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CHAPTER IV—SHADOWS OF THE WAR
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What with the books in the library and the life out of doors in the afternoons, Joe Maxwell grew very fond of his new home. His work at the printers’ case was not a task, but a pleasure. He grew to be an expert in type-setting and won unstinted praise from Mr. Snelson. Sometimes he wrote little paragraphs of his own, crediting them to “The Countryman’s Devil,” and the editor was kind enough to make no objection, and this fact was very encouraging to the lad, who was naturally shy and sensitive.
Only the echoes of the war were heard at the Turner place; but once the editor returned from Hillsborough with some very sad news for a lady who lived near The Countryman office with her father, Her husband had been killed in one of the great battles, and her screams when the editor told her of it, and the cries of her little daughter, haunted Joe Maxwell for many a long day. Sometimes he lay awake at night thinking about it, and out of the darkness it seemed to him that he could build a grim mirage1 of war, vanishing and reappearing like an ominous2 shadow, and devouring3 the people.
The war was horrible enough, distant as it was, but the people who were left at home—the women and children, the boys, the men who were exempt4, the aged5 and the infirm—had fears of a fate still more terrible. They were fears that grew out of the system of slavery, and they grew until they became a fixed6 habit of the mind. They were the fears of a negro insurrection. The whites who were left at home knew that it was in the power of the negroes to rise and in one night sweep the strength and substance of the Southern Confederacy from the face of the earth. Some of the more ignorant whites lived in constant terror.
Once it was whispered around that the blacks were preparing to rise, and the fears of the people were so ready to confirm the rumor7 that the
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1
mirage
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n.海市蜃楼,幻景 | |
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2
ominous
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adj.不祥的,不吉的,预兆的,预示的 | |
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3
devouring
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吞没( devour的现在分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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4
exempt
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adj.免除的;v.使免除;n.免税者,被免除义务者 | |
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5
aged
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adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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6
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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7
rumor
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n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
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8
plantations
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n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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plantation
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n.种植园,大农场 | |
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10
afterward
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adv.后来;以后 | |
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contented
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adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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thrift
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adj.节约,节俭;n.节俭,节约 | |
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industrious
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adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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pelts
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n. 皮毛,投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛,(连续)投掷 vi. 猛击,大步走 | |
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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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rawhide
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n.生牛皮 | |
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spool
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n.(缠录音带等的)卷盘(轴);v.把…绕在卷轴上 | |
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forefinger
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n.食指 | |
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flirt
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v.调情,挑逗,调戏;n.调情者,卖俏者 | |
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smoothly
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adv.平滑地,顺利地,流利地,流畅地 | |
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neatly
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adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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bonnet
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n.无边女帽;童帽 | |
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bonnets
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n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 );(烟囱等的)覆盖物;(苏格兰男子的)无边呢帽;(女子戴的)任何一种帽子 | |
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quaintest
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adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 );少见的,古怪的 | |
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mighty
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adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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superstitious
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adj.迷信的 | |
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omens
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n.前兆,预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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divest
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v.脱去,剥除 | |
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