The surrounding country had impressed me at first sight. There were long billowing hills and vales, much of their surface densely5 wooded, but with wide spaces under cultivation6 and even greater tracts7 of a sort of heath-land very wild in aspect and conjuring8 up pictures of outlaws9' camps and the clash of battling feudal10 days. Hard by had resided of old a warden11 of the marches, and the ruins of his stronghold might still be seen on the crest12 of a near-by hill.
From the room allotted13 to me I could look out over a varied14 prospect15 of farmland and heath, terminated by the woody slopes which everywhere hemmed16 in the valley. Peeping above the outer fringe of trees showed a tower of some old house whereof the rest was hidden by verdure.
Having partaken of a typical country dinner, the small number of courses being amply compensated17 by their quantity, I lighted my pipe and went down to the bar-parlor18, being minded to learn something of the neighborhood at first hand from any chance visitor who might serve my purpose.
The landlord, a somewhat taciturn member of his class, sat behind the bar, pipe in mouth, as I entered, and only one other man was in the room. This was a gipsy-looking fellow, with a very wild eye, attired19 in the manner of a game-keeper, and wearing leggings and a fur cap. A sporting rifle stood in the corner beside him. The landlord nodded, and the other gave me a "Good evening" as I entered, whereupon I determined20 to try the game-keeper as the more likely source of information, and:
"Is the shooting good hereabouts?" I asked, by way of opening a conversation.
"None better," was the reply; "it's thick with game, sir, it is for sure—and nobody to profit, only"—he winked22 at the landlord—"young Jim Corder!"
The landlord emitted a deep grunt23 which was evidently recognized by the other as a laugh; for he himself laughed in a wild and not wholly pleasant manner, whereby I concluded that "young Jim Corder" was a standing24 joke in the neighborhood.
"You look as though you knew a hare from a partridge," said I, "so I'll take your word for it."
This remark provoked a second and deeper growl25 from the landlord and a further burst of outlandish laughter from my acquaintance, the game-keeper. Presently:
"Why, sir, if I tell you," declared the latter, "them birds all know me like I was their father, they do. I says, 'Good morning' regular and them birds all bows to me, they does."
"I gather," said I, "that you get few shooting-parties nowadays?"
"You're right, you are, sir," replied the game-keeper. "He's right, ain't he, Martin?"
Martin, the landlord, growled29. It occurred to me that he regarded the other with a certain disfavor.
"This 'ere country," continued the game-keeper, vaguely30 waving his arm around, "is a blighted31 spot. A blighted spot, ain't it, Martin?"
"Since Sir Burnham went to his long rest these 'ere parts ain't knowed themselves. I'm tellin' you, sir. Ain't knowed 'emselves. It's all that quiet, winter and summer alike. The Park all shut up; and the Park was the Park in them days—warn't it, Martin?"
Martin achieved speech; he removed his pipe, and:
Silence fell for a minute or two. My new acquaintance, Hawkins, and Martin both seemed to be pondering upon the degeneracy of Upper Crossleys, and I could mot help thinking that Hawkins took a secret delight in it. Then:
"Surely the Park is still occupied by Lady Coverly?" I asked.
"Aye," Hawkins nodded. "She's kep' me on, me and the missus, she has, like the real lady she is. But things is different; things is wrong. Ain't they, Martin?" he asked, with a mischievous37 glance at the stolid38 host.
"Things is," agreed Martin.
"Best part of Park be shut up," declared Hawkins. "Horses gone, carriages gone, everybody gone; only me and my old woman."
"There must be house servants," I interjected.
"My old woman!" cried Hawkins triumphantly39; "same as I'm tellin' you!"
"You mean that Lady Coverly lives alone in the place with only—er, Mrs. Hawkins to look after her?"
It was Martin the landlord who answered my question.
"Things ain't right," he observed, and returned to his mouth the pipe which he had removed for the purpose of addressing me.
"You don't know half of it," declared Hawkins. "What's my job, for instance? I ask you—what is it?"
Having thus spoken, he exchanged a significant look with the landlord and relapsed into silence. Even my offer to replenish41 his tankard, although it was accepted, did not result in any further confidences. Prospects42 of crops and fruit were briefly43 touched upon, but that exchange of glances between mine host and Hawkins seemed to have been mutually understood to mean that the conversation touching44 Friar's Park had proceeded far enough.
It was very mystifying, and naturally it served only to pique45 my curiosity. A certain quality of loneliness which had seemed to belong to the village, even in the brightness of the summer evening, now asserted itself potently46. Seated there in the quiet little inn parlor, I recalled that many of the old-world cottages to right and left of the Abbey Inn had exhibited every indication of being deserted47, and the lack of patrons instanced by the emptiness of the bar-parlor was certainly not ascribable to the quality of the ale, which was excellent. A sort of blight32 it would seem had descended upon humanity in Upper Crossleys. It was all very curious.
Reflecting upon the matter, and sometimes interjecting a word or two into the purely48 technical and very desultory49 conversation proceeding50 between the landlord and Hawkins, I sat looking from one to the other, more than ever convinced that no friendship was lost between them. My position in the room was such that any one entering would not detect my presence until he was right up to the bar, and to this sheltered seat I was undoubtedly51 indebted for a very strange experience.
During a lull52 in the patently forced conversation I heard footsteps upon the cobbles outside. Hawkins and the landlord exchanged a swift glance, and then to my surprise they both stared at me questioningly. Before a word could be exchanged, however, and before I had time even to surmise53 what this covert33 uneasiness might portend54, a young fellow entered whose carriage and dress immediately attracted my attention.
He was attired, then, in a sort of burlesque55 "fashionable" lounge suit and wore a straw hat set rakishly backward on his well-oiled dark hair. He carried gloves and a malacca cane56, and his gait was one of assured superiority. He was a stoutly-built, muscular young fellow and might ordinarily have been good-looking after a rustic57 fashion, but what principally rendered him noticeable was the fact that he wore surgical58 bandages around his neck in lieu of a collar and that his face was literally59 a mosaic60 of sticking-plaster!
"Evening, Martin—evening, Hawkins," he said jauntily61; and advancing to the bar, "The usual, Martin."
As he gave the order and as the landlord turned to execute it, exhibiting a sort of half-amused deference62, the embarrassed glance of Hawkins, who was watching me uncomfortably, drew the newcomer's attention to my presence. He turned in a flash and I saw those parts of his face which were visible between the pieces of strapping63 to turn fierily64 red. His brown eyes glared at me, and:
"Martin!" he cried, throwing out his hand in the landlord's direction, "Martin, damn you! There is a stranger here! Why the devil didn't you tell me?"
"Sorry, Mr. Edward," said the landlord, setting a glass of whisky before the excited man. "No time."
"It's a lie!" cried the other, with a wild fury which so trivial a matter did not seem to warrant, "a deliberate damned lie! You want to make me the laughing-stock of the place!"
Taking up the newly-filled glass, he dashed it violently to the sanded floor, so that it was shattered to bits. Then, snatching off his hat, he held it as a shield between my inquiring gaze and his plastered face, and ran out of the room. At the door:
"Damn you all!" he shouted back at us.
I heard his quick footsteps receding65. Then, as he turned the corner the sound died away. I looked across at Hawkins. He was staring into his tankard with which he was describing slow circles as if to stir the contents. Martin, having raised the bar-flap was phlegmatically66 engaged in sweeping67 up the fragments of glass into a dustpan. It came to me all at once that these simple folk regarded the other's outburst as a personal matter; their attitude was that of the grieved elders of a family, some member of which has misbehaved himself. But assuredly I was not prepared to concur35 in this shielding silence; the pressman within me demanded an explanation.
"Touchy?" repeated Hawkins, glancing up quickly. "I seen him take Tom Pike by the scruff of his neck and the seat of his pants and pitch him in the horse-trough for askin' of him who his tailor was, I have."
"Indeed," said I, "a local Carpentier, no doubt?"
"Ah," said Martin, glancing at me as he turned to his seat behind the bar. "Very 'andy with 'is 'ands."
"He is evidently acutely sensitive of his present disfigurement. Might I suggest that his most recent encounter was with a barbed-wire entanglement69?"
But to my acute disappointment, Martin merely growled, shaking his head gloomily; and in this significant gesture he was closely imitated by Hawkins. Therefore:
"Is he badly disfigured?" I persisted.
"Only one is deep," replied Hawkins, glancing almost apologetically at the landlord. The unfortunate incident seemed to have drawn70 them more closely together. "The one on his neck. But he prides himself on his looks, don't he, Martin?"
"He do," agreed Martin.
I took the bull by the horns. I never neglect an opportunity of this nature, for however irrelevant71 to the matter in hand an episode may seem to be, not infrequently I have found that it is by the pursuit of such chance clews that one is led to the very piece of news that is sought.
"Drink up, gentlemen," I said, "and as the night draws on, we shall just have time for a peg72 of whisky before ten o'clock."
My effort proved successful, for whilst Martin prepared the ordered drinks, almost with alacrity73, Hawkins became quite confidential74.
"Young Mr. Edward Hines that was, sir," he confided75, in a church whisper. "His father is the biggest farmer round these parts and young Mr. Edward is a terror with the gals77, he is. Mind you, he's straight out about it. Comes in here, he do, and says straight out who he's after. And it's woe78 betide the one who takes him up on it. I'm glad my gal76 is up to London, with that Mr. Edward about, I am."
The drinks being placed upon the counter, he ceased, and:
"Good health!" said I; then: "Yes—about our mutilated young friend?" I prompted.
"Well," continued Hawkins—"it's kind o' funny, ain't it, Martin?"
The landlord growled.
"Mr. Edward he come in here three weeks back all puffed79 up with himself. Said he'd got an appointment with a lady down from London what was coming all the way from West Wingham to see him. Didn't he, Martin?"
Martin corroborated80.
"He see her, too," declared Hawkins with a sort of schoolboy naïveté. "And he see her again four nights after. She give him a present—a keepsake. He showed us. Then he seen her a third time, and—"
Hawkins ceased speaking and looked at the landlord as if mutely appealing for his aid in making clear to me what occurred at this third tryst81 with the mysterious "lady from London."
"Go on," prompted Martin. "Tell him. He's stopping here; he's all right."
I keenly appreciated the compliment conveyed by this, the landlord's longest speech of the evening, and raised my glass to him. "Well, then," Hawkins resumed, "we didn't see him for a night or two, but on the Wednesday—"
"The Thursday," corrected Martin.
"Right you are, Martin," agreed Hawkins—"the Thursday it were. I met Farmer Hines comin' back from Wingham market as I came here mid-day. It were the Thursday. Well, then, on the Thursday young Mr. Edward he turns up after dark. Sort of slinked in he did. There was three or four of us here, there was that night, wasn't there, Martin? 'Course it were market day. Slinked in he did, and his face was like you see it to-night only worse. He never said a word to nobody and nobody never said nothin' to him, not likely. Just gulped82 down a double Scotch83 and slinked out. What do you think about that for a story, eh, sir?"
He looked at me triumphantly. For my own part I must confess I was disappointed. A cat-and-dog squabble between a rustic Lothario and some local virago84 did not excite me so intensely as it seemed to excite my companions.
"Is that all you know of the matter?" I asked.
"No," answered Martin, "it ain't. Tell him, Hawkins."
"Aye," resumed Hawkins, "he might as well know, as he's livin' here. Well, sir, young Mr. Edward he's very quiet about what happened to him. Maybe we shouldn't have thought so much about it like if it hadn't been that in this very bar, six months ago, he'd plagued the life out of young Harry85 Adams."
"For what reason?" I asked idly; the conversation was beginning to bore me. But:
"Young Harry Adams," explained Hawkins with gusto, and his former wicked look returning to his eyes, "at one time was Mr. Edward's only rival with the gals, he was. A good-lookin' young fellow; got a commission in the war he did. He's up to London now. Well, six months ago young Harry Adams come staggerin' in here one night with blood runnin' from his face and neck. He fell down in that seat where you're sitting now and fainted right off, didn't he, Martin? We had to send young Jim Corder (what used to come here in them days) off runnin' all the way past Leeways for the doctor. Ah, that were a night."
"It were," agreed Martin.
"Same as Mr. Edward," continued the narrator, "young Harry Adams wouldn't say a word about what happened to him. But when Mr. Edward first see him, all over sticking-plaster, he laughed till the pots nearly fell off the hooks, he did. Little did he guess his own turn was to come!"
My interest revived.
"Then in the case of, er—Mr. Adams," I said, "you never had any particulars whatever?"
"Never," replied Martin. "Time, please, gentlemen."
"Aye," said Hawkins, rising. "Time it be. Well, good night, sir. Good night, Martin."
"Good night."
Hawkins moved towards the door, and indeed was on the point of going out when I remembered something which I had meant to ask earlier, but which, owing to lack of opportunity, I had postponed86 asking.
"You spoke40 of a gift or keepsake, which the lady from London gave to Mr. Hines," I said. "I think you mentioned that he had shown it to you. I am rather curious about this story. Might I ask the nature of the gift?"
"Aye, to be sure," answered Hawkins, standing half in shadow on the step of the bar-parlor, rifle on shoulder, where I thought he made a very wild figure. "Brought it here, he did. All of us see it. That stuck up about it, he was. Not as I should have thought much of it if a party had give it to me, I do say."
"Then what was it?"
"Why—it were a little figure like—gold he said it were, but brass87 I reckon. Ugly it were, but he says he's goin' to wear it on his watch-chain. Good night, sir."
He turned and departed, but:
"What kind of figure?" I called after him.
Out of the darkness his voice came back:
"A sort of a cat, sir."
And I heard his outlandish laughter dying away in the distance.
点击收听单词发音
1 hoary | |
adj.古老的;鬓发斑白的 | |
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2 monastery | |
n.修道院,僧院,寺院 | |
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3 labored | |
adj.吃力的,谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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4 sagged | |
下垂的 | |
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5 densely | |
ad.密集地;浓厚地 | |
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6 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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7 tracts | |
大片土地( tract的名词复数 ); 地带; (体内的)道; (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文 | |
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8 conjuring | |
n.魔术 | |
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9 outlaws | |
歹徒,亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 ); 逃犯 | |
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10 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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11 warden | |
n.监察员,监狱长,看守人,监护人 | |
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12 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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13 allotted | |
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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15 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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16 hemmed | |
缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 ); 包围 | |
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17 compensated | |
补偿,报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 ); 给(某人)赔偿(或赔款) | |
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18 parlor | |
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
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19 attired | |
adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服,使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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21 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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22 winked | |
v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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23 grunt | |
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝 | |
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24 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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25 growl | |
v.(狗等)嗥叫,(炮等)轰鸣;n.嗥叫,轰鸣 | |
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26 subsided | |
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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27 scenting | |
vt.闻到(scent的现在分词形式) | |
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28 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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29 growled | |
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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30 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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31 blighted | |
adj.枯萎的,摧毁的 | |
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32 blight | |
n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残 | |
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33 covert | |
adj.隐藏的;暗地里的 | |
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34 covertly | |
adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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35 concur | |
v.同意,意见一致,互助,同时发生 | |
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36 concurred | |
同意(concur的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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37 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
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38 stolid | |
adj.无动于衷的,感情麻木的 | |
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39 triumphantly | |
ad.得意洋洋地;得胜地;成功地 | |
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40 spoke | |
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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41 replenish | |
vt.补充;(把…)装满;(再)填满 | |
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42 prospects | |
n.希望,前途(恒为复数) | |
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43 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
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44 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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45 pique | |
v.伤害…的自尊心,使生气 n.不满,生气 | |
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46 potently | |
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47 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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48 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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49 desultory | |
adj.散漫的,无方法的 | |
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50 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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51 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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52 lull | |
v.使安静,使入睡,缓和,哄骗;n.暂停,间歇 | |
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53 surmise | |
v./n.猜想,推测 | |
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54 portend | |
v.预兆,预示;给…以警告 | |
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55 burlesque | |
v.嘲弄,戏仿;n.嘲弄,取笑,滑稽模仿 | |
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56 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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57 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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58 surgical | |
adj.外科的,外科医生的,手术上的 | |
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59 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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60 mosaic | |
n./adj.镶嵌细工的,镶嵌工艺品的,嵌花式的 | |
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61 jauntily | |
adv.心满意足地;洋洋得意地;高兴地;活泼地 | |
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62 deference | |
n.尊重,顺从;敬意 | |
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63 strapping | |
adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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64 fierily | |
如火地,炽热地,猛烈地 | |
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65 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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66 phlegmatically | |
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67 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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68 touchy | |
adj.易怒的;棘手的 | |
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69 entanglement | |
n.纠缠,牵累 | |
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70 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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71 irrelevant | |
adj.不恰当的,无关系的,不相干的 | |
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72 peg | |
n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定 | |
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73 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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74 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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75 confided | |
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等) | |
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76 gal | |
n.姑娘,少女 | |
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77 gals | |
abbr.gallons (复数)加仑(液量单位)n.女孩,少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
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78 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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79 puffed | |
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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80 corroborated | |
v.证实,支持(某种说法、信仰、理论等)( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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81 tryst | |
n.约会;v.与…幽会 | |
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82 gulped | |
v.狼吞虎咽地吃,吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 );大口地吸(气);哽住 | |
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83 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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84 virago | |
n.悍妇 | |
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85 harry | |
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼 | |
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86 postponed | |
vt.& vi.延期,缓办,(使)延迟vt.把…放在次要地位;[语]把…放在后面(或句尾)vi.(疟疾等)延缓发作(或复发) | |
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87 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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