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CHAPTER XXX.
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I met men at every turn who owned from one thousand to thirty thousand “feet” in undeveloped silver mines, every single foot of which they believed would shortly be worth from fifty to a thousand dollars—and as often as any other way they were men who had not twenty-five dollars in the world. Every man you met had his new mine to boast of, and his “specimens” ready; and if the opportunity offered, he would infallibly back you into a corner and offer as a favor to you, not to him, to part with just a few feet in the “Golden Age,” or the “Sarah Jane,” or some other unknown stack of croppings, for money enough to get a “square meal” with, as the phrase went. And you were never to reveal that he had made you the offer at such a ruinous price, for it was only out of friendship for you that he was willing to make the sacrifice. Then he would fish a piece of rock out of his pocket, and after looking mysteriously around as if he feared he might be waylaid1 and robbed if caught with such wealth in his possession, he would dab2 the rock against his tongue, clap an eyeglass to it, and exclaim:
“Look at that! Right there in that red dirt! See it? See the specks3 of gold? And the streak4 of silver? That’s from the Uncle Abe. There’s a hundred thousand tons like that in sight! Right in sight, mind you! And when we get down on it and the ledge5 comes in solid, it will be the richest thing in the world! Look at the assay6! I don’t want you to believe me—look at the assay!”
Then he would get out a greasy7 sheet of paper which showed that the portion of rock assayed had given evidence of containing silver and gold in the proportion of so many hundreds or thousands of dollars to the ton.
I little knew, then, that the custom was to hunt out the richest piece of rock and get it assayed! Very often, that piece, the size of a filbert, was the only fragment in a ton that had a particle of metal in it—and yet the assay made it pretend to represent the average value of the ton of rubbish it came from!
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1
waylaid
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| v.拦截,拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dab
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| v.轻触,轻拍,轻涂;n.(颜料等的)轻涂 | |
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specks
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| n.眼镜;斑点,微粒,污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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streak
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| n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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assay
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| n.试验,测定 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的,油脂的 | |
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assays
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| n.化验( assay的名词复数 );试验;尝试;试金 | |
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copper
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| n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的,遭受的; incur的过去式 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的;疯狂的,怒吼的;非常漂亮的;令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话;疯话adv.胡言乱语地;疯狂地 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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outlay
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| n.费用,经费,支出;v.花费 | |
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expenditures
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| n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 );使用;(尤指金钱的)支出额;(精力、时间、材料等的)耗费 | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄,杆状物 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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ledges
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| n.(墙壁,悬崖等)突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 );(平窄的)壁架;横档;(尤指)窗台 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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bullion
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| n.金条,银条 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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assessments
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| n.评估( assessment的名词复数 );评价;(应偿付金额的)估定;(为征税对财产所作的)估价 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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knoll
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| n.小山,小丘 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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alley
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| n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路 | |
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canvassed
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| v.(在政治方面)游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 );调查(如选举前选民的)意见;为讨论而提出(意见等);详细检查 | |
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ruse
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| n.诡计,计策;诡计 | |
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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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turmoil
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| n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的;发泡 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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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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steadily
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| adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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waded
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| (从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wading
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| (从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的 | |
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mattress
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| n.床垫,床褥 | |
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crumbled
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| (把…)弄碎, (使)碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 衰落; 坍塌; 损坏 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍;丰富 | |
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CHAPTER XXIX.
下一章:
CHAPTER XXXI.
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