He had thought the window cheerful to begin with, but now he thanked God for it many times a day. Within, the room was dim and grey, and in the reflected light the wear of the furniture showed plainly. His medicine and drink stood on the little table, with such litter as the bare branches of a bunch of grapes or the ashes of a cigar upon a green plate, or a day old evening paper. The view outside was flooded with light, and across the corner of it came the head of the acacia, and at the foot the top of the balcony-railing of hammered iron. In the foreground was the weltering silver of the river, never quiet and yet never tiresome3. Beyond was the reedy bank, a broad stretch of meadow land, and then a dark line of trees ending in a group of poplars at the distant bend of the river, and, upstanding behind them, a square church tower.
Up and down the river, all day long, things were passing. Now a string of barges7 drifting down to London, piled with lime or barrels of beer; then a steam-launch, disengaging heavy masses of black smoke, and disturbing the whole width of the river with long rolling waves; then an impetuous electric launch, and then a boatload of pleasure-seekers, a solitary8 sculler, or a four from some rowing club. Perhaps the river was quietest of a morning or late at night. One moonlight night some people drifted down singing, and with a zither playing—it sounded very pleasantly across the water.
In a few days Bailey began to recognise some of the craft; in a week he knew the intimate history of half-a-dozen. The launch Luzon, from Fitzgibbon’s, two miles up, would go fretting9 by, sometimes three or four times a day, conspicuous11 with its colouring of Indian-red and yellow, and its two Oriental attendants; and one day, to Bailey’s vast amusement, the house-boat Purple Emperor came to a stop outside, and breakfasted in the most shameless domesticity. Then one afternoon, the captain of a slow-moving barge6 began a quarrel with his wife as they came into sight from the left, and had carried it to personal violence before he vanished behind the window-frame to the right. Bailey regarded all this as an entertainment got up to while away his illness, and applauded all the more moving incidents. Mrs Green, coming in at rare intervals13 with his meals, would catch him clapping his hands or softly crying, “Encore!” But the river players had other engagements, and his encore went unheeded.
“I should never have thought I could take such an interest in things that did not concern me,” said Bailey to Wilderspin, who used to come in in his nervous, friendly way and try to comfort the sufferer by being talked to. “I thought this idle capacity was distinctive14 of little children and old maids. But it’s just circumstances. I simply can’t work, and things have to drift; it’s no good to fret10 and struggle. And so I lie here and am as amused as a baby with a rattle15, at this river and its affairs.
“Sometimes, of course, it gets a bit dull, but not often.
“I would give anything, Wilderspin, for a swamp—just one swamp—once. Heads swimming and a steam launch to the rescue, and a chap or so hauled out with a boat-hook.... There goes Fitzgibbon’s launch! They have a new boat-hook, I see, and the little blackie is still in the dumps. I don’t think he’s very well, Wilderspin. He’s been like that for two or three days, squatting16 sulky-fashion and meditating17 over the churning of the water. Unwholesome for him to be always staring at the frothy water running away from the stern.”
They watched the little steamer fuss across the patch of sunlit river, suffer momentary18 occultation from the acacia, and glide19 out of sight behind the dark window-frame.
“I’m getting a wonderful eye for details,” said Bailey: “I spotted20 that new boat-hook at once. The other nigger is a funny little chap. He never used to swagger with the old boat-hook like that.”
“Malays, aren’t they?” said Wilderspin.
“Don’t know,” said Bailey. “I thought one called all that sort of manner Lascar.”
Then he began to tell Wilderspin what he knew of the private affairs of the houseboat, Purple Emperor. “Funny,” he said, “how these people come from all points of the compass—from Oxford21 and Windsor, from Asia and Africa—and gather and pass opposite the window just to entertain me. One man floated out of the infinite the day before yesterday, caught one perfect crab22 opposite, lost and recovered a scull, and passed on again. Probably he will never come into my life again. So far as I am concerned, he has lived and had his little troubles, perhaps thirty—perhaps forty—years on the earth, merely to make an ass5 of himself for three minutes in front of my window. Wonderful thing, Wilderspin, if you come to think of it.”
“Yes,” said Wilderspin; “isn’t it?”
A day or two after this Bailey had a brilliant morning. Indeed, towards the end of the affair, it became almost as exciting as any window show very well could be. We will, however, begin at the beginning.
Bailey was all alone in the house, for his housekeeper23 had gone into the town three miles away to pay bills, and the servant had her holiday. The morning began dull. A canoe went up about half-past nine, and later a boat-load of camping men came down. But this was mere2 margin24. Things became cheerful about ten o’clock.
It began with something white fluttering in the remote distance where the three poplars marked the river bend. “Pocket-handkerchief,” said Bailey, when he saw it “No. Too big! Flag perhaps.”
However, it was not a flag, for it jumped about. “Man in whites running fast, and this way,” said Bailey. “That’s luck! But his whites are precious loose!”
Then a singular thing happened. There was a minute pink gleam among the dark trees in the distance, and a little puff25 of pale grey that began to drift and vanish eastward26. The man in white jumped and continued running. Presently the report of the shot arrived.
“What the devil!” said Bailey. “Looks as if someone was shooting at him.”
He sat up stiffly and stared hard. The white figure was coming along the pathway through the corn. “It’s one of those niggers from the Fitzgibbon’s,” said Bailey; “or may I be hanged! I wonder why he keeps sawing with his arm.”
Then three other figures became indistinctly visible against the dark background of the trees.
Abruptly27 on the opposite bank a man walked into the picture. He was black-bearded, dressed in flannels28, had a red belt, and a vast grey felt hat. He walked, leaning very much forward and with his hands swinging before him. Behind him one could see the grass swept by the towing-rope of the boat he was dragging. He was steadfastly29 regarding the white figure that was hurrying through the corn. Suddenly he stopped. Then, with a peculiar30 gesture, Bailey could see that he began pulling in the tow-rope hand over hand. Over the water could be heard the voices of the people in the still invisible boat.
“What are you after, Hagshot?” said someone.
The individual with the red belt shouted something that was inaudible, and went on lugging31 in the rope, looking over his shoulder at the advancing white figure as he did so. He came down the bank, and the rope bent32 a lane among the reeds and lashed33 the water between his pulls.
Then just the bows of the boat came into view, with the towing-mast and a tall, fair-haired man standing4 up and trying to see over the bank. The boat bumped unexpectedly among the reeds, and the tall, fair-haired man disappeared suddenly, having apparently34 fallen back into the invisible part of the boat. There was a curse and some indistinct laughter. Hagshot did not laugh, but hastily clambered into the boat and pushed off. Abruptly the boat passed out of Bailey’s sight.
But it was still audible. The melody of voices suggested that its occupants were busy telling each other what to do.
The running figure was drawing near the bank. Bailey could now see clearly that it was one of Fitzgibbon’s Orientals, and began to realise what the sinuous35 thing the man carried in his hand might be. Three other men followed one another through the corn, and the foremost carried what was probably the gun. They were perhaps two hundred yards or more behind the Malay.
“It’s a man hunt, by all that’s holy!” said Bailey.
The Malay stopped for a moment and surveyed the bank to the right. Then he left the path, and, breaking through the corn, vanished in that direction. The three pursuers followed suit, and their heads and gesticulating arms above the corn, after a brief interval12, also went out of Bailey’s field of vision.
Bailey so far forgot himself as to swear. “Just as things were getting lively!” he said. Something like a woman’s shriek36 came through the air. Then shouts, a howl, a dull whack37 upon the balcony outside that made Bailey jump, and then the report of a gun.
“This is precious hard on an invalid,” said Bailey.
But more was to happen yet in his picture. In fact, a great deal more. The Malay appeared again, running now along the bank up stream. His stride had more swing and less pace in it than before. He was threatening someone ahead with the ugly krees he carried. The blade, Bailey noticed, was dull—it did not shine as steel should.
Then came the tall, fair man, brandishing38 a boat-hook, and after him three other men in boating costume, running clumsily with oars39. The man with the grey hat and red belt was not with them. After an interval the three men with the gun reappeared, still in the corn, but now near the river bank. They emerged upon the towing-path, and hurried after the others. The opposite bank was left blank and desolate40 again.
The sick-room was disgraced by more profanity. “I would give my life to see the end of this,” said Bailey. There were indistinct shouts up stream. Once they seemed to be coming nearer, but they disappointed him.
Bailey sat and grumbled41. He was still grumbling42 when his eye caught something black and round among the waves. “Hullo!” he said. He looked narrowly and saw two triangular43 black bodies frothing every now and then about a yard in front of this.
He was still doubtful when the little band of pursuers came into sight again, and began to point to this floating object. They were talking eagerly. Then the man with the gun took aim.
“He’s swimming the river, by George!” said Bailey.
The Malay looked round, saw the gun, and went under. He came up so close to Bailey’s bank of the river that one of the bars of the balcony hid him for a moment. As he emerged the man with the gun fired. The Malay kept steadily44 onward—Bailey could see the wet hair on his forehead now and the krees between his teeth—and was presently hidden by the balcony.
This seemed to Bailey an unendurable wrong. The man was lost to him for ever now, so he thought. Why couldn’t the brute45 have got himself decently caught on the opposite bank, or shot in the water?
“It’s worse than Edwin Drood,” said Bailey.
Over the river, too, things had become an absolute blank. All seven men had gone down stream again, probably to get the boat and follow across. Bailey listened and waited. There was silence. “Surely it’s not over like this,” said Bailey.
Five minutes passed—ten minutes. Then a tug46 with two barges went up stream. The attitudes of the men upon these were the attitudes of those who see nothing remarkable47 in earth, water, or sky. Clearly the whole affair had passed out of sight of the river. Probably the hunt had gone into the beech48 woods behind the house.
“Confound it!” said Bailey. “To be continued again, and no chance this time of the sequel. But this is hard on a sick man.”
He heard a step on the staircase behind him and looking round saw the door open. Mrs Green came in and sat down, panting. She still had her bonnet49 on, her purse in her hand, and her little brown basket upon her arm. “Oh, there!” she said, and left Bailey to imagine the rest.
“Have a little whisky and water, Mrs Green, and tell me about it,” said Bailey.
One of those black creatures at the Fitzgibbon’s had gone mad, and was running about with a big knife, stabbing people. He had killed a groom51, and stabbed the under-butler, and almost cut the arm off a boating gentleman.
And he was hiding in the wood when she came through it from the town.
“What! Did he run after you?” asked Bailey, with a certain touch of glee in his voice.
“No, that was the horrible part of it,” Mrs Green explained. She had been right through the woods and had never known he was there. It was only when she met young Mr Fitzgibbon carrying his gun in the shrubbery that she heard anything about it. Apparently, what upset Mrs Green was the lost opportunity for emotion. She was determined53, however, to make the most of what was left her.
“To think he was there all the time!” she said, over and over again.
Bailey endured this patiently enough for perhaps ten minutes. At last he thought it advisable to assert himself. “It’s twenty past one, Mrs Green,” he said. “Don’t you think it time you got me something to eat?”
This brought Mrs Green suddenly to her knees.
“Oh Lord, sir!” she said. “Oh! don’t go making me go out of this room, sir, till I know he’s caught. He might have got into the house, sir. He might be creeping, creeping, with that knife of his, along the passage this very—”
She broke off suddenly and glared over him at the window. Her lower jaw54 dropped. Bailey turned his head sharply.
For the space of half a second things seemed just as they were. There was the tree, the balcony, the shining river, the distant church tower. Then he noticed that the acacia was displaced about a foot to the right, and that it was quivering, and the leaves were rustling55. The tree was shaken violently, and a heavy panting was audible.
In another moment a hairy brown hand had appeared and clutched the balcony railings, and in another the face of the Malay was peering through these at the man on the couch. His expression was an unpleasant grin, by reason of the krees he held between his teeth, and he was bleeding from an ugly wound in his cheek. His hair wet to drying stuck out like horns from his head. His body was bare save for the wet trousers that clung to him. Bailey’s first impulse was to spring from the couch, but his legs reminded him that this was impossible.
By means of the balcony and tree the man slowly raised himself until he was visible to Mrs Green. With a choking cry she made for the door and fumbled56 with the handle.
Bailey thought swiftly and clutched a medicine bottle in either hand. One he flung, and it smashed against the acacia. Silently and deliberately57, and keeping his bright eyes fixed58 on Bailey, the Malay clambered into the balcony. Bailey, still clutching his second bottle, but with a sickening, sinking feeling about his heart, watched first one leg come over the railing and then the other.
It was Bailey’s impression that the Malay took about an hour to get his second leg over the rail. The period that elapsed before the sitting position was changed to a standing one seemed enormous—days, weeks, possibly a year or so. Yet Bailey had no clear impression of anything going on in his mind during that vast period, except a vague wonder at his inability to throw the second medicine bottle. Suddenly the Malay glanced over his shoulder. There was the crack of a rifle. He flung up his arms and came down upon the couch. Mrs Green began a dismal59 shriek that seemed likely to last until Doomsday. Bailey stared at the brown body with its shoulder blade driven in, that writhed60 painfully across his legs and rapidly staining and soaking the spotless bandages. Then he looked at the long krees, with the reddish streaks61 upon its blade, that lay an inch beyond the trembling brown fingers upon the floor. Then at Mrs Green, who had backed hard against the door and was staring at the body and shrieking62 in gusty63 outbursts as if she would wake the dead. And then the body was shaken by one last convulsive effort.
The Malay gripped the krees, tried to raise himself with his left hand, and collapsed64. Then he raised his head, stared for a moment at Mrs Green, and twisting his face round looked at Bailey. With a gasping65 groan66 the dying man succeeded in clutching the bed clothes with his disabled hand, and by a violent effort, which hurt Bailey’s legs exceedingly, writhed sideways towards what must be his last victim. Then something seemed released in Bailey’s mind and he brought down the second bottle with all his strength on to the Malay’s face. The krees fell heavily upon the floor.
“Easy with those legs,” said Bailey, as young Fitzgibbon and one of the boating party lifted the body off him.
Young Fitzgibbon was very white in the face. “I didn’t mean to kill him,” he said.
“It’s just as well,” said Bailey.
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1
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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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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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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barges
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| 驳船( barge的名词复数 ) | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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14
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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15
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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16
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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flannels
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| 法兰绒男裤； 法兰绒( flannel的名词复数 ) | |
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steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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lugging
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| 超载运转能力 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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38
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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41
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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43
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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44
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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46
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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47
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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48
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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49
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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50
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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51
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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52
amuck
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| ad.狂乱地 | |
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53
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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54
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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55
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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56
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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57
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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58
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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59
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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60
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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62
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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63
gusty
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| adj.起大风的 | |
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64
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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65
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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66
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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