Certainly, sir.”
They got a boat and went out to the ship: on coming alongside, Dodd thought to meet his wishes by going first and receiving him. But the jealous, cross-grained fellow, shoved roughly before him and led the way up the ship’s side. Sharpe and the rest saluted112 him: he did not return the salute113, but said hoarsely114, “Turn the hands up to muster115.”
When they were all aft, he noticed one or two with their caps on. “Hats off and be —— to you!” cried he. “Do you know where you are? Do you know who you are looking at? If not, I’ll show you. I’m here to restore discipline to this ship: so mind how you run athwart my hawse: don’t you play with the bull, my men; or you’ll find his horns —— sharp. Pipe down! Now, you, sir, bring me the log-book.”
He ran his eye over it, and closed it contemptuously: “Pirates, and hurricanes! I never fell in with pirates nor hurricanes: I have heard of a breeze, and a gale116, but I never knew a seaman117 worth his salt say ‘hurricane.’ Get another log-book, Mr. Sharpe; put down that it begins this day at noon; and enter that Captain Robarts came on deck, found the ship in a miserable118 condition, took the command, mustered119 the officers and men, and stopped the ship’s company’s grog for a week for receiving him with hats on.”
Even Sharpe, that walking Obedience120, was taken aback. “Stop — the ship’s company’s — grog — for a week, sir?”
“Yes, sir, for a week; and if you fling my orders back in my face instead of clapping on sail to execute them, I’ll have you towed ashore on a grating. Your name is Sharpe; well my name is Dammedsharpe, and so you’ll find.”
In short, the new captain came down on the ship like a blight121.
He was especially hard on Dodd: nothing that commander had done was right, nor, had he done the contrary, would that have been right: he was disgracefully behind time; and he ought to have put in to the Isle122 of France, which would have retarded123 him: his rope bulwarks were lubberly: his rudder a disgrace to navigation: he, Robarts, was not so green as to believe that any master had really sailed sixteen hundred miles with it, and if he had, more shame for him. Briefly124, a marine5 criticaster.
All this was spoken at Dodd — a thing no male does unless he is an awful snob125 — and grieved him, it was so unjust. He withdrew wounded to the little cabin he was entitled to as a passenger, and hugged his treasure for comfort. He patted the pocket-book, and said to it, “Never you mind! The greater Tartar he is, the less likely to sink you or run you on a lee shore.”
With all his love of discipline, Robarts was not so fond of the ship as Dodd.
While his repairs were going on he was generally ashore, and by this means missed a visit. Commodore Collier, one of the smartest sailors afloat, espied126 the Yankee makeshift from the quarter-deck of his vessel, the Salamanca, fifty guns. In ten minutes he was under the Agra’s stern inspecting it; then came on board, and was received in form by Sharpe and the other officers. “Are you the master of this ship, sir?” he asked.
“No, commodore. I am the first mate: the captain is ashore.”
“I am sorry for it. I want to talk about his rudder.”
“Oh, he had nothing to do with that,” replied Sharpe, eagerly: “that was our dear old captain: he is on board. Young gentleman! ask Captain Dodd to oblige me by coming on deck! Hy! and Mr. Fullalove too.”
“Young gentleman?” inquired Collier. “What the devil officer is that?”
“That is a name we give the middies; I don’t know why.”
“Nor I neither; ha! ha!”
Dodd and Fullalove came on deck, and Commodore Collier bestowed127 the highest compliments on the “makeshift.” Dodd begged him to transfer them to the real inventor, and introduced Fullalove.
“Ay,” said Collier, “I know you Yankees are very handy. I lost my rudder at sea once, and had to ship a makeshift; but it was a cursed complicated thing, not a patch upon yours, Mr. Fullalove. Yours is ingenious and simple. Ship has been in action, I see: pray how was that, if I may be so bold?”
“Pirates, commodore,” said Sharpe. “We fell in with a brace128 of Portuguese129 devils, lateen-rigged, and carrying ten guns apiece, in the Straits of Gaspar: fought ’em from noon till sundown, riddled130 one, and ran down the other, and sunk her in a moment. That was all your doing, Captain: so don’t try to shift it on other people; for we won’t stand it.”
“If he denies it, I won’t believe him,” said Collier, “for he has got it in his eye. Gentlemen, will you do me the honour to dine with me today on board the flag-ship?”
Dodd and Fullalove accepted. Sharpe declined, with regret, on the score of duty. And as the cocked hat went down the side, after saluting131 him politely, he could not help thinking to himself what a difference between a real captain, who had something to be proud of, and his own unlicked cub132 of a skipper with the manners of a pilot-boat. He told Robarts the next day: Robarts said nothing, but his face seemed to turn greenish, and it embittered133 his hatred134 of Dodd the inoffensive.
It is droll135, and sad, but true, that Christendom is full of men in a hurry to hate. And a fruitful cause is jealousy136. The schoolmen, or rather certain of the schoolmen — for nothing is much shallower than to speak of all those disputants as one school — defined woman, “a featherless biped vehemently137 addicted138 to jealousy.” Whether she is more featherless than the male can be decided139 at a trifling140 expense of time, money, and reason: you have but to go to court. But as for envy and jealousy, I think it is pure, unobservant, antique Cant72 which has fixed them on the female character distinctively141. As a molehill to a mountain is women’s jealousy to men’s. Agatha may have a host of virtues and graces, and yet her female acquaintance will not hate her, provided she has the moderation to abstain142 from being downright pretty. She may sing like an angel, paint like an angel, talk, write, nurse the sick, all like an angel, and not rouse the devil in her fair sisters, so long as she does not dress like an angel. But the minds of men being much larger than women’s, yet very little greater, they hang jealousy on a thousand pegs144. Where there was no peg143, I have seen them do with a pin.
Captain Robarts took a pin, ran it into his own heart, and hung that sordid145 passion on it.
He would get rid of all the Doddites before he sailed. He insulted Mr. Tickell, so that he left the service and entered a mercantile house ashore: he made several of the best men desert, and the ship went to sea short of hands. This threw heavier work on the crew, and led to many punishments and a steady current of abuse. Sharpe became a mere146 machine, always obeying, never speaking: Grey was put under arrest for remonstrating147 against ungentlemanly language; and Bayliss, being at bottom of the same breed as Robarts, fell into his humour, and helped hector the petty officers and men. The crew, depressed148 and irritated, went through their duties pully-hauly-wise. There was no song under the forecastle in the first watch, and often no grog on the mess table at one bell. Dodd never came on the quarter-deck without being reminded he was only a passenger, and the ship was now under naval149 discipline. “I was reared in the royal navy, sir,” would Robarts say, “second lieutenant150 aboard the Atalanta: that is the school, sir, that is the only school that breeds seamen151.” Dodd bore scores of similar taunts152 as a Newfoundland puts up with a terrier in office: he seldom replied, and, when he did, in a few quiet dignified153 words that gave no handle.
Robarts, who bore the name of a lucky captain, had fair weather all the way to St. Helena.
The guard-ship at this island was the Salamanca. She had left the Cape a week before the Agra. Captain Robarts, with his characteristic good-breeding, went to anchor inshore of Her Majesty’s ship: the wind failed at a critical moment, and a foul became inevitable154. Collier was on his quarter-deck, and saw what would happen long before Robarts did; he gave the needful orders, and it was beautiful to see how in half a minute the frigate155’s guns were run in, her ports lowered, her yards toppled on end, and a spring carried out and hauled on.
The Agra struck abreast156 her own forechains on the Salamanca’s quarter.
(Pipe.) “Boarders away. Tomahawks! cut everything that holds!” was heard from the frigate’s quarter-deck. Rush came a boarding party on to the merchant ship and hacked157 away without mercy all her lower rigging that held on to the frigate, signal halyards and all; others boomed her off with capstan bars, &c., and in two minutes the ships were clear. A lieutenant and boat’s crew came for Robarts, and ordered him on board the Salamanca, and, to make sure of his coming, took him back with them. He found Commodore Collier standing108 stiff as a ramrod on his quarter-deck. “Are you the master of the Agra?” (His quick eye had recognised her in a moment.)
“I am, sir.”
“Then she was commanded by a seaman, and is now commanded by a lubber. Don’t apply for your papers this week; for you won’t get them. Good morning. Take him away.”
They returned Robarts to his ship, and a suppressed grin on a score of faces showed him the clear commanding tones of the commodore had reached his own deck. He soothed158 himself by stopping the men’s grog and mast-heading three midshipmen that same afternoon.
The night before he weighed anchor this disciplinarian was drinking very late in a low public-house. There was not much moon, and the officer in charge of the ship did not see the gig coming till it was nearly alongside: then all was done in a flurry.
“Hy! man the side! Lanterns there! Jump, you boys, or you’ll catch pepper.”
The boys did jump, and little Murphy, not knowing the surgeon had ordered the ports to be drooped159, bounded over the bulwarks like an antelope160, lighted on the midship port, which stood at this angle, and glanced off into the ocean, lantern foremost: he made his little hole in the water within a yard of’ Captain Robarts. That Dignity, though splashed, took no notice of so small an incident as a gone ship-boy: and if Murphy had been wise and stayed with Nep. all had been well. But the poor urchin inadvertently came up again, and without the lantern. One of the gig’s crew grabbed him by the hair, and prolonged his existence by an inconsiderate impulse.
“Where is the other lantern?” was Robarts’ first word on reaching the deck: as if he didn’t know.
“Gone overboard, sir, with the boy Murphy.”
“Stand forward, you, sir,” growled162 Robarts.
Murphy stood forward, dripping and shivering with cold and fear.
“What d’ye mean by going overboard with the ship’s lantern?”
“Och, your arnr, sure some unasy divil drooped the port; and the lantern and me we had no foothold at all at all, and the lantern went into the say, bad luck to ut; and I went afther to try and save ut — for your arnr.”
“Belay all that!” said Robarts; “do you think you can blarney me, you young monkey? Here, Bosen’s mate, take a rope’s-end and start him! — Again! — Warm him well! — That’s right.”
As soon as the poor child’s shrieks163 subsided164 into sobs165, the disciplinarian gave him Explanation for Ointment166: “I can’t have the Company’s stores expended167 this way.”
The force of discipline could no farther go than to flog zeal168 for falling overboard: so, to avoid anticlimax169 in that port, Robarts weighed anchor at daybreak; and there was a southwesterly breeze waiting for this favourite of fortune, and carried him past the Azores. Off Ushant it was westerly, and veered to the nor’-west just before they sighted the Land’s End: never was such a charming passage from the Cape. The sailor who had the luck to sight Old England first nailed his starboard shoe to the mainmast for contributions; and all hearts beat joyfully170 — none more than David Dodd’s. His eye devoured171 the beloved shore: he hugged the treasure his own ill luck had jeopardised — but Robarts had sailed it safe into British waters — and forgave the man his ill manners for his good luck.
Robarts steered in for the Lizard172; but, when abreast the Point, kept well out again, and opened the Channel and looked out for a pilot
One was soon seen working out towards him, and the Agra brought to. The pilot descended173 from his lugger into his little boat, rowed alongside, and came on deck; a rough, tanned sailor, clad in flushing, and in build and manner might have passed for Robarts’ twin brother.
“Now then, you, sir, what will you take this ship up to the Downs for?”
“Thirty pounds.”
Roberts told him roughly he would not get thirty pounds out of’ him.
“Thyse and no higher, my Bo,” answered the pilot sturdily: he had been splicing174 the main brace, and would have answered an admiral.
Robarts swore at him lustily: Pilot discharged a volley in return with admirable promptitude. Robarts retorted, the other rough customer rejoined, and soon all Billingsgate thundered on the Agra’s quarter-deck. Finding, to his infinite disgust, his visitor as great a blackguard as himself, and not to be outsworn, Robarts ordered him to quit the ship on pain of being man-handled over the side.
“Oh, that’s it, is it?” growled the other: “here’s fill and be off then.” He prudently175 bottled the rest of his rage till he got safe into his boat, then shook his fist at the Agra, and cursed her captain sky-high. “You see the fair wind, but you don’t see the Channel fret176 a-coming, ye greedy gander. Downs! You’ll never see them: you have saved your —— money, and lost your —— ship, ye —— lubber.”
Robarts hurled177 back a sugar-plum or two of the same and then ordered Bayliss to clap on all sail, and keep a mid-channel course through the night.
At four bells in the middle watch, Sharpe, in charge of the ship, tapped at Robarts’ door. “Blowing hard, sir, and the weather getting thickish.”
“Wind fair still?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then call me if it blows any harder,” grunted178 Robarts.
In two hours more, tap, tap, came Bayliss, in charge. “If we don’t take sail in, they’ll take themselves out.”
“Furl to-gallen’sels, and call me if it gets any worse.”
In another hour Bayliss was at him again. “Blowing a gale, sir, and a Channel fog on.”
“Reef taupsles, and call me if it gets any worse.”
At daybreak Dodd was on deck, and found the ship flying through a fog so thick that her forecastle was quite invisible from the poop, and even her foremast loomed179 indistinct and looked distant. “You’ll be foul of something or other, Sharpe,” said he.
“What is that to you?” inquired a loud rough voice behind him. “I don’t allow passengers to handle my ship.”
“Then do pray handle her yourself; captain! Is this weather to go tearing happy-go-lucky up the Channel?”
“I mean to sail her without your advice, sir; and, being a seaman, I shall get all I can out of a fair wind.”
“That is right Captain Robarts, if you had but the British Channel all to yourself.”
“Perhaps you will leave me my deck all to myself.”
“I should be delighted: but my anxiety will not let me.” With this Dodd retired180 a few steps, and kept a keen look-out.
At noon a lusty voice cried “Land on the weather beam!”
All eyes were turned that way and saw nothing.
Land in sight was reported to Captain Robarts.
Now that worthy181 was in reality getting secretly anxious: so he ran on deck crying, “Who saw it?”
“Captain Dodd, sir.”
“Ugh! Nobody else?”
Dodd came forward, and, with a respectful air, told him that, being on the look-out, he had seen the coast of the Isle of Wight in a momentary182 lift of the haze183.
“Isle of Fiddlestick!” was the polite reply; “Isle of Wight is eighty miles astern by now.”
Dodd answered firmly that he was well acquainted with every outline in the Channel, and that the land he had seen was St. Katherine’s Point
Robarts deigned184 no reply, but had the log heaved: it showed the vessel to be running twelve knots an hour. He then went to his cabin and consulted his chart; and, having worked his problem, came hastily on deck, and went from rashness to wonderful caution. “Turn the hands out, and heave the ship to!”
The manoeuvre185 was executed gradually and ably, and scarce a bucketful of water shipped. “Furl taupsles and set the main trysail! There, Mr. Dodd, so much for you and your Isle of Wight. The land you saw was Dungeness, and you would have run on into the North Sea, I’ll be bound.”
When a man, habitually186 calm, turns anxious, he becomes more irritable187; and the mixture of timidity and rashness he saw in Robarts made Dodd very anxious.
He replied angrily, “At all events, I should not make a foul wind out of a fair one by heaving to; and if I did, I would heave to on the right tack.”
At this sudden facer — one, too, from a patient man — Robarts staggered a moment. He recovered, and with an oath ordered Dodd to go below, or he would have him chucked into the hold.
“Come, don’t be an ass17, Robarts,” said Dodd contemptuously.
Then, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Don’t you know the men only want such an order as that to chuck you into the sea?”
Robarts trembled. “Oh, if you mean to head a mutiny ——”
“Heaven forbid, sir! But I won’t leave the deck in dirty weather like this till the captain knows where he is.”
Towards sunset it got clearer, and they drifted past a revenue cutter, who was lying to with her head to the northward188. She hoisted no end of signals, but they understood none of them, and her captain gesticulated wildly on her deck.
“What is that Fantoccio dancing at?” inquired Captain Robarts brutally189.
“To see a first-class ship drift to leeward in a narrow sea with a fair wind,” said Dodd bitterly.
At night it blew hard, and the sea ran high and irregular. The ship began to be uneasy, and Robarts very properly ordered the top-gallant and royal yards to be sent down on deck. Dodd would have had them down twelve hours ago. The mate gave the order: no one moved. The mate went forward angry. He came back pale. The men refused to go aloft: they would not risk their lives for Captain Robarts.
The officers all assembled and went forward: they promised and threatened; but all in vain. The crew stood sullen47 together, as if to back one another, and put forward a spokesman to say that “there was not one of them the captain hadn’t started, and stopped his grog a dozen times: he had made the ship hell to them; and now her masts and yards and hull190 might go there along with her skipper, for them.”
Robarts received this tidings in sullen silence. “Don’t tell that Dodd, whatever you do,” said he. “They will come round now they have had their growl161: they are too near home to shy away their pay.”
Robarts had not sufficient insight into character to know that Dodd would instantly have sided with him against a mutiny.
But at this juncture191 the excaptain of the Agra was down in the cabin with his fellow-passengers, preparing a general remonstrance192: he had a chart before him, and a pair of compasses in his hand.
“St. Katherine’s Point lay about eight miles to windward at noon; and we have been drifting south and east this twelve hours, through lying to on the starboard tack; and besides, the ship has been conned193 as slovenly194 as she is sailed. I’ve seen her allowed to break off a dozen times, and gather more leeway. Ah! here is Captain Robarts. Captain, you saw the rate we passed the revenue cutter. That vessel was nearly stationary195; so what we passed her at was our own rate of drifting, and our least rate. Putting all this together, we can’t be many miles from the French coast, and, unless we look sharp and beat to windward, I pronounce the ship in danger.”
A horselaugh greeted this conclusion.
“We are nearer Yarmouth sands than France, I promise you, and nothing under our lee nearer than Rotterdam.”
A loud cry from the deck above, “A LIGHT ON THE LEE BOW!”
“There!” cried Robarts with an oath: “foul of her next! through me listening to your nonsense. He ran upon deck, and shouted through his trumpet196, “All hands wear ship!”
The crew, who had heard the previous cry, obeyed orders in the presence of an immediate110 danger; and perhaps their growl had really relieved their ill-humour. Robarts with delight saw them come tumbling up, and gave his orders lustily: “Brail up the trysel! up with the helm! in with the weather main brace! square the after yards!”
The ship’s bow turned from the wind, and, as soon as she got way on her, Robarts ran below again, and entered the cabin triumphant197
“That is all right: and now, Captain Dodd, a word with you. You will either retire at once to your cabin, or will cease to breed disaffection in my crew, and groundless alarm in my passengers, by instilling198 your own childish, ignorant fears. The ship has been underlogged a hundred miles, sir; and but for my caution in lying to for clear weather we should be groping among the Fern Isl ——”
CRASH!
An unheard-of shock threw the speaker and all the rest in a mass on the floor, smashed every lamp, put out every light; and, with a fierce grating noise, the ship was hard and fast on the French coast, with her stern to the sea.
One awful moment of silence; then, amidst shrieks of agony, the sea struck her like a rolling rock, solid to crush, liquid to drown, and the comb of a wave smashed the cabin windows and rushed in among them as they floundered on the floor, and wetted and chilled them to the marrow199. A voice in the dark cried, “O God! we are dead men.”
收听单词发音 |
1
subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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jocundly
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| adv.愉快地，快活地 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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14
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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18
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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22
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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25
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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26
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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28
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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29
gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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brat
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| n.孩子；顽童 | |
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urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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32
groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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conglomerate
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| n.综合商社，多元化集团公司 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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hawser
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| n.大缆；大索 | |
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38
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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39
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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40
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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41
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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42
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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43
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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44
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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46
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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47
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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49
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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51
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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52
tacks
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| 大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法 | |
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53
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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54
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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55
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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56
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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57
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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58
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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59
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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60
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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61
abeam
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| adj.正横着(的) | |
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62
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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63
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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64
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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65
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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66
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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67
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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68
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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69
leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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70
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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71
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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72
cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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73
bespoken
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| v.预定( bespeak的过去分词 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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74
veered
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| v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转 | |
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75
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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76
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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77
feud
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| n.长期不和；世仇；v.长期争斗；世代结仇 | |
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78
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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79
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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81
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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82
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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83
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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84
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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85
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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86
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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87
imbibing
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| v.吸收( imbibe的现在分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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88
choleric
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| adj.易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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89
inebriety
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| n.醉，陶醉 | |
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90
butted
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| 对接的 | |
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91
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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92
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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93
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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94
smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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96
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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97
hurrah
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| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
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98
parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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99
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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100
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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101
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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102
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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103
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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104
soothingly
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| adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地 | |
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105
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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106
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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107
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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108
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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109
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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110
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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111
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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112
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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113
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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114
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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115
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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116
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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117
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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118
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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119
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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120
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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121
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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122
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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123
retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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124
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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125
snob
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| n.势利小人，自以为高雅、有学问的人 | |
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126
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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129
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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130
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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131
saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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132
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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133
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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135
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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136
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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137
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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138
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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139
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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140
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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141
distinctively
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| adv.特殊地，区别地 | |
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142
abstain
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| v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免 | |
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143
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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144
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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145
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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146
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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147
remonstrating
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的现在分词 )；告诫 | |
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148
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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149
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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150
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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151
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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152
taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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153
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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154
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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155
frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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156
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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157
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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158
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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159
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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160
antelope
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| n.羚羊；羚羊皮 | |
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161
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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162
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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163
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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164
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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165
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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166
ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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167
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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168
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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169
anticlimax
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| n.令人扫兴的结局；突降法 | |
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170
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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171
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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172
lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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173
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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174
splicing
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| n.编接（绳）；插接；捻接；叠接v.绞接( splice的现在分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等） | |
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175
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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176
fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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177
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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178
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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179
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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180
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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181
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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182
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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183
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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184
deigned
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| v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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185
manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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186
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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187
irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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188
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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189
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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190
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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191
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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192
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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193
conned
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| adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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194
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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195
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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196
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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197
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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198
instilling
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| v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instil的现在分词 )；逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的现在分词 ) | |
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199
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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