Kidnapped: Chapters 25–30

by Robert Louis Stevenson
After young orphan David Balfour discovers he may be the true heir to his uncle's estate, he is kidnapped and swept up in the struggle of Scottish highlanders against the English. Read the adventure story here.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–15, Chapters 16–24, Chapters 25–30

Here are links to our lists for other works by Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Treasure Island
35 words 98 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. remnant
    a small part remaining after the main part no longer exists
    No great clan held rule there; it was filled and disputed by small septs, and broken remnants, and what they call "chiefless folk," driven into the wild country about the springs of Forth and Teith by the advance of the Campbells.
  2. magistrate
    a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law
    What was much more astonishing, no magistrate came near me, and there was no question put of whence I came or whither I was going; and in that time of excitement, I was as free of all inquiry as though I had lain in a desert.
  3. rife
    excessively abundant
    For though I had changed my clothes, I could not change my age or person; and Lowland boys of eighteen were not so rife in these parts of the world, and above all about that time, that they could fail to put one thing with another, and connect me with the bill.
  4. notorious
    known widely and usually unfavorably
    There was but one thing happened worth narrating; and that is the visit I had of Robin Oig, one of the sons of the notorious Rob Roy.
  5. prate
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    You are to remember that I knew no more of my descent than any cadger's dog; my uncle, to be sure, had prated of some of our high connections, but nothing to the present purpose; and there was nothing left me but that bitter disgrace of owning that I could not tell.
  6. bemoan
    regret strongly
    At last there came by an old, hobbling woman with a crutch stick; who first stopped a little, close to where we lay, and bemoaned herself and the long way she had travelled; and then set forth again up the steep spring of the bridge.
  7. blackguard
    someone who is morally reprehensible
    A moment back and I had seen myself knocking at Mr. Rankeillor's door to claim my inheritance, like a hero in a ballad; and here was I back again, a wandering, hunted blackguard, on the wrong side of Forth.
  8. cultivated
    developed by human care and for human use
    It was altogether a right pleasant sight to me; and I could not take my fill of gazing at these comfortable, green, cultivated hills and the busy people both of the field and sea.
  9. outlandish
    noticeably or extremely unconventional or unusual
    For all that, there was Mr. Rankeillor's house on the south shore, where I had no doubt wealth awaited me; and here was I upon the north, clad in poor enough attire of an outlandish fashion, with three silver shillings left to me of all my fortune, a price set upon my head, and an outlawed man for my sole company.
  10. artless
    characterized by an inability to mask your feelings
    "Well," said Alan, softened a little (I believe against his will) by this artless comment, "and suppose we were? Did ever you hear that gentrice put money in folk's pockets?"
  11. malefactor
    someone who has committed a crime
    At this appeal, I could see the lass was in great trouble of mind, being tempted to help us, and yet in some fear she might be helping malefactors; and so now I determined to step in myself and to allay her scruples with a portion of the truth.
  12. deliverance
    recovery or preservation from loss or danger
    Here we must lie, however, making the best of the brave warm weather and the good hopes we now had of a deliverance, and planning more particularly what remained for us to do.
  13. hamlet
    a community of people smaller than a village
    The day came to an end with the same brightness; the night fell quiet and clear; lights came out in houses and hamlets and then, one after another, began to be put out; but it was past eleven, and we were long since strangely tortured with anxieties, before we heard the grinding of oars upon the rowing-pins.
  14. abashed
    feeling or caused to feel uneasy and self-conscious
    I was abashed how to find expression for my thanks; but she was no less abashed at the thought of hearing them; begged us to lose no time and to hold our peace, saying (very properly) that the heart of our matter was in haste and silence
  15. commendation
    a message expressing a favorable opinion
    And a matter of an hour later, as we were lying in a den on the sea-shore and I had been already dozing, he broke out again in commendations of her character.
  16. remorse
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    For my part, I could say nothing, she was so simple a creature that my heart smote me both with remorse and fear: remorse because we had traded upon her ignorance; and fear lest we should have anyway involved her in the dangers of our situation.
  17. fend
    try to manage without help
    The next day it was agreed that Alan should fend for himself till sunset; but as soon as it began to grow dark, he should lie in the fields by the roadside near to Newhalls, and stir for naught until he heard me whistling.
  18. despondency
    feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless
    As the morning went on, and the fires began to be kindled, and the windows to open, and the people to appear out of the houses, my concern and despondency grew ever the blacker.
  19. contention
    a point asserted as part of an argument
    Even if things were as I conceived, it would in all likelihood take time to establish my contentions; and what time had I to spare with less than three shillings in my pocket, and a condemned, hunted man upon my hands to ship out of the country?
  20. askance
    with suspicion or disapproval
    And as I continued to walk up and down, and saw people looking askance at me upon the street or out of windows, and nudging or speaking one to another with smiles, I began to take a fresh apprehension: that it might be no easy matter even to come to speech of the lawyer, far less to convince him of my story.
  21. hiatus
    a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)
    "The brig was lost on June the 27th," says he, looking in his book, "and we are now at August the 24th. Here is a considerable hiatus, Mr. Balfour, of near upon two months. It has already caused a vast amount of trouble to your friends; and I own I shall not be very well contented until it is set right."
  22. gallivant
    wander aimlessly in search of pleasure
    I was indeed your uncle's man of business; but while you (imberbis juvenis custode remoto) were gallivanting in the west, a good deal of water has run under the bridges; and if your ears did not sing, it was not for lack of being talked about.
  23. pedantic
    marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
    Indeed he was more pedantic than I can represent him, and placed more scraps of Latin in his speech; but it was all uttered with a fine geniality of eye and manner which went far to conquer my distrust.
  24. obnoxious
    causing disapproval or protest
    "I would name no unnecessary names, Mr. Balfour," said he; "above all of Highlanders, many of whom are obnoxious to the law."
  25. indubitably
    in a manner or to a degree that could not be doubted
    But you are doubtless quite right to adhere to him; indubitably, he adhered to you.
  26. apposite
    being of striking appropriateness and pertinence
    Here he set before me water and soap, and a comb; and laid out some clothes that belonged to his son; and here, with another apposite tag, he left me to my toilet.
  27. upshot
    a phenomenon that is caused by some previous phenomenon
    Both got upon their knees to her; and the upshot of the matter for that while was that she showed both of them the door.
  28. scandalous
    giving offense to moral sensibilities
    A lawsuit is always expensive, and a family lawsuit always scandalous; besides which, if any of your doings with your friend Mr. Thomson were to come out, we might find that we had burned our fingers.
  29. averse
    strongly opposed
    I told him I was very willing to be easy, and that to carry family concerns before the public was a step from which I was naturally much averse.
  30. tryst
    a secret rendezvous, especially a romantic one
    The very sight of Torrance brings in my head a little droll matter of some years ago, when I had made a tryst with the poor oaf at the cross of Edinburgh.
  31. skulk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    He was somewhat dashed in spirits, having passed a long day alone skulking in the county, and made but a poor meal in an alehouse near Dundas.
  32. misgiving
    doubt about someone's honesty
    For all that, he studied his visitor awhile in silence, and when he spoke his voice had a quaver of misgiving.
  33. beholden
    under a moral obligation to someone
    So far as I was concerned myself, I had come to port; but I had still Alan, to whom I was so much beholden, on my hands; and I felt besides a heavy charge in the matter of the murder and James of the Glens.
  34. prodigal
    recklessly wasteful
    I trust you will be a good husband of your money; but in the affair of a friend like Mr. Thompson, I would be even prodigal.
  35. discreet
    marked by prudence or modesty and wise self-restraint
    Form yourself upon the laird, he is a good model; when you deal with the Advocate, be discreet; and in all these matters, may the Lord guide you, Mr. David!
Created on Wed Jun 18 17:39:49 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Sep 20 12:36:42 EDT 2018)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.