The young pipe-bearer said to his master: “An idea strikes me. Thou hast one officer dead, another absent, and a third wounded. Put up their places for competition. Promise us that those who shall tell of the best way to avenge4 thee, shall succeed Sophocles, the Corfuan, and Vasile.”
Hadgi-Stavros smiled complacently5 at this stratagem6. He stroked the young boy’s chin and said to him:
“Thou art ambitious, my little man! All in good time! Ambition is the result of courage. Agreed, for a competition! It is a modern idea, a European idea, that pleases me. To reward thee, thou shalt give thy advice, first; and if thou findest something very good, Vasile shall have no other heir but thee.”
“I would,” said the child, “pull out some of my lord’s teeth, put a bit in his mouth, and make him run, bridled7, till he dropped from fatigue8.”
“His feet are too sore; he would fall down at the first step. And you others? Tambouris, Moustakas, Coltzida, Milotia, speak, I am listening.”
“I,” said Coltzida, “I would break boiling hot eggs under his arm-pits. I tried it on a woman of Magara, and I had much fun.”
“I,” said Tambouris, “I would put him on the ground with a rock weighing five hundred pounds on his chest. It thrusts out one’s tongue and makes one spit blood; it is fine!”
“I,” said Milotia, “I would put vinegar in his nostrils9, and drive thorns under every nail. One sneezes violently and one does not know what to do with one’s hands.”
Moustakas was one of the cooks of the band. He proposed to cook me in front of a small fire. The King’s face expanded.
The monk10 assisted at the conference, and let them talk without giving his advice. He, however, took pity on me, according to the measure of his sensibility, and helped me as far as his intelligence permitted. “Moustakas,” he said, “is too wicked. One can torture milord finely without burning him alive. If you will give him salt meat without allowing him to drink he will live a long time, he will suffer a great deal, and the King will satisfy his vengeance without interfering11 with God’s vengeance. It is my disinterested12 advice which I give you; I shall make nothing by it; but I wish everyone to be pleased, since the monastery13 has received its tithe14.”
“Halt, there!” interrupted the coffee-bearer. “Good old man, I have an idea which is better than thine. I condemn15 milord to die of hunger. The others will do any evil to him which pleases them; I will not hinder them. But I would place a sentinel before his mouth, and I would take care that he had neither a drop of water nor a crumb16 of bread. Weakness would redouble his hunger; his wounds would increase his thirst, and the tortures of the others would finally finish him to my profit. What dost thou say, Sire? Is it not well reasoned and will it not give me Vasile’s place?”
“Go to the devil, all of you!” cried the King. “You would reason less calmly if the wretch17 had plundered18 you of 80,000 francs! Carry him away to the camp and take your pleasure out of him. But unhappy the one who kills him by any imprudence! This man must die only by my hand. I intend that he shall reimburse19 me, in pleasure, for all that he has taken from me in money. He shall shed his blood drop by drop, as a bad debtor20 who pays sou by sou.”
You would not believe, Monsieur, with what struggles the most wretched man will cling to life. Truly, I longed to die; and the happiest thing which could happen to me would be to end it all with one blow. Something, however, rejoiced me at Hadgi-Stavros’ threat. I blessed the extension of my time. Hope sprang up in my heart. If a charitable friend had offered to blow out my brains I would have looked twice at him.
Four brigands22 took me by the shoulders and legs and carried me, a shrieking23 mass, to the King’s cabinet. My voice awakened24 Sophocles on his pallet. He called his companions and made them tell him the news, and asked to look at me closely. It was the caprice of a sick person. They threw me down by his side.
“Milord,” he said to me, “we are both very weak, but the odds25 are that I shall get well sooner than you do. It appears that they are already talking of my successor. How unjust men are! My place is up for competition. Oh, well! I wish to compete and to put myself in the race. You will bear witness in my favor and your groans26 will testify that Sophocles is not yet dead. You shall be bound, and I take upon myself the pleasure of tormenting28 you with one hand, as spiritedly as the strongest of the band.”
In order to please the unfortunate fellow they bound me. He turned over towards me and began to pull out hairs, one by one, with the patience and the regularity29 of a professional hair remover. When I saw what this new punishment was to be, I believed that the wounded man, touched by my misery30, and sympathizing with me because of his own sufferings, wished to shield me from his comrades, and give me an hour’s respite31. The extraction of one hair is not so painful, by a good deal, as the prick32 of a pin. The first twenty came out, one after the other, without any discomfiture33. But soon I changed my tune34. The scalp, irritated by a multitude of imperceptible lesions, became inflamed35. A dull itching36 began on my head; it became a little livelier; and at last it was intolerable. I would like to have raised my hands to my head; I understood with what intuition the wretch had had me bound. Impatience37 but aggravated38 the trouble; all the blood in my body rushed to my head. Every time Sophocles approached his hand to my scalp, a woful shivering seized my whole body. A thousand inexplicable39 stingings tormented40 my arms and legs. The nervous system, irritated at every point, enveloped41 me in a network more exasperating42 than Dejanire’s tunic43. I rolled over on the ground, I groaned44, I cried for mercy, I regretted the bastinado. The executioner had pity on me only when he had completely exhausted45 himself. When he felt his eyes become dim, his head heavy, and his arm weary, he made a last effort, plunged46 his hand into my hair, seized a fist full, and fell over on his pallet, drawing from me a despairing cry.
“Come with me,” said Moustakas. “Thou shalt decide, in a corner by the fire, if I can compete with Sophocles, and whether I merit a lieutenancy47.”
He raised me like a feather and carried me to the camp, in front of a heap of resinous48 wood and piled up brushwood. He took off the bonds, he stripped me of my clothes, leaving me only my trousers. “Thou shalt be my under-cook,” he said. “We will make the fire and we will prepare the King’s dinner, together.”
He lighted the stack of wood and laid me out on my back, about two feet from the mountain of flames. The wood crackled, the red cinders49 fell like hail around me. The heat became unbearable50. I hitched51 along with my hands a little distance, but he came with a frying-pan in his hand, and pushed me back with his foot to the place where he had first laid me.
“Look well, and profit by my lessons. Here are the heart, liver, and kidneys from three sheep; there is enough to feed twenty men. The King will choose the most delicate morsels52; he will distribute the remainder to his men. Thou wilt53 have none of it for the present, and if thou tastest my cooking, it will be with the eyes only.”
I soon heard the bubbling in the sauce pan, and it reminded me that I had been fasting since the evening before. My hunger added one more torment27. Moustakas held the pan under my eyes and made me look at the appetizing color of the meat. He thrust it under my nose and I smelled the steam of the food. Suddenly he perceived that he had forgotten the seasoning54, and he hurried away to find the salt and pepper, leaving the sauce pan to my care. The first idea which came to me was to steal a piece of the meat, but the brigands were only ten feet away; they would stop me at once. “If I only had my package of arsenic55,” I thought. What could I have done with it? I had not put it back in my box. I thrust my hands into my pockets. I drew out a soiled paper and a handful of that beneficent powder, which would save me, perhaps, or at least avenge me.
Moustakas returned at the instant when I was holding my open hand above the sauce pan. He seized me by the arm, looked me straight in the eye, and said in a menacing tone: “I know what thou hast done.”
I dropped my arm discouraged. The cook added:
“Yes, thou hast thrown something over the King’s dinner.”
“What?”
“A spell. But no matter. Believe me, my poor milord, Hadgi-Stavros is a greater sorcerer than thou art. I am going to serve his dinner. I will have my part of it, but thou shalt not taste it.”
“Great good may it do thee!”
He left me before the fire, placing me in the care of a dozen brigands who were crunching56 black bread and bitter olives. These Spartans57 kept me company for an hour or two. They attended to my fire with the watchfulness58 of sick nurses. If, at times, I attempted to drag myself a little further away from my torture they cried out: “Take care, thou wilt freeze!” And they pushed me toward the flames with heavy blows of the burning brushwood. My back was covered with red spots, my skin was raised in blisters59, my eye-lashes had succumbed60 to the heat of the fire, my hair exhaled61 an odor of burning horn, and yet I rubbed my hands in glee at the thought of the King eating my cooking and that something startling would happen upon Parnassus before night.
Very soon Hadgi-Stavros’ men re-appeared in the camp, stomachs filled, eyes shining, faces smiling. “Go on!” I thought, “your joy and your health will soon fall like a mask, and you will curse each mouthful of the feast which I seasoned for you!” The celebrated62 poisoner, Locuste, must have passed some very pleasant moments during her life. When one has reason to hate men, it is pleasure enough to see a vigorous being who goes, who comes, who laughs, who sings, while carrying in his intestines64 a seed of death which will spring up and devour65 him. It is a little like the same joy a good doctor experiences at the sight of a dying man whom he is able to bring back to life. Locuste used medicine inversely66, as I did.
My malevolent67 reflections were interrupted by a singular tumult68. The dogs barked in chorus, and a messenger, out of breath, appeared on the plateau with the whole pack at his heels. It was Dimitri, the son of Christodule. Some stones thrown by the bandits freed him from his escort. He shouted at the top of his lungs: “The King! I must speak to the King!” When he was about twenty steps from us, I called to him in a doleful tone. He was terrified at the state in which he found me, and he cried out: “The fools! Poor girl!”
“My good Dimitri!” I said to him, “where dost thou come from? Will my ransom69 be paid?”
“The ransom is well at stake, but fear nothing, I bring good news. Good for you, bad for me, for him, for her, for everybody! I must see Hadgi-Stavros. There is not a moment to lose. Until I come back, suffer no one to do you any harm; she would die for it! You hear, you wretches70; do not touch milord. For your life. The King would cut you in pieces. Conduct me to the King!”
The world is such that a man who speaks as a master is almost sure of being obeyed. There was so much authority in the voice of this servant, and his passion expressed itself in a tone so imperious that my guards, astonished and stupefied, forgot to keep me near the fire. I crept some distance away, and deliciously reposed71 upon the cold rock, until Hadgi-Stavros’ arrival. He appeared not less agitated72 than Dimitri. He took me in his arms like a sick child, and carried me, without stopping, to that fatal chamber73 where Vasile was buried. He laid me on his own carpet with maternal74 solicitude75; he stepped back and looked at me with a curious mixture of hate and pity. He said to Dimitri: “My child, this is the first time that I have left such a crime unpunished. He killed Vasile, that was nothing. He would have assassinated76 me, I pardoned him. But he robbed me, the scamp! Eighty thousand francs less in Photini’s dowry! I sought for a punishment equal to his crime. Oh, rest easy! I should have found it. Unhappy that I am! Why did I not restrain my anger? I have treated him harshly. And she will bear the penalty. If she receives two blows of the stick upon her little feet I shall never see her again. Men do not die of it, but a woman, a child of fifteen!”
He cleared the place of all the men who were crowding around us. He gently unwound the bloody77 bandages which enveloped my wounds. He sent his pipe-bearer for the balm of Ludgi-Bey. He seated himself on the damp grass in front of me, he took my feet in his hands and looked at the wounds. An almost incredible thing to tell! There were tears in his eyes!
“Poor child!” he said, “you have suffered cruelly. Pardon me. I am an old brute78, a wolf of the mountain, a Palikar. I was trained in ferocity from twenty years of age. But you see that my heart is good, since I regret what I have done. I am more unhappy than you, because your eyes are dry and I weep. I shall set you at liberty without a moment’s delay, or rather, no, you cannot go away thus. I will cure you first. The balm is a sovereign remedy. I will care for you as for a son. Health shall return quickly. You must be able to walk to-morrow. She must not remain a day longer in your friend’s hands. In the name of Heaven tell no one of our quarrel to-day! You know that I do not hate you! I have said so often. I sympathized with you and I gave you my confidence. I told you my most sacred secrets. Do you not remember that we were friends until Vasile’s death? An instant’s anger must not make you forget twelve days of good treatment. You would not wish to break a father’s heart. You are an honest young man; your friend ought to be good like you.”
“But who, then?”
“Who? That cursed Harris! that devilish American! that execrable pirate! that kidnapper79 of children! that assassin of young girls! that wretch whom I wish I held with you so that I could crush you in my hands, grind you together, and scatter80 your dust to the winds of my mountains! You are all the same, Europeans, a race of traitors81, who dare not attack men, and who have courage to fight only against children. Read what he has written me and tell me if there are tortures cruel enough to chastise82 a crime like his!”
He savagely83 hurled84 a crumpled85 letter at me. I instantly recognized the writing, and I read:
“Sunday, May 11, on board The Fancy, Bay of Salamis.
“Hadgi-Stavros:
“Photini is on board under guard of four American cannons86. I shall hold her as hostage as long as Hermann Schultz is prisoner. As thou treatest my friend, so shall I treat thy daughter. She shall pay hair for hair, tooth for tooth, head for head. Reply to me without delay, otherwise I shall come to see thee!
“John Harris.”
On reading this letter I could not restrain my joy. “The good Harris!” I shouted, “I who accused him! But explain, Dimitri, why he has not rescued me sooner?”
“He has been away, Mr. Hermann; he was chasing pirates. He returned yesterday morning, unfortunately for us. Why did he not remain away!”
“Excellent Harris! He has not lost a single day. But where did he kidnap the daughter of this old scamp?”
“At our house, M. Hermann. You know her, Photini. You have dined more than once with her.”
The Daughter of the King of the Mountains was then that boarding-school miss with the flat nose, who sighed for John Harris.
I concluded from this that the abduction had been accomplished87 without violence.
The pipe-bearer now came up with a package of linen88 and a bottle filled with yellow pomade. The King dressed my feet with practiced touch, and I experienced within an hour a certain relief. Hadgi-Stavros was, at this moment, a fine subject for the study of psychology89. He had as much brutality91 in his eyes as delicacy92 in his touch. He unwound the bandages from my instep so gently that I scarcely felt it; but his glance said: “If I could only strangle thee!” He took out the pins as adroitly93 as a woman; but with what pleasure would he have thrust his cangiar into me.
When he had adjusted the bandages, he stretched out his clenched94 fists and savagely roared:
“I am no longer a King, since I must refrain from gratifying my anger! I, who have always commanded, I obey a threat! He, who has made millions of men tremble, is afraid! They will boast of it, without doubt; they will tell the whole world of it; Oh! for the means to silence those European gossips! They will publish it in their papers, perhaps even in their novels. Why did I marry? Ought such a man to have children? I was born to fight soldiers and not to rear up little girls! Thunder is not for children; cannons are not for children. If they were, they would no longer fear the thunder-bolts and cannon-balls. This John Harris may well laugh at me! What if I should declare war against him? What if I should capture his ship by force? I have attacked many, when I was a pirate, and twenty such cannons did not trouble me. But my daughter was not on board. Dear little one! You know her then, Monsieur Hermann? Why did you not tell me that you boarded with Christodule? I would have asked no ransom; I would have released you instantly, for love of Photini. Truly, I wish that she knew your language. She will be a princess in Germany, some day or other. Is it not true that she will make a beautiful Princess? I think so! Since you know her you will forbid your friend to do her any harm. Could you have the heart to see a tear fall from those dear eyes? She has never harmed you, the poor innocent! If anyone ought to expiate96 your sufferings, it is I. Tell M. John Harris that you bruised97 your feet on the paths; you may then do me any harm you choose.”
Dimitri stopped this torrent98 of words. “It is very unfortunate that M. Hermann is wounded. Photini is not safe in the midst of those heretics, and I know M. Harris: he is capable of anything!”
The King scowled99. Suspicions of a lover entered the father’s heart. “Be off, then,” he said to me; “I will carry you if necessary to the foot of the mountain; you can find, in some village, a horse, a carriage, a litter; I will furnish everything needed. But let him know, that from to-day, you are free, and swear to me, on the head of your mother, that you will tell no one of the injury which has been done you?”
I scarcely knew how I could endure the fatigues100 of the journey; but anything seemed preferable to the company of my tormentors. I feared that a new obstacle might arise before I was free. I said to the King: “Let us start! I swear to you by all I hold most sacred, that they shall not touch a hair of your daughter’s head!”
He raised me in his arms, threw me over his shoulder, and mounted the staircase to his cabinet. The entire band rushed out in front of him and barred our passage. Moustakas, livid as a man attacked with cholera101, said to him: “Where art thou going? The German has thrown a spell over the food. We are suffering all the pains of hell. We are frightfully ill, through his fault, and we wish to see him die.”
My hopes were dashed to the ground. Dimitri’s arrival; John Harris’ providential interference; Hadgi-Stavros’ change of front; the humiliation103 of that superb head to the feet of his prisoner; so many events, crowded into a quarter of an hour, had turned my head; I had already forgotten the past, and I had rashly begun to count on the future.
At the sight of Moustakas, I remembered the poison. I felt that any moment might precipitate104 a fearful event. I clung to the King of the Mountains, I wound my arms around his neck, I begged him to carry me away without delay. “It will redound105 to thy glory,” I said to him. “Prove to these savages106 that thou art King! Do not reply! words are useless. Let us pass over their bodies. Thou knowest thyself what interest thou hast in saving me. Thy daughter loves John Harris; I am sure of it, she confessed it to me!”
“Wait!” he replied. “Let us pass first! we can talk later.”
He laid me carefully down on the ground, and rushed, with clenched fists, into the midst of the bandits. “You are fools!” he shouted. “The first one who touches milord will answer to me. What spell do you say he has cast? I ate with you; am I ill? Let me pass! he is an honest man; he is my friend!”
Suddenly, he changed countenance107; his legs gave way under the weight of his body. He seated himself near me, leaned toward me and said with more grief than anger:
“Imprudent! Why did you not tell me that you had poisoned us?”
I seized the King’s hand; it was cold. His features were convulsed; his marble-like face became a frightful102 color. At this sight, my strength suddenly failed me, and I felt that I was dying. I had nothing more to hope for in the world; had I not condemned109 myself, in killing110 the only man who had any interest in saving me? My head fell on my breast, and I sat, helpless, by the side of the livid and shivering old man.
Moustakas and some of the others had, already, stretched out their hands to seize me and compel me to share their sufferings. Hadgi-Stavros had no strength to defend me. Occasionally, a terrible hiccough shook the King, as the wood-cutter’s ax shakes an oak a hundred years old. The bandits were persuaded that he was dying, and that the invincible111 old man was about, at last, to be conquered by death. All the ties which bound them to their chief, bonds of interest, of fear, of hope, and of gratitude112, broke like the threads of a spider’s web. The Greeks are the most restive113 people in the world. Their inordinate114 and intemperate115 vanity was sometimes subdued116, but like a steel ready to rebound117. They knew how, in case of need, to lean upon the strongest, or how to modestly follow the lead of the ablest, but not how to pardon the master who had protected and enriched them. For thirty centuries or more, this nation has been composed of a people, egotistical and jealous, which only necessity has held together, which inclination118 separates, and which no human power could unite entirely119.
Hadgi-Stavros learned to his cost that one does not command, with impunity120, sixty Greeks. His authority did not survive an instant longer than his moral force or his physical vigor63. Without mentioning the wounded men who shook their fists in our faces, while reproaching us for their sufferings, the able-bodied grouped themselves in front of their legitimate121 king, around a huge, brutal90 peasant, named Coltzida. He was the most garrulous122 and most shameless of the band, an impudent123 blockhead without talent and without courage; one of those who hide during action, and who carry the flag after a victory; but in like situations, fortune favors impudent braggarts. Coltzida, proud of his lungs, heaped insults, by the score, on Hadgi-Stavros, as a grave-digger heaps the earth on the grave of a dead man.
“Thou seest,” he said, “a wise man, an invincible general, an all-powerful king, and invulnerable mortal! Thou hast not deserved thy glory, and we have been far-sighted in trusting ourselves to thee! What have we gained in thy company? How hast thou served us? Thou hast given us fifty-four miserable125 francs a month, a beggarly pittance126. Thou hast fed us on black bread and mouldy cheese which you would not touch, while thou hast accumulated a fortune and sent ships loaded with gold to foreign bankers. What benefit have we received from our victories and for all the blood which we have shed in the mountains? Nothing! thou hast kept all for thyself, spoils, personal effects, prisoners’ ransoms127! It is true that thou hast left us the bayonet thrusts: it is the only profit of which thou hast not taken thy share. During the two years I have been with thee, I have received four wounds in the back, and thou hast not a scar to show! If, at least, thou hadst known how to lead us! If thou hadst chosen good opportunities, when there was little to risk and much to gain! Thou hast beaten us; thou hast been our executioner; thou hast sent us into the wolves’ jaws128! Thou hast then hastened to be done with us and to retire us on a pension! Thou wert longing129 so much to see us all buried near Vasile that thou deliveredst us to this cursed lord, who has thrown a spell over our bravest soldiers! But do not hope to cheat us from our vengeance. I know why thou wishest to have him go away; he has paid his ransom. But what dost thou wish to do with this money? Wilt thou carry it away to a foreign country? Thou art sick, opportunely130, my poor Hadgi-Stavros. Milord has not spared thee, thou art dying also, and it is well! My friends, we are our own masters. We will no longer obey anyone, we will do whatever pleases us, we will eat the best, we will drink all of the wine of Aegina, we will burn an entire forest to cook whole herds131, we will pillage132 the kingdom! we will take Athens and we will camp in the Palace gardens! You have only to allow yourselves to be led; I know the best methods! Let us begin by throwing the old man, with his much loved lord, into the ravine; I will then tell you what is necessary to do!”
Coltzida’s eloquence133 came near costing us our lives, because his audience applauded. Hadgi-Stavros’ old comrades, ten or a dozen devoted134 Palikars, who might have come to his aid, had eaten dessert at his table: they were also writhing135 in agony. But a popular orator136 cannot elevate himself above his fellows without creating jealousies137. When it became clear that Coltzida proposed to become chief of the band, Tambouris and some other ambitious ones faced about and ranged themselves on our side. To a man they liked better the man who knew how to lead them than this insolent138 braggart124, whose incapacity repelled139 them. They urged that the King had not long to live, and that he would appoint his successor from among the faithful who remained around him. It was no ordinary affair. The odds were that the capitalists would more readily ratify95 Hadgi-Stavros’ choice, than endorse140 a revolutionary election. Eight or ten voices were raised in our defense141. Ours, because our interests were one. I clung to the King of the Mountains, and he had one arm around my neck. Tambouris and his fellows put their heads together; a plan of defense was formed; three men profited by the uproar142 to run, with Dimitri, to the arsenal143, to get arms and cartridges144, and to lay along the path a train of powder. They came back and discreetly145 mixed with the crowd. They formed into two parties; insults were hurled from one to the other. Our champions, with their backs to Mary-Ann’s chamber, guarded the staircase, they made a rampart of their bodies for us, and kept the enemy in the King’s cabinet. In the scrimmage, a pistol-shot rung out. A ribbon of fire ran over the ground and the rock flew up with a fearful noise.
Coltzida and his followers146, surprised by the detonation147, ran to the arsenal. Tambouris lost not an instant; he raised Hadgi-Stavros, descended148 the staircase in two bounds, laid him in a safe place, returned, picked me up, carried, and laid me at the King’s feet. Our friends intrenched themselves in the chamber, cut trees, barricaded149 the staircase, and organized a defense before Coltzida could return.
Then, we counted our forces. Our army was composed of the King, his two servants, Tambouris with eight brigands, Dimitri, and myself; in all fourteen men, of whom three were disabled. The coffee-bearer had been poisoned also, and he began to show the first rigors151 of illness. But we had two guns apiece, and a great supply of cartridges, while the enemy had no arms nor ammunition152 except what they carried on their persons. They possessed153 the advantage of numbers and point of vantage. We did not know exactly how many able-bodied men they had, but we must expect to meet twenty-five or thirty assailants. I need not describe to you the place of siege: you know it. Believe, however, that the aspect of the place had changed a great deal since the day when I breakfasted there for the first time, under guard of the Corfuan, with Mrs. Simons and Mary-Ann. The roots of our beautiful trees were exposed, and the nightingale was far away. What is more important for you to know, is, that we were protected on the right and left by rocks, inaccessible154 even to the enemy. They could attack us from the King’s cabinet, and they could watch us from the bottom of the ravine. On the one hand, their balls flew over us; on the other, ours flew over the sentinels, but at such long range that it was wasting our ammunition.
If Coltzida and his companions had possessed the least idea of war, they could have done for us. They could have raised the barricade150, entered by force, driven us into a corner, or thrown us over into the ravine. But the imbecile, who had two men to our one, thought to husband his ammunition, and place, as sharp-shooters, twenty stupid men who did not know how to discharge a gun. Our men were not much more skillful. Better commanded, however, and wiser, they managed to smash five heads before night fell. The combatants knew each other by name. They called to each other after the fashion of Homer’s heroes. One attempted to convert the other by aiming at his cheek; the other replied by a ball and by argument. The combat was only an armed discussion when, from time to time, the muskets155 spoke157.
As for me, stretched out in a corner, sheltered from the balls, I tried to undo158 my fatal work, and to recall the poor King of the Mountains to life. He suffered cruelly; he complained of great thirst, and a sharp pain in the upper part of the abdomen159. His icy hands and feet were violently convulsed. The pulse was irregular, the respiration160 labored161. His stomach seemed to struggle against an internal execution, without being able to expel it. His mind had lost nothing of its vigor and its quickness; his bright and keen eye searched the horizon in the direction of the Bay of Salamis, and Photini’s floating prison.
He grasped my hand and said: “Cure me, my dear child! You are a doctor, you ought to cure me. I will not reproach you with what you have done; you were right; you had reason to kill me, because I swore that without your friend Harris I would not have allowed you to escape me. Is there nothing to quench162 the fire which consumes me? I care nothing for life; I have lived long enough; but if I die, they will kill you, and my poor Photini will be sacrificed. I suffer! Feel my hands; it seems to me that they are already dead. Do you believe that this American will have the heart to carry out his threats? What was it you told me a little while ago? Photini loves him! Poor little one! I have brought her up to become the wife of a king. I would rather see her dead, than—no, I would rather, after all, that she should love this young man; perhaps he may take pity on her. What are you to him? a friend; nothing more; you are not even a compatriot. One may have as many friends as one wishes; one cannot find two women like Photini; I would strangle all my friends if I found it to my advantage; I would never kill a woman who loved me. If only he knew how rich she is! Americans are practical, at least, so it is said. But the poor, little innocent knows nothing about her fortune. I ought to have told her. But how can I let him know that she will have a dowry of four millions? We are Coltzida’s prisoners. Cure me then, and by all the saints in paradise I will crush the reptile163!”
I am not a physician, and all I know about toxicology is in its elementary treatment; I remembered, however, that arsenical poisoning was cured only by a method similar to “Doctor Sangrado.” I used means to make the old man eject the contents of his stomach, and I soon began to hope that the poison was almost expelled. Reaction followed; his skin became burning hot, the pulse quickened, his face flushed, his eyes were blood-shot. I asked him if any one of his men knew enough to bleed him. He tied a bandage tightly around his arm, and coolly opened a vein164 himself, to the noise of the fusilade and while the bullets dashed around him. He let out a sufficient amount of blood, and asked me in a sweet and tranquil165 tone, what else there was to do. I ordered him to drink, to drink more, to keep on drinking, until the last particle of arsenic had been disposed of. The goat-skin of white wine which had killed Vasile was still in the chamber. This wine, mixed with water, brought back life to the King. He obeyed me like a child. I believe that the first time I held out the cup to him, his poor, old suffering Highness seized my hand to kiss it.
Toward ten o’clock he became much better, but his pipe-bearer was dead. The poor devil could neither rid himself of the poison, nor revive. They threw him into the ravine, at the top of the cascade166. All our defenders167 were in good condition, without a wound, but famished168 as wolves in December. As for me, I had been without food for twenty-four hours, and I was very hungry. The enemy, in order to defy us, passed the night eating and drinking above our heads. They threw to us some mutton bones and some empty goat-skin bottles. Our men replied with some shots, guessing at the position of our foes169. We could plainly hear the cries of joy and the groans of the dying. Coltzida was drunk; the wounded and the sick howled in unison171; Moustakas did not shout for a long time. The tumult kept me awake the entire night near the old King. Ah! Monsieur, how long the nights seem to him who is not sure of the next day!
Tuesday morning broke gray and wet. The sky looked threatening at sunrise, and a disagreeable rain fell alike on friend and foe170. But if we were wide awake enough to protect our arms and ammunition, General Coltzida’s army had not taken the same precaution. The first engagement redounded172 entirely to our honor. The enemy was badly hidden, and fired their pistols with shaking hands. The game seemed so good a one, that I took a gun like the others. What happened I will write to you about at some future time, if I ever become a doctor. I have already confessed to murders enough for a man whose business it is not. Hadgi-Stavros followed my example; but his hands refused to act; his extremities173 were swollen174 and painful, and I announced to him, with my usual frankness, that this incapacity might last as long as he did.
About nine o’clock the enemy, who seemed to be very attentive175 in responding to us, suddenly turned their backs. I heard heavy firing which was not directed to us, and I concluded that Master Coltzida had allowed himself to be surprised in the rear. Who was the unknown ally who was serving us so good a turn? Was it prudent108 to effect a junction176 and to demolish177 our barricade? I asked nothing else, but the King believed that it was a troop of the line, and Tambouris gnawed178 his moustache. All our doubts were soon removed. A voice which was not unknown to me, cried: “All right!” Three young men, armed to the teeth, sprang forward like tigers, broke down the barricade and fell in our midst. Harris and Lobster179 held in each hand a six-shooter. Giacomo brandished180 a musket156, the butt-end in the air, like a club: it was thus that he knew how to use fire-arms.
A thunder-bolt falling into the chamber would have produced less magical effect than the appearance of these men, who shot right and left, and who seemed to carry death in their hands. My three fellow-boarders, excited by the noise, elated with victory, perceived neither Hadgi-Stavros nor me. They only turned around in order to kill a man, and God knows! they did their work well. Our poor champions, astonished, affrighted, were overcome without having had time to defend themselves or to be recognized. I, who would have saved their lives, shouted from my corner; but my voice was drowned in the whistling of bullets, and the shouts of the conquerors181. Dimitri, crouching182 between the King and me, vainly joined his voice to mine. Harris, Lobster, and Giacomo fired, ran here and there, knocked down, counting the blows, each in his own tongue.
“One!” said Lobster.
“Two!” responded Harris.
“Tre! quatro! cinque!” growled183 Giacomo. The fifth was Tambouris. His head split under the blow like a fresh nut struck by a stone. The brains were scattered184 about, and the body sunk into the water like a bundle of clothes which a washerwoman throws in the edge of a brook185. My friends were a fine sight in their horrible work. They killed with ferocity, they delighted in the justice they meted186 out. While running toward the camp, the wind had blown away their hats; their locks were disheveled; their glistening187 eyes shone so murderously, that it was difficult to decide whether death was dealt by their looks or by their hands. One could have said that destruction was incarnate188 in this panting trio. When they had removed all obstacles from their path and they saw no enemies but the three or four wounded men stretched on the ground, they stopped to breathe. Harris’ first thought was for me. Giacomo had only one care: he wished to ascertain189 whether, among the number, he had broken Hadgi-Stavros’ head. Harris shouted: “Hermann, where are you?”
“Here!” I replied: and the three fighters ran at my call.
The King of the Mountains, feeble as he was, put one hand on my shoulder, raised himself from the rock, looked fixedly190 at these men who had killed such a number to reach him, and said in a firm tone: “I am Hadgi-Stavros!”
You know that my friends had waited for a long time for occasion to chastise the old Palikar. They had promised themselves to celebrate his death as a festival. They would avenge Mistra’s little daughters; a thousand other victims; me, and themselves. But, however, I had no need to restrain them. There was such remains191 of greatness in this hero in ruins, that their anger fell from them and gave way to astonishment192. They were all three young men, and at the age when one no longer takes arms against a disarmed193 enemy. I related to them, in a few words, how the King had defended me against his whole band, almost dead as he was, and on the same day on which I had poisoned him. I explained to them about the battle they had interrupted, the barricades194 they had broken down, and that strange contest in which they had interfered195 and killed our defenders.
“So much the worse for them!” said John Harris. “We wear, like Justice, a bandage over our eyes. If the rogues196 performed a good deed before they died, it will be counted in their favor up above; I do not object to it.”
“As for the men of whom we have deprived you, do not worry about them,” said Lobster. “With two revolvers in our hands and two more in our pockets, we have each been worth twenty-four men. We have killed these; the others have only to come back. Is it not so, Giacomo?”
“As for me, I could knock down an army of bulls!” said the Maltese; “I am in the humor for it. And to think that one is reduced to sealing letters with two such fists as these!”
The enemy, however, recovered from their astonishment, had again begun the siege. Three or four brigands had poked197 their noses over our ramparts and saw the carnage. Coltzida knew not what to think of the three scourges198 who had struck blindly, right and left, among friends and foes; but he decided199 that either sword or poison must have freed the King of the Mountains. He prudently200 ordered the men to demolish our defense. We were out of sight, sheltered by the wall, about ten steps from the staircase. The noise of the falling barricade warned my friends to reload their revolvers. The King allowed them to do so. He said to John Harris:
“Where is Photini?”
“On my ship.”
“You have not harmed her?”
“Do you think that I have taken lessons from you in torturing young girls?”
“You are right, I am a miserable old dog; pardon me! Promise me to forgive her!”
“What the devil do you want me to do with her? Now that I have found Hermann, I will send her back to you whenever you wish.”
“Without ransom?”
“You old beast!”
“You shall see whether I am an old beast!”
He passed his left arm around Dimitri’s neck, he extended his shriveled and trembling hand toward the hilt of his sword, painfully drew the blade from the scabbard, and marched toward the staircase where Coltzida and his men stood hesitating. They recoiled201 at sight of him, as if the earth had opened to allow the passage of the ruler of the infernal regions. There were fifteen or twenty, all armed; not one dared to defend himself, to make excuses, nor even to attempt to escape. They trembled in all their limbs, at sight of the terrible face of the resuscitated202 King. Hadgi-Stavros marched straight to Coltzida, who, paler and more horrified203 than the others, attempted to hide behind his companions. The King threw his arm backwards204 by an effort impossible to describe, and with one blow severed205 his head from his body. Instantly, a trembling seized him. His sword fell on the dead man and he did not deign206 to pick it up.
“Let us go on,” he said, “I carry an empty scabbard. The blade is no longer of use, neither am I; I am done for!”
His old companions approached to ask pardon. Some of them begged him not to abandon them; they knew not what to do without him. He did not honor them with a word of response. He implored207 us to accompany him to Castia to find horses, and to Salamis to search for Photini.
The brigands allowed us to depart without hindrance208. After a few steps, my friends noticed that I could scarcely step; Giacomo helped me along; Harris asked if I was wounded. The King gave me a beseeching209 look, poor man! I told my friends that I had attempted a perilous210 escape, and that my feet had been badly wounded. We carefully picked our way down the mountain paths. The groans of the wounded, and the voices of the bandits who were discussing matters, followed us for quite a distance. As we approached the village, the weather changed, and the path began to dry under our feet. The first ray of sunlight which burst forth211 seemed to me very beautiful. Hadgi-Stavros paid little attention to the outside world; he communed within himself. It is something to break off a habit of fifty years standing212.
On the outskirts213 of Castia, we met the monk who was carrying a swarm214 of bees in a sack. He greeted us courteously215, and excused himself for not having visited us since the evening before. The musket shots had intimidated216 him. The King saluted217 him and passed on. My friends’ horses were waiting, with their guide, near the fountain. I asked them how they happened to have four horses. They said that M. Mérinay made one of the party, but that he had alighted to inspect a curious stone, and that he had not yet re-appeared.
Giacomo Fondi lifted me to the saddle at arm’s length; he could not resist the temptation. The King, assisted by Dimitri, painfully climbed into his. Harris and his nephew vaulted218 into theirs; Giacomo, Dimitri, and the guide preceded us on foot.
The path widening, I rode up beside Harris, and he related to me how the King’s daughter had fallen into his hands:
“Imagine;” he said to me. “I had just arrived from my cruise, much pleased with myself, and very proud of having run down a half-dozen pirates. I anchored off Piraeus, Sunday, at six o’clock; I landed; and as I had been eight days tête-à-tête with my head officer, I promised myself a little pleasure in conversation. I stopped a fiacre, I hired it for the evening. I arrived at Christodule’s house in the midst of a general hubbub219; I would never have believed that so much trouble could be found in a pastry-cook’s house. Every one was there for supper. Christodule, Maroula, Dimitri, Giacomo, William, M. Mérinay and the little Sunday girl, more tricked out than ever. William related to me your story. It is useless to tell you that I made a great uproar. I was furious with myself for not having been in the city. My nephew assured me that he had done all he could. He had scoured220 the city for fifteen thousand francs, but his parents had opened only a limited credit for him; briefly221, he had not found the amount. In despair, he addressed himself to M. Mérinay: but the sweet Mérinay pretended that all his money was lent to his intimate friends, far from here, very far;—farther than the end of the world!
“‘Eh! Zounds!’ I said to Lobster, ‘it is in lead-money that one must pay the old scoundrel. For what good is it to be as dextrous as Nimrod, if one’s talent is good only to break Socrates’ prison? We must organize a hunt for the old Palikars! Once, I refused a journey to Central Africa: I have since regretted it. It is double pleasure to shoot an animal which defends itself. Provide plenty of powder and balls, and to-morrow morning we will set out on a campaign.’ William took the bait, Giacomo brought his fist down in a crashing blow on the table; you know what Giacomo’s fist-blows are. He swore that he would accompany us, provided he could find a single-barreled gun. But the most enraged222 of all was M. Mérinay. He wished to bathe his hands in the blood of those wretches. We accepted his services, but I offered to buy the game which he would bring back. He swelled223 out his little voice in the most comical fashion, and showing his fists to Mademoiselle, said that Hadgi-Stavros would have business to settle with him.
“I laughed gleefully like those who are always gay the night before a battle. Lobster became very merry at the thought of showing the bandits the progress he had made. Giacomo could not contain himself for joy; the corners of his mouth went around dangerously near his ears; he cracked nuts with the face of a nut-cracker of Nuremburg. M. Mérinay had a halo around his head. He was no longer a man, but a pyrotechnic display.
“Except us, the guests resembled alder224 trees. The pastry-cook’s huge wife made signs of the cross; Dimitri raised his eyes to heaven, Christodule advised us to think twice before we provoked the King of the Mountains. But the girl with the flat nose, the one to whom you gave the name of Crinolina invariabilis, was plunged in grief which was quite amusing. She fetched great sighs like a wood-splitter; she did this only to keep herself in countenance, and I could have put in my left eye all the supper which she put into her mouth.”
“She is a good girl, Harris.”
“Good girl as much as you wish, but I find that your indulgence for her passes all bounds. I have never been able to pardon her for her dresses which thrust themselves obstinately225 under the legs of my chair, the odor of patchouli which she spreads around me, and the lackadaisical226 glances which she passes around the table. One would say, upon my word, that she is not capable of looking at a carafe227 without casting sheep’s eyes at it. But if you love her, such as she is, there is nothing to be said. She left at nine o’clock for her boarding-school; I wished her bon voyage. Ten minutes afterward228 I shook hands with our friends, we made a rendezvous229 for the next day, I went out, I wakened my coachman and guess whom I found in my carriage? Crinolina invariabilis with the pastry-cook’s servant.
“She placed her finger on her lips. I entered without saying a word, and we started. ‘Monsieur Harris,’ she said in very good English, by my faith, ‘swear to me to renounce230 your plans against the King of the Mountains.’
“I began to laugh, and she began to weep. She declared that I would be killed; I replied that it was I who would kill the others; she objected to having Hadgi-Stavros killed; I wished to know why; at last, at the end of her eloquence, she cried out, as if in the fifth act of a play: ‘He is my father!’ Upon that I began to seriously reflect; once in a way does not count. I thought that it might be possible to recover a lost friend without risking two or three others, and I said to the young Palikar:
“‘Your father loves you?’
“‘More than his life.’
“‘He never refuses you anything?’
“‘Nothing that is necessary.’
“‘And if you should write to him that you wanted M. Hermann Schultz would he send him to you with the message-bearer?’
“‘No.’
“‘You are absolutely sure of it?’
“‘Absolutely.’
“‘Then, Mademoiselle, I have but one thing to do. Set a thief to catch a thief. I will carry you on board The Fancy, and I will hold you as a hostage until Hermann is returned.’
“‘I was about to propose it to you,’ she said. ‘At that price papa will send back your friend.’”
Here I interrupted John Harris’ story.
“Oh, well! you do not admire the poor, young girl who loves you enough to give herself into your hands?”
“A fine affair!” he replied. “She wished to save that honest man, her father, and she well knew that once war was declared we would not let him escape. I promised to treat her with all the respect a gallant231 man ought to treat a woman. She wept until we reached Piraeus. I consoled her as best I could. She murmured: ‘I am a lost girl!’ I demonstrated to her by ‘A’ plus ‘B’ that she would find herself again. I made her get out of the carriage. I helped her and the servant into my boat, which now awaits us below. I wrote to the old brigand21 an explicit232 letter, and I sent an old woman with a little message to Dimitri.
“Since that time the beautiful weeper enjoys undisputed possession of my apartments. Orders were given that she was to be treated like the daughter of a king. I waited until Monday evening for her father’s response; then my patience failed me; I returned to my first plan; I took my pistols; I notified my friends, and you know the rest. Now it is your turn; you ought to have a whole volume to recount.”
“I must first speak to the King.”
I approached him and said to him in a low tone: “I do not know why I told you that Photini was in love with John Harris. Fear must have turned my head. I have been talking with him, and I swear to you, on the head of my father, that she is as indifferent to him as if he had never spoken to her.”
The old man thanked me with a motion of the hand, and I went back to John Harris, and related my adventures with Mary-Ann. “Bravo!” he exclaimed. “I find that the romance is not complete on account of the absence of a little love. A sufficient amount will do no harm.”
“Excuse me,” I answered. “There is no love in it at all! A firm friendship on one side, a little gratitude on the other. But nothing more is necessary, I think, to make a reasonably suitable marriage.”
“Marry, my friend, and permit me to be a witness to your happiness.”
“You have well earned it, John Harris.”
“When shall you see her again? I would give much to be present at the interview.”
“I would like to surprise her and meet her by chance.”
“That is a good idea! After to-morrow, at the Court Ball! You are invited. I am, too. Your note lies on your table, at Christodule’s house. Until then, my boy, you must remain on board my ship in order to recuperate233 a little. Your hair is scorched234 and your feet are wounded; we will have time to remedy all that.”
It was six o’clock in the evening when the boat belonging to Harris put off to The Fancy. They carried the King on deck; he could not walk. Photini, weeping, threw herself into his arms. It was happiness to see that those whom she loved had survived the battle, but she found her father grown twenty years older. Possibly, also, she suffered from Harris’ indifference235. He delivered her to her father in a characteristic American fashion, saying: “We are quits! You have returned my friend to me; I have restored Mademoiselle to you. An even exchange is no robbery! Short accounts make long friends! And now, most venerable old man, under what beneficent region of the earth will you search for the one who is to hang you?”
“Pardon me,” he replied, with a certain hauteur236. “I have bidden adieu to brigandage237 forever. What would I do in the mountains? All of my men are dead, wounded or scattered. I could form another band; but these hands which have been so powerful, refuse to act. Younger men must take my place; but I defy them to equal my fortune and my renown238. What shall I do with what few years are left to me? I know not yet; but you may be sure that my last days will not be idle ones. I have to establish my daughter to dictate239 my memoirs240. Possibly, even, if the shocks of this week have not wearied my brain too severely241, I will consecrate242 to the service of the State my talents and my experience. May God give me health and strength! before six months have passed I shall be President of the Ministry243!”
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1
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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contemplates
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的第三人称单数 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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7
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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disinterested
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| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reimburse
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| v.补偿，付还 | |
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debtor
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| n.借方，债务人 | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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brigands
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| n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 ) | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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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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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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tormenting
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| 使痛苦的，使苦恼的 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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40
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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41
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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43
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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44
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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45
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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46
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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47
lieutenancy
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| n.中尉之职，代理官员 | |
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48
resinous
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| adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的 | |
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49
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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50
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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51
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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52
morsels
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| n.一口( morsel的名词复数 )；（尤指食物）小块，碎屑 | |
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53
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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54
seasoning
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| n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物 | |
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55
arsenic
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| n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的 | |
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56
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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57
spartans
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| n.斯巴达（spartan的复数形式） | |
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58
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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59
blisters
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| n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡 | |
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60
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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61
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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62
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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63
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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64
intestines
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| n.肠( intestine的名词复数 ) | |
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65
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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66
inversely
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| adj.相反的 | |
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67
malevolent
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| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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68
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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69
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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70
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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71
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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73
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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74
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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75
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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76
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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77
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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78
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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79
kidnapper
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| n.绑架者，拐骗者 | |
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80
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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81
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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82
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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83
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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84
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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85
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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86
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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87
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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88
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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89
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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90
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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91
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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92
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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93
adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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94
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
ratify
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| v.批准，认可，追认 | |
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96
expiate
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| v.抵补，赎罪 | |
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97
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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98
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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99
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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100
fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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101
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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102
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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103
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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104
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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105
redound
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| v.有助于；提；报应 | |
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106
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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107
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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108
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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109
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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110
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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111
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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112
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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113
restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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114
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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115
intemperate
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| adj.无节制的，放纵的 | |
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116
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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117
rebound
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| v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回 | |
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118
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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119
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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120
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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121
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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122
garrulous
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| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
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123
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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124
braggart
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| n.吹牛者；adj.吹牛的，自夸的 | |
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125
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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126
pittance
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| n.微薄的薪水，少量 | |
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127
ransoms
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| 付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 ) | |
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128
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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129
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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130
opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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131
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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132
pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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133
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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134
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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135
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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136
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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137
jealousies
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| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
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138
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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139
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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140
endorse
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| vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意 | |
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141
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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142
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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143
arsenal
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| n.兵工厂，军械库 | |
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144
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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145
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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146
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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147
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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148
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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149
barricaded
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| 设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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150
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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151
rigors
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| 严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直 | |
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152
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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153
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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154
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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155
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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156
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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157
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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158
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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159
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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160
respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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161
labored
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| 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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162
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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163
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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164
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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165
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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166
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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167
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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168
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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169
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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170
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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171
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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172
redounded
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| v.有助益( redound的过去式和过去分词 )；及于；报偿；报应 | |
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173
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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174
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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175
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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176
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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177
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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178
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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179
lobster
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| n.龙虾，龙虾肉 | |
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180
brandished
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| v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀 | |
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181
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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182
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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183
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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184
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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185
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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186
meted
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| v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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188
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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189
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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190
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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191
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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192
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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193
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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194
barricades
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| 路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 ) | |
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195
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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196
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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197
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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198
scourges
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| 带来灾难的人或东西，祸害( scourge的名词复数 )； 鞭子 | |
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199
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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200
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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201
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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202
resuscitated
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| v.使（某人或某物）恢复知觉，苏醒( resuscitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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203
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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204
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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205
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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206
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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207
implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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208
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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209
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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210
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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211
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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212
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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213
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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214
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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215
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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216
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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217
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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218
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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219
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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220
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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221
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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222
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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223
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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224
alder
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| n.赤杨树 | |
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225
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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226
lackadaisical
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| adj.无精打采的，无兴趣的；adv.无精打采地，不决断地 | |
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227
carafe
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| n.玻璃水瓶 | |
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228
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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229
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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230
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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231
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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232
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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233
recuperate
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| v.恢复 | |
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234
scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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235
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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236
hauteur
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| n.傲慢 | |
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237
brigandage
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| n.抢劫；盗窃；土匪；强盗 | |
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238
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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239
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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240
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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241
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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242
consecrate
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| v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献 | |
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243
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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