War had swept the narrow seas, and for hours in the day little more hove into view whether from the cliffs of our country or from those of the enemy opposite, than sometimes a large convoy5 glimmering6 cloud-like as it[Pg 234] floated, some compact, some scattered7, under the protection of men-of-war up Channel to London town or to other ports, or down Channel to their several destinations in various parts of the globe.
Or it might be a cloud of steam-like smoke far off indicating an action between single ships. An Englishman had hailed a Frenchman to strike. The Frenchman had answered with a broadside, and before the sun sets the Englishman with her fore-topmast and mizzen topgallant mast gone is making for Plymouth with a prize in tow.
Or again it will be a smuggling9 lugger chased by a Revenue cutter with a flash of the sea-snow at her stem and the blaze of a long gun on the forecastle.
The ship in sight carried in those days a very unfamiliar10 rig. She was what is well known now as a barque. She was under all plain sail and showed many wings, and she lifted sails which Lord St Vincent when Captain Jervis was the first to introduce into the Navy, and Merchantmen, always quicker than Navy ships to adopt improvements or changes for the good, were using them when ships of the State, at least a good many of them, were still satisfied with the truck above the topgallant yard.
This vessel12 was the Minorca, which, as we[Pg 235] know, had left Old Harbour shortly after eight o'clock that morning, and now she had shrunk the Mother Country into a delicate vision, and slightly leaning from the wind was sliding with a steady keel through the water which beautified the copper13 that shone ruddily under her weather-bow with the prisms and crystals and gems14 of the ocean fountain. In spite of Admiral Lawrence's admiration15 of her, she would excite laughter in this age as an example of the stump-ended fabrics17 which the shipwrights18 of the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries were building for sailors. Yet many of these structures made wonderfully long voyages and kept the seas, touching20 here and there to careen, for as lengthy21 a period as the average life of the modern steel fabric16.
The Minorca's length did not very greatly exceed her beam. Her bows were round, though they fined down into keenness at her entry under water. She had a large square stern with windows, and her buttocks when her stern fell into the hollow, swept up as much foam as recoiled22 from the plunge24 of her bows. Upon the weather-side of the quarterdeck of the ship on this May morning in the English Channel Mr John Eagle, the mate of the vessel, was walking to and fro, sometimes directing his gaze to windward,[Pg 236] sometimes aloft, sometimes sending it along the ship's decks at the men who were employed on the numberless jobs which attend a sailing ship's departure from port. High aloft, perched on the fore-topgallant yard, was the figure of a look-out man, who was told to report anything that hove into sight and to continue to report how the distant sail was heading. These were Mr Lawrence's instructions.
Mr Eagle looked a very mean sort of man as he walked the deck. Neither by form, face, nor manner did he express individuality or character. The sole feature noticeable in him was a look of sullenness25, a sour, sneering27, quarrelsome air about the mouth, to be found perhaps in the curve of his thin lips.
Whilst he walked Mr Lawrence came up from the cabin through the companion-hatch, and after standing28 a few moments looking about him, he stepped to the side of Mr Eagle. The contrast between the two men was remarkable29. You could scarcely have believed that they belonged to the same nation. Mr Lawrence's tall, elegant, and dignified30 figure towered above the poor, unshapely conformation of Eagle; his handsome face wore an expression of haughtiness31, distance, and reserve. Both Mr Eagle and the boatswain, named Thomas Pledge, who[Pg 237] acted as second mate, and the rest of the crew had already discovered that their captain perfectly32 well understood and remembered that he had been an officer in the Royal Navy, a sailor of His Majesty33 the King, that comparatively brief as his story was it was brilliant with heroic incident and adventure, and that instead of being greatly obliged to Captain Acton for this command, he considered that he was acting34 with a very uncommon35 degree of condescension36 in taking charge of a merchant vessel, unless indeed she was a prize to his man-o'-war.
"There is nothing in sight, sir," he exclaimed, as he stood beside Mr Eagle, who had come to a halt on the approach of the other. "You will please see that a sharp look-out is kept for any sort of sail that may heave into view; and I trust to you to keep a sharp look-out yourself. When fairly clear of the Scillies, I may breathe with some ease."
"So far nothing's hove into sight, sir," said Mr Eagle.
"We have a pretty little breeze blowing," said Mr Lawrence, going to the side and looking over, "and we are under all plain sail. The wind's abeam37 and her speed is under six. Can she walk in strong weather?"
"She's done nine, sir, in my experience of her," answered Mr Eagle. "But it took half[Pg 238] a gale38 of wind on the quarter to make her do it."
Mr Lawrence came from the ship's side, and said: "Pray continue your walk. I have something of importance to communicate to you," and he looked down into Mr Eagle's face with a curiously39 mingled expression of contempt, haughtiness and superiority. "It is not customary, I believe," he said, "in the Merchant Service for shipmasters to take their mates into their confidence. It is necessary, however, that I should communicate one or two facts to you in connection with this voyage. I presume you are not aware that Miss Lucy Acton is on board this ship?"
"I saw her come over the side, sir, but didn't know she had stopped," said the mate, with an expression which might have passed for incredulity in the sour, congenital curl of his lips.
"She remained on board, and is in my cabin, and I shall occupy the cabin which was fitted up professedly for a sick-bay."
"Miss Lucy Acton aboard this ship!" cried the mate, giving way to his amazement40. "Well, I am truly astonished."
"I don't care a damn about your astonishment41, Mr Eagle!" exclaimed Mr Lawrence with haughty42 severity. "I want you to understand that Miss Lucy Acton is on board this[Pg 239] ship, and I desire that you will regulate your behaviour by thoroughly43 understanding the facts which I am going to do you the honour to impart."
Mr John Eagle made no answer.
"I first of all wish you to understand," continued Mr Lawrence, "that Miss Acton and I are in love with each other. We desire to be married. Captain Acton objects on the grounds of what I am forced to term my poverty; and certainly this quarter-deck would not know my tread if I were not poor. At the same time the greatest esteem44 and friendship exists between Captain Acton and myself, and his regard for me is sufficiently45 expressed by his placing me in command here. Do you follow me, sir?"
"I do, sir."
"Miss Acton and I agreed to elope. We found our opportunity in this vessel. This could only be done by contriving46 what the French call a ruse47. It was to be assumed that her father had fallen ill in this ship whilst inspecting her early this morning, and the stratagem48 was to be carried out by his dictating49 a letter to me begging his daughter to come at once to the vessel. This she did, and she is now below. Do you understand me, Mr Eagle?"
"Oh yes, sir, I am a-following of you,"[Pg 240] answered the mate, with a face crippled in meaning by astonishment and by other sensations excited by this extraordinary story.
"Now," continued Mr Lawrence, still preserving his lofty, superior, rather over-bearing manner, as though he would heave Mr John Eagle overboard by scruff and breech if the fellow durst utter a syllable50 of offence, "it is arranged by Miss Acton and myself that she should feign51 that I have kidnapped her—sailed away with her, in short, against her will. This attitude we preconcerted, to rescue her from the accusation52 of having eloped, which might greatly prejudice her in the eyes of her father, and injure her future and fortune. When, therefore, you meet her, which you doubtless will, she will probably with the utmost passion, nay53, even with tears in her eyes, declare that she has been torn from her home by a base artifice54. And you'll understand, Mr Eagle, that her sighs, her statements, and her tears are merely tricks and parts of a play which has been carefully prearranged between the lady and myself. Do you understand, sir?" he added, looking stormily at his mean little companion from the altitude of his elegant and commanding figure.
"Why, yes, sir, course I do. But I never should ha' thought it. Why of all the young ladies——"
[Pg 241]
"I'm not asking you for any opinion, nor will any view that you can take concern me. You have the facts, and you will repeat them to the crew, to some of whom she may probably appeal, as indeed I have advised, that her pretended situation may seem the more real, and Captain Acton by such evidence be more fully19 convinced. You and the crew will know what to think. It is simply a love affair and my own and the lady's business essentially," and he stopped in his quarterdeck walk, causing his companion to stop, and flamed threats from a pair of eyes as imperious as ever glared command upon another.
Mr Eagle looked as obedient as a quartermaster to instructions sternly delivered by a flogging captain.
"I have another matter to talk to you about," Mr Lawrence proceeded, "and on this head I have to request without the smallest qualification of what you must regard as my orders that you will preserve silence."
"I beg pardon," interrupted Mr Eagle, "but before you go on I should like to say that I am only mate of this ship and take no interest lyin' outside the sphere of my duties that don't consarn me."
"What I have to say," said Mr Lawrence, "will concern you—at least I think so. It will concern you very much indeed. Yesterday, [Pg 242]Captain Acton placed in my hands sealed orders with strict instructions to summon all hands and to read the document to you and the men, but on no account to break the seal before the ship had arrived at latitude56 twenty degrees north, and longitude57—about—for we never can be sure of that—thirty degrees west."
Mr Eagle's figure started as he walked. He knew his course to Kingston, Jamaica as intimately well as you know your home when crossing from over the way to it. He ventured to stare at Mr Lawrence, who went on:
"The nature of these instructions I can only guess at from several conversations which I have had with Captain Acton, who without being in any degree specific, yet seemed to suffer me to read between the sentences of his conversation. And now, sir," said Mr Lawrence with great austerity, "this is the communication you will preserve strict silence upon until the sealed instructions are read. My belief is—understand me: I say that the idea I have arrived at from Captain Acton's conversation—is that I should carry this ship to a port that certainly is not Kingston nor is it in Jamaica, though I am unable to say more, and that he wishes this vessel to be handed over to the representative of a South American merchant who does business in London. What the port may be I am as curious as you[Pg 243] undoubtedly58 now are to learn. I believe also that the whole of us from captain to boy will be paid off at this port and sent to England at Captain Acton's expense, and each man will receive treble the amount of the wages that he would have got for his voyage to Kingston and home. All this I infer from Captain Acton's language, and I may be violating his good faith in me in committing even these conjectures59 to the strict confidence which I am sure you will observe."
Various sensations were depicted60 in Mr Eagle's face as he listened. First he looked scared, then fierce by mere55 force of frown and enlargement of eyes, then sceptical with his sour, sneering mouth, then obstinate61, sullen26, mulish. He perfectly believed in the statement Mr Lawrence had made. Captain Acton, the owner, was a naval62 officer, and so was Mr Lawrence. They had agreed to abide63 in this matter of selling the ship and discharging the crew by a custom of their Service, namely, the sealed instructions.
A very short silence followed Mr Lawrence's delivery. Mr John Eagle then said: "You'll find, sir, that when the crew comes to larn that this voyage ain't bein' made to Kingston, Jamaica, but to another place, they'll tarn64 to and refuse to work the ship, as their agreement was for Kingston and nowhere else."
[Pg 244]
"That will be mutiny. To refuse an order aboard ship is mutiny. In the Navy we hang men for that sort of conduct."
"Well, sir," said Mr Eagle, who uttered his convictions with the misgiving65 which fear of the listener excites, "my own opinion is that it wouldn't be reckoned as mutiny. It wouldn't be justice if it was called mutiny, and treated as mutiny. 'Taint66 the crew that breaks the agreement by refusing to do something which they never shipped to undertake, but the owner who gives 'em a job when at sea which they would have declined to hear of had they been told of it ashore67. And I'm surprised," he continued, emboldened68 by Mr Lawrence's silence, "that Captain Acton, who is a gentleman born, and a man one could sarve all his life with satisfaction to himself and employer, should get rid of his ship and crew in such a fashion. But, perhaps, all that you say, sir, won't be found in the instructions you are to read in latitude twenty."
"I am talking to you," said Mr Lawrence, with acid contempt, "not to gather your opinion of Captain Acton and of such instructions as he may have given me, but to acquaint you as an officer of this ship with such facts as I collected from Captain Acton's conversation, which must presently become the property of the whole crew. It seems to me,[Pg 245] sir," he continued, looking at his mean companion in his lofty, imperious, flaming way, "that even on the bare hint of the possibility of such a proceeding69 as I have stated, you are on the side of the crew, you advocate and express the cause of the crew, you anticipate the action which would be ranked as mutiny, and which would certainly cost human lives, unless, indeed, I decide upon a course of my own, by which I mean that if the crew refuse to work this ship to the place named by Captain Acton, I would steer70 to the nearest port and get rid of the whole of them and replace them by others; and if they refused to help me to navigate71 the ship to the nearest place, I would hoist72 a signal of distress73 and make my helpless situation known to the first man-o'-war that was not French or Spanish that came along."
Having driven in his nail firmly and deeply enough (as he thought) to sustain his wild, piratical, extravagant74 project, Mr Lawrence added in his commanding way, "I hope, sir, I have said enough. Meanwhile, I must repeat my order to you to keep a sharp look-out for ships and to see that a sharp look-out is kept. We should be in a very serious plight75 if we allowed a French cruiser to cross our hawse, and come between us and the coast of England. The Frenchmen's frigates76 sail well, the Minorca[Pg 246] has a shabby pair of heels. Therefore I am for putting my helm to port should anything show ahead, and you will be good enough to report any sail that springs into sight."
With that after a long penetrating77 look round he went below, leaving Mr Eagle looking as if he was asleep with his eyes open and dreaming. Indeed, Mr Eagle's mind was so shallow that all that he could think of or conceive was simple even to silliness. He resumed his walk to and fro on the quarter-deck, and every time that his face was turned forward his eyes fastened upon Thomas Pledge, who was acting second mate besides being boatswain and carpenter, and who just now was superintending some shipboard business that was going on in the waist.
Mr Lawrence descended78 the steps into the cabin, which has already been described, with its plain sea furniture and stand of arms, and entered the after berth79 which he had pretended to convert into a sick bay. Here were two rough bunks80, one on top of the other, each containing a mattress81 and bolster82. It was the middle berth betwixt the Captain's and the pantry. Mr Lawrence's sea-chest, clothes, and nautical83 instruments were here collected. He stepped to a shelf and took from it a tin box containing the ship's papers, and from this box he drew out a large, portentous84, heavily-sealed [Pg 247]envelope, whose enclosure of stout85 paper rendered it somewhat thick and bulky. He looked at the address. Upon the envelope in a bold clerkly hand was written:
"To Walter Lawrence, Esquire., R.N., in command of Captain Acton's barque-rigged vessel named the Minorca.
"Secret instructions to be read to the officers and crew of the above said Minorca by Mr Lawrence whenever the ship shall have arrived at twenty degrees of north latitude, and about thirty degrees of west longitude."
He looked attentively86 at the seals, which were impressed with the Acton crest87. He mused88 for a little while over this document manifestly thinking of other things. Though his brow was knit, his handsome face was a-work with thought. Under that knitted brow the expression of the idea in him came and went. There never could have been a finer study for an artist than this tall and elegant creature, slightly bowed, his beauty lighted up so to speak by the several colours of the moods which inspired him, and which seemed by the occasional movement of his lips to indicate the rehearsal89 of a passage that was to follow. With an impulse almost passionate90 as an effect of stern resolution he replaced the tin box, walked out of the berth,[Pg 248] and dangling91 a key which he had withdrawn92 from his pocket, stood listening for a few moments at the door of the berth which adjoined the one he had quitted.
He listened, then knocked, knocked again, and receiving no reply, inserted the key, turned the handle and entered. This was the berth set aside for the Captain, though as a matter of fact in Merchant vessels93 the Captain used to occupy almost invariably the aftermost starboard berth. It was plainly, but comfortably, furnished, the bedstead was like those ashore, and such as in former times Spanish ships chiefly were equipped with. It had a chest of drawers and a washstand in combination, and a table in the middle, at which sat Miss Lucy Acton. Her hands were clasped before her and rested on the table. She shot a swift glance under her beautiful eyelids95 at the incomer, then looked down upon her hands with a gaze which for motionlessness might have been riveted96, though nothing was to be seen of her eyes under their lovely drooping97 clothing of lids and lashes98. She was plainly dressed in a gown whose waist was just under her bosom99. In some such a gown, or in some such attire100 she was wont101 of an early spring or summer morning to amuse herself in the flower gardens, or to take walks, occasionally remaining to[Pg 249] breakfast at some poor neighbour's house. The only conspicuous102 feature of her apparel was a hat lately introduced from Paris and much affected103 by the fashionable ladies of London and other parts of this country. I speak of it as a hat: it was in truth a jockey-bonnet made of lilac-coloured silk decorated in front with a bunch of fancy flowers, and on top was a lace veil that hung gracefully104 down the back.
Mr Lawrence stood viewing her in silence for a few moments, and then approaching the table so that he stood close to her, he said in a voice of tenderness:
"Miss Acton—Lucy—my Lucy: for my Lucy you have ever been in my heart since the day when I asked you to be my wife, and you know—but you must believe—that my adoration105 of you then has not waned106 by a single ray of its brilliance107—nay, the flame is greater and purer and more glowing than it was in that hour in which you refused my hand, not because you could not love me, nor because you believed the half of what had been told you about me, but because I was in too great a hurry. I had not given you time to find me out and love me as I believe, as I am sure you now do. Oh, my Lucy, this act of seeming treason against you will be forgiven. Your heart will acknowledge[Pg 250] that violent as might seem the step I have taken, by no other could we have been brought together, and all the artifices108 and all the falsehoods I have been guilty of were, you will come to believe, the inspiration of such a love as few men ever felt for the women of their worship."
He knelt on one knee by her side and tried to take her hand. She started from her chair and recoiled some paces. On which he rose and stood towering in his figure and gazing at her, but with a face whose beauty could not have been more perfected than by the expression of the emotion of his heart.
Her native blush, which was one of the delightful109 features of her loveliness, had vanished: her face was colourless, and this uncommon pallor which one would have thought could only have visited her cheek in the day of dangerous sickness or in death, heightened the wonder, the depth, the power of her dark eyes, whilst those lids of her's which naturally drooped110 upon the loveliness they eclipsed in slumber111, were raised till the vision she might have been said to pour in soft light upon her companion, looked unnatural112 and wild, the eyes of madness, the incommunicable gaze of any one sooner than the half-veiled, love-lighted sweetness of the orbs113 of Lucy Acton.
[Pg 251]
"I asked you when you first came in here to see me what you mean to do with me," she exclaimed in a voice so strained and high, so entirely114 lacking in its native music that her father, had she been unseen, would not have recognised the tones as his child's.
"And I answered, I will marry you," he replied.
"That is no answer, sir," she cried. "You have basely and cruelly stolen me from my home. I command you to return me to my father! Is this your gratitude115 for his goodness to you and the affectionate regard he has for Sir William Lawrence, who will be more shocked than even Captain Acton by your unnatural, ignoble116, treacherous117 conduct? Home cannot be far, the ship has not sailed many miles. Return me at once, sir! Ships must be in sight, any one of which will put me ashore. If you detain me, if you carry me I know not where in the hope of my marrying you, you will drive me mad, as I nearly am mad now," and when she spoke118 these words, she delivered a wild, shrieking119 laugh, baring her teeth by such strenuous120 elongation of her lips as left them ashen121; and the tragic122 quality of that ringing dreadful laugh was heightened by the absence of the faintest stroke of merriment in her features.
"You are wrong, madam," he said, with an[Pg 252] appearance of respect, and even of sympathy colouring the tender voice he employed. "There is no ship in sight. If there were she would probably prove an enemy's cruiser which must end my dream of happiness by our consignment123 to a French prison. You are in the hands of a man who loves you, who adores you, who is indeed taking his chance of the gibbet to win you. Trust in me. As my wife you shall be faithfully returned to your father, who will not condemn124 an action which merely anticipates the sanction I was looking forward to when he gave me command of this ship, and brought me by this stroke of goodness closer to you."
"You will return me," she said. "You are not in earnest. This is a bold and awful act of treachery attempted merely to test me. Marry you! Send me back to my father at once whilst my home is at hand, or you will discover that instead of having won a wife, you have driven a girl into a madhouse."
Her wild look, the extraordinary change by dramatisation of the eyes which she held in their soft brilliance fastened upon him, her raised, painful, indescribable voice, her attitude, the hue125 of her face, might well have suggested to him that her threat was no idle one, that being a young woman of exquisite[Pg 253] sensibility she might be so wrought126 by his inhuman127 conduct as to lose her mind, her delicate intellect would stagger into madness under the cruel blow he had dealt her in the name of love.
"You are not likely to go mad," he said, smiling at her, and his handsome face with that smile lighting128 it up might have helped to conquer any woman, though betrayed into the imprisonment129 of a ship's cabin, and sailed away with into unknown regions, who in her heart of hearts felt towards this man as Lucy Acton did. But not in the way that Mr Lawrence had devised was the victory to be his.
"When am I to leave this ship?" she asked.
"Will you be seated?"
"No, sir. When am I to leave this ship?"
"You know, madam—Miss Acton—Lucy—my Lucy—that I am a man of broken fortunes. I have struggled hard to retrieve130 the past, but the world is full, and I have been unable to find room in it. You came in my way. I adored your beauty, and worshipped you for your character. You would not accept my hand, but I felt in my secret soul that I was not indifferent to you—nay, that if I could advance higher claims than those of a broken lieutenant131 and a man with the[Pg 254] reputation of being a gambler and a drunkard, you would have listened to me, you would have consented. Nor would your father have objected, for he loves our service, and his partiality for Sir William would have helped me. I determined132 to win you, no matter the machinery133 I might set in motion. I was determined to escape the horrible trouble of bankruptcy134, and the intolerable menace of a debtor's gaol135, by carrying this ship to a port and there selling her and her cargo136 through the agency of a man who is known to me, and with the money thus got, I mean to pay off all my creditors137 in England, and return with you as my wife, assured of Captain Acton's forgiveness for your sake, and equally assured of his approval, as it is my intention to hoist the flag of honour as high as my father has mastheaded it, to be a gentleman, to live as a gentleman, and to be deemed by the part I hope to play in the drama of life, worthy138 of being the husband of Lucy Acton, and the son-in-law of her gallant8, generous, noble-hearted father."
She listened to him with the immobility of a ship's figurehead. No astonishment at his extraordinary revelation of intention varied139 the expression of her face which remained as it was when she shrank from him. Truly a wonderful face, the face of an actress of[Pg 255] supreme140 genius, the face of the inheretrix of the surprising, most excellent art of her mother, the famous Kitty O'Hara. Still did she keep bare her beautiful teeth, still did the tension through the elongation of her sweet lips hold them bloodless, her eyes had lost in their expression their lovely quality of brooding. They stared, and the stare was that of madness. Her colour was gone. Apparently141 this delicate, fascinating, lovable, gentle girl, possessed142 powers of will and intellect which dominated Nature herself in her; and even as it is known of some, that they have been capable of arresting the pulsation143 of their heart and yet live, so obviously in this lady was an influence, a passion, a very wizardry of determination, which suffered her to drive the blood from her cheek, to narrow the eyelid94 till the eye had lost its familiar seeking and dwelling look, till the mouth took the form that was to convey the intention of the artist.
Her only reply to his speech was (as though she had not attended to his meaning), "Are you going to keep me a prisoner in this cabin?"
"For a day or two only, madam," he answered, with his face flushed with disappointment, for he had hoped his candour would have produced a very different effect. "But I may tell you frankly144 that Mr Eagle and[Pg 256] the crew know that you are on board, and I should have played my part ill had I not provided that nothing you can say, no entreaties145 that you can make, will persuade them that your elopement is not voluntary."
"You shall never find me one!" he cried with impetuosity. "But I am to win you, and will you tell me the poet or the philosopher who has ever spoken of the strategies employed in love as villainy?"
She continued to stare at him. Her figure still seemed to shrink as though in her first recoil23 when he tried to take her hand. Her face then suddenly underwent a change, her mouth relaxed what in homely147 features might have been called its wild grin; she frowned; her eyes took an unsettled look. There was something in her countenance148 that could hardly have failed to arrest the attention of any one who had a tolerable acquaintance with the insane. Mr Lawrence seemed to see nothing but Lucy Acton in her beauty.
"You have stolen me from my home, sir," she exclaimed in a piteous, almost whining149 voice, "and I am without clothes except the dress that I am wearing, and they will soon be in rags, which will flutter if I begin to dance."
[Pg 257]
"I am thankful to hear you speak of dancing. If ever your clothes should become rags and flutter to the measures of your feet, your beauty will still make them a finer garment, at least in my sight, than the apparel of royalty150 in state. But you shall not want for clothes," he said, speaking in his gentlest voice, which, as he held command over fine vocal151 powers that rendered him at the piano, or at any other instrument, a sweet and engaging and manly152 singer, would have been found soothing153 by any ear that had not Lucy Acton's to hear with. "Your dress will last you till our arrival, and then you shall have plenty; whatever your choice selects you may already call your own."
She delivered the same wild, screaming laugh which had before filled the cabin with its insane music, and said, dropping her note into one of plaintiveness154, whilst she extended her skirt with both hands as though she was about to make a step or two in a dance: "Think of poor Lucy Acton in rags! Think of the lady who was notable, before a liar11 and a rogue155 stole her from her father, for her fine dresses and modish156 hats and bonnets157; oh, think of her"—she paused to sigh deeply—"in rags, a prisoner in a ship owned by her father, who would kill the wretch158 that tore her from his side!"
[Pg 258]
And thus speaking she turned to the bulkhead, and putting her arm against it buried her face in her sleeve, and fell to sobbing159 so piteously that you would have thought her poor little heart was broken.
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receding
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| 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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2
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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smuggling
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unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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15
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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16
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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17
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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18
shipwrights
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| n.造船者，修船者( shipwright的名词复数 ) | |
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19
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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20
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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21
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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22
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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23
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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24
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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25
sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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26
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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27
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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28
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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29
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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30
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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31
haughtiness
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| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
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32
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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33
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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34
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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35
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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36
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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37
abeam
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| adj.正横着(的) | |
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38
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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39
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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40
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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41
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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42
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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43
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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44
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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45
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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46
contriving
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| （不顾困难地）促成某事( contrive的现在分词 )； 巧妙地策划，精巧地制造（如机器）； 设法做到 | |
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47
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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48
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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49
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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50
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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51
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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52
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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53
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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54
artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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55
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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56
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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57
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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58
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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59
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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60
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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61
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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62
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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63
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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64
tarn
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| n.山中的小湖或小潭 | |
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65
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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66
taint
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| n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染 | |
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67
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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68
emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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70
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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71
navigate
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| v.航行，飞行；导航，领航 | |
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72
hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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73
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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74
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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75
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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76
frigates
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| n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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77
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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78
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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79
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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80
bunks
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| n.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的名词复数 )；空话，废话v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的第三人称单数 )；空话，废话 | |
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81
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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82
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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83
nautical
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|
| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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84
portentous
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|
| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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86
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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87
crest
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|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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88
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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89
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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90
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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91
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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92
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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93
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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94
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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95
eyelids
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|
| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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96
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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97
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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98
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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99
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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100
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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101
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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102
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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103
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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104
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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105
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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106
waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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107
brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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108
artifices
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| n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为 | |
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109
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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110
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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111
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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112
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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113
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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114
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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115
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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116
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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117
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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118
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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119
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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120
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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121
ashen
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| adj.灰的 | |
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122
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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123
consignment
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| n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物 | |
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124
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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125
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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126
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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127
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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128
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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129
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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130
retrieve
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| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
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131
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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132
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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133
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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134
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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135
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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136
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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137
creditors
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| n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 ) | |
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138
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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139
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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140
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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141
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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142
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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143
pulsation
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| n.脉搏，悸动，脉动；搏动性 | |
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144
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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145
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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146
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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147
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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148
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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149
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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150
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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151
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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152
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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153
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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154
plaintiveness
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155
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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156
modish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的 | |
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157
bonnets
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| n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子 | |
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158
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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159
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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