penury
severe poverty
waif
a stray person or animal, especially a homeless child
billeted
to assign lodging to (as soldiers) by military order
jubilant
feeling or expressing great joy
surreptitiously
doing something secretly in order to avoid detection
surreal
marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream
conflagration
a large, disastrous fire
farce
an empty or especially ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation
crematorium
a furnace that is used to burn bodies into ashes
irrevocably
in a way that is unalterable
hermetically
in a way that is airtight
harangued
to address in a ranting speech
leprous
infected with leprosy
veritable
being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal, or imaginary (often used to express the aptness of a metaphor)
untenable
unable to be defended
manacled
shackled in handcuffs
automatons
a mechanism that is relatively self-operating, especially a robot
plaintive
expressive of suffering or woe