So the convicts were still there, watching the corral, and determined¹ to kill the settlers one after the other. There was nothing to be done but to treat them as wild beasts. But great precautions must be taken, for just now the wretches² had the advantage on their side, seeing, and not being seen, being able to surprise by the suddenness of their attack, yet not to be surprised themselves. Harding made arrangements, therefore, for living in the corral, of which the provisions would last for a tolerable length of time. Ayrton's house had been provided with all that was necessary for existence, and the convicts, scared by the arrival of the settlers, had not had time to pillage³ it. It was probable, as Gideon Spilett observed, that things had occurred as follows:

The six convicts, disembarking on the island, had followed the southern shore, and after having traversed the double shore of the Serpentine⁴ Peninsula, not being inclined to venture into the Far West woods, they had reached the mouth of Falls River. From this point, by following the right bank of the watercourse, they would arrive at the spurs of Mount Franklin, among which they would naturally seek a retreat, and they could not have been long in discovering the corral, then uninhabited. There they had regularly installed themselves, awaiting the moment to put their abominable⁵ schemes into execution. Ayrton's arrival had surprised them, but they had managed to overpower the unfortunate man, and--the rest may be easily imagined!

Now, the convicts,--reduced to five, it is true, but well armed,--were roaming the woods, and to venture there was to expose themselves to their attacks, which could be neither guarded against nor prevented.

"Wait! There is nothing else to be done!" repeated Cyrus Harding. "When Herbert is cured, we can organize a general battle of the island, and have satisfaction of these convicts. That will be the object of our grand expedition at the same time--"

"As the search for our mysterious protector," added Gideon Spilett, finishing the engineer's sentence. "An, it must be acknowledged, my dear Cyrus, that this time his protection was wanting at the very moment when it was most necessary to us!"

点击收听单词发音  

1 determined
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。 He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 wretches
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋
参考例句：
The little wretches were all bedraggledfrom some roguery. 小淘气们由于恶作剧而弄得脏乎乎的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The best courage for us poor wretches is to fly from danger. 对我们这些可怜虫说来，最好的出路还是躲避危险。 来自辞典例句

3 pillage
v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物
参考例句：
The invading troops were guilty of rape and pillage.侵略军犯了抢劫和强奸的罪。 It was almost pillage.这简直是一场洗劫。

4 serpentine
adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的
参考例句：
One part of the Serpentine is kept for swimmers.蜿蜒河的一段划为游泳区。 Tremolite laths and serpentine minerals are present in places.有的地方出现透闪石板条及蛇纹石。

5 abominable
adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的
参考例句：
Their cruel treatment of prisoners was abominable.他们虐待犯人的做法令人厌恶。 The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

6 intervention
n.介入，干涉，干预
参考例句：
The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。 Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 colonists
n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 incessant
adj.不停的，连续的
参考例句：
We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。 She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

9 abated
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）
参考例句：
The worker's concern about cuts in the welfare funding has not abated. 工人们对削减福利基金的关心并没有减少。 The heat has abated. 温度降低了。

10 refreshing
adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的
参考例句：
I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。 The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

11 skilful
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的
参考例句：
The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。 He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

12 dressing
n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料
参考例句：
Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。 The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

13 linen
n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的
参考例句：
The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。 Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

14 lint
n.线头；绷带用麻布，皮棉
参考例句：
Flicked the lint off the coat.把大衣上的棉绒弹掉。 There are a few problems of air pollution by chemicals,lint,etc.,but these are minor.化学品、棉花等也造成一些空气污染问题，但这是次要的。

15 considerably
adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上
参考例句：
The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。 The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

16 nourishment
n.食物，营养品；营养情况
参考例句：
Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。 He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

17 incessantly
ad.不停地
参考例句：
The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。 It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

18 distress
n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛
参考例句：
Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。 Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

19 contented
adj.满意的，安心的，知足的
参考例句：
He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。 The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

20 granite
adj.花岗岩，花岗石
参考例句：
They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。 The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

21 aggravated
使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火
参考例句：
If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。 Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

22 contingency
n.意外事件，可能性
参考例句：
We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。 A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

23 shuddering
v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动
参考例句：
'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记 She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

24 conjectures
推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 )
参考例句：
That's weighing remote military conjectures against the certain deaths of innocent people. 那不过是牵强附会的军事假设，而现在的事实却是无辜者正在惨遭杀害，这怎能同日而语！ I was right in my conjectures. 我所猜测的都应验了。

25 logic
n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性
参考例句：
What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？ I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

26 surmount
vt.克服；置于…顶上
参考例句：
We have many problems to surmount before we can start the project.我们得克服许多困难才能著手做这项工作。 We are fully confident that we can surmount these difficulties.我们完全相信我们能够克服这些困难。

27 inexplicable
adj.无法解释的，难理解的
参考例句：
It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。 There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

28 miraculously
ad.奇迹般地
参考例句：
He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。 A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

29 catastrophe
n.大灾难，大祸
参考例句：
I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。 This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

30 possessed
adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的
参考例句：
He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。 He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

31 adverse
adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的
参考例句：
He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。 The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

32 succumbed
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
参考例句：
The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。 After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

33 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

34 analyzed
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析
参考例句：
The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》