四签名 77凶手的末日（10）

"Pile it on, men, pile it on!" cried Holmes, looking down into the engine-room,

福尔摩斯向机器房喊道："伙计们，快加煤，多加煤！"

while the fierce glow from below beat upon his eager, aquiline¹ face. "Get every pound of steam you can."

下面机器房的熊熊烈火照射着他那焦急的鹰鹫似的面孔。"尽力多烧蒸汽往前赶！"

"I think we gain a little," said Jones with his eyes on the Aurora².

琼斯望着"曙光"号说道："我想咱们已经赶上一点了。"

"I am sure of it," said I. "We shall be up with her in a very few minutes."

我道："咱们确已赶上不少了，再有几分钟就可以追上了。"

At that moment, however, as our evil fate would have it, a tug³ with three barges⁴ in tow blundered in between us.

正在这时，不幸的事来了。一只汽船拖了三只货船横在我们面前。

It was only by putting our helm hard down that we avoided a collision,

幸而我们急转船舵，才避免了和它相撞。

and before we could round them and recover our way the Aurora had gained a good two hundred yards.

可是等到我们绕过它们，继续追下去的时候，"曙光"号已经又走远了足有二百多码了，不过还能看得到它。

She was still, however, well in view, and the murky⁵, uncertain twilight⁶ was settling into a clear, starlit night.

当时，阴暗朦胧的暮色已经变成了满天星斗的夜晚。

Our boilers⁷ were strained to their utmost,

我们的锅炉已烧到了极度，

and the frail⁸ shell vibrated and creaked with the fierce energy which was driving us along.

驱船前进的力量强大异常，使脆弱的船壳咯吱作响，颤动不已。

We had shot through the pool, past the West India Docks,

我们已经由伦敦桥的正中下面穿过，过了西印船坞

down the long Deptford Reach, and up again after rounding the Isle⁹ of Dogs.

沿着长长的戴特弗德河区，又绕过了狗岛。

The dull blur¹⁰ in front of us resolved itself now clearly into the dainty Aurora.

以前只是一个黑点的"曙光"号现在已经看得很清楚了。

1 aquiline   

adj.钩状的，鹰的

参考例句：

• He had a thin aquiline nose and deep-set brown eyes.他长着窄长的鹰钩鼻和深陷的褐色眼睛。
• The man has a strong and aquiline nose.该名男子有强大和鹰鼻子。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

4 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

5 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

6 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

7 boilers   

锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even then the boilers often burst or came apart at the seams. 甚至那时的锅炉也经常从焊接处爆炸或裂开。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The clean coal is sent to a crusher and the boilers. 干净的煤送入破碎机和锅炉。

8 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

9 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

10 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。