“You gotta cut that if you travel with this bunch,” said The Sky Pilot in a voice that was new to The Oskaloosa Kid; “and you, too, Blackie,” he continued. “The rough stuff don't go with me, see?” He hurled5 Soup Face to the floor and resumed his seat by the fire.
The youth was astonished at the physical strength of this old man, seemingly so softened6 by dissipation; but it showed him the source of The Sky Pilot's authority and its scope, for Columbus Blackie and Soup Face quitted their quarrel immediately.
Dirty Eddie rose, yawned and stretched. “Me fer the hay,” he announced, and lay down again with his feet toward the fire. Some of the others followed his example. “You'll find some hay in the loft7 there,” said The Sky Pilot to The Oskaloosa Kid. “Bring it down an' make your bed here by me, there's plenty room.”
A half hour later all were stretched out upon the hard dirt floor upon improvised8 beds of rotted hay; but not all slept. The Oskaloosa Kid, though tired, found himself wider awake than he ever before had been. Apparently9 sleep could never again come to those heavy eyes. There passed before his mental vision a panorama10 of the events of the night. He smiled as he inaudibly voiced the name they had given him, the right to which he had not seen fit to deny. “The Oskaloosa Kid.” The boy smiled again as he felt the 'swag' hard and lumpy in his pockets. It had given him prestige here that he could not have gained by any other means; but he mistook the nature of the interest which his display of stolen wealth had aroused. He thought that the men now looked upon him as a fellow criminal to be accepted into the fraternity through achievement; whereas they suffered him to remain solely12 in the hope of transferring his loot to their own pockets.
It is true that he puzzled them. Even The Sky Pilot, the most astute14 and intelligent of them all, was at a loss to fathom15 The Oskaloosa Kid. Innocence16 and unsophistication flaunted17 their banners in almost every act and speech of The Oskaloosa Kid. The youth reminded him in some ways of members of a Sunday school which had flourished in the dim vistas18 of his past when, as an ordained19 minister of the Gospel, he had earned the sobriquet20 which now identified him. But the concrete evidence of the valuable loot comported21 not with The Sky Pilot's idea of a Sunday school boy's lark22. The young fellow was, unquestionably, a thief; but that he had ever before consorted23 with thieves his speech and manners belied24.
“He's got me,” murmured The Sky Pilot; “but he's got the stuff on him, too; and all I want is to get it off of him without a painful operation. Tomorrow'll do,” and he shifted his position and fell asleep.
Dopey Charlie and The General did not, however, follow the example of their chief. They remained very wide awake, a little apart from the others, where their low whispers could not be overheard.
“You better do it,” urged The General, in a soft, insinuating25 voice. “You're pretty slick with the toad26 stabber, an' any way one more or less won't count.”
“We can go to Sout' America on dat stuff an' live like gents,” muttered Dopey Charlie. “I'm goin' to cut out de Hop13 an' buy a farm an' a ottymobeel and—”
“Come out of it,” admonished27 The General. “If we're lucky we'll get as far as Cincinnati, get a stew28 on and get pinched. Den11 one of us'll hang an' de other get stir fer life.”
The General was a weasel faced person of almost any age between thirty-five and sixty. Sometimes he could have passed for a hundred and ten. He had won his military title as a boy in the famous march of Coxey's army on Washington, or, rather, the title had been conferred upon him in later years as a merited reward of service. The General, profiting by the precepts29 of his erstwhile companions in arms, had never soiled his military escutcheon by labor30, nor had he ever risen to the higher planes of criminality. Rather as a mediocre31 pickpocket32 and a timorous33 confidence man had he eked34 out a meager35 existence, amply punctuated36 by seasons of straight bumming37 and intervals38 spent as the guest of various inhospitably hospitable39 states. Now, for the first time in his life, The General faced the possibility of a serious charge; and his terror made him what he never before had been, a dangerous criminal.
“You're a cheerful guy,” commented Dopey Charlie; “but you may be right at dat. Dey can't hang a guy any higher fer two 'an they can fer one an' dat's no pipe; so wots de use. Wait till I take a shot—it'll be easier,” and he drew a small, worn case from an inside pocket, bared his arm to the elbow and injected enough morphine to have killed a dozen normal men.
From a pile of mouldy hay across the barn the youth, heavy eyed but sleepless40, watched the two through half closed lids. A qualm of disgust sent a sudden shudder41 through his slight frame. For the first time he almost regretted having embarked42 upon a life of crime. He had seen that the two men were conversing43 together earnestly, though he could over-hear nothing they said, and that he had been the subject of their nocturnal colloquy44, for several times a glance or a nod in his direction assured him of this. And so he lay watching them—not that he was afraid, he kept reassuring45 himself, but through curiosity. Why should he be afraid? Was it not a well known truth that there was honor among thieves?
But the longer he watched the heavier grew his lids. Several times they closed to be dragged open again only by painful effort. Finally came a time that they remained closed and the young chest rose and fell in the regular breathing of slumber47.
The two ragged46, rat-hearted creatures rose silently and picked their way, half-crouched, among the sleepers48 sprawled49 between them and The Oskaloosa Kid. In the hand of Dopey Charlie gleamed a bit of shiny steel and in his heart were fear and greed. The fear was engendered50 by the belief that the youth might be an amateur detective. Dopey Charlie had had one experience of such and he knew that it was easily possible for them to blunder upon evidence which the most experienced of operatives might pass over unnoticed, and the loot bulging51 pockets furnished a sufficient greed motive52 in themselves.
Beside the boy kneeled the man with the knife. He did not raise his hand and strike a sudden, haphazard53 blow. Instead he placed the point carefully, though lightly, above the victim's heart, and then, suddenly, bore his weight upon the blade.
Abigail Prim55 always had been a thorn in the flesh of her stepmother—a well-meaning, unimaginative, ambitious, and rather common woman. Coming into the Prim home as house-keeper shortly after the death of Abigail's mother, the second Mrs. Prim had from the first looked upon Abigail principally as an obstacle to be overcome. She had tried to 'do right by her'; but she had never given the child what a child most needs and most craves—love and understanding. Not loving Abigail, the house-keeper could, naturally, not give her love; and as for understanding her one might as reasonably have expected an adding machine to understand higher mathematics.
Jonas Prim loved his daughter. There was nothing, within reason, that money could buy which he would not have given her for the asking; but Jonas Prim's love, as his life, was expressed in dollar signs, while the love which Abigail craved56 is better expressed by any other means at the command of man.
Being misunderstood and, to all outward appearances of sentiment and affection, unloved had not in any way embittered57 Abigail's remarkably58 joyous59 temperament60. She made up for it in some measure by getting all the fun and excitement out of life which she could discover therein, or invent through the medium of her own resourceful imagination.
But recently the first real sorrow had been thrust into her young life since the half-forgotten mother had been taken from her. The second Mrs. Prim had decided61 that it was her 'duty' to see that Abigail, having finished school and college, was properly married. As a matchmaker the second Mrs. Prim was as a Texas steer62 in a ten cent store. It was nothing to her that Abigail did not wish to marry anyone, or that the man of Mrs. Prim's choice, had he been the sole surviving male in the Universe, would have still been as far from Abigail's choice as though he had been an inhabitant of one of Orion's most distant planets.
As a matter of fact Abigail Prim detested63 Samuel Benham because he represented to her everything in life which she shrank from—age, avoirdupois, infirmity, baldness, stupidity, and matrimony. He was a prosaic64 old bachelor who had amassed65 a fortune by the simple means of inheriting three farms upon which an industrial city subsequently had been built. Necessity rather than foresight66 had compelled him to hold on to his property; and six weeks of typhoid, arriving and departing, had saved him from selling out at a low figure. The first time he found himself able to be out and attend to business he likewise found himself a wealthy man, and ever since he had been growing wealthier without personal effort.
All of which is to render evident just how impossible a matrimonial proposition was Samuel Benham to a bright, a beautiful, a gay, an imaginative, young, and a witty67 girl such as Abigail Prim, who cared less for money than for almost any other desirable thing in the world.
Nagged68, scolded, reproached, pestered69, threatened, Abigail had at last given a seeming assent70 to her stepmother's ambition; and had forthwith been packed off on a two weeks visit to the sister of the bride-groom elect. After which Mr. Benham was to visit Oakdale as a guest of the Prims72, and at a dinner for which cards already had been issued—so sure was Mrs. Jonas Prim of her position of dictator of the Prim menage—the engagement was to be announced.
It was some time after dinner on the night of Abigail's departure that Mrs. Prim, following a habit achieved by years of housekeeping, set forth71 upon her rounds to see that doors and windows were properly secured for the night. A French window and its screen opening upon the verandah from the library she found open. “The house will be full of mosquitoes!” she ejaculated mentally as she closed them both with a bang and made them fast. “I should just like to know who left them open. Upon my word, I don't know what would become of this place if it wasn't for me. Of all the shiftlessness!” and she turned and flounced upstairs. In Abigail's room she flashed on the center dome73 light from force of habit, although she knew that the room had been left in proper condition after the girl's departure earlier in the day. The first thing amiss that her eagle eye noted74 was the candlestick lying on the floor beside the dressing75 table. As she stooped to pick it up she saw the open drawer from which the small automatic had been removed, and then, suspicions, suddenly aroused, as suddenly became fear; and Mrs. Prim almost dove across the room to the hidden wall safe. A moment's investigation76 revealed the startling fact that the safe was unlocked and practically empty. It was then that Mrs. Jonas Prim screamed.
Her scream brought Jonas and several servants upon the scene. A careful inspection77 of the room disclosed the fact that while much of value had been ignored the burglar had taken the easily concealed78 contents of the wall safe which represented fully54 ninety percentum of the value of the personal property in Abigail Prim's apartments.
Mrs. Prim scowled79 suspiciously upon the servants. Who else, indeed, could have possessed80 the intimate knowledge which the thief had displayed. Mrs. Prim saw it all. The open library window had been but a clever blind to hide the fact that the thief had worked from the inside and was now doubtless in the house at that very moment.
“Jonas,” she directed, “call the police at once, and see that no one, absolutely no one, leaves this house until they have been here and made a full investigation.”
“Shucks, Pudgy!” exclaimed Mr. Prim. “You don't think the thief is waiting around here for the police, do you?”
“I think that if you get the police here at once, Jonas, we shall find both the thief and the loot under our very roof,” she replied, not without asperity81.
“You don't mean—” he hesitated. “Why, Pudgy, you don't mean you suspect one of the servants?”
“Who else could have known?” asked Mrs. Prim. The servants present looked uncomfortable and cast sheepish eyes of suspicion at one another.
“It's all tommy rot!” ejaculated Mr. Prim; “but I'll call the police, because I got to report the theft. It's some slick outsider, that's who it is,” and he started down stairs toward the telephone. Before he reached it the bell rang, and when he had hung up the receiver after the conversation the theft seemed a trivial matter. In fact he had almost forgotten it, for the message had been from the local telegraph office relaying a wire they had just received from Mr. Samuel Benham.
“I say, Pudgy,” he cried, as he took the steps two at a time for the second floor, “here's a wire from Benham saying Gail didn't come on that train and asking when he's to expect her.”
“Impossible!” ejaculated Mrs. Prim. “I certainly saw her aboard the train myself. Impossible!”
Jonas Prim was a man of action. Within half an hour he had set in motion such wheels as money and influence may cause to revolve82 in search of some clew to the whereabouts of the missing Abigail, and at the same time had reported the theft of jewels and money from his home; but in doing this he had learned that other happenings no less remarkable83 in their way had taken place in Oakdale that very night.
The following morning all Oakdale was thrilled as its fascinated eyes devoured84 the front page of Oakdale's ordinarily dull daily. Never had Oakdale experienced a plethora85 of home-grown thrills; but it came as near to it that morning, doubtless, as it ever had or ever will. Not since the cashier of The Merchants and Farmers Bank committed suicide three years past had Oakdale been so wrought86 up, and now that historic and classical event paled into insignificance87 in the glaring brilliancy of a series of crimes and mysteries of a single night such as not even the most sanguine88 of Oakdale's thrill lovers could have hoped for.
There was, first, the mysterious disappearance89 of Abigail Prim, the only daughter of Oakdale's wealthiest citizen; there was the equally mysterious robbery of the Prim home. Either one of these would have been sufficient to have set Oakdale's multitudinous tongues wagging for days; but they were not all. Old John Baggs, the city's best known miser90, had suffered a murderous assault in his little cottage upon the outskirts91 of town, and was even now lying at the point of death in The Samaritan Hospital. That robbery had been the motive was amply indicated by the topsy-turvy condition of the contents of the three rooms which Baggs called home. As the victim still was unconscious no details of the crime were obtainable. Yet even this atrocious deed had been capped by one yet more hideous.
Reginald Paynter had for years been looked upon half askance and yet with a certain secret pride by Oakdale. He was her sole bon vivant in the true sense of the word, whatever that may be. He was always spoken of in the columns of The Oakdale Tribune as 'that well known man-about-town,' or 'one of Oakdale's most prominent clubmen.' Reginald Paynter had been, if not the only, at all events the best dressed man in town. His clothes were made in New York. This in itself had been sufficient to have set him apart from all the other males of Oakdale. He was widely travelled, had an independent fortune, and was far from unhandsome. For years he had been the hope and despair of every Oakdale mother with marriageable daughters. The Oakdale fathers, however, had not been so keen about Reginald. Men usually know more about the morals of men than do women. There were those who, if pressed, would have conceded that Reginald had no morals.
But what place has an obituary92 in a truthful93 tale of adventure and mystery! Reginald Paynter was dead. His body had been found beside the road just outside the city limits at mid-night by a party of automobilists returning from a fishing trip. The skull94 was crushed back of the left ear. The position of the body as well as the marks in the road beside it indicated that the man had been hurled from a rapidly moving automobile95. The fact that his pockets had been rifled led to the assumption that he had been killed and robbed before being dumped upon the road.
Now there were those in Oakdale, and they were many, who endeavored to connect in some way these several events of horror, mystery, and crime. In the first place it seemed quite evident that the robbery at the Prim home, the assault upon Old Baggs, and the murder of Paynter had been the work of the same man; but how could such a series of frightful happenings be in any way connected with the disappearance of Abigail Prim? Of course there were many who knew that Abigail and Reginald were old friends; and that the former had, on frequent occasions, ridden abroad in Reginald's French roadster, that he had escorted her to parties and been, at various times, a caller at her home; but no less had been true of a dozen other perfectly96 respectable young ladies of Oakdale. Possibly it was only Abigail's added misfortune to have disappeared upon the eve of the night of Reginald's murder.
But later in the day when word came from a nearby town that Reginald had been seen in a strange touring car with two unknown men and a girl, the gossips commenced to wag their heads. It was mentioned, casually97 of course, that this town was a few stations along the very road upon which Abigail had departed the previous afternoon for that destination which she had not reached. It was likewise remarked that Reginald, the two strange men and the GIRL had been first noticed after the time of arrival of the Oakdale train! What more was needed? Absolutely nothing more. The tongues ceased wagging in order that they might turn hand-springs.
Find Abigail Prim, whispered some, and the mystery will be solved. There were others charitable enough to assume that Abigail had been kidnapped by the same men who had murdered Paynter and wrought the other lesser98 deeds of crime in peaceful Oakdale. The Oakdale Tribune got out an extra that afternoon giving a resume of such evidence as had appeared in the regular edition and hinting at all the numerous possibilities suggested by such matter as had come to hand since. Even fear of old Jonas Prim and his millions had not been enough to entirely99 squelch100 the newspaper instinct of the Tribune's editor. Never before had he had such an opportunity and he made the best of it, even repeating the vague surmises101 which had linked the name of Abigail to the murder of Reginald Paynter.
Jonas Prim was too busy and too worried to pay any attention to the Tribune or its editor. He already had the best operative that the best detective agency in the nearest metropolis102 could furnish. The man had come to Oakdale, learned all that was to be learned there, and forthwith departed.
This, then, will be about all concerning Oakdale for the present. We must leave her to bury her own dead.
The sudden pressure of the knife point against the breast of the Oskaloosa Kid awakened103 the youth with a startling suddenness which brought him to his feet before a second vicious thrust reached him. For a time he did not realize how close he had been to death or that he had been saved by the chance location of the automatic pistol in his breast pocket—the very pistol he had taken from the dressing table of Abigail Prim's boudoir.
The commotion104 of the attack and escape brought the other sleepers to heavy-eyed wakefulness. They saw Dopey Charlie advancing upon the Kid, a knife in his hand. Behind him slunk The General, urging the other on. The youth was backing toward the doorway105. The tableau106 persisted but for an instant. Then the would-be murderer rushed madly upon his victim, the latter's hand leaped from beneath the breast of his torn coat—there was a flash of flame, a staccato report and Dopey Charlie crumpled107 to the ground, screaming. In the same instant The Oskaloosa Kid wheeled and vanished into the night.
It had all happened so quickly that the other members of the gang, awakened from deep slumber, had only time to stumble to their feet before it was over. The Sky Pilot, ignoring the screaming Charlie, thought only of the loot which had vanished with the Oskaloosa Kid.
“Come on! We gotta get him,” he cried, as he ran from the barn after the fugitive108. The others, all but Dopey Charlie, followed in the wake of their leader. The wounded man, his audience departed, ceased screaming and, sitting up, fell to examining himself. To his surprise he discovered that he was not dead. A further and more minute examination disclosed the additional fact that he was not even badly wounded. The bullet of The Kid had merely creased109 the flesh over the ribs110 beneath his right arm. With a grunt111 that might have been either disgust or relief he stumbled to his feet and joined in the pursuit.
Down the road toward the south ran The Oskaloosa Kid with all the fleetness of youth spurred on by terror. In five minutes he had so far outdistanced his pursuers that The Sky Pilot leaped to the conclusion that the quarry112 had left the road to hide in an adjoining field. The resultant halt and search upon either side of the road delayed the chase to a sufficient extent to award the fugitive a mile lead by the time the band resumed the hunt along the main highway. The men were determined113 to overhaul114 the youth not alone because of the loot upon his person but through an abiding115 suspicion that he might indeed be what some of them feared he was—an amateur detective—and there were at least two among them who had reason to be especially fearful of any sort of detective from Oakdale.
They no longer ran; but puffed116 arduously117 along the smooth road, searching with troubled and angry eyes to right and left and ahead of them as they went.
The Oskaloosa Kid puffed, too; but he puffed a mile away from the searchers and he walked more rapidly than they, for his muscles were younger and his wind unimpaired by dissipation. For a time he carried the small automatic in his hand; but later, hearing no evidence of pursuit, he returned it to the pocket in his coat where it had lain when it had saved him from death beneath the blade of the degenerate118 Charlie.
For an hour he continued walking rapidly along the winding119 country road. He was very tired; but he dared not pause to rest. Always behind him he expected the sudden onslaught of the bearded, blear-eyed followers120 of The Sky Pilot. Terror goaded121 him to supreme122 physical effort. Recollection of the screaming man sinking to the earthen floor of the hay barn haunted him. He was a murderer! He had slain123 a fellow man. He winced124 and shuddered125, increasing his gait until again he almost ran —ran from the ghost pursuing him through the black night in greater terror than he felt for the flesh and blood pursuers upon his heels.
And Nature drew upon her sinister126 forces to add to the fear which the youth already felt. Black clouds obscured the moon blotting127 out the soft kindliness128 of the greening fields and transforming the budding branches of the trees to menacing and gloomy arms which appeared to hover129 with clawlike talons130 above the dark and forbidding road. The wind soughed with gloomy and increasing menace, a sudden light flared131 across the southern sky followed by the reverberation132 of distant thunder.
Presently a great rain drop was blown against the youth's face; the vividness of the lightning had increased; the rumbling133 of the thunder had grown to the proportions of a titanic134 bombardment; but he dared not pause to seek shelter.
Another flash of lightning revealed a fork in the road immediately ahead—to the left ran the broad, smooth highway, to the right a dirt road, overarched by trees, led away into the impenetrable dark.
The fugitive paused, undecided. Which way should he turn? The better travelled highway seemed less mysterious and awesome135, yet would his pursuers not naturally assume that he had followed it? Then, of course, the right hand road was the road for him. Yet still he hesitated, for the right hand road was black and forbidding; suggesting the entrance to a pit of unknown horrors.
As he stood there with the rain and the wind, the thunder and the lightning, horror of the past and terror of the future his only companions there broke suddenly through the storm the voice of a man just ahead and evidently approaching along the highway.
The youth turned to flee; but the thought of the men tracking him from that direction brought him to a sudden halt. There was only the road to the right, then, after all. Cautiously he moved toward it, and at the same time the words of the voice came clearly through the night:
“'... as, swinging heel and toe,
'We tramped the road to Anywhere, the magic road
to Anywhere,
ago.'”
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1
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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bestial
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| adj.残忍的；野蛮的 | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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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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6
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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loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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flaunted
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| v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的过去式和过去分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
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vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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sobriquet
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comported
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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consorted
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| v.结伴( consort的过去式和过去分词 )；交往；相称；调和 | |
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belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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insinuating
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toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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stew
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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pickpocket
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timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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eked
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| v.（靠节省用量）使…的供应持久( eke的过去式和过去分词 )；节约使用；竭力维持生计；勉强度日 | |
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35
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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37
bumming
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| 发哼（声），蜂鸣声 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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39
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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40
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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41
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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42
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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43
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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44
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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45
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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46
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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47
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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48
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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49
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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50
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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52
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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53
haphazard
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| adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的 | |
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54
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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prim
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| 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 | |
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56
craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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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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58
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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59
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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60
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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61
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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62
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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63
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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65
amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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67
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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68
nagged
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| adj.经常遭责怪的；被压制的；感到厌烦的；被激怒的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的过去式和过去分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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69
pestered
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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71
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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72
prims
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| v.（使）一本正经（prim的第三人称单数形式） | |
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73
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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74
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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75
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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76
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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77
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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78
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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79
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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81
asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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82
revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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83
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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84
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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85
plethora
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| n.过量，过剩 | |
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86
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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87
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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88
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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89
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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90
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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91
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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92
obituary
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| n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的 | |
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93
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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94
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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95
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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96
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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97
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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98
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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99
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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100
squelch
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| v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声 | |
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101
surmises
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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102
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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103
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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104
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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105
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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106
tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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107
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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108
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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109
creased
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的过去式和过去分词 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹； 皱皱巴巴 | |
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110
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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111
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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112
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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113
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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114
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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115
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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116
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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117
arduously
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| adv.费力地，严酷地 | |
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118
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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119
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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120
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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121
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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122
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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123
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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124
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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126
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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127
blotting
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| 吸墨水纸 | |
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128
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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129
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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130
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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131
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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132
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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133
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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134
titanic
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| adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的 | |
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135
awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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136
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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