The Mechanical Mind of John Coggin: Chapter 26–"The End of the Beginning"

by Elinor Teele
For more than one hundred years, his family has been making coffins in the city of Pludgett, but eleven-year-old John Peregrine Coggin does not want to be trapped in a lifeless job, so he runs away with his younger sister.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: "The Beginning"–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–17, Chapters 18–25, Chapter 26–"The End of the Beginning"
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
    From henceforth, I’ll be as garrulous as a stone, as talkative as a tomb, as loquacious as a mock turtle.
  2. fillip
    an additional benefit, reward, or extra added to something else
    A fillip of hope propelled John into the waiting room.
  3. innocuous
    lacking intent or capacity to injure
    He pointed to an innocuous door under a sign that read “No Spitting or Gratuitous Swearing.”
  4. bluster
    a swaggering show of courage
    Unnerved by John’s reaction, Leslie’s remaining bluff and bluster had disappeared.
  5. truss
    secure with or as if with ropes
    Trussed and trundled as soon as I attempted admission through the back entrance of this fortification. I had expected the great Leslie, but not the additional security guards.
  6. prosaic
    not fanciful or imaginative
    Last thing I remember was an impressive display of knuckles heading straight for my superior orbital fissure. Or, in more prosaic terms, a fist in the eye.
  7. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    I’m sorry to be the bearer of mercurial tidings, my dear boy, but it’s true.
  8. berate
    censure severely or angrily
    As I lay lying near the tracks, I overheard her being berated in the carriage of the Pludgett express.
  9. propensity
    a natural inclination
    Your propensity to risk life and limb for your sister makes you a much more admirable—and, may I say, dashingly adventurous—character but sooey generis, as Leslie might say.
  10. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    “While I have been lying here contemplating existence, the anemic atoms of my anorexic self have been instructing my interior that it would like a soupçon of sustenance.”
    “You’re hungry,” John said.
  11. manacle
    confine or restrain with or as if with handcuffs
    “My manacled young miscontent, you merely need to parse your story to see that the solution to our predicament is right in front of you.”
  12. parse
    analyze in detail in order to discover essential features
    “My manacled young miscontent, you merely need to parse your story to see that the solution to our predicament is right in front of you.”
  13. cogitate
    consider carefully and deeply
    “My dear boy, please don’t tell me you’re cogitating an escape by that means.”
  14. ornery
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “Do you have a brilliant suggestion?”
    “Naturally, but I’m not sure I should relate it if you’re going to be ornery.”
  15. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    It took but a moment for John to release a rather bedraggled Boz. Along with his piratical black eye, Boz was sporting a gash in his knee and a crop of tight braids.
  16. pulchritudinous
    having great physical beauty
    “My latest love,” Boz said, flailing toward the shore. “The lady who led me to your door. I confess she’s not particularly pulchritudinous, but she has a sturdy heart and the loveliest pair of brown eyes.”
  17. prostrate
    stretched out and lying at full length along the ground
    “Oh, I give up,” moaned a voice from beneath the stallion.
    With the mere hint of a sneer, John led Rosinante past the prostrate figure of his former captor.
  18. fugue
    a dreamlike state of altered consciousness
    By the time he drew Rosinante to a halt at a consumptive creek, John had passed from hunger into a fugue state of willpower.
  19. indignantly
    in a manner showing anger at something unjust or wrong
    “I might have known she’d stoop to kidnapping!” said Gentle Giant George indignantly.
  20. somnolent
    inclined to or marked by drowsiness
    All that John could hear was the faint snores of somnolent grasshoppers.
  21. petulantly
    in an easily irritated or annoyed manner
    “I can’t think with that stink,” said Alligator Dan petulantly.
  22. incessantly
    without interruption
    On the first day of float construction, they had argued over his blueprints incessantly.
  23. contention
    a dispute where there is strong disagreement
    Even the shape of the thing was a source of contention.
    “I think it should be a pirate ship!”
    “An exploding birthday cake!”
    “A humongous narwhal!”
  24. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
    On the Wayfarers’ caravans rumbled, on toward the stolid, solid wall that lay between the world and Page.
  25. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    With hard work and cajoling, he assisted the Wayfarers in rebuilding their faulty constructions and reworking their clumsy errors.
  26. emanate
    proceed or issue forth, as from a source
    Slowly but surely, John felt warmth begin to emanate from the boiler.
  27. subterfuge
    something intended to misrepresent the nature of an activity
    If Colonel Joe couldn’t see the merits of his position, then a little subterfuge was going to be necessary.
  28. gumption
    fortitude and determination
    “He rescued me. Sort of,” he added.
    “Surprised he had the gumption.”
  29. coddle
    treat with excessive indulgence
    “If you’ve finished coddling him, Maria, I think we’d best discuss our next steps. I deduce that John would like to focus on Page’s retrieval.”
  30. estimable
    deserving of honor and respect
    “And may I be the first to volunteer for the estimable honor?”
  31. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
    “She will not know,” Miss Doyle replied.
    “Ah,” Boz said. “Then am I right in assuming you will be needing me for a little night ruse?”
  32. humdrum
    not challenging; dull and lacking excitement
    John considered the humdrum routine of his former life.
  33. livid
    furiously angry
    John was livid. Here they were, only a couple of days away from the parade, and Miss Doyle wanted to chop off his limbs.
  34. litany
    any long and tedious address or recital
    The last two days had been a litany of hiccups, holdups, and plain exasperation.
  35. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    A model of the clock tower was present, complete with the precarious lean.
  36. sanction
    approve or show acceptance of
    And as much as the police were unhappy about the horror stories that John and Maria and Colonel Joe told them, they weren’t quite prepared to sanction Boz’s explosive conclusion.
  37. modicum
    a small or moderate or token amount
    “While I trusted John would fulfill his promise of taking down the portico,” Boz continued, “I did have a modicum of hesitation about whether he would succeed in persuading his great-aunt to see reason.”
  38. arrears
    an unpaid overdue debt
    “Not at all, my estimable comrade. Merely a down payment on favors in arrears. Speaking of arrears,” said Boz, teasing a gold coin from his shoe.
  39. peruse
    examine or consider with attention and in detail
    Seizing his great-aunt’s contract, he made for the fire.
    “Before you contribute to our carbon footprint,” Boz said, gently restraining John’s arm, “you may wish to peruse the contents.”
  40. whim
    an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
    The world was once again a limitless horizon. A whim might take him anywhere.
Created on Mon Aug 19 11:04:11 EDT 2024 (updated Tue Aug 20 15:51:48 EDT 2024)

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