A stout1, red-faced, slow-moving man with one eye and a black patch, stood behind the bar. Plummer lifted his finger and pointed2 quickly toward the bar-parlour; and at the signal the one-eyed man turned with great deliberation and pulled a catch which released the door of that apartment, close at our elbows. We stepped quickly within, and presently the one-eyed man came rolling in by the other door.
“Well, good art’noon, Mr. Plummer, sir,” he said, with a long intonation3 and a wheeze4. “Good art’noon, sir. You’ve bin5 a stranger lately.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Moon,” Plummer answered, briskly. “We’ve come for a little information, my friend and I, which I’m sure you’ll give us if you can.”
“All the years I’ve been knowed to the police,” answered Mr. Moon, slower and wheezier as he went on, “I’ve allus give ’em all the information I could, an’ that’s a fact. Ain’t it, Mr. Plummer?”
“Yes, of course, and we don’t forget it. What we want now ——”
“Allus tell ’em what — ever I knows,” rumbled6 Mr. Moon, turning to me, “allus; an’ glad to do it, too. ‘Cause why? Ain’t they the police? Very well then, I tells ’em. Allus tells ’em!”
Plummer waited patiently while Mr. Moon stared solemnly at me after this speech. Then, when the patch slowly turned in my direction and the eye in his, he resumed, “We want to know if you know anything about No. 8 Norbury Row?”
“Number eight,” Mr. Moon mused7, gazing abstractedly out of the window; “num — ber eight. Ground-floor, Stevens, packing-case maker8; first-floor, Hutt, agent in fancy-goods; second-floor, dunno. Name o’ Richardson, bookbinder, on the door, but that’s bin there five or six year now, and it ain’t the same tenant10. Richardson’s dead, an’ this one don’t bind9 no books as I can see. I don’t even remember seein’ him very often. Tallish, darkish sort o’ gent he is, and don’t seem to have many visitors. Well, then there’s the top-floor — but I s’pose it’s the same tenant. Richardson used to have it for his workshop. That’s all.”
“Have you got a window we can watch it from?”
Mr. Moon turned ponderously11 round and without a word led the way to the first floor, puffing12 enormously on the stairs.
“You can see it from the club-room,” he said at length, “but this ’ere little place is better.”
He pushed open a door, and we entered a small sitting-room14. “That’s the place,” he said, pointing. “There’s a new packing-case a-standing15 outside now.”
Norbury Row presented an appearance common enough in parts of the city a little way removed from the centre. A street of houses that once had sheltered well-to-do residents had gradually sunk in the world to the condition of tenement-houses, and now was on the upward grade again, being let in floors to the smaller sort of manufacturers, and to such agents and small commercial men as required cheap offices. No. 8 was much like the rest. A packing-case maker had the ground-floor, as Moon had said, and a token of his trade, in the shape of a new packing-case, stood on the pavement. The rest of the building showed nothing distinctive16.
“There y’are, gents,” said Mr. Moon, “if you want to watch, you’re welcome, bein’ the p’lice, which I allus does my best for, allus. But you’ll have to excuse me now, ‘cos o’ the bar.”
Mr. Moon stumped17 off downstairs, leaving Plummer and myself watching at the window.
“Your friend the publican seems very proud of helping18 the police,” I remarked.
Plummer laughed. “Yes,” he said, “or at any rate, he is anxious we shan’t forget it. You see, it’s in some way a matter of mutual19 accommodation. We make things as easy as possible for him on licensing20 days, and as he has a pretty extensive acquaintance among the sort of people we often want to get hold of, he has been able to show his gratitude21 very handsomely once or twice.”
The house on which our eyes were fixed22 was a little too far up the street for us to see perfectly23 through the window of the second-floor, though we could see enough to indicate that it was furnished as an office. We agreed that the unknown second-floor tenant was more likely to be our customer, or connected with him, than either of the others. Still, we much desired a nearer view, and presently, since the coast seemed clear, Plummer announced his intention of taking one.
He left me at the post of observation, and presently I saw him lounging along on the other side of the way, keeping close to the houses, so as to escape observation from the upper windows. He took a good look at the names on the door-post of No. 8, and presently stepped within.
I waited five or six minutes, and then saw him returning as he had come.
“It’s the top floors we want,” he said, when he rejoined me in Mr. Moon’s sitting-room. “The packing-case maker is genuine enough, and very busy. So is the fancy-goods agent. I went in, seeing the door wide open, and found the agent, a little, shop-walkery sort of chap, hard at work with his clerk among piles of cardboard boxes. I wouldn’t go further, in case I were spotted24. Do you think you’d be cool enough to do it without arousing suspicion? Mayes doesn’t know you, you see. What do you think? We don’t want to precipitate25 matters till we hear from Hewitt, but on the other hand I don’t want to sit still as long as anything can be ascertained26. You might ask a question about book-binding27.”
“Of course,” I said. “If you will let me I’ll go at once — glad of the chance to get a peep. I’ll bespeak28 a quotation29 for binding and lettering a thousand octavos in paste grain, on behalf of some convenient firm of publishers. That would be technical enough, I think?”
I took my hat and walked out as Plummer had done, though, of course, I approached the door of No. 8 with less caution. The packing-case maker’s men were hammering away merrily, and as I mounted the stairs I saw the little fancy-goods agent among his cardboard boxes, just as Plummer had said. The upper part of the house was a silent contrast to the busy lower floors, and as I arrived at the next landing I was surprised to see the door ajar.
I pushed boldly in, and found myself alone in a good-sized room plainly fitted as an office. There were two windows looking on the street, and one at the back, more than half concealed30 behind a ground glass partition or screen. I stepped across and looked out of this window. It looked on a narrow space, or well, of plain brick wall, containing nothing but a ladder, standing in one corner. And the only other window giving on this narrow square space was in the opposite wall, but much lower, on the ground level.
I saw these things in a single glance, and then I turned — to find myself face to face with a tallish, thin, active man, with a pale, shaven, ascetic31 face, dark hair, and astonishingly quick glittering black eyes. He stood just within the office door, to which he must have come without a sound, looking at me with a mechanical smile of inquiry32, while his eyes searched me with a portentous33 keenness.
“Oh,” I said, with the best assumption of carelessness I could command, “I was looking for you, Mr. Richardson. Do you care to give a quotation for binding at per thousand crown octavo volumes in paste grain, plain, with lettering on back?”
“No,” answered the man with the eyes, “I don’t; I’m afraid my carelessness has led you into a mistake. I am not Richardson the bookbinder. He was my predecessor34 in this office, and I have neglected to paint out his name on the door-post.”
I hastened to apologise. “I am sorry to have intruded,” I said. “I found the door ajar and so came in. You see the publishing season is beginning, and our regular binders35 are full of work, so that we have to look elsewhere. Good-day!”
“Good-day,” the keen man responded, turning to allow me to pass through the door. “I’m sorry I cannot be of service to you — on this occasion.”
From first to last his eyes had never ceased to search me, and now as I descended36 the stairs I could feel that they were fixed on me still.
I took a turn about the houses, in order not to be observed going direct to “The Compasses,” and entered that house by way of the private bar, as before.
“That is Mayes, and no other,” said Plummer, when I had made my report and described the man with the eyes. “I’ve seen him twice, once with his beard and once without. The question now is, whether we hadn’t best sail in straight away and collar him. But there’s the window at the back, and a ladder, I think you said. Can he reach it?”
“I think he might — easily.”
“And perhaps there’s the roof, since he’s got the top floor too. Not good enough without some men to surround the house. We must go gingerly over this. One thing to find out is, what is the building behind? Ah, how I wish Mr. Hewitt were here now! If we don’t hear from him soon we must send a message. But we mustn’t lose sight of No. 8 for a moment.”
There was a thump37 at the sitting-room door, and Mr. Moon came puffing in and shouldered himself confidentially38 against Plummer. “Bloke downstairs wants to see you,” he said, in a hoarse39 grunt40 that was meant for a low whisper. “Twigged you outside, I think, an’ says he’s got somethink partickler to tell yer. I believe ‘e’s a ‘nark’; I see him with one o’ your chaps the other day.”
“I’ll go,” Plummer said to me hurriedly. “Plainly somebody’s spotted me in the street, and I may as well hear him.”
I knew very well, of course, what Moon meant by a ‘nark.’ A ‘nark’ is an informer, a spy among criminals who sells the police whatever information he can scrape up. Could it be possible that this man had anything to tell about Mayes? It was scarcely likely, and I made up my mind that Plummer was merely being detained by some tale of a petty local crime.
But in a few minutes he returned with news of import. “This fellow is most valuable,” he said. “He knows a lot about Mayes, whom, of course, he calls by another name; but the identity’s certain. He saw me looking in at No. 8, he says, and guessed I must be after him. He seems to have wondered at Mayes’s mysterious movements for a long time, and so kept his eye on him and made inquiries42. It seems that Mayes sometimes uses a back way, through the window you saw on the opposite side of the little area, by way of that ladder you mentioned. It’s quite plain this fellow knows something, from the particulars about that ladder. He wants half a sovereign to show me the way through a stable passage behind and point out where our man can be trapped to a certainty. It’ll be a cheap ten shillingsworth, and we mustn’t waste time. If Hewitt comes, tell him not to move till I come back or send a message, which I can easily do by this chap I’m going with. And be sure to keep your eye on the front door of No. 8 while I’m gone.”
The thing had begun to grow exciting, and the fascination43 of the pursuit took full possession of my imagination. I saw Plummer pass across the end of the street in company with a shuffling44, out-at-elbows-looking man with dirty brown whiskers, and I set myself to watch the door of the staircase by the packing-case maker’s with redoubled attention, hoping fervently45 that Mayes might emerge, and so give me the opportunity of capping the extraordinary series of occurrences connected with the Red Triangle by myself seizing and handing him over to the police.
So I waited and watched for something near another quarter of an hour. Then there came another thump at the door, and once more I beheld46 Mr. Moon.
“Man askin’ for you in the bar, sir,” he said.
“Asking for me?” I asked, a little astonished. “By name?”
“Mr. Brett, ‘e said, sir. He’s the same chap, you know. He’s got a message from Inspector47 Plummer, ‘e says.”
“May he come up here?” I asked, mindful of maintaining my watch.
“Certainly, sir, if you like. I’ll bring him.”
Presently the shuffling man with the dirty whiskers presented himself. He was a shifty, villainous-looking fellow of middle height, looking a “nark” all over. He pulled off his cap and delivered his message in a rum-scented whisper. “Inspector Plummer says the front way don’t matter now,” he said. “‘E can cop ’im fair the other way if you’ll go round to him at once. If Mr. Martin Hewitt’s here ‘e’d rather ‘ave ’im, but on’y one’s to come now.”
Naturally, I thought, Plummer would prefer Hewitt; but in this case I should for once be ahead of my friend, and have the pleasure of relating the circumstances of the capture to him, instead of listening, as usual, to his own quiet explanations of the manner in which the case had been brought to a successful issue. So I took my hat and went.
“Best let me go in front,” whispered the “nark.” “You bein’ a toff might be noticed.” It was a reasonable precaution, and I followed him accordingly.
We went a little way down Barbican, and presently, taking a very narrow turning, plunged48 into a cluster of alleys49, through which, however, I could plainly perceive that our way lay in the direction of the back of the house in Norbury Row. At length my guide stopped at what seemed a stable yard, pushed open a wicket gate, and went in, keeping the gate open for me to follow.
It was, indeed, a stable yard, littered with much straw, which the “nark” carefully picked to walk on as noiselessly as possible, motioning me to do the same. It was a small enough yard, and dark, and when my guide very carefully opened the door of a stable I saw that that was darker still.
He pushed the door wide so as to let a little light fall on another door which I now perceived in the brick wall which formed the side of the stable. After listening intently for a moment at this door, the guide stepped back and favoured me with another puff13 of rum and a whisper. “There’s no light in that there passage,” he said, “an’ we’d better not strike one. I’ll catch hold of your hand.”
He pulled the stable door to, and took me by the hand. I heard the inner door open quietly, and we stepped cautiously forward. We had gone some five or six yards in the darkness when I felt something cold touch the wrist of the hand by which I was being led. There was a loud click, my hand was dropped, and I felt my wrist held fast, while I could hear my late guide shuffling away in the darkness.
I could not guess whether to cry out or remain quiet. I called after the man in a loud whisper, but got no answer. I used my other hand to feel at my right wrist, and found that it was clipped in one of a pair of handcuffs, the other being locked in a staple50 in the wall. I tugged51 my hardest to loosen this staple, but it held firm. The thing had been so sudden and stealthy that I scarce had time to realise that I was in serious danger, and that, doubtless, Plummer had preceded me, when a light appeared at an angle ahead. It turned the corner, and I perceived, coming toward me, carrying a lamp, the pale man of the eyes, whom I had encountered not an hour before — in a word, Mayes.
His eyes searched me still, but he approached me with a curiously52 polite smile.
“No, Mr. Brett,” he said, “my name is not Richardson, and I am not a bookbinder. Not that I am particular about such a thing as a name, for you have heard of me under more than one already, and you are quite at liberty to call me Richardson if you like. I am sorry to have to talk to you in this uncomfortable place, but the circumstances are exceptional. But, at least, I should give you a chair.”
He stepped back a little way and pressed a bell-button. Presently the fellow who had decoyed me there appeared, and Mayes ordered him to bring me a chair at once, which he did, with stolid53 obedience54. I sat in it, so that my wrist rested at somewhere near the level of my shoulder.
“Mr. Brett,” Mayes pursued, when his man was gone, “I am not so implacable a person as you perhaps believe me; in fact, I can assure you that my disposition55 is most friendly.”
“Then unfasten this handcuff,” I said.
“I am sorry that that is a little precaution I find it necessary to take till we understand each other better. I am glad to see you, Mr. Brett, though I am sure you will not think me rude if I say that I should have preferred Mr. Martin Hewitt in your place. But perhaps his turn will come later. I have a proposition to make, Mr. Brett. I should like you to join me.”
“To join you?”
“Exactly.” He nodded pleasantly. “You needn’t shrink; I shan’t ask you to do anything vulgar, or even anything that, with your present prejudices, you might consider actively56 criminal. You can help me, you see, in your own profession as a journalist; and in other ways. And my enterprise is greater than you may imagine. Join me, and you shall be a great man in an entirely57 new sphere. A small matter of initiation58 is necessary, and that is all. You have only to consent to that.”
I said nothing.
“You seem reluctant. Well, perhaps it is natural, in your present ignorance. This is no vulgar criminal organisation59 that I have, understand. I have taken certain measures to provide myself with the necessary tools in the shape of money, and so forth60, but my aims are larger than you suspect — perhaps larger than you can understand. And I work with a means more wonderful than you have experience of. For instance, here is to-day’s work. You know about the lost Naval61 Code, of course — it is what you came about. That document is now lying in the desk you stood by in the room where we spoke62 of paste grain book covers and the like. It was there then at your elbow. It will be sold for many thousands of pounds by to-morrow, and all the puny63 watchings and dodgings that have been devised cannot prevent it. The money will go to aid me in the attainment64 of the power of which you may have a part, if you wish. The means of attaining65 this I scruple66 no more about than you did to-day about the story of the bookbindings.” He bowed with a slight smile and went on.
“Come now, Mr. Brett, put aside your bourgeois67 prejudices and join me. Your friend Plummer is coming gladly, I feel sure, and he will be useful, too. And from what I have seen from Mr. Martin Hewitt, I have no doubt I can make it right with him. If I can’t it will be very bad for him, I can assure you; you have heard and seen something of my powers, and I need say no more. But Hewitt is a man of sense, and will come in, of course, and you had better come with your friends. I want one or two superior men. Mason — you know about Jacob Mason, of course — Mason was a fool, and he was lost — inevitably68. The others”— he made a gesture of contempt —“they are mere41 vulgar tools. They will have their rewards if they are faithful, of course; if not — well, you remember Denson in the Samuel diamond business? He was not faithful, and there was an end of him. I may tell you that Denson was made an example, for one was needed. I assigned him a certain operation, and, having brought it to success, he endeavoured to embezzle69 — did embezzle — the proceeds. He was made a conspicuous70 example, in a most conspicuous public place, to impress the others. They didn’t know him, but they knew well enough what the Red Triangle meant! Ah, my excellent recruit — for so I count you already — there is more in that little sign than you can imagine! It is more than a sign — it is an implement71 of very potent72 power; and you shall learn its whole secret in that little form of initiation I spoke of. See now, a present example. Telfer, the Admiralty clerk, gave up that document at my mere spoken word. He will deny it to his dying day, and he will be ruined for the act; but he gave me the paper himself, at my mere order. If he were one of my own — if he had passed through the initiation I offer you, I would have protected him; as it is, he must take his punishment, and though it is only I who will benefit, he will still deny the fact! Ha! Mr. Brett, do you begin to perceive that I do not boast when I tell of powers beyond your understanding?”
Truly I was amazed, though I could not half understand. The circumstances of the loss of the Admiralty code had been so inexplicable73, and now these incredible suggestions of the prime actor in the matter were more mysterious still.
“Ha! you are amazed,” he went on, “but if you will come further into my counsels I will amaze you more. What are you now? A drudge74 of a journalist, and if ever you make a thousand a year to feed yourself with you will be lucky. Come to me and you shall be a man of power. There is a place beyond the sea where I may be king, and you a viceroy. Don’t think I am raving75! It is true enough that I am an enthusiast76, but I have power, power to do anything I please, I tell you! What are the greatest powers among men on this earth? Some will say the pen, or the sword, or love, or what not. Men of the world will say, money and lies; and they will be very nearly right. Money and lies will move continents, but I have one greater power still — the very apex77 of the triangle! That power I revealed to Jacob Mason. He thought to betray it, and it killed him. That power I will reveal to you, if you will accept the alternative I offer.”
“The alternative?”
“Yes, the alternative, for an alternative it is, of course. If you will go through the form of initiation, I shall keep you here a little till I can trust you — which will be very soon. But if not — well, Mr. Brett, I wish to be as friendly as you please, but having been at the trouble of catching78 you, and having got you here safely, you who know so much now, you who could be so dangerous if you ever got away — eh? Well, you know my methods, and you have seen them exemplified, and you will understand.”
There was no anger in his voice as he uttered this threat, nor even, I thought, in his eyes. But what there was was worse.
“But I’m sure you will not make things unpleasant,” he concluded. “You will go through the little form I have arranged, if only for curiosity. Just think over it for a moment, while I go to close my little office.”
He took the lamp and turned away, but as he reached the angle of the passage, there came a sound that checked his steps. I could hear a noise of feet and hurried voices, and then suddenly arose a shout in a voice which seemed to be Plummer’s. “Here!” it cried. “Help! This way, Hewitt! Brett!”
I shouted back at the top of my voice, wondering where Plummer was, and what it might all mean. And with that Mayes turned, and I saw that he was about to make for the door I had entered by. I resolved he should not pass me if I could prevent it, and I sprang up and seized my chair in my left hand, shouting aloud for help as I did so.
Mayes came with a bound, and flung his lighted lamp full at my head. It struck the chair and smashed to a thousand pieces, and in that instant of time Mayes was on me. Plainly he had no weapon, or he would have used it; but I was at disadvantage enough, with my right wrist chained to the wall. I clung with all my might, and endeavoured to swing my enemy round against the wall in order that I might clasp my hands about him, and I shouted my loudest as I did it. But the chair and the broken glass hampered79 me, and Mayes was desperate. The agony in my right wrist was unbearable80, and just as I was conscious of a rush of approaching feet a heavy blow took me full in the face, and I felt Mayes rush over me while I fell and hung from the wrist.
I had a stunned81 sense of lights and voices and general confusion, and then I remembered nothing.
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2
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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3
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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wheeze
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| n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说 | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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6
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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11
ponderously
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12
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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14
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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16
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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17
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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licensing
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| v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 ) | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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bespeak
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| v.预定；预先请求 | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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portentous
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| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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binders
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| n.（司机行话）刹车器；（书籍的）装订机( binder的名词复数 )；（购买不动产时包括预付订金在内的）保证书；割捆机；活页封面 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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embezzle
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| vt.贪污，盗用；挪用(公款；公物等) | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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drudge
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| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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