difficulty he caused another to present itself, and when that too



was met he stuck another ship before me, creating a very

dangerous situation. I felt slightly outraged by this ingenuity



in piling up trouble upon a man.

"I wouldn't have got into that mess," I suggested mildly. "I



could have seen that ship before."

He never stirred the least bit.



"No, you couldn't. The weather's thick."

"Oh! I didn't know," I apologised blankly.



I suppose that after all I managed to stave off the smash with

sufficient approach to verisimilitude, and the ghastly business



went on. You must understand that the scheme of the test he was

applying to me was, I gathered, a homeward passage--the sort of



passage I would not wish to my bitterest enemy. That imaginary

ship seemed to labour under a most comprehensive curse. It's no



use enlarging on these never-ending misfortunes; suffice it to

say that long before the end I would have welcomed with gratitude



an opportunity to exchange into the "Flying Dutchman." Finally

he shoved me into the North Sea (I suppose) and provided me with



a lee-shore with outlying sandbanks--the Dutch coast presumably.

Distance, eight miles. The evidence of such implacable animosity



deprived me of speech for quite half a minute.

"Well," he said--for our pace had been very smart indeed till



then.

"I will have to think a little, sir."



"Doesn't look as if there were much time to think," he muttered

sardonically from under his hand.



"No, sir," I said with some warmth. "Not on board a ship I could

see. But so many accidents have happened that I really can't



remember what there's left for me to work with."

Still half averted, and with his eyes concealed, he made



unexpectedly a grunting remark.

"You've done very well."



"Have I the two anchors at the bow, sir?" I asked.

"Yes."



I prepared myself then, as a last hope for the ship, to let them

both go in the most effectual manner, when his infernalsystem of



testing resourcefulness came into play again.

"But there's only one cable. You've lost the other."



It was exasperating.

"Then I would back them, if I could, and tail the heaviest hawser



on board on the end of the chain before letting go, and if she

parted from that, which is quite likely, I would just do nothing.



She would have to go."

"Nothing more to do, eh?"



"No, sir. I could do no more."

He gave a bitter half-laugh.



"You could always say your prayers."

He got up, stretched himself, and yawned slightly. It was a



sallow, strong, unamiable face. He put me in a surly, bored

fashion through the usual questions as to lights and signals, and



I escaped from the room thankfully--passed! Forty minutes! And

again I walked on air along Tower Hill, where so many good men



had lost their heads, because, I suppose, they were not

resourceful enough to save them. And in my heart of hearts I had



no objection to meeting that examiner once more when the third

and last ordeal became due in another year or so. I even hoped I



should. I knew the worst of him now, and forty minutes is not an

unreasonable time. Yes, I distinctly hoped. . .



But not a bit of it. When I presented myself to be examined for

Master the examiner who received me was short, plump, with a



round, soft face in grey, fluffy whiskers, and fresh, loquacious

lips.



He commenced operations with an easy-going "Let's see. H'm.

Suppose you tell me all you know of charter-parties." He kept it



up in that style all through, wandering off in the shape of

comment into bits out of his own life, then pulling himself up



short and returning to the business in hand. It was very

interesting. "What's your idea of a jury-rudder now?" he queried



suddenly, at the end of an instructiveanecdotebearing upon a

point of stowage.



I warned him that I had no experience of a lost rudder at sea,

• literature [´litərətʃə] n.文学；文献；著作 (初中英语单词)


• romantic [rəu´mæntik] a.传奇(式)的；浪漫的 (初中英语单词)


• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)


• institution [,insti´tju:ʃən] n.建立；制定；制度 (初中英语单词)


• instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中英语单词)


• impression [im´preʃən] n.印刷；印象；效果 (初中英语单词)


• ashore [ə´ʃɔ:] ad.向岸上 (初中英语单词)


• interior [in´tiəriə] n.&a.内部地(的) (初中英语单词)


• worker [´wə:kə] n.工人；劳动者；工作者 (初中英语单词)


• conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• properly [´prɔpəli] ad.适当地；严格地 (初中英语单词)


• polite [pə´lait] a.有礼貌的；温和的 (初中英语单词)


• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)


• advocate [´ædvəkit] n.辩护者 (初中英语单词)


• generation [,dʒenə´reiʃən] n.发生；世代；同龄人 (初中英语单词)


• intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)


• deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)


• mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)


• examination [ig,zæmi´neiʃən] n.检查；考试；检验 (初中英语单词)


• supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)


• reasonable [´rizənəbəl] a.合理的；有理智的 (初中英语单词)


• gravely [´greivli] ad.庄重地，严肃地 (初中英语单词)


• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)


• unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)


• execute [´eksikju:t] vt.执行；表演；演奏 (初中英语单词)


• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)


• scheme [ski:m] n.计划；阴谋，诡计 (初中英语单词)


• warmth [wɔ:mθ] n.温暖；热情；激动 (初中英语单词)


• system [´sistəm] n.系统，体系，制度 (初中英语单词)


• objection [əb´dʒekʃən] n.反对；异议；缺点 (初中英语单词)


• distinctly [di´stiŋktli] ad.清楚地，明晰地 (初中英语单词)


• instructive [in´strʌktiv] a.有益的 (初中英语单词)


• realist [´riəlist] n.现实主义者 (高中英语单词)


• appreciation [ə,pri:ʃi´eiʃən] n.评价；感激 (高中英语单词)


• translation [træns´leiʃən, trænz-] n.翻译；译文；译本 (高中英语单词)


• wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)


• marine [mə´ri:n] a.海的 n.海军陆战队 (高中英语单词)


• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• eternity [i´tə:niti] n.永恒，来世，无穷 (高中英语单词)


• shilling [´ʃiliŋ] n.先令 (高中英语单词)


• tackle [´tækəl] n.用具；装置 vt.处理 (高中英语单词)


• solitary [´sɔlitəri] a.独居的；孤独的 (高中英语单词)


• tenant [´tenənt] n.租户，佃户 (高中英语单词)


• sturdy [´stə:di] a.坚强的；坚定的 (高中英语单词)


• motionless [´məuʃənləs] a.静止的；固定的 (高中英语单词)


• assurance [ə´ʃuərəns] n.保证；自信；信任 (高中英语单词)


• impressive [im´presiv] a.给人深刻印象的 (高中英语单词)


• locality [ləu´kæliti] n.位置，地区，发生地 (高中英语单词)


• ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)


• homeward [´həumwəd] ad.&a.回家(的) (高中英语单词)


• comprehensive [,kɔmpri´hensiv] a.综合的；理解的 (高中英语单词)


• suffice [sə´fais] vt.使满足 vi.足够 (高中英语单词)


• bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)


• overhear [,əuvə´hiə] vt.偶然听到；偷听 (英语四级单词)


• temperance [´tempərəns] n.节制；节欲；戒酒 (英语四级单词)


• parisian [pə´riziən] n.&a.巴黎人(的) (英语四级单词)


• loosely [´lu:sli] ad.松散地 (英语四级单词)


• elementary [,eli´mentəri] a.基本的；初级的 (英语四级单词)


• considering [kən´sidəriŋ] prep.就…而论 (英语四级单词)


• reputation [repju´teiʃən] n.名誉；名声；信誉 (英语四级单词)


• mournful [´mɔ:nful] a.令人沮丧的 (英语四级单词)


• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)


• mildly [´maildli] ad.温和地；适度地 (英语四级单词)


• anecdote [´ænikdəut] n.轶事；趣闻 (英语四级单词)


• lordly [´lɔ:dli] a.高贵的；高傲的 (英语六级单词)


• dreamer [´dri:mə] n.做梦的人；梦想者 (英语六级单词)


• middle-aged [´midl´eidʒid] a.中年的 (英语六级单词)


• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)


• verbal [´və:bəl] a.文字上的；口头的 (英语六级单词)


• exaggeration [ig,zædʒə´reiʃən] n.夸张，夸大 (英语六级单词)


• languid [´læŋgwid] a.精神不振的 (英语六级单词)


• examiner [ig´zæminə] n.审查者；主考者 (英语六级单词)


• extended [iks´tendid] a.伸长的；广大的 (英语六级单词)


• averse [ə´və:s] a.反对的，不乐意的 (英语六级单词)


• ordeal [ɔ:´di:l] n.严峻考验；折磨 (英语六级单词)


• infernal [in´fə:nəl] a.地狱的，恶魔似的 (英语六级单词)


• fluffy [´flʌfi] a.绒毛似的 (英语六级单词)


• rudder [´rʌdə] n.(方向)舵；指导原则 (英语六级单词)